The Sorceress's Murderous Companion

Chapter 10: Kali

The spell was a mystery in that Kali didn't know what would happen if she cast it. The ritual was clear in her head no matter how drugged or sleepy she was, it was as though something had burned every detail into her brain so she would never forget it. She suspected it had to do with the sylvan magic she'd gotten as a child.

She'd expected to wake up in the darkest and most uncomfortable place in the tower, but instead what she got was a comfortable bed in a room full of beautiful, blooming flowers. To her surprise, they hadn't dropped down to suck out her organs or eat her flesh. She was, for the most part, intact. Vines moved just slightly toward a patch of stained wall until the stain was mostly gone, reminding Kali of the true danger she was in. She jumped to her feet, the chains rattled and she tried the door. Of course it didn't open.

She tried to summon her fire, feeling the heat run through her body to her arms, but the cuffs snuffed out any magic before it reached her fingers. She felt around the smooth metal surface of the coil around her neck and felt nothing to pry at. She checked the window, but the drop would definitely kill her. That or the plants would eat her if she tried to climb down.

The door creaked open and the plants in the room squirmed. Thorn grabbed the chain connecting her arms and led her from the room, and down the narrow flight of stone steps. At one point the stairs became so narrow she almost lost her balance and fell. Thorn pulled her back to her feet and glared at her as though she'd almost fallen on purpose.

They stood outside on the grassy plain. Squeaky wheels brought a motorized caravan before them. It was emblazoned with a bronze tree insignia, a sign of Sylvan Hollow. Kali couldn't imagine anyone from her hometown allowing him to take one. Moloch stepped out from the driver's seat and opened the door, ushering a few tied up, groggy people onto the ground.

Kali's eyes went wide as she recognized each and every one of them. She fidgeted with the cuffs at her wrist, rubbing her wrists raw trying to pull one hand out. Thorn's hand on her shoulder made her flinch.

"You and Moloch are going to go on a little trip. It's not far. Out in the plains where the mirages start to get detailed. And you'll be coming back with an ingredient needed for your void spell."

Thorn squeezed her shoulder and crouched beside her. "But first, I need to make sure you know I'm serious." He stood, stepped over to the hostages, and made a show of choosing one.

Kali wanted to say something to them, to reassure them. To tell them everything would be okay, but it wouldn't, and she knew that. They would die. Even if Kali did what he wanted, they would die.

Thorn picked one, a shrewd woman near her age who always yelled at Kali when the neighboring kids would sneak off with pies or apples from her market stand in Sylvan Hollow. Bathilda Revens. Kali suspected she only yelled at her to pick on her. Not because she actually believed Kali was orchestrating the children's inappropriate behavior.

Bathilda took a moment to recognize Kali, and when she did, Bathilda's face went noticeably ghostlike. They hadn't set eyes on each other in quite some time.

"K-Kali," She whispered as though immediately condemned to death.

"I won't let him-" Kali blurted out, but Thorn had already made a decision. A thick, hardened vine protruded from Bathilda's stomach. Her eyes went wide, tears flowed freely.

"Bath-" Kali choked.

"I need you to understand how serious I am," Thorn pulled the vine out, and Bathilda spasmed in a growing pool of blood. "If you don't do exactly as I ask, you condemn the others."

"That's not-that's not how this works," Kali stuttered. She turned her back to the scene just in time to vomit. She couldn't stop the tears and the shaking, she felt lighter.