The Ether Witch Volume 2

Wixim's wings flared out, and his golden eyes homed on the lightning dome atop the tower.

"Wixim!" Tam hollered whilst approaching the golden dragon warily. "We have a bit of a situation."

The dragon seemed annoyed, and didn't look as though he were going to bother listening to whatever it was Tam was about to say; however, Kraken chose that moment to saunter over.

Rearing back on his hind legs, Wixim let out a snarl.

Kraken chirped.

Tam didn't need to know what Kraken was saying. He knew from personal experience Kraken was probably being his usual winning combination of insulting and threatening.

As much as Tam wanted to continue to watch the exchange between the dragon and the familiar, he couldn't help but become distracted by the clamor of fighting happening high above where his father seemed to be battling against the coven of Wittica members.

With a wince, Tam wondered if he should attempt to travel through the void to the top of the tower. The only problem with doing that being with his father's shield erected, he wasn't entirely certain he would be permitted through its barrier. He could possibly just bounce right off and fall which would be a waste of power.

"Uncle Tam?"

Antony's hesitant voice broke through Tam's thoughts.

He turned back to the children. Asher stood at Antony's side, while behind them, Charlie clasped Aster's hand. Meanwhile the witch Henrietta had transformed into a pretty white hen was hopping up the stairs toward her, clucking loudly.

"Can we go home now?" Antony asked, his face somber.

Tam smiled. "Of course you can. This actually saves me having to get creative about getting us off the island. I think I saw your grandpa's ship at the dock. Though I might have to help him wrap things up with—"

Wixim let out a screeching roar that pierced the air and made Tam jolt, his hand snapping up toward the hilt of his sword on instinct. Because of this, he noted the flutter of a black coat out of the corner of his eye.

The witch he had thrown off the balcony had returned. With friends.

It would seem he was an air witch.

There were three other witches now a part of the excitement, one of which had her hair literally aflame, and her eyes aglow.

"Boys, stay behind me," Tam ordered while rounding his stance toward the new attackers.

He debated taking his nephews and Aster into the void, but moving all of them would most likely drain more of his power than he could risk with this fight.

So, he once again reached for his sword, and it was a very good thing he did, as the instant he gripped the leather handle he was forced to draw it in a blur as a thin, nearly imperceptible missile launched itself at his face. He was barely able to block it with the flat of his blade, it send a sharp ping ringing out of his blade.

Tam didn't have a chance to see what he'd just blocked exactly was, as hundreds of the small spikes floated out of a brunette woman's hair, and shot at him in a cloud.

Realizing that he couldn't dodge all of the missiles, and he couldn't move into his void because the boys were behind himself, he turned his back and took the missiles there.

Luckily, the light armor he wore prevented him from feeling anything.

"WATCH OUT!" Antony screamed.

Tam barely had time to register the fact that the fire witch was launching a streak of blue flames in his direction. He and the boys hit the ground, but the sheer power of the flames had heat wavering in a haze through the air.

There was no time to recover from this attack, however, as the next thing Tam realized, was his body became light… Much lighter than it should've been.

He was floating, and he was floating toward the cloud of flames that had gathered in the air above him. After quickly confirming over his shoulder to see if the boys were being affected by this—he was impressed to see Aster Fuks had his arms around the younger children protectively—Tam pushed himself into the void.

When he reappeared behind the line of witches, he ensured to remain crouched so they wouldn't see him immediately, with his free hand he dragged his palm across the trouser cuffs belonging to the black haired air witch's, and the two dress hems of the fire witch and the one capable of creating missiles, sending them all into the void.

Realizing that her allies had disappeared, the witch Tam guessed capable of making him float spun around the same time Tam stood up.

"What did you do to them?" she spluttered while backing up a step.

"I didn't hurt them, and I can bring them back, but there are children present. We aren't going to continue this fight here today."

The witch glanced over her shoulder at the boys who were still in a protective huddle. Though Tam watched her pause as, just beyond his nephews, Kraken and Wixim still appeared to be in a heated discussion.

Kraken was in the middle of swiping at Wixim's snout.

Regardless of this, when she turned back to Tam, he could see the distrust in her eyes. "You're the devil. I'm not trusting anything you say."

He pointed at his nephews and Aster, and didn't hide his sarcasm. "You don't trust that there are children? You can't see them standing right there…?"

He watched her lips press together and attempted to change the direction of the conversation. "What is happening with the house witch?"

The witch scowled at him. "That is none of your concern. Leave."

"I'd love to. But I was hoping to get a ride back to the mainland with him."

She held up her hand. "I said leave."

Tam rubbed his eye wearily. "Do you want to disappear like your coven members? No? Good. If I were to guess, I'd take it the house witch is here because his grandsons are here?"

Judging by the way the witch was speaking to him, Tam presumed that she hadn't a clue who he was in relation to Finlay Ashowan.

The witch didn't say anything, but Tam felt himself once again go weightless, and so with a sigh and a flick of his wrist he sent her into the void with the others.

He fell back to the ground heavily. Rolling his shoulders in an attempt to get used to having a significant fluctuation of weight in the past few moments, Tam made his way back over to his nephews and Aster.

"Alright boys, things should be safe here. I'll have to go up and see what your grandfather is—" Tam's words were cut off when he noticed the blue lightning overhead turning white.

His father was reaching the end of his magical stores.

Panic gripped Tam, sharpening his senses in an instant.

"Kraken! Henrietta!" he barked. "Watch the boys."

Wixim's great head swung around, his eyes narrowed.

Sensing that the dragon's wrath could prove to be an issue if he chose to follow him up the tower, Tam spared a moment to ensure that did not happen. "Wixim, if my da uses up all his magic he'll make a curse here on this island. I'm just going to get him, the boys, and leave. For the safety of the children, will you agree to let us go?"

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Kraken must have said something annoying when he meowed because Wixim snapped his teeth at him. But when he looked back at Tam, he gave a slow nod of his head.

Tam gave one back in appreciation, then set his sights at the top of the dome. If he could vanish overhead, there might be a chance he could access the interior of the shield by moving through his void. He'd just need to be able to see where to reappear while falling.

"I thought Uncle Tam didn't have magic?"

Asher's question was the last thing Tam heard before he allowed himself to be swept up into the void, and then back out, falling over the dome of lightning that had turned entirely white.

He only had the span of a breath as he fell through the air above the Isle of Wittica to determine where he should reappear. So, without being able to assess just how many witches his father was fighting against, Tam homed his attention on a clear spot on the stones through the shield, and returned to the void, hoping that this idea would work. The cost of failure would be too high.

*

Fin knew he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

He knew his shield was white.

But he already knew exactly what he would be cursing all of Daxaria and Troivack with.

If he was going to die, then he was going to make it damn well worth it.

None of the witches trapped inside his shield could use their abilities, and if they attempted to approach him, a streak of lightning would deter them.

He wished he could've seen Annika again.

Or his children.

Or grandchildren.

He had known he couldn't keep fighting so many powerful witches for a long period of time. It wasn't in his nature. Though he had at the very least hoped he'd be able to locate his grandchildren during the altercation. Fin closed his eyes as sweat rolled down his spine, and he grit his teeth as he heard the shouts of concern from the five witches around him when they realized the color of his shield had changed. Most of the council members he had first met with continued to battle him, though many more had come to run interference, Fin had blasted a good number of them off the island and into the Alcide Sea. He knew his magic would stop them from hurting themselves upon landing, and there would undoubtedly be an air or water witch that would help the others return.

"I'd rather I didn't have to carry you out of here. You can stop now, Da."

Fin's eyes snapped open, and the shock of seeing his son resulted in his shield dissolving in an instant.

Wait.

How had Tam gotten inside?

As exhaustion permeated Fin's body at the sudden disconnect from the curse he had been slowly weaving, he forced himself to stay upright as he gaped at his son whom he hadn't seen in months.

Tam was changed.

Completely.

Fin could see it in his eyes, in his posture… He was stunned.

Tam stood tall, a sword in hand. His black hair had grown to his shoulders, but he wore it half tied back. His dark eyes that used to dart away from others and wide spaces surveyed the witches around them atop the tower coolly.

"My father and I will be leaving this island with his my nephews, my friend, and Lord Aster Fuks. No one is going to stop us. Your dragon has agreed to this, and my father's familiar is on this island." Two of the coven members whispered frantically to each other.

Fin watched Tam's gaze snap to them, and was taken aback by the darkness in his son's face.

"Where is the door to the stairs?"

"They aren't just going to let us leave, Tam," Fin began while drawing himself free from his shock. "They made that perfectly clear."

Tam raised an eyebrow in Fin's direction, and he found himself resisting the urge to frown.

Just what the hell had happened to Tam while he'd been in Zinfera?

"Well, they can try to stop us from leaving, but that would make for a pretty empty island."

Fin paused.

What was Tam implying?

Oddly enough, the coven members seemed to know exactly what Tam meant as the majority turned to Racine with their hands in the air.

Racine approached Tam, his countenance grim.

Fin shoved his hands in his pockets as he tried to not let on that he needed to take deep breaths.

Every moment he forced himself to stay awake was a battle.

"Lord Tam, we will happily allow you all to leave, but in exchange, we want Louise Riddel and the other witches that went missing weeks ago returned to us."

Fin rounded on Tam in alarm.

"My informing you that we were leaving was not a negotiation. It was a warning." Tam's voice was hard as granite. "Louise Riddel attacked my ship with my children on board as well as several other innocent—"

"I'm sorry, your what?" Fin cut in, his fatigue forgotten.

Tam closed his mouth. He then cleared his throat, and casually looked at his father out of the corner of his eye. "We can talk about that later."

"You said children. Plural. As in more than one," Fin persisted, ignoring his son's attempt at putting the matter to the side.

"Da, just… One…" Tam fumbled for words, made an aggravated noise, then returned his attention to the coven members. "We're leaving, and that's all there is to it."
Fin was gathering up another breath to start rattling off no less than a thousand questions that he had right then and there, when the largest feline creature he had ever seen dropped from the sky at Tam's side.

It had wings.

It snarled at the coven members.

"Tam!" Fin started forward, his hand outstretched in preparation to draw upon whatever power he could to protect Tam from the beast, consequences be damned, when Tam put his hand on the animal's shoulder.

Fin dropped his arm.

He then received another extra shock to his day as he watched the creature shudder and shift…

And there… was Eli.

At least Fin thought it was Eli. Tam was blocking the smaller woman from view as he proceeded to speak to the coven once more.

Fin didn't quite make out whatever was being said as the sounds around him started to turn fuzzy, and the wind that gusted against his face threatened to blow him over.

He blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, Tam was at his side, and had his arm thrown over his shoulder.

"Let's get back to Xava, Da," Tam murmured.

Despite the smothering blackness of sleep creeping into his vision, Fin still managed to say, "You… And I… Are having a very long talk when I wake up."