The Ether Witch Volume 2

Tam gripped the handle of the knife Aradia presented to him. He was struggling to remain acting as calm and cool as he imagined the devil would. A rumble of thunder sounded above them, right before the rush of rain hitting the tree tops echoed around them.

"I'm surprised you don't want to do the honors yourself," he said while inspecting the fine engravings in the blade.

Aradia's eyes were turning cold as her impatience visibly dwindled. "Get on with it or—"

Her words were cut off as the sound of a roar of broken and crushed underbrush echoed loudly throughout the forest.

Both Tam and Aradia turned.

Tam frowned as he registered the flash of gold moving toward them.

Wixim was here? Did he attack Eli and the children?

Aradia's head snapped back round. "Stop delaying. Get on with it."

Tam didn't move. He needed to know what the dragon was doing.

"If I send up the signal, those archers will shoot your family."

Tam's attention snapped back to Aradia who was lifting a whistle from underneath her shirt.

Interestingly, it reminded Tam of the one Wixim had given Eli months ago.

The moment of hesitation, however, was all the time it took for the golden dragon to reach the stone circle.

Wixim took a graceful leap over the stones, landing firmly inside them, snatched Tam in his claws, and bounded away from the stones once again.

"WIXIM! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Aradia roared.

Tam's world was spinning as he was dragged away from his death unceremoniously by a dragon.

His sight eventually turned right side up when Wixim placed him on his back and, without needing further instruction, Tam grasped one of the dragon's raised vertebrae, and hung on as Wixim took to the sky, forcing him to also clamp his legs tightly to not slide off.

The rain slashed at Tam's face. It felt like chunks of hail rather than just water as they climbed the skies over the treetops, only for Wixim to then swerve. Tam would've liked to have seen where they were heading, but between the wind and rain assaulting him, it took everything he had just to stay astride.

Luckily they were not airborne for long, and Tam could sense even with his eyes closed that they were nearing the ground.

When the dragon gently landed, Tam opened his eyes to see his breath clouding in the air, as his hair clung to his head, making him shiver.

It was then he noticed the carriage and the bodies on the ground.

Blind terror seizing him, Tam dismounted and bolted for the carriage. Rather than feel relief at looking inside as thunder and lightning fractured the world behind him, he felt shock numb his body as he took in Eli's gray complexion, the side of her face and neck smeared with blood.

"DAD!" Both Luca and Penelope burst out of the carriage wrapping their arms around Tam frantically.

"What happened?" he rasped, his gaze not leaving Eli's face.

A flicker of feeling came back into his being when she managed to partially open her eyes.

"Mom fought off the archers!" Luca explained, as both he and Penelope released Tam and stepped back.

Tam climbed into the carriage and touched Eli's cheek, gently angling her head so he could see the side of her neck.

The wound wasn't deep, but it would definitely scar.

"She has another one on her back," Penelope informed Tam seriously.

Tam's breath hitched.

He was about to ask Eli if she could lean forward so he could take a look at that wound, when the sound of horses galloping closer caught his ears.

The way he was feeling in that moment, he was relatively certain he was about to kill whoever it was, that is until he heard the call.

"TAM! TAM ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

Tam cast one last fretful look at Eli, and pulled free from the carriage. "We were attacked! Eli's hurt!"

The house witch was on a horse and behind him was Sir Lewis.

"Where are the boys?" Tam demanded when he realized he didn't see the carriage.

"Captain Taylor is waiting for us up ahead to escort us all home! He's with them!"

"The first witch is in the woods! Wixim—"

Tam looked behind himself, and only then realized the golden dragon was nowhere to be found.

He didn't have time to worry about that though, nor to question why Wixim had suddenly helped them.

Eli needed to get help. Immediately.

Tam looked back at his father. "Eli's hurt. I can drive the carriage back to the castle, can you stay with her?"

Fin was already dismounting his horse. "Of course. That works out as it looks like your own horses were cut loose, You and Sir Lewis get them hitched up, and I'll get in the back."

With a short nod, Tam set to work as his father's friend stepped off his own horse, and joined him in reattaching the animals to the carriage.

The rain continued to drench them to the bone, but Tam didn't notice anymore as he felt his thoughts barely connect as fear rocked his very soul.

Being afraid wasn't going to help Eli, though, so as time inched along, he allowed himself to slip into an empty place in his mind as his hands worked steadily.

They would get home, and they would heal her and make sure the baby was alright.

They had to.

*

"Wixim! What the hell are you doing?" Aradia demanded, her hand grasping the dagger tightening.

The golden dragon had returned moments after stealing Tamlin Ashowan away from her. At the very least he had dropped the ceremonial knife when he'd been grabbed. However, as Wixim sat across from her at the table in the downpour, she noted the distance in his eyes, and the sad acceptance in the shape of his brow bone.

"Those who fought for you hurt a familiar. Your side broke the divine law, Aradia."

"What? Kraken the familiar is in the carriage with the house witch! What are you—"

"His mate is a hybrid. It has recently come to my attention that decades ago, the Giong Coven offered the blood of ancient beasts to any nobility that would pay. The allure of possible power or immortality drawing many."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Aradia felt her stomach roil. "They did what?"

"I believe the parents of Princess Elisara were some of these nobles, and it is my theory that her mother may have been pregnant at the time she drank the blood."

Aradia felt her jaw open as she struggled against the urge to be sick.

"Ansar should have told you who she was."

"We've been busy with negotiations!" Aradia exclaimed, though there was no anger in her response, only pain. "Wixim, please. I didn't know! I swear! You know I would never—"

"I know, Aradia. But the fates have decided the side I must fight with."

"But I didn't know! If you leave me Wixim I'll be… I don't know that we'll win! This… This isn't right! Please. Please don't leave me."

The golden dragon lowered his head, and said nothing.

Tears of frustration rose in Aradia's eyes. "What am I supposed to do? How can I… How can I let my brother live on happily while I'm cursed? Why is it fate that I lose? What did I do? Wixim, I've tried, and tried. I'm even still trying! I tried to protect humans and avoid violence, and I kept being punished, and hurt! I started doing things how everyone else did things, and suddenly I'm the worst villain of them all! What can I do? If I do nothing, I'm hurt! If I do something, I'm evil. I'm so… I'm so tired and I just want to go home!" Aradia's voice cracked as she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. "I don't want to be broken any more."

The rain continued to drench the world as the first witch succumbed to her centuries of pain and suffering.

She heard the sound of Wixim leaning forward, and felt the gentle tap of his talons on her back and scaled cheek on the top of her head.

"Perhaps we try to negotiate."

"They aren't going to let Tamlin or the child die."

"That isn't who I'm talking about."

Aradia pulled away from Wixim's embrace, her eyes bright with confusion and pain.

The dragon's lips lifted in a kind smile. "Perhaps it is time everyone negotiates with the Gods themselves."

Aradia stepped backward and smiled bitterly. "I've prayed. I've sent messages with the familiars. There is nothing that can be done."

Wixim lowered his face in front of her, and lightly tapped her nose with his. "This time you wouldn't be doing it alone. I think if we went and talked with the Ashowan family and that… irritating hairball that calls himself an empurror, there may be a solution."

Aradia paused. Her body felt heavy, and sore with more than just physical pain. "Will you help me?"

Wixim slowly closed his eyes and gave a faint rumble. "Of course. I think this would also be in line with helping them end this feud."

Swallowing, Aradia nodded, then turned to walk away. She would drink another vial of the water from the Goddess's pool and fly to Austice where Ansar would be waiting. She'd have him draw her a bath, prepare some dry clothes for her, brew her a cup of tea, and when that was all finished, she'd start working on her new plan.

***

As soon as the carriage pulled to a halt in front of the castle in Austice, Tam leapt down from the bench, and hurried over to the carriage door, shouting for the physician.

He noted that his father must have ripped up his shirt in order to bandage the wound on Eli's neck, and had covered her with her coat.

Carefully reaching inside, Tam drew her to his chest while his father guided his hands for him around the wound on her back. Once that was situated, Tam bolted from the carriage up the stairs and into the castle.

There already was a flurry of movement.

First there was Hannah ordering fresh towels and hot water, but when she reached his side she matched his pace and said,"Tam! Bring her to the guest quarters at the back of the castle! It'll save you taking the stairs!"

Next, Katarina appeared jogging down the stairs with Eric at her side.

The couple took one look at the situation and halted in their steps as Tam flew by them and proceeded down the south corridor to the room Hannah had instructed him to take her.

By the time he reached the small chamber, Tam's sweat was mixed with the rain water, and he was doing his best not to drip on Eli as he lay her down on the bed that only had a set of white sheets on it.

Her eyes slowly opened right as Hannah rushed in behind Tam and started working on the fire.

"I think I just am in shock," she said faintly. "The wounds shouldn't be deep, and I didn't fall that far—"

Tam grabbed her icy hand in his own and kissed her fingertips as he brought himself to kneel beside her. "When did you fall?" Tam exclaimed in alarm.

"During the fight with the archers. I jumped over the carriage, and got hit, so I fell on the carriage, then rolled to the ground."

Tam cursed and was about to ask follow up questions about her pain when the physician arrived.

"Lord Tam, please leave the room while I—Oh."

Tam looked over his shoulder and saw that the physician's eyes were fixed on Eli's middle that was especially noticeable thanks to the rain making her shirt cling to her.

The physician overcame his surprise swiftly, and set to rolling up his black sleeves. "How far along is she?"

"Just under three months," Tam explained while forcing himself to stand and make way for Eli to be examined.

"Alright. I will take good care of her, Lord Tam. Please leave me to work."

Tam's eyes sought out Eli's , and she gave him a slow nod of her head. "I've survived worse, Tam. Let's get on with it."

Tam wished he could've smiled at her but he wasn't successful. He backed out of the room, only vaguely aware that there was a hand on his elbow that was actually the reason he was able to move at all.

As soon as the door closed, Tam felt his mind fire back to life with every horrible, anxious thought imaginable.

"I'll send her energy so that she recovers quickly."

Kat's voice sounded like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel.

"I'm sorry, Tam… I'm sure things will be alright."

Acid and pain burned Tam's gut and throat as he turned to look at his sister's grim expression.

Somehow, seeing Kat's face after everything that had happened made him say the words that were already becoming unbearably prominent in his mind. "It should've been me. Not her. I'm supposed to die. She isn't. She can't die, Kat. I don't… I don't know what I'm going to do if she does."