Page 33 of The Witch and His Crow
‘You next then?’ The witch drawled, eyes flickering to the drop behind me.
‘I’m really not in the fucking mood,’ I said through gritted teeth. And with that, my spare hand thrust outwards, sending the witch careening into the wall. Dust fell from the ceiling, the impact denting the plaster of the wall as the witch slumped to the ground.
There was a comfort in slipping back into the version of me who’d kept himself safe for all those years. Even without Caym’s presence, I could do it. And after everything that had happened so far, I needed this.
I leaned over the banister again, to find Arwyn still suspended, looking up at me with a wide grin. There was a knowingness about his expression, giving me the impression I’d stepped into a web of his making. His silence was almost as aggravating as the coven of witches who I was about to face. Relaxing my power, I carefully but quickly lowered Arwyn to the ground. Only until I sensed the press of his powerful body against the floor did I release him from my Gift.
‘Get out of here,’ I shouted down at Arwyn. Whether he listened or not, it didn’t matter. Because as I turned to face the coven, all four were looking at me. One witch for each of the four elements, their eyes glowing silver, gold, emerald and sapphire. Analmostperfect coven. The witch I had cast into the wall was standing, fury evident from the breathless gasp and wide-eyed stare. I could see my bedroom door just beyond them, but they formed a wall blocking me from reaching it. I could get there, but that would mean giving away mine and Romy’s base.
‘Hector Br—’ One witch began, before I quickly cut them off.
‘I swear to Hekate Herself, if I hear one more person begin their speech with my full name, I’m going tofucking lose it.’ I narrowed my eyes, hands flexing into fists.
Clearly, they didn’t expect me to walk towards them, unbothered. My brash approach made the earth-witch stumble back. ‘You have no idea how tired I am. Tired of this trial—hell,I’m tired of the Witch Trials entirely and it hasn’t even been aday. So, I’ll give you an option. Fuck off, leave me be, and I swear to you that you’ll find no issues with me going forwards. But continue to stand in my way, and…well I’m sure you can work out how this will end.’
If they all knew my name, they all were aware of my history with the Witch Hunters I’d killed. That was one good thing about gossip—it grew deadlier and more ugly the further it spread. And from the reaction that followed, they all knew the possible danger they faced.
But facing witches was different than facing Witch Hunters. Their weapons were not athames and guns. They had Gifts, and thus far I’d only worked out one of them.
It was the fire-witch who made the decision for the rest of his coven. ‘We’re just following the rules of the trial. Don’t hate the player, hate the?—’
My arm jolted up, palm outstretched, fingers clawed. I wrapped my Gift around the fire-witch and yanked him forwards. The toes of his boots raced around the ground, melting from the friction. Then his neck met my hand.
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you,’ I spat, my lips brushing his ear. It was his turn to go for a little fall, except I wasn’t prepared to stop the body this time. I flung the fire-witch over the banister, delighting in his scream as he fell. The heavy thud of his body was as loud as the bell that began the trial.
The air popped ahead of me. A witch literally disappeared from view, leaving a little puff of smoke in their wake. I watched them reappear beside the bent body of the fire-witch.A teleporter… great.I’d practice fighting Witch Hunters, but witches not so much. It was impossible to know their Gift until they used it. But from what I had seen, if I was to get out of this, I would need to continuously evolve my tactics with every unique power revealed.
The remaining two witches charged me. With the banister at my back, and them before me, I had little space to move.
So I’d have to go through them. I’d treat it like bowling, I thought to myself. If I could get one of them over that banister at a time, my issue would be resolved. But as I sent myself airborne, flipping over the witches with the aid of my Gift, the air popped at my side. Arms wrapped around me, followed by the acrid taste of smoke.
Fuck.
The teleporter was back.
Double fuck.
Teleporting through space and time was an uncomfortable experience. My body broke apart in smoke, deconstructing, only to put itself back together again. I barely closed my eyes before I met the wall face-on. Pain lanced across my head, shooting down my spine as I crumbled into a heap on the floor.
Swinging my arms back, I attempted to push out more of my Gift but it was…stunted. Weak. It was like scooping up sand in a bucket of holes. It slipped away from me, no matter how much I tried to take.
‘Oh no, has something happened to your Gift?’ It was the water-witch who was above me. Beyond her was the teleporter who’d popped into existence after thrusting me into a wall. Considering the water-witch’s eyes flashed sapphire and her entire focus was on me, I could only imagine my lack of power was her doing. That was when I saw a shifting shield in the air, encasing me. She certainly was dampening my power, but from the way the other witches kept a distance, it proved her gift would work on them too.
Powerless and wracked with agony, I only had desperation to fuel me.
I managed to right myself just as a heavy boot crashed into my side. More pain. Over and over the boot slammed into myside, leaving a map of bruises across my ribs and chest. I did the only thing I could think of and curled in on myself, wrapping my head in my arms. It was never ending. Bones snapped, skin split. My teeth cut into my gums when a fist or boot cracked into my head. My covered arms barely took the brunt of the force. In a last ditch effort, I screamed for the only person I could think of.
‘Romy!’ I choked on the name.
The attacks ceased. Seconds stretched to hours in the hold of such discomfort. When I was confident another attack wouldn’t come, I lowered my arms enough to peak through swollen eyes at the coven.
‘It’s Jordan’s turn,’ the water-witch said, standing aside for the third who had yet to attack. Jordan was an air-witch, like me. His deep brown eyes spun with silver, reflecting off his snow-pale face. There was something detached about his stare, something broken and wrong. It was as though he was looking at me, and then through me, all in the same moment.
‘Please…’ I wasn’t pleading with the coven, but to Romy. Hell, anyone who could help me. Shouting Salem’s name was on the tip of my tongue. Whether I trusted him or not, I knew he’d not hesitate to kill these witches.
Without my gift, without my shadow, I was the same helpless boy my mother hid from danger eighteen years ago. Just as I was then, I was not able to protect myself. It was always Caym I relied on, then my power. Without either, I was pathetic.
‘Please,’ Jordan parroted back, his head tilting. Then he stopped making sound, but his lips continued to move, mumbling beneath his breath.
