Ch 29: The Accomplice

Astasha’s head was splitting as if fire was searing through it. What was going on? She tried to open her eyes, but her lids were too heavy. Maybe if she slept more, the pain would stop. Yes, she needed rest.

As she tried to roll over in her bed, she realized her arms were very heavy as well. In fact, they refused to move. Why couldn't she make them move?

It was then that she became aware of something wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides with her back against something hard. Slowly, panic set it, and everything began to come back to her; the salve, the dizziness, the darkness. But she had made it to Bryn. She had seen his face before losing consciousness.

Something was wrong.

She mustered all her willpower and forced her eyes to open. Her vision was blurry and the world dark but she could make out a shape moving in the distance.

Astasha attempted to move again but realized she was restrained, tied to something. A chill went down her spine. The demon's accomplice had her. She had been captured by them, and now, her greatest fears were about to come true.

Shaking her head, she tried to get her eyes to focus, and slowly, her surroundings came into her view, causing her breath to catch.

She was back in her clearing, the very one she had performed the blood ritual in to free Cal. Her back was to a tree, her arms pinned to her side, but there were no physical bindings holding her. It had to be magic that was restraining her.

Someone was walking around the circle of trees. She knew it was the culprit, the one who had drugged her and brought her here. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head again, forcing her vision to clear.

A gasp escaped her lips.

Bryn came into view, casting runes into the ground using herbs and stones.

"You. It was you."

He didn't respond, just continued with his work.

Confusion swirled in Astasha's mind. This wasn't right. The demon, it had spoken of a woman. Had it tricked her? Planted a false trail of clues in her mind? Or was this who the woman had convinced to free it?

"Bryn, please, whatever they promised you, whatever it promised you, don't believe it."

Again, he didn't respond.

“Please,” Astasha begged. “You have to let me go.”

"He can't do that."

Astasha's heart pounded as realization dawned on her. Of course it was her. She should have known. All the snide comments, the anger, the hatred she had felt from her.

“Cordelia.”

The water witch stepped out of the trees into the clearing in front of her.

"Oh Tasha, how far you have fallen when you could have had it all."

Astasha's jaw clenched and her hands turned to fists. She tried to summon any ounce of magic inside her, but there was nothing.

Cordelia cocked an eyebrow. "I'm assuming that you're realizing now you can't do magic. I didn't have the power Errant did to silence you, but you'd be amazed what certain herbs can do to mute a witch's powers. Bryn here has been most helpful."

Turning her head, Tasha tried to get the earth sorcerer’s attention. "Please Bryn. Don't let her drag you into this. You can still help me."

A laugh came from Cordelia's lips and Astasha's attention was drawn back to her.

"You think he chose to do this? Why would I leave anything to chance when so much is on the line? That demon inside you was right, the power you can unleash when you give in to it, learn to harness it."

Slowly, the blonde made her way over to Bryn.

"Did you know that humans have a surprising amount of water inside them? Once I had learned the trick of sex magic from watching your memories, I realized my ability to control water had no limits. I could feel it within myself, which gave me the idea to see if I could control the water inside others. It's like pulling strings on a puppet. Poor Bryn here didn't stand a chance."

This was insanity. Had she really found a way to use her powers to control her fellow sorcerer? And if so, why was she not under the same spell?

"Why didn't you just control me then? You could have left Bryn out of this whole thing…”.

Cordelia's lip curled. "At first, I couldn’t seem to find a way to get you alone. I needed to get closer to you, but I knew you didn't like me, or trust me. It took some interesting scheming, but I finally discovered you were using the salve from Bryn without question, and that was when I knew, he was the answer. Once I had used him to drug you, I tried to manipulate the water inside you, but the fire in your veins seemed to counter it, to protect you in a way.”

Tasha shook her head. “This is fucking crazy Cordelia. Why are you doing this?"

"Because I am tired of living in the damn shadows!" She bellowed in response. "The weak and useless water witch, always outshone by the King's precious fire witch! You stole my chance to prove myself at every turn. You were always the one called upon, the one whose opinion they valued. All I wanted was to be held in high regard, to be praised and revered. But no one even saw me.”

She was in Astasha’s face, loathing and jealousy in her eyes. “I never meant to—“

Cordelia scoffed. “Oh please. I had given up caring until I realized you had ensnared the Prince. I was finally going to be rid of you, but no. The beautiful and powerful Astasha was above even treason. So when I heard what the demon had promised you, about power, about being a Goddess amongst men, I knew there were far greater possibilities than simply being a tool for the King. I will finally be revered, but now it will be in fear that they bow to me.”

Whatever had happened to cause the water witch to become so unhinged, Astasha didn’t know. But the madness that had taken her would be the ruin of all if she didn’t find a way to stop her.

"Cordelia, please, the demon is lying. He speaks poison and trickery. I listened to only a portion of what it told me and I have been punished ever since. This won’t end in glory, it will end in death and destruction.”

“No. Once I release it and give it the prize it so desperately wants, I will be rewarded. It will teach me knowledge that your great High Sorcerer is afraid to even ponder. Nothing will be able to touch me.”

Bryn finally finished casting the runes and came to stand near the two witches, his body still, face blank. If Cordelia was going to attempt to release the demon, Astasha needed to stall. She hoped that someone would realize she was missing, that the barrier alarm had gone off. But if it hadn't, she didn't know how long before anyone would be alerted to her absence, and even more so, how long till they were found. Perhaps Cal could feel her panic and would alert Errant. But the moon was high in the sky and she knew he was probably asleep. She had to buy time.

"Cordelia, I know that we haven't ever seen eye to eye, that you think I stole the favor of the King from you, but I never wanted that, I never harbored any ill will---"

"Enough! Stop trying to convince me you're the innocent one in all this. The things you've done... you sit on your fucking pedestal, untouchable, despite everything you've done."

"That isn't true. I've lost more than you know--"

“Bullshit. You've lost what should have never been yours! And now, I'm going to take what is mine."

Cordelia pulled a ritual blade from her side and Astasha fought to keep calm, to stop herself from panicking. She needed to think. If she couldn’t reason with her about why she was doing this, perhaps she could convince her of the dangers of how.

"Cordelia, please, there's so much we don't know about this kind of magic, I took risks I never should have, risks that could have killed me. I could feel it drain me just in doing the runes. The amount of power you need, it could consume you.”

"Unlike you, I actually listened to the demon." The look in the water witch's eyes scared Astasha. The demon had seduced her with its words and now there was no knowing what she was willing to do. She assumed Cordelia was planning to use Bryn to build her power through sex magic, just as Astasha had done with Cal, but she cringed to think how much further Cordelia might take it.

"Please," she begged again. "if you release the demon into this world, it will only bring violence and chaos. It will fucking kill you, and everyone you ever loved."

Astasha desperately tried to summon energy within her, but nothing was happening.

Cordelia stepped closer to her. "Everyone I ever loved is already gone. Don’t you worry though, I will prove to be invaluable to the demon once it realizes all the information I can offer it. You, however..." Her eyes drifted over Tasha. "Well, you know as well as I do what it wants to do to you."

"I promise you, Cordelia, I won't be the only one the demon has its way with, and the blood of every one of its victims will be on your fucking hands.”

The water witch's lips turned up in a sneer. “Sometimes you have to get your hands a little dirty to get what you want.”

And with that, she grabbed Astasha's hand and drug the blade deeply along the almost healed cut on it.

The suddenness of the pain caused her to cry out.

Cordelia raised the blade, slicing Astasha’s dress open, the material falling away, leaving her exposed from the waist up. She was uttering words, words Tasha knew very well. They were the same she had used.

She hadn't realized the chalice her blood was dripping into, but Cordelia dipped her fingers into it and Astasha shuddered as they traced runes in blood across her chest and stomach.

It was as if she was living in a recurring nightmare. The clearing, the runes, the blood. She knew what was next. Cordelia would have to pull an insurmountable amount of energy to release the demon.

Bryn still stood nearby, his expression blank. Tasha wondered if he knew what was happening, if it was like it had been for Calder; watching without being able to do anything about it.

Cordelia finished with the runes and turned to the earth sorcerer. This was it. She was about to use him just as Astasha had used herself, but this time, she would be unleashing horror onto the world.

Cordelia held out her hand to Bryn and he approached her. There was a smile on her lips and it sent shivers down Astasha's spine.

Gently, Cordelia touched his cheek. Was she trying to comfort him? How twisted had her mind become?

Astasha didn't have time to think any further, however, for Cordelia's arm moved with a determination and a speed, and the ritual blade slid across the earth sorcerer’s neck, slicing it completely open, splattering blood across the ground.