Page 106
Story: Bewitched
“Explode,” I whisper, and then I toss the magical grenade behind me.
BOOM!
The girl and I are thrown forward as the earth bucks, and the blast hits our back. Screams sound from behind me, and I grunt as I take on the full weight of the shifter, the two of us slamming into the ground.
Empress, what is happening!
That…didn’t go as planned.
I scramble back to my feet, hauling the girl up with me. I knock away my skewed mask, finally able to see my surroundings better. Singed wisps of peach-colored smoke waft through the air.
I glance down at my companion. One look at her dazed expression, and I know she’s not going to be able to run. And I don’t stand a chance fighting over a dozen people and a monster.
Only one option left.
I close my eyes, calling on my power.“Magic, magic, make me strong. Help me carry this girl far…and long.”
All right, not my best rhyme, but fuck it, it’ll do.
Power rushes down my arms and legs. I feel it winding about my lungs and pumping through my heart.
I sweep the girl off her feet, and cradling her in my arms, I run.
CHAPTER27
The tunnelwe enter is small and dank. The walls here are bare earth, and the marble gives way to flagstone. There are lit candles—probably from when the others passed through, and I just go off the assumption that if I follow the candlelight, it’ll lead me out. I have to assume that’s what’ll happen. If I’m wrong…
Can’t think about that.
As I’m running, I second-guess myself again. Maybe I overreacted back there. Maybe I saw a little blood and dark magic and blew everything out of proportion.
But my intuition is telling me I read the situation correctly. That something violent and bad was going on. Something I almost got duped into completing.
That spell the priestess had been uttering, why did it sound so familiar…?
Behind me, I hear the distant footfalls of my pursuers. Crap, they’re truly giving chase.
They haven’t caught up to me yet, but who knows how long that will last. I’m carrying another entire human being, and despite the power boost my magic is giving me, I don’t think I’ll have an edge for long.
Can’t think about that either.
In front of me, the tunnel branches off. Following the light, I turn right.
My black robe keeps tangling around my legs, and in my arms, the girl’s head lolls.
I hope she’s all right.
My eyes fix on the smear of blood on the shifter’s forehead, and the priestess’s incantation comes back to me.
With blood I bind. With bone I break. Only through death shall I at last forsake.
A chill snakes down my spine.
A binding spell.
That’s why the priestess’s incantation sounded familiar. She was performing abinding spell. The horror of it is only now hitting me.
There are natural bonds, like those of soul mates and familiars. Those require no spells. Their magic is innate; it initiates and executes the binding all on its own.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106 (Reading here)
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185