Page 12 of Dark Desire (Dark Souls Spin-off Short Story)

“Wait! Stop! This is a misunderstanding!” I panicked, but none of them would listen.

My body was pulled and tugged in different directions, and angry faces hissed in mine.

I felt the tight pinch of something on my wrists as I tried to wrestle free.

I was so screwed. I had no choice but to prove them right and attempt to escape with magic.

I began to chant an incantation to break the chains around my wrists, but a cloth was stuffed in my mouth, and my eyes widened. Double fuck.

My back slammed against a wooden post, and my arms were chained behind it as I began to scream, the sound muffled by the filthy rag in my mouth.

Tears streamed down my face as I desperately turned my head to look at the other witches.

They appeared almost serene, as if they had expected this.

The one wearing the necklace locked eyes with me as they lit the hay and straw poking out between the wooden logs at her feet, and she smiled.

“Shan’t have fear, sister. We die with integrity.”

My head shook as I whimpered against the gag when the man moved towards me with his flame.

I could feel the heat of the fire on my face and the anguished cries of the witches around me as they burned slowly to death.

I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of that creature I saved from this very fate.

Saving him had brought me here, ready to burn as he should have.

The Fates had a twisted sense of humour to punish me like this.

As the flames engulfed my feet, I felt the throbbing of my temple and cried out with relief. Instead of resisting my magic, I surrendered to it immediately, squeezing my eyes shut and letting it carry me away from this hell.

“Darcie?”

I shot up from the cold, damp ground, panting heavily. My eyes widened as I looked out at the gentle lapping waves a few metres ahead on the pebbled beach I was lying on.

“Are you okay?”

I spun to my left to see Badger, the local fisherman, crouched beside me, staring at my face with deep concern. Falling back onto the beach, I closed my eyes, slamming my hands over my face.

“Oh, thank fuck for that!” I whispered. “I’m back.”

“Back? Where ’ave you been?” he asked as he grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet. I realised I was still wearing the weird brown cape over my clothes. Feeling panicked, I quickly delved into my bag to check I still had the necklace and breathed out a sigh of relief when I did.

“Right here. But not quite. Just…around,” I said, rubbing both my temples with my fingers. I was going to have a migraine for days after that. Talk about traumatic pasts.

“Okay,” he said, dragging the word out as if he was considering whether to have me committed. I mean, I probably should have been a long time ago, in all honesty. “Well, Evie has been really worried about you. She had us all looking for you now that the celebrations are over.”

“Evie?” I shouted, turning back to the village to find the streets were much emptier and cleaner than before. “What time is it?”

“Just gone two in the morning.”

I slammed my hands into my hair and gripped my messy curls. “Nooooo!”

I’d missed my chance for the summoning spell to be used at the most powerful point of the night.

“Are you sure you are okay, love?” Badger asked again, taking a hesitant step away from me as he did.

I swallowed down the feelings of failure.

I’d have to wait until the next full moon, and even then, there was no guarantee the witches of St Wythren would answer me.

This had been the perfect night for that.

And that’s if the Seekers didn’t get to me first.

“Yeah. Sorry,” I said, forcing myself to stop acting like a lunatic. “I suffer from these migraines, you see. They cause me to pass out sometimes. I came down here for some peace away from the crowds, and I must have passed out for a few hours. Poor Evie. I didn’t mean to worry everyone.”

“You poor thing. Let’s get you back to Evie’s, yeah?”

I nodded as he helped me walk back to my boss’s house in a daze.

Evie fussed over me for a good half an hour, making me drink a cup of tea and wrapping me up in blankets.

She didn’t even comment on the strange cape I was wearing because she was too busy asking why I smelled of smoke and forcing paracetamol down my throat.

“You should go and see Dr Marshall about these migraines, Darcie. That is not normal! I‘ll book you an appointment tomorrow and say it’s urgent.”

“Please don’t worry yourself with it, Evie. I’m fine. They don’t happen that often. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’d really like to go to bed, if you don’t mind. I’m exhausted.”

“Oh, of course! Go, go. You poor thing! And don’t even think of coming into work tomorrow. You should spend the day resting.”

I paused halfway up the staircase. “Oh shit! Evie, I am so sorry. I barely took any pictures tonight. I got a few of the start of the celebrations but–”

“I’m not even worried about that. Go to bed, young lady. Get a good night’s sleep.”

I smiled at her warmly. She truly had a heart of gold. “Thank you, Evie. For being so lovely.”

Opening the door to her guest room, I stepped inside, shut it behind me, and leaned against it. Tonight was a lot. I’d lived a crazy life, but somehow it only seemed to be getting more and more insane.

Exhaling a long breath, I began to untie the cape, letting it fall to the floor and stripping off my filthy clothes.

There was a rancid smell in the room, and I realised it was probably me.

The scent of smoke and mud clung to my skin, and I shuddered as I remembered those final moments tied to that stake.

It truly was a horrendous way to die, and I knew without a doubt I’d never regret the choice I made three months ago.

Standing in the shower, I turned the tap to scalding hot and stood under the steaming waterfall.

Closing my eyes, I pressed my hands against the cold porcelain tiles and tilted my head back, soaking my hair.

I stayed like that for quite a while, longer than I needed to wash away the horrific events of the night.

After lathering myself with Evie’s soap, I rinsed off and wrapped a large, fluffy towel around my body.

I already felt a million times better, even though my problems still seemed to be piling up.

There was the missing fae’s body, Beryl making me a suspect in the desecration of a grave, the masked green-eyed man chasing me tonight, and the fact that I didn’t get a chance to finish my spell.

The weight of those problems felt like a stone pressing on my chest while I tried my best to swim to the surface.

But I refused to drown under the pressure.

I was made of stronger stuff and nothing could–

I screamed at the top of my lungs when I whipped the cover back on the double bed to find the fae’s decapitated head resting on the pillow. My hand slammed over my mouth as I stumbled backwards, knocking into the dresser.

“Darcie?” Evie’s worried voice floated up from downstairs and then I heard her footsteps. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Thinking on my feet, I quickly cast a cloaking spell to make Evie see a teddy bear instead of a decapitated head on her blush bedding. I barely had time to swallow the vomit in my mouth when she barged into the room.

“Are you okay? I heard you scream!”

“I–Er–” My eyes darted between her and the mangled head. “I saw a spider. I’m sorry.”

“A spider?” She ran her hand through her neat hair. “Good heavens, woman. You scared the life out of me. I thought you were being murdered.”

I gulped.

She sighed, stepping closer to me and pressing her hand to my forehead. “You look really unwell. I am booking that appointment for tomorrow. No arguments.”

“Okay,” I squeaked. She gave me another deep frown before turning to glance around the room. “What is that awful smell?”

“I don’t smell anything,” I whispered, my heart thundering manically in my chest. I was going to be sick. She needed to leave because I was about to vomit all over her Egyptian cotton sheets.

“Really? You don’t smell that?”

“Nope.” I faked a yawn behind my hand and she took the hint.

“Okay. Well, try to get some sleep.” As soon as she left, I raced back into the bathroom and shoved my head down the toilet, spewing my guts out. When I had nothing left to give, I flopped down on the floor, still only wrapped in a towel and stared at the grotesque head of a man I killed.

Forcing myself to deal with this, I used a motus spell to move the head from the bed into the bin so I didn’t have to touch it, then tied the bin liner tightly.

I’d have to wait until Evie was sound asleep before taking it outside and discarding it somewhere.

Perhaps the sea? Do decapitated heads float?

Maybe that wasn’t a good idea. I could bury it in the woods, but whoever dug it up might do so again, and I wasn’t having that.

I fought back the tears. I knew I had no right to be upset about this — I mean, I did kill the man in the first place — but who hated me this much to be doing this to me?

Was it The Fates? I wasn’t sure they’d do something like this but who knows? I rubbed my tired eyes and glared at the bed. There was no way I was sleeping on that tonight. Grabbing the throw, I tugged it over me on the floor.

What a fucking night.