Page 92 of Traitor Witch

But this dark magic feels... right. It feels like the Goddess's will.

"I curse this sacred land to ruin until a Lunar witch comes to reclaim it for the Goddess. Anyone who enters without the blessing of the Dark Mother will suffer terrible misfortune for the rest of their life. And those who dare tread in her sacred waters—" I glare at the councilman through eyes watering with the amount of power I'm channelling— "shall wither and die, never to share the space among the stars with their ancestors. By the will of the Moon Mother, it is done."

The effect is instant. A bomb-blast of power surges through my body.

The transmutation circles, still hovering in the air around me are blown away like dust on the wind, replaced with dark fires that eat away at the mages surrounding me. They shrivel into husks before my eyes. Their last horrified expressions disintegrating as they wither right to the bone.

Those who aren't in the water try to run, but the magic chases them. Settling into their skin in red and silver sigils that proclaim their curse to all witches.

When it's done, I fall back into the water, exhausted.

Being a conduit for that kind of power was like nothingI've ever experienced before, and it takes all of my energy to crawl out of the cooling water and flop on the ground.

The stones around me are already crumbling, the silver curse sigils enacting the Goddess's will on the temple.

Opal comes up beside me and sits against my side, starting to clean her paws as if nothing just happened.

"Well, that was dramatic."

"It wasn't exactly planned," I mutter. "I'm just going to rest here for a second..."

"And what are you going to do when your men come looking for you and accidentally set off your little curse...?"

Oh fuck. I really didn't think this through.

I glance back at the pool, and the ring of red curse sigils now branded into the tiles of the floor.

Yeah, no way am I letting Cas, Rysen, and Kier get stuck with lifelong misfortune.

With a drawn-out sigh, I pull myself to my feet and stagger through the crumbling doorway.

I'm burned out and I know I must look drunk. I end up sitting on the street, just beyond the silvery boundary of my curse. The barely-there scarf that had been my disguise is riding up, probably flashing everything I have to the world, but I just don't have the energy to care.

Opal sits beside me, still cleaning herself, occasionally. But mostly standing guard as I try to pull myself together.

The mark on my back burns a little less as each hour passes and I drift in and out of consciousness. The pain has faded to a dull throb and the moon is almost invisible in the light of the dawn before I manage to push myself back to my feet again.

I'm surprised that the pirates haven't tracked me down once again, but I'm grateful for the solitude as I stagger through the streets. The last thing I need now is to be forcedto go back to the ship and rest when I'm so close to the answers I need.

The Solar temple is unchanged, still as ruined as it was when I left. I almost sigh in relief as I scan it for any signs of trouble.

I didn't consider that the mages might try to take revenge for my actions out on the only remaining witches of Ilyani. I should have.

My own selfishness shames me, and I waste precious moments using the still-bleeding wound at my wrist to daub warding sigils at the boundaries.

With that done, I make my way inside, clipping the heavy cuffs on as I pass the Sun Goddess's statue.

The instant, dampening effect it has on my magic is uncomfortable. Even my link to Opal is muted.

It makes the trudge up the stairs to the top of the tower feel even longer.

By the time I reach the top, I couldn't hurt a fly even if I wanted to.

The High Priestess is still doing morning prayers, a circle of other Solars on their knees surrounding her as sunlight bathes the group so brightly I can barely make her out in the centre of it all.

I wait on the edge, respecting their space and using the time to catch my breath.

"Nilsa Dunn av Coveton, step forward."