The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy

CHAPTER 60 A WITCH’S WIN

Kat landed with a thud amongst the moss, ferns, and mushrooms, a thin, wispy fog hovering around her.

She sat up hurriedly, ready to charge back through the portal, but … she instead found herself staring at a large stone with a long glowing crack in it that resembled the portal when the first witch had created it moments before.

“Godsdamnit, this isn’t good.” Panic fluttered in her throat as she drew her sword and tried to tap the glowing crack only to have her blade be repelled off, making the steel ring. “Reeaaaally not good. Damn, damn, damn!”

She lifted her chin and looked at the clear blue sky bordered with lush trees.

“Come out.”

Kat jumped, then swung around to find herself staring at several ancient beasts standing and waiting eerily outside the stone circle.

The one who had spoken appeared to be another imp, though this one had short pale blue hair and eyes the same color. Similar to the imp she had just seen die, his eyes had three pupils and was extraordinarily tall. He stared emotionless at the redhead.

“Go join the others that have come through. They have found peace in the forest. We must try to open the portal again.”

Kat let out a long breath and turned around to stare at the beastly faces.

“I agree that this portal needs to be opened, but only because I’m getting out of here. You lot need to stay here. The devil isn’t coming back today. Not unless we can get both the first witch and him through this stupid thing.” She gestured over her shoulder and watched as the imps and sirins narrowed their eyes.

Kat blinked. “Wait … No more stone golems? What about dragons? Not that I’m complaining, but it’s odd.”

“We just sent a golem,” the imp who had first spoken to her retorted defensively, his icy eyes watching her unnervingly and his pupils slowly spinning. “Come out, or we will force you out. You’ve died; you need to pass.”

“Like hell I will! I’m not dead! My body came through with my soul. Nice try!” Kat gripped the hilt of her sword even more tightly.

The creatures murmured amongst themselves at this development.

“That does not matter. You are dead,” the imp tried to reiterate, though he didn’t sound as certain.

“Look, I get you’re loyal to the first bitch, I mean witch, but I have a husband who is slightly codependent, a familiar who isn’t even fully grown, an emotional father, a brother I haven’t annoyed in months. And if I die, my mother might come find me and make me regret dying in the first place! Gods, you have no idea what she’ll do to you if I tell her about this! Hell, even I don’t know what she’d do …”

The creatures grew angry over her insult of the daughter of the Gods, and Kat watched warily as both an imp and a sirin started approaching her from the sides of the stone circle.

She readied herself.

They aren’t using magic to cast me out … Maybe they can’t use it inside the circle …

Kat stood perfectly still, then when the sirin and imp crossed into the circle, she lunged to the right, stabbing the sirin and throwing a knife at the imp.

The imp fell back, the blade lodged deep into his chest.

Kat kicked the body of the sirin off her sword and recentered herself by the portal. When she had gotten close to the border of the stone circle, she could feel an unpleasant pulling sensation in her body … An instinct in her told her that if she crossed the stones, there really wouldn’t be any going back.

Her heart pounded in her chest.

There were enough of the beasts that if they rushed her, they could crowd her out, even if she unleashed her magic … She needed to find some way, some hope that she could open the portal again, and fast.

Wait!

Kat took a risk and closed her eyes.

She could still feel her connection to everyone! She could feel it flowing through the portal …

There really was a chance! She did her best to push a little magic through. She needed her da to at least feel that she was still alive while she sorted things out, and maybe he could help get her out, and she needed to make sure Eric wasn’t too hurt after his fall.

Kat only had just enough time to press a little spark through her connection to Fin and Eric when she heard the rustle.

Her eyes flew open, and she gritted her teeth as the beasts all ran toward her.

I just have to beat them all, I guess …

Her eyes glinted, and she bared her teeth.

At first it was easy. She cut down two sirins who swiped at her with their claws, but then the imps joined, and they could reach over the sirins that packed the circle, trying to grab Kat from above, which meant she had to try to cut the sirins and dodge the imps simultaneously … Her aura burned, but they just kept coming and coming …

Then two imps worked together, each reaching down and grabbing an arm of hers and hoisting her up. Though Kat still gripped her sword, she could tell they intended to simply chuck her out of the circle.

“I will sic my father’s cat on you, you sons of—”

A dagger lodged itself in one of the imp’s heads, making him crumple to the ground, and without his companion helping him, the other imp instantly dropped Kat as well.

The magical beasts turned and found themselves staring at a small cluster of people …

Kat looked to see who her savior was as well, and her jaw instantly dropped.

“C-Captain Antonio?!”

There, with his blue eye glinting and wearing a comfortable periwinkle tunic and brown pants, was the former captain of Daxaria’s military. He smiled fondly at her and was already drawing another dagger from his belt.

“Hello again, my little spitfire.”

Kat laughed in disbelief, her eyes watering in an instant as the man she had thought of as a grandfather smiled at her kindly while already prowling closer to the horde in the circle.

The imp that had been holding Kat suddenly doubled over as he found his groin crushed by a long staff …

“Mage Lee?!”

Kat gawked toward her left at the elderly mage with his well-muscled arms, who had served as the Royal Court Mage under King Norman Reyes for decades, as he effectively wielded the staff without its mage crystal.

He grinned back at her without saying a word as though even in death he were still trying to be mysterious.

“Katarina?”

The redhead whirled around to see two women. The shorter one with wavy brown hair and who had called out to her had something familiar about her …

“Gods, you look like Fin!” she uttered with a watery smile.

Kat blinked, stunned, but when she regarded the other woman and recognized her as Queen Ainsley Reyes, everything clicked.

“You … You’re my grandmother, Katelyn Ashowan.” Kat stared in awe at the shorter woman, who beamed proudly back at her and nodded. Then the redhead turned to Ainsley Reyes. “You … You are …”

“Your mother-in-law, from what I last heard.” Ainsley smiled, then proceeded to wind her arm back and chuck a stone at a sirin near the outskirts of the circle.

“Katarina, do your best to get through that portal! It will be harder for it to exist if fewer soldiers are coming through!” Katelyn Ashowan shouted urgently right as Kat narrowly dodged a sirin’s claw swiping toward her face as the brawl resumed.

“It seems to repel my sword!” she hollered back while punching another imp in the groin. From outside the circle, Mage Lee clubbed the same imp on the backside of the head.

“Fuse your magic with it! If you can absorb it and become part of it, you just need to find a way to pull yourself through to the other side!”

Kat drew her sword again to cut down another three sirins who reached out and yanked at her hair and tried to cut her throat with their sharpened nails.

She knew she didn’t have enough time, but she wished she did … She wished she could’ve said thank you to all her dead loved ones for helping her … She wished she could’ve told her grandmother Katelyn Ashowan how everyone adored her and still talked of her often …

One day I guess I will get the chance … It just won’t be today.

While both saddening and humbling, Kat couldn’t spare another thought. With her aura rising again, fully rejuvenated thanks to the magical creatures and their fury toward her, she shoved her hand into the glowing seam and willed her magic into it. She could feel sharp teeth bite into her legs, but she had no choice but to close her eyes. She belatedly remembered her sword could help hone her abilities, and so she channeled her power into the weapon until it reverberated in her hand while praying that it would help, then lunged with her entire body into the portal. She could feel the push and pull of the intense magic surrounding her, more powerful than anything she had ever encountered. She took one step and another and then …

The golem stood before Eric, its foot rising in preparation to crush him … when suddenly the giant stone being was tackled, flying backward into the gate that thankfully the archers and knights had vacated before it was crushed.

What had tackled it?

Eric stared in confusion, unsure if he was hallucinating.

However … as it turned out … it was the first golem.

The first golem that had arrived with the first witch was pummeling the other one that had come through the portal.

The prince was too stunned to comprehend what in the world was going on, when a large pair of boots thudded to a stop at his side.

Despite the pain racking Eric’s body, he managed to look up and see Sir Cleophus Miller with Pina on his shoulder, who was in the process of casually grooming her tiny white paw.

“W-What—”

“It likes Pina,” Cleophus explained simply as though that answer should’ve made perfect sense.

It took Eric far longer than it perhaps normally would’ve to figure out what the Troivackian knight meant.

“The golem … that first attacked … is now on our side … because of—”

“Because of Pina,” Cleophus confirmed once more with a nod.

“Huh …” Eric turned, then coughed, which just about made him pass out from the agony.

He vaguely wondered what was happening with the rebel army, and the other sirin, but really, his eyes were glued on the line of light that barred him from Kat.

“She’ll be fine,” Cleophus grunted down at the prince.

Eric felt his hand grip into a fist. “How can you be so sure?”

From just outside the gates a series of shouts and orders to retreat echoed over the thunderous crunching noises from the fight between the two golems.

“Those are the rebels. I had my unit hang back to ambush them in the event of a retreat. They’ll take care of them,” Cleophus announced calmly. “And I’m sure she’ll be fine, because look.” He pointed to the kitten on his shoulder, whose eyes were closing sleepily.

Eric stared at the knight blankly. Perhaps he had died. That would make the most sense right in that moment. For one, Cleophus was talking more than he had ever heard before, and for another, two giant ancient beasts were brawling because of a kitten.

When Cleophus realized the prince wasn’t processing his words, he grumbled loudly, “Princess wouldn’t be purring if her witch wasn’t going to be fine.”

Sitting up straighter despite the pain in his ribs, Eric snapped out of his daze and looked at Pina with keen interest.

Cleophus was right.

If Kat were dead, surely her familiar would be in distress!

Eric attempted to push himself to his feet but nearly fainted as his wounds screamed at him.

A hand appeared before him.

The prince looked up, already knowing who he would be staring at.

Fin regarded his son-in-law soberly.

They shared a meaningful moment of eye contact.

Eric opened his mouth to ask what happened to the last sirin but found he didn’t need to bother, as a fluffy black cat fell from the sky onto the head of the last sirin that was barely managing to stay conscious amidst the cloud of birds.

Clasping Fin’s hand and cradling his ribs, Eric had just about risen to stand perfectly straight when Fin’s eyes suddenly glowed …

They didn’t fill with lightning or even white light, but their blue depths shone …

Fin straightened, and at the same time, Eric felt his energy levels rise and his pain dim …

Rounding back, Fin looked at the closed mouth of the portal.

“She’s still alive.” Fin’s words warbled. “Thank the Gods …”

Both he and Eric stepped closer to the crackling light where Alina, Kezia, Rebecca, Annika, and Likon already waited.

On what remained of the castle walls, the archers were still peppering the occasional rebel soldier that tried to get closer. Aside from that, the only threat before them … was the devil.

He was gagged, blindfolded, and bound on the stones.

The first witch made gurgling sounds on the ground, and her appearance kept shifting to the forms of different women from various kingdoms as her body struggled to heal. But her attempts were unsuccessful due to Eric’s sword being lodged where it was.

They all ignored her and instead looked at the devil.

“What are we going to do?” Alina asked Fin, her eyes filled with fear. “How can we open this gate and get Kat out?”

“What about stabbing the devil?” Eric volunteered, his darkened hazel eyes falling to the son of the Gods coldly.

“It could work. Maybe stabbing both of them will absorb enough power to open the gate again,” Likon agreed eagerly.

“If that was the case, she would have just opened a gate right after getting her hands on the devil. She needed magic from all four elements … Or something needs to come back through. I honestly don’t know what is required to bring balance back at this point,” Fin lamented irritably.

“I saw that the first witch used something else … She had a vial,” Eric recalled slowly before crouching down by the daughter of the Gods and pulling free an empty vial from an inside pocket of her coat.

Uncorking it, Eric handed it to Fin, and the house witch took a sniff.

He wrinkled his nose. “It smells … a little like Witch’s Brew and … blood?”

The devil started making a series of noises as though trying to form words …

Everyone looked questioningly at one another, but in the end, it was Likon who removed the gag, though he remained standing behind the devil with it at the ready just in case.

“Lady Katarina is a mutant witch, is she not?” the devil mused after clearing his throat indignantly.

“So what?” Eric demanded tonelessly.

“This means my sister already had the four elements, but because Lady Katarina had very little power when she was stabbed, Aradia relied on the death of the Troivackian soldiers to fuel it and also act as the payment for an ancient beast. She most likely saved Lady Katarina’s blood to get the most out of it. My guess is Aradia was also hoping to steal some other witches’ powers to bolster herself, and of course, bring in reinforcements.” The devil gestured with his chin toward the ruckus the stone golems were still making.

Fin frowned in their direction. While the golems hadn’t crossed the border ring of fire yet, it wouldn’t be long until they did, which meant the civilians may start being placed in harm’s way.

“Think of the soldiers’ deaths as the force to push the door open, but the blood carrying magic of the four elements the key,” the devil concluded while sounding annoyed that the group before him wasn’t as swift in figuring things out as he would’ve liked.

“In other words, we need the blood of witches with each element, and we might need to get one or both of the golems to open the gate without them necessarily passing through? Kraken, is there any way you can maneuver that?” Fin turned toward his familiar, who was licking his lips and sauntering toward them having just finished off the last sirin.

“House witch, believe it or not, you are also a mutated witch,” the devil announced sarcastically.

He then tried to stand up, but the edge of Annika Ashowan’s blade touched his throat, stopping him.

Fin faltered as the obvious answer dawned on them.

“Eric, give me the first witch’s blade.”

“Now, now, house witch, you might be the key, but the Forest of the Afterlife owes this realm another life. Do you think you have the power to open the door and pull her out? You aren’t a stone golem.” The devil’s voice had grown louder as he sensed this was a rather precarious position. “If you promise to release me, I promise to tell you how to get everything back to rights.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

It was a terrible option.

Really, what they all wanted was to chuck the first witch and devil in the portal, grab Kat, and be done with the children of the Gods. But it was true they weren’t sure if they could open the portal on their own …

However, it was Pina who mewed and snapped everyone’s attention to her.

Cleophus had joined the group as they brainstormed.

Everyone turned to look at the kitten, who was staring at the wrestling stone golems with her head tilted.

“I KNEW YOU WERE MOCKING ME!” Kraken meowed loudly.

Fin jumped at his familiar’s shout. “What is it?”

“THAT LITTLE RAT JUST TOLD ME PERFECTLY CLEARLY THAT A GOLEM CAN HOLD OPEN THE DOOR WITHOUT CROSSING IF WE USE YOUR BLOOD TO OPEN THE GATE!” Kraken was livid. He growled up at the kitten accusatorily.

Ignoring the feud between the two familiars, everyone perked up hopefully as Fin repeated what he had heard.

“Well, of course none of you know how you can defeat a golem or convince one to help!” the devil declared, though he was sounding more antsy … as though he had lost his leverage … “It also seems as though my sister had made this portal using a certain kind of spell—which makes it more complicated.”

Ignoring the devil’s attempt at convincing them all he was still valuable, it dawned on Eric that he didn’t seem to have his powers while blindfolded …

The prince recalled how, back when Kat had rescued him and she was overwhelmed with power, she had tried to gouge the devil’s eyes out.

Eric smiled ominously down at the devil (though the son of the Gods couldn’t see it) and held out a hand toward Annika Ashowan.

“Your Grace, might I borrow that?”

Annika looked at her dagger and then at Eric, but as she opened her mouth to ask the reason why, he looked over his shoulder at Cleophus Miller. “What are the odds that you think the other golem will help Pina because he thinks she’s cute?”

Cleophus looked at Eric as though he had just insulted the beloved kitten. That was enough of a confirmation to the question that he needed.

“Great. Mind walking over there and seeing if she can convince the golem to give us a hand?”

The knight reached up, scritched Pina’s cheeks, and stomped indignantly toward the golems as though he were heading out for a leisurely stroll … or … his version of a leisurely stroll at least …

The devil hadn’t been aware that one of the golem’s had already fallen under the charms of Katarina’s familiar.

“What do you need the dagger for?” Fin asked intently as he sensed that Eric had an idea.

“I’m taking the devil’s eyes, but I don’t think I should do it with the first witch’s blade in case that makes things more complicated.”

The devil stilled, and a black eyebrow arched up past his blindfold. “How depraved of you.”

“Well, it’s one way to make sure you don’t give us any more problems.” Eric accepted the blade the duchess offered him.

Alina held her hand out in front of her brother, halting him as he started to move forward.

“I want to do it.”

The prince turned in alarm toward the Troivackian queen.

Then he saw the darkness in his sister’s eyes, and remembered who was responsible for it.

He handed over the blade without another word.

Fin stared at Alina in horror. “Wait—”

But the queen had already seized a fistful of the devil’s hair and plunged the blade through the blindfold.

The devil screamed, but he shocked Alina by grasping her hand and pushing himself farther into the blade before she could stop him …

And then … he fell over. Dead.

“That—” Eric started to boom furiously, when the glowing seam of the portal brightened substantially, cutting him off.

Everyone backed away as the opening started to widen. It snapped and hissed and roared again much as it had the first time … But as the portal stretched, there was a gleaming figure inside it, pushing back its opening …

Whoever it was did not look human as it stood there, but rather like human-shaped coal. The portal started to hum, and red and gold magic started to flow from it into the fiery being.

Eric stared through the glaring brightness with a squint and saw that sure enough …

It looked like Kat.

He didn’t care what would happen next, he bolted toward the portal, his eyes watering against the brilliance, the magic making his hair stand on end. Sweat poured from his face, and it felt as though time had slowed almost to a stop, but he dragged his limbs through the power, pushing against the pain in his side until he reached into the scalding, blinding light, seized what he believed to be an arm … and pulled.

A deafening explosion blasted and echoed across Vessa in such a way that it sounded as though the world had ended in a final moment of magical combustion.

Eric closed his eyes as he was thrown into the air for a second time that day, his ears ringing.

But … he felt power searing through his being. He had known Kat had inadvertently sent him power before, but this was so much more potent, he could even feel it streaming from her to others around them.

He didn’t have a chance to think about the sensation anymore as he braced himself to hit the courtyard stones.

Instead … he felt his back land against something surprisingly soft.

And to make matters even better …

He felt the unmistakable shape of his wife against his chest, where his heart was thundering.

In the deathlike hush that followed, Eric wondered if they’d all died … not particularly caring too much just yet as he could still feel Kat …

But then he heard a weary, groaning moan …

“Godsdamnit … Please … tell me … that it’s over.”

Kat opened her eyes and found herself in her husband’s arms. His face was smudged with soot, and blood stained various parts of his body, but he was alive. She knew he was alive despite him lying relatively still because he was smiling and staring at her even though they were, interestingly, completely encompassed … in magical lightning.

In fact, the entire courtyard with the soldiers, golems, and flying debris appeared to have been caught and held in place by Finlay Ashowan’s shield, preventing everyone from being killed by the blast. Luckily, he had also received a healthy surge of redistributed power from his daughter.

Sighing in relief, Kat dropped her head to Eric’s chest, relishing in a moment of rest and enjoying being back in the realm of the living.

“Oh no. You don’t get off so easily.”

Kat lifted her head to stare back up at Eric, though it took a good deal of effort.

The effort as it turned out happened to be worth it as he dragged her up and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

From a distance, someone laughed …

Then another person whooped.

Eventually everyone was gently placed back on the ground as the cheers rose to a roar, but Eric kept hugging and kissing his wife over and over, not caring that she was lying on top of him on the courtyard stones, or about anything else.

It seemed as though, against all odds …

They had won.