High Witch
Chapter 14

I would never hurt you. If I go through the test, I’ll let myself die.

“Ariel! ARIEL!”

I’d never hurt you. I never would.

“ARIEL! ARIEL, NO!”

I’d do anything for you. Give up anything.

“Why! Oh, Ariel, WHY...”

Brayden wept uncontrollably, his hands on the ground, head bent down. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.

She wasn’t supposed to die.

Ariel had become silent, her last scream echoing around them. The machine had stopped — Julius had silenced it, when it had finished her. She hadn’t done it. She hadn’t killed him. She’d suffered the intense agony of blades cutting into her, cutting through her skin and muscles and bones, until she died. Brayden couldn’t believe it. He sobbed so hard he couldn’t breathe. Then, the anger, the anger. He couldn’t let Julius get away with it.

Brayden leapt to his feet, glaring at Julius standing by the contraption. He ran towards him, then smashed into him, wrapping his hands around his neck. He forced him to his knees and squeezed, squeezed hard, letting his rage and anger and sadness consume him. He wanted to kill him. He was going to kill him.

Julius knelt there choking, eyes wide, then he grabbed Brayden’s leg, fire scalding him through his clothes. Brayden let go and stumbled backwards, breathing heavily. Julius stood up.

The two men stared at each other. The only sound was their ragged breathing. Julius’ nostrils flared — his skin was pale, his eyes wide, his cheeks flushed. He looked shocked, stunned, angry. Brayden gritted his teeth. He lunged for him again.

He forced Julius to the ground, punching him in the face. He kept hitting him and hitting him, wanting him to hurt, to suffer. Julius scalded Brayden’s arm, and he yelled; Julius overpowered him and held him down on the ground. Brayden hissed as he lay there. Julius knelt on him and held him down by the throat. He raised his right hand, and fire appeared in his palm. He began to lower it to Brayden’s face.

Brayden growled through gritted teeth, not caring that he was going to burn. Nothing could hurt him more than he was already hurting. He shut his eyes. He waited. He felt the flames licking his skin. He knew Julius’ palm was about to touch him...

Suddenly, an astonishingly bright light shone from behind them, glowing from the machine. Julius fell back, and Brayden got to his knees, shielding his eyes.

The radiance grew, as if a star was shining from the contraption, covering it completely. The air rung with a high note, like an angel was singing above them, at a pitch almost painful to hear. There was the sound of metal and wood clanging, crashing, falling apart. Brayden stared at the ground, squinting, wondering what was happening. The note in the air became more shrill, even higher. They heard the machine fall to pieces.

The light moved towards them; Brayden covered his eyes. He felt a warmth approach him. The heat grew closer, until it was right in front of him. Warm hands touched his arms. The glow began to dissipate. Brayden risked looking up.

I would never hurt you. If I go through the test, I’ll let myself die. That’s what happens if the witch doesn’t kill, right? What happens if the witch chooses not to hurt the other person?

I don’t know. No one ever has.

“Ariel?” Brayden asked. In the fading light he could make out a woman, a beautiful woman, kneeling before him. She laughed, reaching out and touching his face. The light dissolved — she was clear before him. Brayden gasped.

“Ariel?”

She laughed again, throwing her arms around his neck, holding him tight. He held her back, not knowing what was going on. Was she an angel? But...she was real, he could feel her. What...what was...

“Brayden, my love. I told you love would win. I told you.”

Brayden choked back tears, stunned. He held onto Ariel tightly, clutching her as if she was going to fade away. He moved to look at her, holding her face in his hands. His heart swelled until he felt it wouldn’t fit inside his chest. She gazed at him, her eyes filled with love, moisture threatening to spill out. Brayden looked over her — her dress wasn’t ripped, there was no blood, no cuts, no wounds. He gazed at her lovingly. He leaned close and kissed her.

The kiss was amazing — his love was amazing. She was soft in his arms, soft and pure and perfect. He wanted to kiss her forever. She pulled away, then stood up, holding his hand so he would rise also. Ariel turned to look at Julius.

Julius stood across from them, looking at her as if he was seeing a ghost. Ariel held out her arm towards him before he could magically transport away, and a stream of white light poured from her palm, covering his body. He stood there, trapped. Ariel took a step forward.

“This is for every witch you turned, every woman whose life you destroyed, to satisfy your need for power.” She took another step forward, the light burning brighter.

“This is for every witch you made love you, made love you with dark magic, then ruthlessly killed when you grew tired of her. This is for every person you had killed, every soul you took, every family you tore apart. This is for Lenora. This is for Nadia. And this is for me.”

Ariel drew her hand back then thrust it forward, the stream of light hitting Julius in the chest and propelling him backwards. He began screaming in agony, falling to his knees. A white strip like lightning coursed over him, and his body split in two straight down. There was a thundering explosion, and particles of light burst out, expanding over the sky. Eventually they faded to nothing. He was gone.

Brayden went and stood by Ariel, taking her hand. They stared at the spot where Julius had been. Brayden took a deep breath.

“It’s over,” he said softly.

Ariel nodded silently beside him. She turned, and then they walked over to where Emily was waiting for them. The two men that worked for Julius had gone. Brayden reached his mother and untied the cloth which covered her mouth, and the ropes which bound her wrists. She rubbed the sore spots where the ropes had left their mark. Brayden kissed her gently on the forehead, and she wiped away tears. She gave Brayden a huge hug, then moved to Ariel and wrapped her arms around her. Ariel hugged her back.

“Thank you,” Emily said, crying. “Thank you for saving him.”

Brayden watched the two women he loved, and was overcome with relief. He sighed deeply. They had won.

Brayden shut the door to his mother’s bedroom later that evening, after checking that she was alright. She was fast asleep, resting peacefully. He walked to the spare bedroom, then closed the door and went over to the bed. Ariel lay there under the covers, eyes shut. He gently got in beside her. She looked at him.

“How is she?” she asked. He smiled.

“Fine. She’s been sleeping for hours. She won’t wake until tomorrow.”

Ariel nodded, then she snuggled up close to him. He wrapped his arms around her, and stroked her hair. She sighed in his arms. He kissed her on the forehead.

“I love you so much,” he whispered, his heart full. She ran her hand over his chest.

“I love you, too,” she breathed. His chest rose and fell, as he held her close. He shut his eyes, sleep starting to take over.

“What can I ever do for you, my love?” he murmured. “What can I ever give you? What could match your gift?”

She sighed again, kissing his chest softly. “You can become my husband,” she whispered. “You can give me a child.”

He smiled. He could do that. He began to drift away, dreaming of a wedding, and endlessly holding her, forever.

Epilogue

Brayden held Ariel closely, gently kissing her neck as he lay over her. She giggled.

“Brayden, we’ll be late.”

“Hush,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her more tightly, kissing her neck again. She put her arms around his shoulders.

“Oh, Brayden...” she murmured. “We will be late.”

He kissed her on the mouth, his body tingling as she responded to him. He ran his hands over her naked body, desperately wanting to make love to her. She kept kissing him, then gently pushed him back.

“We can’t be late for our own wedding.”

He grinned at her. “They can’t exactly start without us.”

“Brayden!” she exclaimed, laughing. He grinned again, but released her. She left the bed, put on her dressing gown, and walked from the room. Brayden lay there for a while. He couldn’t wait to continue what they’d started.

Three hours later he was anxiously waiting in the garden of his grandmother’s home, where they were to be married. Ariel had left their home long before him, and arrived there to get ready. Brayden stood at the end of a path made of a light purple cloth, which stretched from the back of the cottage to a large tree at the end of the garden. The small number of people they’d invited were sitting on the right side of the path on an assortment of chairs, and the tall man who was to marry them waited by Brayden.

The garden was decorated with purple and gold ribbons stretched out over the rose bushes on either side of the garden, the pink, yellow and white roses themselves providing the greatest beauty. Brayden stood under a wooden trellis placed in front of the tree, with roses spread out along it. He became very nervous, and began to fidget. The two friends he’d invited walked over to him.

“Are you alright?” Samuel asked. “You kind of look like you’re about to be sick.”

Brayden grimaced. “Thanks,” he muttered. “I just feel weird with all these people watching.”

His dark haired friend looked around. “There’s nine of us. Two of them aren’t even out here yet.” He smiled. “It’s alright — you’ll be fine. If not, I’ll gladly step in.”

“Me too,” Jonathan interjected. Brayden playfully smacked him on the back of the head, his long blonde hair flying.

“Hey!” he said, smoothing down his hair. “Watch it. I was just pointing out it’d be nice to be married to the most powerful witch in the world. You know everyone’s jealous, right?”

Brayden grinned. “Get used to it,” he said, smiling.

The back door opened and Brayden’s Aunt Sophie walked out. Her long red hair moved from side to side as she walked over to the chairs, and spoke to Ariel’s uncle. The short, balding man rose and smoothed down his clothing, then went and stood by the door. Brayden motioned for his friends to go back and sit down; they went and joined the two girls Ariel had invited, and his grandmother and Sophie. He gulped nervously.

Brayden’s mother walked out of the cottage, smiling at him. She carefully walked down the path, then gave him a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. He felt his hands begin to shake, and he clasped them together to try and stop it. The back door opened one final time, and Ariel appeared.

Brayden stopped breathing. He gazed at her — he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She wore a long white dress, with delicate sleeves which reached her wrists, and a thin white sash. Her hair flowed around her beautifully. She was holding a bouquet of purple flowers. He felt his heart start to beat a little faster, and he had to remind himself this was real — he wasn’t dreaming. He smiled as she put her hand on her uncle’s arm, and they slowly began to walk towards him.

He watched them approach, thinking over everything that had happened over the last four months. He and Ariel had stayed with his mother for a while after she’d defeated Julius, and they tried to recover from the horrible couple of weeks they’d had. They’d rested, spent time together, enjoyed growing closer together. Ariel had started helping his mother brew her potions, while Brayden looked for work. It was then they’d discovered something wonderful.

It turned out when Ariel used her magic on the potions, they were twice as potent, and worked much more quickly. More and more people wanted them, and soon Brayden had to help sell them because the demand was so high. He began working at a stall at the market, and after a while he and Ariel earned enough money to rent a small home in a nearby village. He felt much more content working at something his family was creating, working for himself, instead of a horrible employer.

Living with Ariel was amazing. She was so kind, so sweet, so caring. He woke up every day more and more in love with her. She said she wanted to replace the other two High Witches like her, and make sure they were protected against anyone who wanted to turn them. She knew one of them would have only been born the day Nadia died, but she still wanted to replace her when she was older. She wasn’t going to let anyone do to them what Julius had done to her. She still had nightmares about that day — Brayden wasn’t sure if that would ever change. He just had to be there for her when they happened. Make sure she knew she was never alone.

He bit his lip when Ariel finally reached him. One of her friends came up and took the bouquet, and he took her hands in his. Her uncle sat back down, and Ariel smiled. Brayden tried to calm his nerves.

The celebrant announced they were about to start. Ariel leaned close to him, putting her lips to his ear. He took in his breath.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” she whispered. “But I wanted to wait for the right moment.”

He became very still. “What?” he whispered back. She laughed softly, her breath tickling his ear.

“Remember that gift you were supposed to give me?”

Brayden’s eyes widened, and he looked at her. She smiled, and placed her hand over her stomach. He gasped, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the mouth. He heard the guests laughing.

“What, you couldn’t wait a few moments?” Samuel called out. Brayden waved his hand at him, kissing Ariel a while longer. He finally released her, and felt his face was pink. They took each other’s hands again, and stood there, grinning at each other. The celebrant cleared his throat.

“Now?” he asked. He sounded like he was trying not to laugh. They both nodded at him. He smiled.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...”

About the Author

Mona Hanna is an author of fantasy/romance books. She enjoys writing about love, magic, conflict, trials and the joy of overcoming them. Mona enjoys reading, movies, chocolate, and adores cats. She hopes to release many more fantasy books in the years to come.

monahanna.com