Page 27 of The Fearless Witch

My spell almost took her by surprise, but with a lazy movement of her wrist, she had the blazing fireball redirected to the tree behind her. The flames caught, spreading like the branches were soaked with oil.

“You know what, Celeste?” Mariam clicked her tongue, her own hands rising as if she was coming in for a hug. “You have brought this on yourself.”

Energy cracked from the contraptions on her fingers, burning brighter and brighter. I conjured a ward to protect me, taking a step back to give myself space to move in case I had to dodge, but her spell was too fast. It tore through my defenses like a knife through paper, going straight for my chest.

A dark shadow moved in front of me, taking the hit with such force, it sent us both flying back. Nym’s long, distorted limbs wrapped around me, shielding me as we hit the ground. Trapped beneath his body, I shoved with all my might, but he didn’t move. I called to my magic, ready to push him off when he whimpered.

Turning my head, I found myself staring into one of his large red eyes, the other one was gone, black blood leaking from the empty socket.

“Nym!” I gasped, my fingers digging into his fur. “Can you… get up?”

He closed his remaining eye, shifting his body as if he was trying to do just that, but then he fell, his weight forcing a pained grunt out of me.

“I’m… sorry,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “I wanted to… protect you till… the very end. But I…” When he looked at me again, a large tear mixed with the blood matting his fur. I shook my head. “I don’t think… I can… any longer…”

My vision blurred, and I didn’t realize I was crying until my body rocked with the sobs.

“It has been… an honor,” Nym whispered, his words growing fainter and fainter. “If I had to choose again… I’d always… choose you… Mistress.”

Before I could say anything, the light in his eye dimmed and his head bobbed to the ground.

“Nooo!” I shrieked, my magic pushing against his massive body. Just before I got free, something even heavier landed on top of him, pinning us both down. I screamed in rage, trashing desperately to get free so I could tear to pieces that goddamn bitch, but Nym’s body didn’t move an inch.

A shadow fell over us, then a face appeared in my sight. My mouth fell open, a curse already ready on my lips, when I realized it wasn’t Mariam who smiled at me from above.

“Medina?” I gasped and her eyes narrowed in a wicked delight.

“It’s time to go where you belong, my dearest friend,” she said in a voice that was both familiar and foreign. “And this time, stay there. There is nothing for you here anymore.”

I opened my mouth to reply when a loud crack reverberated from beneath me. The earth ruptured, and I clawed for purchase, my nails tearing off as Nym’s body dragged me down.

Darkness swallowed us as I screamed, and Medina’s laughter grew further and further away. The smell came before the light, the stench of sulfur and smoke engulfing me as the sight of endless fires lit up my world.

Then we crashed.

I should have been dead. I should have been broken beyond repair and splashed like a cracked egg. But I wasn’t. I was whole yet perfectly shattered by all the pain and loss I had endured.

Crawling from underneath Nym’s limp form, I barely escaped his heavy, broken arms when my head hit something. Looking up, I felt my blood freeze when I found Beleth staring down at me with a menacing grin, his eyes black from corner to corner.

“I guess you’re stuck with me forever,” he smirked, the shadows sliding out of his back and looming over me like a giant monster. “I told you this was your last life.”

His attack came without warning, the tendrils of darkness wrapping tightly around me until everything turned black.

I screamed, fighting against my binds when I realized they weren’t made of air but fur. Looking up through the locks of wild hair, I found myself staring into a pair of golden eyes.

“It was just a nightmare,” Nym whispered, his hands relaxing on my shoulders. He brought a clawed finger to my face, pushing away the strands falling in front of it. “It wasn’t real. Whatever you saw, it wasn’t real.”

Without thinking, I threw my arms around his neck, squeezing tightly. Sobs erupted in an uncontrollable burst, so all I could do was cling to him and wait for all of those emotions I had been trying to suppress to get out.

Nym didn’t move at first, but then his rough arms were tightening around me with a gentleness a creature from Hell shouldn’t be capable of. He said nothing, just held me, running his nails through my tangled hair while I cried and trembled like a child. I had no idea how long I sniveled and rocked, but when my mind cleared enough, I was lying with my head on his leg, silent and spent.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he finally spoke, his voice sounding deafeningly strident after the silence we had shared for so long. I considered it for a moment, then pushed myself up.

“You were dead,” I croaked, rubbing my eyes, only to realize they were dry. I couldn’t remember when I had stopped crying either, but it must have been a while. “Everyone was dead.”

I dropped my hand into my lap and noticed he had bent down so his giant head was almost at the level of my face. His eyes searched my face until I finally looked at him.

“It was just a dream,” he repeated, enunciating each word. “There are very few things that can kill me, Mistress, so even if my body is damaged, I’ll find a way to return to you. As for everyone else…” He straightened up, trying to smile. “I’m sure they are fine, waiting for you. Roman won’t allow anything to happen to them.”

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