Page 2 of Slay Me

"You're sure he's ready? Kur-Jara will know," Nanny said. "His Galla demons have already been sniffing around. Not that I let them live long enough to report back, mind you."

The witch smiled and patted nanny's arm. "He will. But Ashtoreth grows more vulnerable by the day. Without her mate, I fear for both their souls. I'll give the boy a little extra protection with his shard. Even Nergel's destroying fire won't kill him."

They stopped at the front door. "They are both so young. Will it even work?"

"They are young, but our little Red Warrior has known who she is to him since the first time he saw her. It's quite adorable to see that little soul of his shine for her."

The door swung open and Match almost fell over. He'd been listening so intently to Nanny and the Witch he hadn't expected his father to come out. "Nanny, who is this? We were expecting theOgniowa Wiedzma."

The witch extended her hand to his father who was acting very strange, like she was a sweet treat. He kept licking his lips and there was sweat on his forehead. Red Dragon Warriors didn't get hot. Weird.

"Don't worry Erik Krasny, or have you changed it to Cervony now? Either way, the other witches are still coming. They'll be here shortly. Today is a special ceremony. It's not every day the first son of a first son gets his shard."

"Yes, yes of course. Please, come in." His father waved the witch into the house. "Nanny, find Maciej?"

"I'm here." Match popped up out of the shrubbery around the front door. He might get his ear pinched, but he didn't care. It was time for his shard ceremony.

His father gathered everyone into the main room. The witch sat on an ornately carved chair with a soft cushion near the fireplace and called him over. "Come here Maciej Cervony, my fierce young warrior."

She'd called him a warrior and he didn't even have his soul shard yet. His chest swelled with pride. He was going to be the best Dragon Warrior his Wyr had ever seen. He went down on one knee as he'd seen other boys do at their ceremonies.

"Stand up, young man. You are the first son of the first son of the first son and so forth. You've got fire in your soul and someday you'll be the alphas of alphas. You kneel for no one."

Whoa. He stood back up and look the witch right in the eye. "Not even you?"

The witch cupped his cheek and her touch tingled. "You're a good boy and I appreciate the reverence, but I need you to be a strong Warrior, the strongest. You have many battles ahead of you and they will be very difficult."

"I can handle those demon wyrms." He straightened up his shoulders and held his chin up so she could see he wasn't just a kid.

"I'm sure you can. This will help you do exactly that, plus a little more."The witch placed one hand on Match's chest and that tingling he'd felt before turned to a white-hot flame. It burned yet didn't hurt. She whispered some words for only him to hear.

?e?rum wašib bit ekletim

lu tatta?âm tatamar nur šamšim

Before his eyes, a ball of glowing red light, like the halo around a candle when his eyes were very sleepy, formed in the witch's hand. She reached inside her own chest and pulled out more shining magic, but hers was a brilliant white. She pressed the red and the white magic together and said some more words.

kima šatû karanim kima mar sabitim

limqutaššum šittum

He felt like he almost knew what they meant, like he'd heard them before in a song or a lullaby."What are you doing? What are those words?"

"You are so very sweet, young warrior. No one has ever asked me before, so I shall tell you a secret to explain. A long time ago, my heart was filled with jealousy. I had anything I desired, but I wanted only what others had. I caused a lot of pain and trouble for my family."

This was going to be one of those stories. The kind where he was supposed to learn a lesson. "Did you get in trouble?"

"A little." She smiled, but in a sad way that he understood meant she was just trying to make him feel better about something bad. "My father sent me to apologize to my sister, who I hurt very much with my actions. She lives in a horrid place and I had to give up my jewelry and my clothes, and all my powers along the way. When I finally arrived, my sister was so angry with me, she had her demons judge me and they killed me."

"But you're here now. I think you might be confused on what kill means." Sometimes grown-ups weren't very smart.

The Witch chuckled and continued her story. "I knew she would try something like that, so before I went to see my sister, I told my friends and my family that if I didn't return, they should go to my father and beg him to save me."

"Oh, so they saved you." She should have said that to start out with, not try to trick him. "So, you must not have been really dead."

"They didn't save me." She made a face that he took to mean - just wait until you hear this next part. "My husband loved himself more than he loved me and couldn't be bothered to help. In fact, the only one who mourned my death was my maid Ninshubar."

Match looked up at Nanny Nin. "Did she save you?"

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