Page 6 of Dawn to Dusk
I waved him off. “It’s done and over with now.”
His eyes considered me as a whole array of emotions and thoughts flitted through his mind, but he stayed silent. He went and found some trousers in the corner. He frowned. “Whose are these?”
“My gentleman caller.” I lied.
He sniffed them. “Is this a beast? The scent is…corrupted.”
“It’s weird for you to be smelling another man’s pants like that. Do you have a crush on him? I could introduce you two.”
That silenced him. He pulled the pants on without any more commentary and sat down to lean against the wall. He acted amicably for now, but tomorrow, he would wake up and hate me again.
Enjoy the peace while it lasts, Esmerey.
Chapter 2:
Edur
I awoke as the sun lit up the cave, reflecting off Esmerey’s bold red hair, giving it a glossy, golden sheen. They say witches reflect their patrons, so Mirneax must be one gorgeous goddess. All the Petrivs were beautiful, but Esmerey was leagues past them. She excited men and women of all species.
My kind called her the most beautiful death a beast could hope to meet. They never knew whether to fall to their knees or run when she came for their souls, but her kill count was grotesque. This tiny witch eliminated entire species of beasts with no hesitation. She even single-handedly killed the last dragon. Killing a dragon typically took an army of the best, which still failed most of the time.
Looking at her, you would never know what she was capable of. The little witch wasn’t even five foot two. After carrying her last night, she weighed maybe a hundred twenty pounds. Even laying in a fire pit covered in ash, she was lovely and fragile looking.
She sensed her goddess rising, and her eyes snapped open and found the sun. Flames danced in her ruby eyes as she stood up, going deeper into the cave to rinse off in a spring. She found clothes in one of her trunks and dressed in her usual attire: a long red skirt with a white button down tucked in and topped off with leather boots. The 1800s practiced some silly fashion choices, but she kept it simple. She favored function over frilly and pretty. I was convinced that if it wouldn’t get her burned on a stake, she would favor trousers instead.
“Are you okay, now?” I needed her at full power.
“Now that Mirneax is awake I’ll be fine. Especially here on the isles.”
“What is so special about the isles?” I never understood why the sol witches were obsessed with this place.
“This is Mirneax’s sanctuary. The elevation puts us closer to her.”
“If it’s her sanctuary, why is it overrun at night?” That made no sense. My goddess, Yenir, didn’t let anyone invade her sanctuary. Not that many would want to since it hovered between zero and negative sixty degrees. Most people froze to death before even getting close.
“There is a balance in this world. Everything has a weakness. Since sol witches have access to vast amounts of magic during the day, there has to be something to balance that.”
“So Mirneax is powerless at night to make up for it.”
“Exactly.” She nodded.
“Where are we geographically?” I’d never been to the Horizon Isles before, and the witches kept its location a secret.
“Between what the humans call the new world and China, east of Serpent Trench.”
I chuckled. She wasn’t exaggerating about flying being the only way to get here. “Last time I went through Serpent Trench, I almost died. Rinus, the leviathan, tried to eat me alive. I barely escaped with my head on my shoulders.”
Hateful bastard.
“He was a cranky one.” She agreed with that flat tone of voice she uses all the time. Like she was bored to have to speak of such things.
“Was?”
“He’s dead.” Questioning that tone was not an option, and there was only one way she could know that with that level of certainty.
“You killed him?” Rinus was easily a thousand meters long. There was no way to really know, since he wasn’t sitting still for someone to measure him. What I did know is my entire body fit inside his mouth, with plenty of room to maneuver. I was an ant compared to him.
“His name is on my kill list.” She was a menace to society. Her existence threatened to destroy even the gods. Balance must exist my ass.
