Toran's Enchantress: A Highlander Fate Novella by Stella Knight

Author:Stella Knight [Knight, Stella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-06T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Kensa and Toran raced to the village, panic flaring in her gut. She still sensed that pervasive dark magic. Was a dark witch here in this time?

When they arrived in Ailin, it was in utter chaos. At least a dozen cottages and other small buildings were on fire, and men were rushing back and forth, using buckets of water to douse out the flames. Toran immediately sprang into action. “I’m going tae help put out the flames!” he shouted.

Kensa nodded, watching him join the men before racing to the edge of the village toward the coven’s cottages.

She only found one of the witches there, the petite one with the baby, whom she rocked in her arms. She paced back and forth, her features frozen with shock. Kensa braced herself for the witch to tell her to leave, but instead she just gave her a blank, frozen look.

“Where are the others?” Kensa asked.

For a moment she thought the witch wouldn’t respond, but she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. “They went tae the forest tae perform spells tae put out the fires. Their magic is stronger in the depths of the forest.”

Kensa approached her cautiously. The baby smiled and cooed, reaching out his arms.

“What is your name?” she asked the young witch, smiling at the baby.

“Muire,” she said absently.

Muire didn’t react as Kensa took the baby from her arms, still looking dazed. She’s in shock, Kensa realized. She looked down at the baby, who gave her a bright smile. Kensa returned it, settling the baby down into a surprisingly modern-looking cradle before turning to Muire.

“Muire,” she said, holding her gaze. “You know this fire was caused by dark magic.”

Muire flinched but said nothing. She wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock, tears streaming down her face.

Kensa studied her; wanting to keep questioning her, but she suspected it would only upset her more. She glanced at the doorway of the cottage. She wanted to help put out the fires, but she was reluctant to impede the magic the other witches were performing, and she could sense, and smell, that the fires were being carefully extinguished, through magical and non-magical means.

She decided to wait for the other witches to return, moving to the cheerful baby’s cradle and rocking it. She was prepared for their hostility, but this time she wouldn’t back down. If there was indeed dark magic here in this time, she would help stamp it out, especially if it explained what had happened to Tairseach.

She didn’t have to wait long. The first flame-haired witch who’d turned her away entered, trailed by the others. None of them look surprised to see her—they must have sensed her presence—yet their expressions were tight.

Kensa straightened to her full height, holding each of their gazes before she spoke. “That fire was caused by dark magic,” Kensa stated.

The witches were silent for several long moments, until the flame-haired witch stepped forward. "Ye are the one who brought the dark magic here. They must have sensed ye're here.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.