An Unlikely Turn of Events
“I can’t believe that damned coven is still at it!” Windfire snapped. She turned the corner in the underground crypt and was face to face with an undead creature. She gasped a little at the unsuspected sight.
“What is it?” Lillybreeze, Windfire’s youngest sister inquired, but gasped when the undead creature came into her sights as well.
“Another one?” Snowgust complained as she found her older and younger sisters face to face with yet another undead summon.
“Unfortunately…” Windfire returned before igniting a fireball around her hand and flinging it at the mindless creature.
Snowgust and Lillybreeze followed her example and cheered to themselves when the creature fell to the ground, unanimated and not living. “Well,” Lillybreeze started, motioning toward another door in the large, open room, “I believe we have some company.”
Windfire glanced up and her curious gaze molded into a dark glare. Nightshade, the head warlock of his coven—their coven’s blood enemy—was advancing toward them with his two younger brothers at his side. “What are you up to now?” Windfire demanded of the coven’s leader.
Nightshade wasn’t as uncomfortable with their meeting as the witches and his brothers were and that showed from the look on his face. He wore a soft smile and soft gaze, and more surprisingly he hadn’t drawn his sword…yet. “Oh, Windfire…” his soft voice greeted the witch coven’s leader as he stood less than a foot before her.
“Answer me…” Windfire ordered as a flame ignited around her balled fist.
“I wanted to meet with you, your sisters,” Nightshade nodded toward Lillybreeze and Snowgust, “And my brothers,” he nodded toward Aquashade to his right and Flameshade to his left.
“So this is a trap?” Lillybreeze sounded frightened.
“Did I say that?” Nightshade asked, annoyed by her assumptions.
“You don’t have to,” Snowgust retorted bitterly.
“Will you let him explain?” Aquashade sounded quite annoyed.
“Yeah,” Flameshade agreed, “We don’t want to be here anymore than you do.”
Nightshade turned to his youngest brother, “Aquashade, leave if you are that uncomfortable. You, too, Flameshade.”
“B-but…” Flameshade started to protest.
“The witches aren’t going to hurt me,” Nightshade assured his brother.
“If we so much as sense something wrong with him…!” Flameshade glared at the witches.
“Yeah, yeah,” Snowgust hissed, shooing the lower ranked warlocks with a hand motion.
Nightshade watched his brothers scurry back through the crypt toward the secret entrance where they had entered before turning back toward the witches. “Well, beside Windfire, do either of you wish to leave my family’s crypt?”
“We’d love to, but leaving Windfire alone with you would be stupid,” Lillybreeze replied.
“Suit yourselves,” Nightshade shrugged. “Please, put away the magic for a moment…” he begged.
Windfire blinked, eyeing Nightshade with curiosity. “Why?”
“Because I asked nicely?” Nightshade’s tone begged even more than his countenance.
“Fine,” Windfire muttered, stopping the flow of magic, thus smothering her readied fireball. “What is it?”
“I am getting control of my coven the same day that you are,” Nightshade stated.
Windfire rolled her eyes, “We know this. You and I were born on the same day as our sisters and brothers were born on the same day and every other member of our families…”
“May I finish?” Nightshade asked and Windfire nodded. “I know you know this, but obviously me being the head warlock gives me supreme power and full say of the fate of my coven.”
“As I’ll have control of mine,” Windfire agreed.
“That day is soon,” Nightshade said thoughtfully. “And I want a truce.”
“A what?” Windfire questioned. She and her sisters had sensed something powerful. That is why they followed the power to their enemies’ family tomb. A truce was the last thing she expected.
“A truce,” Nightshade held out his hand for Windfire to take.
“It’s a trick!” Snowgust shouted.
“No,” Nightshade shook his head and left his hand extended for Windfire.
Windfire eyed the warlock before turning to her sisters. “Find his brothers and question them. Tell him I shooed you and you wanted to know what this is about,” she whispered and her sisters nodded, dashing after the absent warlocks.
“So,” Nightshade watched the younger witches leave.
“So what?” Windfire asked.
“Will you at least promise me that you’ll consider it?”
“A truce with my sworn enemy?” Windfire sneered.
“Alright, then.” Nightshade slipped both of his hands into his robes’ pockets. He cocked his head, “Do you hate me that badly?”
“Of course I do,” Windfire replied.
“What had I ever done to you personally to earn this hatred?” Nightshade asked, taking a ginger step toward Windfire,
Windfire gasped, startled by his odd, sudden movement. “You’re born of wicked blood.”
“You hate me because of how I was born?” Nightshade bit his bottom lip and nodded. “Do you hate people who are born with blue eyes? Or brown hair?”
“What are you talking about?” Windfire leered at Nightshade who was but a few inches away from her.
“You don’t hate them do you?”
“No, that’s ridiculous!” Windfire returned.
“Then why do you hate me?” Nightshade asked softly. “Truly you don’t even know me.”
“I know that you curse and kill innocent people and you use people to increase your rituals’ effectiveness…” Windfire said darkly, staring into the obsidian eyes of the sincere warlock.
“Why did I even bother? You damn witches are too hard-headed and self-righteous,” he said as he started away from Windfire.
“What?” Windfire snapped, following Nightshade into a small room. “How dare…” Windfire tapered off when she heard Nightshade sniffle. “Uh, are you okay?”
“What do you care?” Nightshade snapped, glancing back at her. His eyes were glazed with tears and he looked deeply hurt.
“You’re crying…” Windfire realized.
“Really?” he snapped, wiping the falling tears from his face with his sleeve.
Windfire pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and offered it to Nightshade who was sitting on an old wooden chair. “Here…”
“Thank you…” Nightshade whispered, smiling weakly as he accepted the gesture. He wiped the tears from his eyes and leaned forward in his seat, glancing up at Windfire.
“You really mean it…” Windfire smiled down at the warlock that she had demonized for years.
Nightshade smiled back, “I do. Secretly I was hoping that you were as logical as me.”
“What do you mean?” Windfire asked, settling in the chair beside Nightshade.
“Well, if you saw the coven wars as pointless as I do…” Nightshade glanced away from her.
“Then the two of us could end the pointless deaths, curses and so on…” Windfire whispered.
Nightshade glanced back over at the witch, “I hoped right?”
“You did,” Windfire nodded, placing her hand over his.
Nightshade blushed and welcomed her hand into his. Windfire gasped at his soft touch and found her own cheeks glowing puce. “Are you alright?” Nightshade asked, smiling over at his counterpart.
“Uh huh…” Windfire grew even deeper red as visions unfolded before her eyes… All of the visions had Nightshade in them and they were all his most intimate thoughts that he hadn’t told everybody.
She hated this gift and normally if she touched somebody and was met with visions of their past thoughts and current thoughts she would cease contact to stop the visions. She instead found herself wanting to see Nightshade’s thoughts.
She was looking into his mind to see if he was telling the truth. That’s what she’d tell anybody who happened to find out what she had been doing. Truly, she was morbidly curious. Morbidly? That might be harsh.
Nightshade took a good look at the silent witch. She seemed to be concentrating on something. He leaned closer to her and waved his free hand before her eyes. She didn’t blink. She’s having a vision… Nightshade thought and as he glanced down at their twined fingers he felt it. He felt her in his mind.
Suddenly nervous like he had never been before, Nightshade opened his eyes. He and Windfire were in a different place now. They were together, in a bed. Had they lain together? Nightshade flushed at the thought and glanced over at Windfire who was just as embarrassed.
“Did we…?” Windfire asked without look at him.
“I…I don’t know…I…” Nightshade glanced away from her and finished his thought silently: I hope so.
Windfire shook her head. Had she heard his thought? That wasn’t her born power. Hers were the same as his and they were all centered around astral projection into dreams and visions. “Nightshade?”
“Yes?” he replied calmly.
“Do you have visions…and such?” Windfire asked. She sounded nervous and hopeful at the same time.
“I do,” Nightshade replied evenly.
“Then this is the result of our physical contact,” she was slightly more confident now. She nodded toward their hands which were still twined by their fingers.
“Well, not just that,” Nightshade cleared his throat, trying to hide his chagrin.
“Well, we can get to that later,” Windfire released Nightshade’s hand, expecting to be transported back in the material world but it wasn’t so.
“W-why didn’t we return?” Nightshade sat up, forgetting that he was naked beneath the blankets and standing.
“Nightshade!” Windfire blushed, covering her eyes.
“Hmm?” Nightshade glanced down, “Oh…” he looked around but it wasn’t as if lust had caused the two of them to partake in the suggested deed. Neither of them had an article of clothing on the floor, on the bed, folded on a dresser, hanging in the closet…. “I looked everywhere. There’s not anything we could wear…” he muttered, turning back toward Windfire who was no longer clinging to the blanket, and who was watching him with deep interest. “Y-yes?” he asked nervously.
“So, why did we end up here of all places and naked out of all possible outcomes?” Windfire asked thoughtfully, meeting his gaze. I remember this dream… she thought.
“Why are you directing that at me?” he asked defensively.
“Well, as far as I can see I have nobody else to talk to,” Windfire shrugged and flashed a wry smile.
“Well, I don’t know. This is a vision, right?” Nightshade asked.
“It could be a…dream…” Windfire whispered, gauging Nightshade’s reaction to the suggestion.
“A dream? Some dream…” he said flatly.
“I’m sure the person who dreamt this didn’t see two adults staring at one another trying to figure out how they got there,” she said, teasing him a little.
“If you’re blaming the dream on me, you’d better know that my dream would have been way better than this!”
“Alone in the candlelight, naked with your worst enemy…” Windfire went from sitting up to lying in a sultry position.
“Oh, come on…” Nightshade quickly turned away from her. His cheeks were crimson and his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest.
“What? You can lie down too. I don’t bite,” Windfire offered, patting the bed. He rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed with his back toward her. “I may have misled you.”
“What do you mean?” Nightshade asked. The dream was indeed his and it was slowly coming back to him.
“I don’t bite too hard,” Windfire corrected herself.
Is she trying to make this dream into what I dreamt? He asked himself as he gripped the blanket tightly.
Windfire’s eyes trailed down to Nightshade’s death grip on the blanket and then back to the rest of him. He did dream this! I knew it! But why do I remember it? “So…” Windfire settled beside Nightshade on the edge of the bed. “How did the dream go?”
“You don’t want to know. And people don’t mean to dream what they dream! Dreams are…” Nightshade tapered off when Windfire leaned on him.
“Dreams are your mind playing out your innermost thoughts,” Windfire whispered in his ear.
Her words didn’t sting his pride. They soothed him. She was actually understanding…she was logical. He accidentally spoke his final thought: “Windfire is the perfect woman.”
Windfire’s eyes widened and she bit back her gasping and wanting to know if he intended to voice that. She just leaned against him, gingerly sliding her arm around his waist.
Nightshade realized that and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her as well. “Do you mean that?” she asked shyly. What? Just ten minutes ago she pittied him, but still hated him! Now she was trapped in a dream with him, naked and cuddled up to him? On top of that, she wanted to know what he thought of her!
Nightshade nodded once and stood. “Well, I’m sure you can guess where the dream goes.”
Windfire nodded once, “I can.”
“Well, that was the dream. I never told anybody about the dream. I was kind of hoping it was a vision, actually,” Nightshade admitted.
“Why?” Windfire asked softly, standing before him.
“Well, I’d hope that would be proof enough that our covens got along,” Nightshade admitted, looking inept.
“At least us,” Windfire said with a smile.
“Yes,” Nightshade agreed quickly.
“Why was this a subconscious thought?” Windfire wondered.
Nightshade glanced away from her. “I thought that would be obvious.” He turned back into a kiss.
Windfire wrapped her arms around him and continued kissing him every time their kiss broke. Nightshade was in heaven—well the Shangri La of the warlock religion—as he led Windfire to the sheets.
Traps Should be Better Marked, You Stupid Warlocks!
“They didn’t tell you?” Aquashade asked, surprised to have been approached by the younger Deverill sisters.
“No,” Snowgust replied, “Windfire told us that it was only fair for us to leave. We figured that you might know something, though,” she said softly.
“We know it, and can hardly believe it,” Flameshade replied. “Have a seat so you don’t hit the floor.”
Lillybreeze and Snowgust took the suggestion and waited for one of the two warlocks to fill them in on what they had already heard.
“Can you believe that Nightshade wants to call a truce with the covens?” Aquashade asked.
“Come again?” Lillybreeze faked disbelief.
“You heard me, Lilly,” Aquashade replied.
He called her Lilly. Nobody outside the family called her that nickname… She shook off the thought and it appeared that she was trying to object the reality. “No way…”
“Unfortunately, it’s true,” Flameshade said as he pored a green liquid onto his athane.
“Unfortunately?” Snowgust asked.
“What? Don’t tell us that you might have a soft spot for us…” Flameshade said through narrowed eyes.
“Did we say that? No!” Snowgust shouted and both warlocks and her sister recoiled from the tone of her voice.
“I was just teasing you, damn,” Flameshade whispered.
“Oh, sorry…” Snowgust whispered sincerely. She actually took a good look at Flameshade and blushed a little. Aside from the evil bloodline, he was her physical ideal. He had bright green eyes that seemed to soften around her—or was she imagining things—and he had a very charming voice.
“Well, shouldn’t their discussion be over by now?” Lillybreeze asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
“Probably, unless he’s trying to sleep with your sister. Then that might take a while,” Aquashade replied evenly.
“Please tell me this is playful teasing.” Lillybreeze begged.
“Yeah, right. The way he moans your sister’s name in his sleep is proof of his pent-up lust to me,” Flameshade gritted his teeth, cringing.
“You’re serious?” Snowgust asked again.
“We’re serious. Our brother wants your sister,” Flameshade assured her.
“You would have sworn he was bedding her every time he went to bed,” Aquashade murmured.
“You are coming with us in case you’re right,” Snowgust informed the two warlocks before yanking them out of the small room by their robes.
The group of witches and warlocks found themselves immediately back in the large open room where they had initially met a short while ago. “Th-they’re gone…” Lillybreeze observed, looking around desperately.
“Then why is a necromancer’s door closed?” Flameshade asked.
“I believe we’ve found the room where they’re…you know…” Aquashade shuddered at the thought of bedding a witch.
The group slowly opened the door and found nobody inside. “Well, they’re not here if they are sleeping together,” Snowgust said dryly.
Aquashade stepped into the room and began knocking on the walls. “There are plenty of hidden passages in this crypt.”
“W-why?” Lillybreeze asked.
“Necromancers used to watch their subjects in secret,” Flameshade explained.
Aquashade stopped when he heard something slide. “I believe we have our door.”
They waited for a few seconds. “Nothing happened,” Snowgust stated.
“Maybe it activated something in the main room?” Flameshade suggested.
They saw yet another opened door, this time, however, they found their priestess and priest. They were kissing very intimately and standing before two chairs.
“Windfire!” Lillybreeze and Snowgust chided. Their shocked voices didn’t stop the intimate affection.
“From the way they’re kissing you’d think they had been lovers this entire time right under our noses,” Aquashade mused.
“It looks that way,” Flameshade agreed.
“Most people would have stopped when they heard somebody chide them…” Lilly breeze said dryly.
Snowgust gasped in realization. “They didn’t stop because they can’t hear us!”
“What?” Aquashade inquired.
“Does Nightshade have visions?” Snowgust asked hastily.
“Yes, all of the time,” Flameshade said quietly.
“What does that have to do with that!” Lillybreeze gagged.
“They’re trapped in a vision!” Snowgust explained.
“How…how did they end up in a vision…together?” Flameshade asked.
“What kind of a vision are they having is my question…” Aquashade muttered.
“My guess is the recurring sex dream your brother has been harboring about our sister,” Snowgust said flatly.
“Well, how do we get them out?” Lillybreeze asked.
“They have to play out the entire dream,” Flameshade said with disgust.
“Don’t worry, most dreams only last for about twenty minutes,” Aquashade cackled.
“I feel bad for her if it only lasts for twenty minutes…” Snowgust mused.
Nightshade and Windfire’s vision returned to them and they were clothed in the material world again. He broke their kiss and stood watching her with embarrassment and curiosity, “Windfire…” Nightshade whispered as he brushed her bangs from her eyes.
“Yes?” Windfire was clearly swept off her feet by her dark counterpart.
“Help me end this meaningless feud the only way we can…” Nightshade begged.
“My love,” Windfire said quietly. “I’d do anything for you and with you.”
“I know, my love,” Nightshade kissed her gently, “But I’d rather ask something of you than to order you around like you were some meaningless demon.”
“Can anybody else hear them?” Lillybreeze asked.
“Does anybody else want to kill them?” Aquashade asked.
“Huh?” Nightshade and Windfire chorused as they turned toward Windfire’s sisters and Nightshade’s brothers.
“How long have we been out of it?” Nightshade asked.
“We were here for about five minutes,” Flameshade explained before shaking his head in disappointment.
“W-what happened?” Windfire asked before she froze in the doorway with her hand again twined with Nightshade’s.
“We walked out here and you two looked like you were about to…” Lilly blushed and glanced down at her feet.
“It looked like we walked in on passionate sex’s appetizer,” Aquashade said bluntly.
“Uh…” Nightshade flushed.
“So I believe that leave you two some explaining to do,” Snowgust said as she placed her hand on her hip.
“Luckily I can explain so,” Nightshade and Windfire started toward their siblings but were stopped and sent falling into a pit that hadn’t been there before.
“W-what was that?” Lillybreeze asked as the same sliding sound as earlier filled the room.
“A trap door…” Flameshade grumbled.
“Where does it lead?” Snowgust asked.
“I didn’t even know about it, let alone where it leads,” Flameshade murmured.
“We have got to find them both!” Snowgust shook both of the warlocks by their robes. “Their initiations of leadership of the covens are both tomorrow!”
“We know, calm down,” Aquashade said, prying the witch’s fingers from around his robes.
“How are we going to find them if we don’t even know where to start looking?” Lillybreeze asked, wanting some reassurance.
“Trust us. Nightshade can walk through the shadows and he can bring others with him. He’ll turn up along with your sister,” Flameshade assured the frantic witch.
“Turn up where? Our house will kill him and your house will kill her,” Snowgust pointed out the over-looked (which should have been obvious), “And using magic is illegal in all of France. Using magic publicly will get them killed at the same time.”
“Alright, we’ve got to find them,” Aquashade grumbled.
“And we can’t tell anybody else what we’ve heard, seen or even that they’re missing,” Flameshade made sure that the others heard his warnings.
“Well, yeah. Our coven was pissed when Windfire said that Nightshade was better at magic than half of the witches in our bloodline. They’re going to be blood-thirsty when they find out he proposed and she accepted,” Lillybreeze said with her index finger to her lip.
“What?” Aquashade asked.
“Yeah, she’s had a thing for Nightshade since she first saw him. She just swore me to secrecy and…” Lillybreeze hung her head, “I just broke the secrecy.”
“We won’t tell her that you told us,” Flameshade assured the impeccably cute Lillybreeze.
“Right, we have more important matters,” Snowgust added. “So, where do we start?”
“We need to ensure that there isn’t anything else in the crypt,” Flameshade muttered.
“Or you need to start memorizing or marking where your traps are!” Snowgust snapped.
“The problem with that is that we didn’t build or design the crypt. Hum, since it holds our dead relatives, I’d like to assume that it was there for centuries. Long before we were born,” Aquashade said wryly.
“Oh, don’t even get smart with me! That truce hasn’t been exacted!” Snowgust growled.
“From the location of their lips, I’d say that the deal is sealed,” Aquashade retorted.
“Not until they lead the covens!” Snowgust countered.
“Do you always have to have the last word?” Aquashade demanded.
“Do you always have to act like you know everything?” Snowgust asked.
“This is going to feel ten times longer than it actually is,” Lillybreeze whispered.
“Not if I can help it,” Flameshade said quietly. “Let’s split up to cover more ground,” he took Lillybreeze’s hand and stepped through the shadows before his brother or Lillybreeze’s sister could react.

poisoned blades 2