Witch Bewitched (COMPLETE)

Chapter 65

Royle woke up to a cold splash, his heart burning as if he had been sprinting for hours. He shuddered. The night chill joined the water drenching down to his shirt. There was a pounding in his head that made it impossible to think. What had happened? Everything was a blur.

"You're awake." A vaguely familiar voice dragged him back to the present.

Groaning, Royle sat up. "What..."

Something soft flicked against his chin. Royle looked down at his lap to find a midnight black cat staring up at him. He flinched, pushing it off him and scrambling to his feet. A cat. A cat.

Min-Min.

It all came rushing back to him now. The carriage ride under the moonlit sky, the cat on the road, splitting with Misa to meet her at the other side of the lake, the plan to find Leira.

Leira, who had been at a shack where Nisha's secret gathering took place. Where Misa had run off to before Royle could stop her. To Nisha. That wretched witch.

"Misa." He staggered forward, recalling her soft, warm body pressing against his for one moment. Just a second before she had vanished, and his arms had come around nothing but air.

"I'm sorry I had to knock you out," Sha'ka, the tall witch from the southern continent said. "It was the only way to keep you from revealing us."

Royle turned to her, rage, built by terror, bubbling up his chest. "You let her go. You sent her to Nisha." No. He had let her go. She had been in his arms, but he hadn't been able to catch her before she sprinted towards Nisha, to the lion that waited to rip her apart. What had he done? He should have stopped her.

Sha'ka remained calm. "I trust that Misa has a plan. She will be safe."

"Safe?" Royle took a step towards the woods. The ground spun around him. "No. Nisha is anything but safe. Misa. I need to get her back. I need..." His knees gave way, and he fell against the dirt. "What did you do to me?"

"Please, calm yourself." Sha'ka offered him a drink of water. "Sleeping spells are more potent the more exhausted you are and tend to linger even after their time is up. Take a moment to gather your balance. We must think of what to do. Now that Misa has infiltrated Nisha's gathering, we must think of a way to get her and the others out safely."

Royle pushed her hand away. "I don't need water. I need to find Misa." His heart clenched, pain ripping through his chest where Nisha's mark stained him. "That wretch. I'm going to kill her. If she so much as lays a finger on her..."

He attempted to stand once more. This time, he managed to stay on his feet by locking his knees. All plans had been thrown out the window the moment Misa left him. Royle was frantic; he couldn't think, unable to put anything together, his thoughts a jumbled mess that had been tossed and shattered and mixed together. All he could think of was Misa. He had to get her away from Nisha before she was lost to him forever.

"Misa is safe," Sha'ka insisted. "Nisha will not harm her while they are with other witches. Not when she has taken an oath to Fariki's Ordain. So, let us think of a way to get Brin and the girl out of there without drawing Nisha's attention. Misa will be okay. I believe she can take care of herself."

Royle forced himself to observe his surroundings. It always helped him gather his bearings, return his focus to assess what step he should take next. The lake was at his right, the small boat gently rocking against the waves. Battalion grazed silently, pawing at the ground then and now, while the old mare appeared content to remain standing as she was. The cat had gone back onto the carriage, where it lay like a queen on a throne, watching him. Judging him.

"Why are we back here?" A bit of clarity returned. Royle's blind rage abated just enough for him to remember that being reckless would only put Misa in more danger than she was already in.

Sha'ka watched him, a stark shadow against the moon contrasted by twinkles of light glinting off her piercing. She ran a hand over her shaved head.

"I didn't want you to run into the shack the moment you awoke. Also, we left the provisions in the boat, and I thought you'd need some water when you returned."

Plans. Royle had to see what he had to work with-what the safest way to get Misa out of that shack was.

"Why didn't you go after her?" he asked. "You're a witch, too. Surely, it wouldn't have been suspicious if you went alone with her."

Sha'ka sighed. "I am not very trusted in the coven. Brin was the only one who could look past my origins. And while I have earned my place by taking an oath to Fariki's Ordain, I am still considered an outsider among the others."

Of course. Discrimination must have also happened within the witch society, no matter how much they talked of equality. It was such an obvious yet surprising revelation. But that still didn't answer his question.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Sha'ka shrugged. "I never expected to be treated the same as the other witches. But, it's more than that with Nisha. Brin and I have been aware of Nisha's secret activities for quite some time, and we have been warning the other witches to keep away. We don't agree with anything Nisha says, and while we do understand her sentiment, we don't believe her way is any better than the rules we follow now. If I appeared with Misa, Nisha may have lashed out. She is unpredictable, and she despises people who do not agree with her. My presence would have only made it worse."

A witch who went against Nisha. Royle analysed her. An outcast even among witches. Still, she must have a voice in the community, even if the sole reason for it was her magic. She had to have swayed enough witches away from Nisha to cause such animosity between them. Gaining her trust could prove to be useful.

But, for now, Royle had to figure out a way to get Misa out without endangering her. Bargaining could come later. Misa was his priority.

"How long does extracting magic from a witch take?"

Sha'ka paused, tilting her head in thought. "It depends on how much there is. It's a delicate procedure, and Nisha is one of the few who know how to do it. Brin has thirty years of magic. That should take from two to five hours to extract."

"And if it gets interrupted...is there any danger to the witch?"

"If the witch separating the magic from the life force breaks her concentration, the magic will return to its original state, and she would have to start again. I don't believe there will be significant damage unless the witch accidentally pulls out the life energy with magic."

Royle pictured the shack in his mind. It was small. A little too cosy for a gathering of witches. How many had there been? One had entered the shack. Then, two more. Then, another. And finally, there was Nisha herself. Including Misa, Brin, and Leira, there were at least eight people gathered together. Those orbs of light had all disappeared soon after they entered the shack.

"They aren't in the shack." Royle was convinced the more he thought of it.

"What do you mean?"

"There must be some sort of secret entrance to another location. Perhaps it's underground. Perhaps it leads to a different building entirely. The shack is only the gate, an entrance. That's how you witches work. Am I wrong?"

"No, that is true..." Sha'ka mulled over it. "The seeking spell led us to the shack, so it must not be too far."

"Then it must be underground. Some kind of secret dungeon." Royle paced, a desperate idea forming in his mind. He halted and turned to Sha'ka. "How does one interrupt a witches' meet?" He perked up. "This...Fariki's Ordain. I've heard you witches have your own laws to keep peace between your kind and the rest of us. Is there anything against secret meets that may cause war?"

Sha'ka's brows rose with concern. "War? I don't believe that is Nisha's intentions. That's outlandish, even for her. She simply wishes to teach others her beliefs."

"You don't know Nisha." Royle clenched his fists behind his back. "But, it won't matter anyway. They have a normal girl in there with them. Misa said the convicted witch might have had a more severe punishment if the others found out."

"They won't believe me." There was pain in the way Sha'ka said the words. "Nisha has alienated me further by taking Brin away. She was one of the only reasons the ordain accepted me so quickly."

"But I'm with you." Royle glanced towards the woods, where Misa was trying to save her friend. Sha'ka was right. Nisha wouldn't risk losing the support of the few witches she managed to scrounge together by killing off one of their kind. As much as he didn't like it, he had to believe that Misa would be safe joining the meet.

Do you trust me?

Yes. Royle trusted her. He had to trust that she had a plan that would take both herself and her friend out of danger. There simply was no other choice.

"Come. Ride back to the city with me. I'll help you convince the other witches."

Sha'ka was still hesitant, her gaze flickering from Battalion to the direction of the shack.

"I'm the captain of a purgehouse," Royle said in one last desperate attempt to convince her. "And those witches took the girl I was supposed to watch over. The moment I tell the public that witches have stolen a girl away, they will not be so forgiving. I'll be your proof. Trust me. For Brin. For Misa."

"You're from the purgehouse." She showed no surprise, and Royle immediately sensed that this witch was exceptionally perceptive. She must have already somehow known or at least suspected it.

And Royle had just confirmed it.

Sha'ka straightened her shoulders, her uncertainty turning into determination like steel melding into a sword. Sharp, ready for battle. Royle tensed, reaching behind him but touching nothing but his belt. His gun. He needed to retrieve it before he returned.

"Very well," she said. "Let us go."

Royle didn't let the relief he felt overwhelm him. He nodded and untied the horses from the tree. Sha'ka was already on the carriage by the time he joined her. He yanked the reins, forcing Battalion away from the grass, and looked behind him one last time.

I trust you, Misa. I trust that you know what you're doing. And by the heavens, you better not get yourself killed.

"We have less than two hours to get some of your friends here," Royle said, snapping the reins and sending the horses into a gallop. "So, I'll say this only once. This is what we'll tell the others." He chanced a glance at the witch and met her eyes. "This is the plan."