Page 64 of Fated to the Demon Lord

Mother smiled. “And so are you, dear.”

“Me?”

“Every new human or demon who comes here and wishes to stay goes through a questioning where we ask them about their background to understand how they came to be here and how they can best fit into our society.” Mother stirred the large cauldron of bubbling liquid, the heat blasting up and the steam curling in a thin stream of black. “Erlinen told us about the young human woman who slew an entire army of demons. I’m afraid I was too preoccupied with finding you and your brother that I only half-listened to her story—otherwise I might have realized sooner that she was speaking about you.”

She shook her head in recrimination.

“I poisoned the army with venenum leaves. It wasn’t magic.”

Mother pursed her lips. “You must have collected quite a number of leaves to poison an entire camp.”

I hadn’t. “I had ten. One for each pot.”

“Small pots?”

“They were quite large,” I said, recalling how I’d worried at the time that the size of the pot might dilute the poison.

“In order to accomplish such a feat, I’ve no doubt that you accessed your powers. Powerful emotions and determination can enhance hedge witch abilities.”

Was that true? Had I tapped into my magic before I even realized I possessed it? Mother left the ladle in the pot and reached for some lira root. She put it in her mouth and chewed on it before spitting into the brew.

“Ever since I learned that you and your brother had been taken, I’ve been trying to find a way to leave town to assist in the search. I’ve found something that would allow me to leave for a short time—just a day or two—without the magic protecting this place unraveling. But it requires a hedge witch of like power to bring the potion to fruition. You are my daughter, Denara. You are of like power.”

I took a step back. “I don’t know what to do.”

She lifted the liquid in the ladle and sipped the dark substance. Then turned to me. “Drink.”

She offered me the ladle. I eyed the steaming liquid. “What does it do?”

“It connects and divides. Half of my power will remain in the town. The other half will fuse with yours. I’ll be able to leave as long as you are near, but only for a few days.”

I didn’t move. This required trust, perhaps more than I had in my mother. And yet, Gerand’s life was on the line, and if we were going to free him, we might need her knowledge and power with us. I could do it for him. I accepted the ladle, sipping the liquid. It burned like fire as I swallowed it.

The fire spread to my stomach, then out to my limbs. An empowering energy raged through me.

Mother tipped her chin up and reached for me. “Take my hands.”

I took her hands.

She began to chant, “Divide and Bind. Sever and combine. Let my power remain, and my body accept that of another. I partake and I release. Let it be so.”

Magic shot from my hands like smoky vines, wrapping around my mother’s wrists, a dark sage green color. My mother’s power also poured out, but it twisted upward, vanishing into the air. I gasped as the power inside me increased and pulled as if accepting my mother, the dark sage mist disappearing into her flesh, creating marks on her skin. And the power within grew immense and spread until my heart felt like it might explode.

Then everything faded to normal, leaving me cold and panting. “Did it work?” I asked.

A huge grin crossed her face. She patted my hand. “It worked. Let’s go and get your brother.”

“The plan is simple,” Vaelor said as he walked next to me a few hours later. I rode on a horse that the town had supplied for our journey to rescue my brother.

We traveled through the forest, a procession of about twenty-five demons and humans. Bargoth and my mother had gathered many willing to help us. We made a small but formidable party.

I prayed it would be enough to free Gerand.

“I may be dead,” Vaelor continued, “but I am still a notable dignitary from a neighboring country. Mirvarax will have to see me if I request it.”

“But he’ll grow suspicious if you ask to buy a lowly human boy. What would a deceased demon want with him?” I asked.

“I could supply you with a suggestion potion. If you slipped it into his drink, you’d be able to persuade him to turn Gerand over to you,” Mother offered.