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I glanced over at Lilith. Sorrow washed over me. I had to find a way to help her, but I didn’t know how. I turned to Luke.
“You will take us back to the cottage,” I ordered him. “We’ll ride back to the castle from there. If you try anything, I will make you regret it. Do not test me.”
He nodded, swallowing heavily. I walked backwards to Lilith, not taking my eyes off of him for even a single second. I pressed my fingers to her neck. The pulse was there. I could barely feel it, but it was there, nonetheless. That made me hopeful that not everything was lost.
She saved me and now I had to save her. A feeling of tenderness washed over me as I bent down. She looked so peaceful, like an angel. I vowed to myself that I would never let anything like this happen to her again. I would dedicate my life to keeping her safe and happy, if only she would have me, if onlyshe would forgive me for this mistake of not having protected her the way I was supposed to.
At that moment, the wind intensified. All the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I knew that wasn’t a good sign. When I turned around I could see that the witch was back on her feet, gathering momentum. Her arms were outstretched. Her grey hair was wild around her head, like a million tentacles threatening to suffocate you if they got close to you. I tried to move, but I realized that she had enchanted me into immobility. I knew witches could do that, but they needed time to muster that spell. That meant she had been conscious for a while now, and I was too focused on Luke, instead of assuring that she was rendered powerless. This was my mistake.
My body felt as if it were frozen. I couldn’t move a single limb. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even blink. All I could do was think and watch what was happening around me, without any chance of being an active participant in any of it.
The same electricity crackled from out of her fingers. I knew she would aim them at me. I knew she wanted me dead. I glanced at Lilith with the corner of my eye, silently begging her for forgiveness. I watched in horror as she aimed her fingers at me, her eyes wild with rage.
I tried my best to try and move. I focused all of my conscious efforts on it. Suddenly, I could blink. It wasn’t much but it was something. All I had to do was move a bit to the side, away from the direction of her power. But it was too late. Electricity crackled in the air, and I could see it coming straight for me, as time seemed to stand still.
But then, something unexpected happened. Luke lunged in front of me, becoming my shield. All the magic dispersed against his chest, creating a scorched looking wound. He fell to the ground heavily.
I fought against the enchantment with all my might. But I couldn’t do anything. The witch gathered more power and struck again. Once again, fate decided to intervene. The lightning bolt bounced off of the moon pendant which hung around my neck, changing direction. It headed back exactly where it came from.
“No! No!” the witch shouted, but it was too late. She was completely disintegrated into a pile of dust.
At that very moment, I was released from her wicked enchantment, and I fell to my knees. Luke was lying down, blood trickling from his mouth. He coughed heavily, pressing his hand to his chest. When he removed it, it looked as if he had grabbed a pile of charcoal. There was an acrid smell in the air, and I knew it was emanating from him.
I took off my shirt, crumpled it and pressed it to his wound, but I knew it wouldn’t serve any purpose. He wasn’t bleeding. He had been burnt from the inside. His heart would slowly stop beating. It was just a matter of time.
“Why?” I asked, incredulous that he would save me, after everything that had happened.
“The witch…” he coughed as he spoke, his teeth turning a bloody red. “She lied to me… she said… they won’t die… like me, with the poison… but she… she lied… I… I didn’t mean for this… to happen…”
All of these words were too much for him. But he still continued to speak, because he knew that he would not get another chance to do so. So, I allowed him to speak at his own pace, not interrupting him.
“I loved… Cass… Lil and I… the marriage was arranged… my father refused to go back on it… he said I needed to prove myself… I… I didn’t see another way… I am so, so sorry…”
Arranged marriage.
The words rang inside my mind like the sound of church bells. I instantly remembered that Lilith wanted to tell me something. Was this what she meant?
“The witch…” he growled. “There is… an infusion in her… cottage… it cures everything… a small, blue vial… find it… for Lilith…”
My heart flared up at this new information. I had to go there immediately and bring Lilith with me. But I couldn’t leave a dying man alone.
“Please… tell her I’m sorry…” he begged through his last breath.
I wanted to tell him that he should do that himself, but there was very little chance of that happening. I didn’t want to lie to a dying man.
“I will,” I nodded instead. “I will tell her.”
He gripped at my hand strongly, that last, dying effort. His eyes suddenly turned a paler shade of blue, as if someone had pulled an invisible cover over them. I hesitated, then closed his eyes for the last time. I knew that I shouldn’t leave him and the witch’s body here, where just anyone could stumble onto them. But I would worry about that later. Right now, I had to take care of Lilith.
I rushed over to her and lifted her in my arms. She felt so light, like a little bird with a broken wing.
“Stay with me, darling,” I whispered to her, as I looked around, trying to find my way back to the cottage. I had no idea where to turn to.
Then, I noticed a bloody branch. I must have passed through there. Hope burned brightly inside of me. My own blood will lead me back. It will be our path.
Confidently, I rushed through the underbrush as quickly as I could. Luke might have been the one who started this entire mess. He was too weak to resist the call of power. He thought hewas doing the right thing, but exactly because he was so weak, he was also easily manipulated by the witch.
Still, with his last dying breath he saved me. Not only me, but he also saved Lilith as well. Maybe that would be enough for him to be forgiven in the next life. But that was none of my concern.
