Chapter 36: Struggle and sorcery

Venzy struggled hard, trying to escape the demon's grip. She was choking, desperately trying to take in air. Of all the things Venzy thought she would die from, she never imagined it would be strangulation. The demon stood still, watching as Venzy took what seemed like her last breath.

Just when Venzy was on the brink of losing consciousness, she remembered that the black worms had worked against the demon before. Everything had a weakness. She wasn’t sure what this demon was, but it seemed to react poorly to the black worms.

With this in mind, Venzy slowly lifted her finger. With all the strength she had left, she stabbed the demon’s wrist. Her hand went limp but didn’t fall off, as her fingers were buried deep into the demon's wrist.

As the black worms began to form in the injury, the demon threw Venzy to the floor, watching as she gasped for air. It had thought she was dead; otherwise, it would have ignored the worms in its wrist until she was fully strangled.

The demon stared at the worms in its hand, and while its attention was away from Venzy, she weakly leaped into the air and landed on its back. The demon was slow, unable to react fast enough to stop Venzy from stabbing it multiple times in the head with her fingers.

Venzy needed to be careful not to kill the demon’s vessel, as that would only cause the demon to leave the body and seek another target.

The demon fell to the ground, its vessel too weak to stand. Venzy used the opportunity to pick up Clark and head for Siamese Mountain.

****

Out in the forest, in the dead of night, Kashina lay in wait patiently for her prey. She had left the coven to find another way to discover what kind of poison was used on Soren. She couldn’t tell if it only affected vampires or if it could affect other creatures too.

She had tried little drops of the blood on different animals she had caught, and they seemed to die instantly. Now she was waiting patiently in the bushes like a hunter, ready to catch a bigger animal. Her eyes were set on a big yak in the forest.

She didn’t want to scare it away or injure it with force. So, she stealthily walked towards it quietly before capturing it. The yak fought to break from her hold, but she had used magic to keep it still.

Kashina dipped her hand inside the sack bag around her waist and brought out the vial with the blood that was left in it. She emptied the blood into the yak’s mouth and observed how the poison, when consumed, would affect the creature. However, there was no immediate reaction from the animal.

Seeing this as a failure, Kashina released the animal, which took off running. The yak ran a few paces before collapsing on the ground.

“Why was there a delay?” Kashina wondered in confusion, as she walked away from the animal and vanished.

****

Xavier sat in his room while Sage slept on his bed. He watched over her as she slept peacefully. His bed was big enough to accommodate both of them, but he felt it would be awkward and sat on the chair in his room. Sage had insisted he join her, but he told her to sleep and that he would join her later, as he still had some things to do.

Xavier wanted her to be comfortable and left the bed all to her. Sage, who hadn’t had a nice bed to sleep on in ages, quickly fell asleep on the warm, soft, and comfy bed.

While Xavier was watching over Sage, she violently stirred on the bed, and her eyes flipped open.

“Are you okay?” Xavier asked, standing up from his seat and moving towards the bed.

Sage had just had a strange dream. Unlike before when she slept in the attic, there was someone there to ask about her well-being. Sage, however, didn’t want Xavier to be bothered about her over a dream. He had already done enough for them.

“I’m fine. I’m just cold,” Sage said, rubbing her arms.

Xavier found it odd because she was covered with a duvet, yet she was cold. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I have just the solution for that,” Xavier said as he lifted the duvet and got under it beside Sage. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled. “You can go to sleep now.”

Sage hesitated a bit before snuggling closer to Xavier and resting her head on his firm chest.

Xavier inhaled sharply with how close Sage was to him. He was finding it difficult to control his breathing.

Sage closed her eyes to sleep, but she couldn’t help but notice how fast Xavier’s heart was racing in his chest. The rhythm soon became normal as she laid still, listening to the continuous beat of his heart, and she fell asleep.

****

Before dawn, Kashina had returned to her coven. The only thing she could determine from testing the blood on animals was that the poison was triggered by sudden movements or emotions. Just like with the yak that was frozen still under her spell, the poison didn’t affect it until it took off running.

Smaller animals had died instantly because they wouldn’t stay put when she captured them. Even with her new discovery, it didn’t help her figure out what kind of poison it was.

Kashina took the metal jug of blood on her messy work desk and looked inside. The blood had reduced drastically due to her several tests. When Kashina looked into the jug, she could see another part of the string Zayn had given to her. She got a tall stick on the table and used it to pull the yellow object out of the jug.

Raising the stick above her head, she observed the yellow string that dangled from it. So far, all the parts of the strings she had seen were yellow, but this one had a bit of white on one end. Kashina laid the string on her desk and pulled out a microscope. She looked through the lenses of the microscope from the part where the string was cut to the top that had the white color. Upon closer inspection, Kashina’s eyes widened in disbelief.

She knew what this was, and it wasn’t just a string. After recognizing the object, Kashina knew who to meet for the cure.

‘So, Ericka, you’ve decided to play dirty too. I never knew you had it in you,’ Kashina thought, but her thoughts were disrupted by the noise of someone landing from above.

“I just heard Soren is ill,” Venzy stated as she threw Clark to the ground.

“Yes, child.” Kashina responded

“I know how much you want to tie a deal with Soren, but how do you plan on doing that if he dies?”

“Judging me already, I see.”

“I know you’re fully capable of harming him if need be.”

“Well, it would interest you to know I am not the one responsible for his ailment,” Kashina said as she walked with her back hunched. She reached upon a shelf and took a pink potion in a glass container. She opened the bottle and consumed all its contents.

Venzy looked at Kashina. Her skin was wrinkled, and some strands of her hair were white. “Don’t you think it’s time to let go of that magic? You’re too old to handle it, and it keeps draining your youth spells fast.” Venzy stated as she watched Kashina turn into a young person again. Her back straightened, her skin became smooth and flawless, and the white in her hair vanished.

“Quiet. That’s what the youth potion is for.” The dark magic that Kashina possessed was constantly draining her life force, and she needed to consume the youth potion before she became too old and withered into dust. As the witch queen, she was a guardian of the dark magic. Although there was no need for her to hold onto it, she could lock it up in its book and only use it when she was in desperate need, but she couldn’t. She didn’t trust a lot of people, especially the elders who knew how to harness the power just as much as she did.