The Dark Witch Chronicles Book One: The Curse of The Cymmerien Dragon

Erasmus looked at Iris disbelievingly. He was aware that her powers were not refined and went haywire more often than one would like; but he did not think she would invade someone’s mind so easily. Maybe her powers were too strong for her to handle which ended in her doing silly things without noticing. “You invaded Amara’s mind?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

Out of all the people that she could have entered the minds of, she chose Amara. After knowing that Iris could read minds, he had thought it would take time for her to develop into that habit and would need training. Because invading a complex and intimidating mind like Amara’s was not easy. Iris’s ability to do the same was astounding enough, yet there were flaws since she was new to it and certainly wasn’t used to walking into minds like that. To learn the control and to shield herself from being recognized, she was yet to discover. A sixteen-year-old witch obviously did not have the ability of being so focussed to control it all on her own. She had a lot to learn.

“I don’t know how it happened,” Iris replied, shrugging.

She was aware of the fact that reading Amara’s mind and seeing things that she saw, was not something she should have done. Even though she was new to this, Iris could conclude that Amara’s mind was a haven for many thoughts that were unlimited, complicated, and extremely difficult to put a finger on. They were also highly disturbed. Of that, she was sure. Erasmus was not helping at all; he made it look like she had just committed a crime. However, she could not be blamed entirely for what happened; she had no control over it. It just came and went all by itself, without letting her realize what she had accidentally done.

“Iris, listen. You cannot control someone else’s mind when you’re not sure you can control your own,” he said, emphasizing every word.

“But I-” she began.

“I’ll tell you something about Amara.” He cut her off. “She is the most convoluted witch you can ever come across. Her life before she came here wasn’t easy, and that has made her harsh and inconsiderate. While some of us are caring and human enough in many ways, she is not. Her behaviour, the way she talks, and the way she keeps to herself, how she does not appreciate anyone interfering in what she does, is different. We can all be cruel when we want to and when the need arises, but she is the same every single moment of the day. She does not care about anyone apart from the Lord; most of the time she does not care about herself either.” He concluded.

“She is reckless.” He continued. “And someone I have failed to understand how ever hard I’ve tried. We all have friends, acquaintances, we even have our mates. We have human emotions that she evidently lacks. She likes no one – and when I say no one – I mean absolutely no one. The only person she would ever come close to liking or admiring would be the Lord. She speaks to no one unless needed. Besides, she tortures. She tortures infernally and I am sure you have experienced it yourself. If she finds out you invaded her mind, believe me, Iris, it’s not going to be a wonderful sight.”

When he finished talking, Iris stared at Erasmus blankly. She could not digest everything that he had said at once. The image that he had created about Amara in her head was terrifying. She was not someone with whom one would like to meddle. Dangerous was the perfect word for Amara. Iris wondered how in a hundred years none of the sorcerers had fallen for her.

“Believe me, a lot of us have,” Erasmus chuckled.

Iris frowned at him.

“Did I say that out loud?” she asked quizzically.

“No, I can read minds to an extent.” He smirked. “But I’m not as strong as you,” he added, nodding his head.

“So you mean to say that if she finds out that I invaded her mind, she’d kill me?” Iris asked, furrowing her forehead.

Erasmus shook his head. “Killing is an easy job for her. Amara believes in torturing and then killing. You saw how she killed those men; she didn’t end their lives straightforward. It was torture for them, correct?” He raised an eyebrow.

Iris’s mind went back to how Amara had slit throats and made two of the remaining victims see how the other one died. She not only tortured them physically but mentally as well. Also, taking their souls away and trapping them inside a dead dove’s body was not the end of torture. It was only the beginning of how the souls were going to be sacrificed in a ritual. One does not come across that every day.

“So you must realize that there is a possibility that she finds out and tortures you as well,” Erasmus said, breaking her train of thought.

Panic was starting to build up inside Iris and she held her breath for a long moment, thinking of what Amara would do to her once she finds out. A thought flashed across her head to enter into Amara’s mind again and see if she had found out or not; but she knew it would be a foolish idea. She could not do that. If she did, then the possibilities of Amara finding out about it would be higher than what they already were.

“What do I do?” Iris whispered almost to herself.

“Wait and watch. That’s all you can do and besides-” a loud screeching noise cut him off mid-sentence.

Erasmus snapped his head in the direction of the sound as did Iris. Squeezing her eyes shut at the shrill sound, she got up along with Erasmus who was now starting to walk to the door of the chamber as the sound continued to vibrate the walls. For a human it would have been deafening but it did not make much of a difference to Erasmus. Iris, on the other hand, felt a little pain in her ears but it was not her topic of concern. All that was on her mind was Amara torturing her to the point of insanity. As the sound began once again, Iris pushed Amara’s thoughts out of her head and started walking further.

They followed the trail of the sound and reached the castle hall where Iris had first met Amara and the others. She blinked as a vision flashed in front of her eyes and blinded her for a long moment. Iris caught hold of a windowsill on the side to steady herself. She had thought that getting visions similar to her dreams would stop, since she was now where she was supposed to be, yet the flashes continued. Although, this time it was different, it was unfamiliar; not something that she had seen before and in a second, it was gone. As soon as she stopped seeing those visions, Iris followed Erasmus further in until they were standing along with others who had come to see what the noise was. A man stood right in the middle of the room, a hood covering his face like most and a huge staff in his hand. So that was where the noise came from, Iris thought. The man had possibly dragged the staff on the stone floors that made the screeching sound.

“Who is he?” Iris whispered to Erasmus who stood there confused.

A moment later, his expression changed into that of shock and he stared at the man wide-eyed, while Iris stood there, her head tilted to the side curiously. Why did this man look like he had just come out of her dream? Her doubts were cleared when Lord Lucifer entered the hall and the man took off his hood. Even though she had not seen his face clearly in the dreams, she knew it was the same man; her intuitions prominent in her head.

“Who is he?” Iris persisted, stressing each word as she did so, nudging her elbow in Erasmus’s rib.

He turned and glared at her warningly. Getting the message, she looked down to the floor and decided it was better not to become enemies with Erasmus – her only saving grace in this otherwise daunting surrounding, where people seemed like they were ready to torture anybody who came along. Erasmus concentrated on what was about to happen. He was fairly aware of why the man was here.

“May I ask as to why you decided to grace us with your presence, this evening?” said Lord Lucifer, taking his seat.

“Where is she?” The man asked, dropping his staff to the floor loudly.

Iris winced at the shrill sound echoing through the walls. Whoever this man was, he did not seem too glad to be there. Amara, Iris thought; he’s talking about Amara. Something was wrong, and Amara had everything to do with it. The man was only thinking about her name.

“Who are you talking about?” Lord Lucifer replied uninterestingly with his eyes examining his slender fingers.

“You know who I am talking about. You know what she has done.”

The man took a step forward threateningly, but Lord Lucifer did not seem the least bit affected.

“That was her job,” he said calmly.

“A job? She killed three innocent humans; I don’t reckon that would be a simple job.”

The man was now fuming. Iris could feel it. Numerous visions flashed across her eyes, ranging from a woman’s child crying to a dead man’s wife weeping, to another man’s family destroyed. Iris blinked to clear it all away. She stared blankly at the man standing there. Were those humans innocent? She wondered. Why had Amara lied to her saying those humans had been witch-hunters?

“What imbecile told you those humans were innocent?” Lord Lucifer scowled softly.

Iris was surprised as to how easily he was handling the situation when the man was now on the verge of burning their place down.

“Of course they were. What had they ever done to her?” The man shouted throwing his arms in the air in frustration.

“If she killed some humans, then she must have had a reason. She does not kill people for fun and frolic, Lord Mikhail.”

“They were following my orders. And as far as I know, that is not a crime,” Lord Mikhail shot back, anger evident in his tone.

Iris’s mind was pushed into another vision where Lord Mikhail was addressing the two men and the woman Amara had killed a night ago. She could not hear the voices, but she could see Mikhail giving them an important message. A moment later, she was brought back to the present and shook her head to clear the fog in her mind.

“Were those not the orders of stealing my powers, Lord Mikhail?” Amara glided in through a door, proceeding towards Lord Mikhail slowly, her voice as calm and cool as that of Lord Lucifer’s. She did not seem affected by Lord Mikhail’s outburst either; but of course, she could be just as brutal as she was calm.

“You” hissed Lord Mikhail, pointing his index finger that was shaking with anger, “Had no right to kill my servants,” he completed glaring at Amara.

Amara threw her head back and let out a malicious laugh, to everyone’s surprise. She sounded so devilish in that moment; it was frightening. Iris shuddered at the sound, as chills ran down her spine, drawing on every nerve inside. She was still not used to this extent of evil lingering around her in every part.

“Lord Mikhail, surely you know who you are speaking to, don’t you?” She retorted menacingly, taking a step forward in his direction.

“You have broken the law. Do you want me to remind you of that?” Lord Mikhail barked, his eyebrows raised.

“It is forbidden to kill innocent humans; I’m aware of that,” said Amara disinterestedly. “Although, may I remind you that the humans were certainly not innocent?” she growled, crossing her arms across her chest as she stood there proudly.

“For the last time, they were carrying out my orders.” Spat Lord Mikhail.

Lord Mikhail was getting impatient with every passing moment and that was not a surprise to everyone else around. His face showed it clearly; it was evident that he was not happy about what Amara had done. Amara, on the other hand, looked like she had done a great deed and that Lord Mikhail was a fool to come and argue with her about nothing so much close to a valid point.

“Lord Mikhail, your servants were trying to diminish my powers. Do you think I would let them do that?” Amara asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“You are a threat to our kind,” he spat, taking a step back. His voice was confident, yet he looked a bit off; intimidating as Amara was.

“You make me laugh, Minister,” she scoffed. “Have you no knowledge that I am the one who has always followed the laws and stuck to doing what was right? I was the one that helped you kill the witch-hunters that were close to ending your existence. You call me a threat. If that isn’t you being dim-witted, then I don’t know what is.”

Amara shook her head disappointedly, a menacing smirk across her face as though she was ready to kill Lord Mikhail using his own staff. She could not believe the fact that he thought she was a threat to their kind, when everyone was aware of how helpful she had always been.

Lord Mikhail sighed, picking up his staff. There seemed to be no way he could fight back. She was not wrong; his orders were to diminish some of her powers since her rise was turning out to be a huge problem for some of his loyal and exceptional apprentices. He also had another motive that was not to be discussed in Lord Lucifer’s castle; for it was dangerous to do so. That she had saved him was not a lie either, but if that was going to create rifts between his ardent apprentices and him, then sure enough, she was a threat. Getting rid of some of her powers would not make her any less of a great witch. It would just make her a little weaker, so he could let himself get what he needed. He wanted her out of his way. If that came with a price to pay, he was ready to do it. Nevertheless, arguing with a witch like Amara and trying to prove her wrong was one of the most foolish ideas he could ever have come up with and he knew that. Yet he wanted to fight. Losing it was another matter entirely.

Seeing he had no hope left, he decided to leave without having any more indignant words thrown at him. Pulling his hood up, Lord Mikhail turned to look at Lord Lucifer who sat there, smiling proudly. Amara always seemed to surprise him with her answers and the way she fought back, giving him a sense of satisfaction knowing that he had created her, made her this powerful, yet it was her own will that had added to all the skills he had taught her. She was a brilliant witch and the best one he could ever have had.

“Shall I escort you out, Lord Mikhail?” Amara asked silkily.

Without a word, Lord Mikhail turned around and swiftly on his heel and walked out of the great and resplendent hall. Amara rolled her eyes and glanced at Iris for a moment who was staring after him blankly. Again, she had invaded someone’s mind without having any control over it. If only I had not been able to do that, thought Iris, I could have avoided watching families cry for the Death of their loved ones. However, the word ‘love’ did not exist as long as Amara was around.

“Amara,” Lord Lucifer said.

“My Lord,” she replied, bowing her head.

“He might send someone again. Be careful.”

“Always am, m’Lord.” She nodded her head and a moment later, Lord Lucifer vanished from the hall.

Erasmus grabbed Iris’s hand, pulled her out of the hall and dragged her back into the chamber that they had come from. They failed to notice that Amara was still watching Iris. She had observed how Iris had flinched every now and then, as she kept her eyes fixed on Lord Mikhail, and her doubts about Iris invading her own mind were confirmed. From the corner of her eye, she saw Erasmus dragging her back into the chamber and stealthily enough, Amara crept up behind them, making her way all the way up to the ceiling inside the chamber; settling herself in a corner where they could not spot her. Erasmus shut the door behind him without noticing that Amara had followed them. They sat on opposite chairs while Amara stood there suspended in mid-air waiting for them to begin talking.

“Wh-wh-what was th-that?” Iris stuttered, assured that Erasmus would answer her now and not brush her off.

“Lord Mikhail works for the King who makes the laws for us and controls everything that we do. Apparently, the humans that Amara killed were out on Lord Mikhail’s orders and he certainly did not approve of what she had done. So he was here to give her some punishment but we all know how cunning Amara is,” Erasmus told her.

Up from where she had positioned herself Amara raised her eyebrows in amusement at, and smirked at his description of her.

“I might have entered his mind,” Iris managed with a sheepishly.

Erasmus’s eyes shot up to look at her.

“You invaded Lord Mikhail’s mind, as well?” He asked disbelief clearly visible in his voice.

“I couldn’t help it.” She shrugged.

“You already got yourself into trouble by invading Amara’s mind, and now you went into a powerful sorcerer’s head.” Erasmus slapped his palm on his forehead.

She needs some serious training, he thought.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to control it.” She said, worried. Before Erasmus could reply, the door of the chamber opened and someone stepped inside.

“Erasmus, the Lord want to see you,” said the man who stood at the door.

“Alright,” Erasmus replied and stood up without waiting for Iris to ask him any more questions. The door shut by itself and Iris sighed. She slumped in defeat.

“Tell me, Iris. Is it easy to set foot in someone’s mind?”

Iris’s head snapped up to find Amara floating in mid-air above her. She has heard everything, Iris thought in dread. Petrified, she held her gaze onto Amara as she landed on the floor without a sound. She looked spine-chilling and Iris was at a loss of words and movements. Amara’s eyes were infiltrating her insides, making her feel like every part of her was being torn apart, yet she felt absolutely no pain. Her gaze scrutinized her, piercing into her veins that Iris was surprised as to how she managed to stand on her feet. She took a step back, stumbling a bit in the process.

“Reading thoughts is such an interesting power, isn’t it?” Amara drawled, tilting her head to the side, while Iris kept moving backwards.

Before Iris could justify herself, or even utter a single word, her body went rigid as Amara fixated her eyes on her. Iris opened her mouth to scream, expecting the same pain that she went through before, but it never came. Moments later, something burned inside of her, prickling through every part of her skin, consuming her and her eyes went still; her breath caught in her throat. At that moment, the only thought that crossed Iris’s mind, was that of Death.