The Witch And The Other One
Part 7
"Now,"
said Christine, turning away from all her friends. "I've got them all
sleeping happily and you and I can be alone. Now let Naomi go."
Renil
looked at Christine oddly, then held a hand out toward Naomi. He muttered a few
words at her, then turned back to Christine. "It is done," he said.
"How
do I know that for sure?"
"You
have my word as a Valorian," he replied. "And how can I be sure your
friends will not leapt to your rescue?"
"Because
I said!" Christine snapped. She looked at Naomi again and said,
"If you let her go, then why is she still looking like...like that?"
"Because,"
Renil laughed, "I never said I would return her to normal as well."
"Oh,"
said Christine, tersely. "Well, I never said I'd go without a
fight." With that, she threw her worst nightmares at Renil the Valorian.
He
recoiled for a moment, then in the haze of her magic, she saw him laughing.
"Is this the best you have, little one; little frightening visions? The
prophets have greatly overestimated you."
Another
bolt of magic cut through hers and slammed into her, causing her to fall
backward in pain, not just from its impact, but from the crushing blow it dealt
her magic. Angry and pained tears stung Chris' eyes as Renil advanced on her.
She struggled to clear her head and sit up and he glanced down at her
thoughtfully. "You're not completely Faerie, are you?" he asked. When
he received no reply, he answered himself. "No, I think not. You look
Faerie, yet your magic betrays you. You are half human, if I'm not mistaken,
but you've enough Faerie blood to kill you."
Christine
turned over on her stomach, trying to breathe through her pain. "What's
that supposed to mean?" she asked shakily.
"Oh,
just that when I take your magic, you won't crystallize like most
fairies," said Renil easily. "For them, when the magic's gone,
there's nothing left. For you, you'll half crystallize, which will slowly and
painfully stop your human body functions."
"Oh,
is that all?" Christine muttered sarcastically and Renil laughed.
"You
are a rather engaging child; so much like Naomi. Not related to her, are
you?" Christine shook her head "no" and Renil shrugged.
"One could almost feel sorry for you. However, it the prophets say you are
to best me, I have to be sure this can never come to pass. Perhaps when you
became older, you would have caused my downfall, so you can see why it is
imperative I kill you now."
"Yeah,"
Christine murmured. "Being a afraid of a little kid like me is probably
pretty hard to live with." His gaze upon her hardened at her cutting
remark.
"It
may seem so from your point of view," said Renil, lifting his arms in
preparation, "but to me, self-preservation takes precedence. Accept that
as a final complement, child."
A
different type of magic attacked Christine's body and she began to feel a
horrible pain creeping over her, as if her very blood were trying to freeze up
inside her. She desperately wanted to maintain her self-composure, but soon she
was screaming and crying in agony. Unlike other times when she'd just been too
exhausted in a battle to use her magic, now she could feel her magic seeping
out of her and her body slowly coming to a painful halt, just as Renil had
predicted.
Christine's
mind whirled for defensive plans. Why hadn't hurling nightmares at him
worked?, she thought frantically. He had seen nothing frightening in her
nightmares at all and they'd succeeded in upsetting everyone else she'd
known...
Not
your nightmares, kid. His. What scares you is not necessarily what
scares other people. Why do you think I'm still alive?
Christine
didn't even bother to try to figure out where the voice in her head had come
from; she didn't need to. She had a new plan to follow and it was going to take
all of her effort to exact this energy. She let go of her sleep spells on
Daina, Marcus, Robin and Target and concentrated directly on Renil. This time,
instead of creating her own fears and nightmares for him, she let his
subconscious pour them out into their own reality.
She
didn't have the strength to allow herself to see what he saw, but she could
feel that strength coming back slowly as Renil the Valorian recoiled in abject
terror from something. "No...!" he gasped. "No!" His
magical drain on her let up and Christine felt her own power surging through
his weakness. The clouds of his magic broke and she could see him clearly. She
could also see what he saw.
A
witch's coven stood around him, mostly boys about Marcus' age. They all stood
ridiculing him and throwing things at him while several masters looked on.
"Your talent cannot continue to lack in this fashion, boy." said one
of them coldly.
"Perhaps
some...encouragement from his peers," said another.
Around
Renil stood the boys, yelling, screaming. "You're nothing, Kayrenil!
You'll always be nothing! Always!!!"
"No!!!"
he screamed. "I will be someone! I will be the best!!!"
A
woman in long robes with an orb of light floating near her appeared from the
shadows. "No," she said plainly. "You will die at the hand of
the future fairy empress." In her orb was an image of Christine.
Renil
fell to his knees as an image of Christine appeared before him. Christine knew
it was herself, but realized that this image was herself in a few years, at
least 10. "You tried to kill me when I was young," the image said
coldly. "You must suffer the consequences now." Bolts of magic flew
forth at Renil as the images he saw continued to whirl around him attacking him
physically and verbally until Renil's body, with a last scream, collapsed to
the ground and was still.