Demon Eyes
an excerpt

“That was quite the turn out for a wedding.”

“Of course it was. Princess Adina is such a beautiful and kind young woman. And that Sir Ewan! He’s such a brave, handsome man. It is so fitting that the princess should marry the captain of the royal guard. It’s just like a fairytale.”

“Yes, but where was Princess Damita? She should have been at the service. Do you think she has fallen ill?”

I stopped walking past to better hear what the courtiers would say next. I was sure it would be interesting.

“She seemed well enough during the preparations. Perhaps she harbors a secret love for the young captain, and could not bear to see her sister marry him.”

I suppressed a laugh at that. Then I felt someone come up behind me, and I stopped listening to the courtiers’ talk.

“I know what you are going to say, Mika. I think I made the right decision,” I said before she could say anything.

“She’s your sister, and you didn’t go to her wedding. You stood outside and listened when you should have been standing next to her. But I didn’t look all over this colossal courtyard to chastise you about etiquette. “

I turned away from the gossiping courtiers at the wedding reception. A serious look was chiseled into the usually open and friendly features of my closest friend’s tan face. Though she seemed to be in a fine mood, I could tell that something was troubling her.

Not a single one of her waist-long, silky black hairs was out of place, and she looked relaxed despite the fact that she was wearing her stiff, formal witches’ robes. The only clue that anything was wrong was the wrinkles in her perfect brow, obstructing the magical symbols painted on her forehead.

I headed toward the doors of the castle, with Mika following close behind me. The castle seemed almost ghostly in its emptiness now compared to how full and lively it had been not even an hour before. Everyone was now celebrating around the numerous tents with food and games that were set up around the courtyard around a giant tent in the center where the happy couple and the king were at.

Once inside the doors, I turned to face back outside. The sky was quickly getting darker.

“You feel it too?”

Mika nodded her head. “Something is not right. I sense a hostile power somewhere nearby. The user must be powerful, because I cannot pinpoint their location.”

I nodded as well. “Then the user must want us to know they are there. Otherwise we would not be able to sense them so clearly.”

Suddenly, a flash of lightning covered the entire sky, striking the central tent in the courtyard. At the same instant, the sky, now blackened by clouds, seemed to open up as rain started to pour over everything.

Even over the pouring rain and cracking of thunder, I could hear my father’s strong, proud voice as he shouted for everyone to head for the cover of the castle. As the crowd headed toward us, Mika and I opened the doors as wide as they would go and ran out. The crowd streamed into the church between us, but I was still able to catch Mika’s glance. I nodded, and the two of us took off into the courtyard.

As I ran past the crowd, I heard someone call my name. I considered pretending that I had not heard, but I had ignored her enough today.

I stopped running and turned back. Standing there facing me, was my sister. Behind her, her new husband was holding her arm, having stopped leading her toward the shelter of the castle. Their fine clothes were getting soaked by the rain.

But even in this evil storm, Adina’s beauty could not be compromised. Her golden hair, which had been braided perfectly on top of her head a few moments ago, still seemed to be glowing despite the fallen, soggy strands sticking to her face. Her dress, which I had enchanted last night, continued to shimmer in a rainbow of changing colors despite the lack of light.

“Damita?” Adina called again in her sweet voice that I had never in my life been able to ignore.

“I don’t know what is happening. Mika and I are going to try and find out,” I said quickly before turning to run. But something made me hesitate. I turned back, my one wine colored eye and one blue eye locking on her ocean blue ones. “I’m sorry.”

Before she could answer, I took off running again. I felt that if I had stayed for her answer –she would forgive me for skipping the wedding, she always forgave me– I would start crying. I did not need to be crying at a time like this.

I caught up with Mika near the large central tent that had started burning after the lightning strike. There could not have been much left to burn, but the fire seemed to be going strong. I could see that Mika was trying to put it out. Her hands were held out, palms forward, toward the fire, and her mouth was moving so rapidly, that no human would ever understand the sounds coming from it.

I knew she could take care of the fire, so I went on, past the main tent, toward the smaller ones that were blowing in the increasing wind. The user had to be somewhere nearby.

The rain and wind kept getting stronger. The wind kept blowing stinging drops of rain into my eyes, making it hard to see. It was getting so bad that tears were starting to mingle with the rain. I leaned against one of the tents’ supports, and reached up to wipe at my eyes. I held my hand up to shield my eyes from even more rain as I looked around.

I thought I saw a shadow near one of the tents, but I was unable to focus on it before it disappeared. I took a deep breath, pushed off of the support, and headed toward where the shadow had been.

Just as I was about to reach the shadow, another flash of lightning streaked across the sky. In that instant, I felt a strong magical presence about five tents to my right. I tried to run toward it, but the rain had turned the ground to a sludgy mud, and I had trouble making my way through it. I finally made it to the tent and reached over to open it, holding one hand up defensively, I ready to cast a spell.

As I opened the tent, it was as if everything outside had suddenly stopped. I could not hear the rain. I could not feel the wind or the cold. The only thing I was aware of was the old woman sitting in front of me, lit up by torchlight. Within the span of what must have been seconds, which felt like years, I took in the magic symbols on her forehead, the full head of thick white hair, the wrinkled and sunken skin of her face and hands, the deep, black, soulless eyes, and the evil grin forming on her mouth for a moment before she continued casting her spell. I had never seen her before in my life, but, for some reason I did not understand, I knew her face. I also knew that she was infinitely stronger than me.

As the smile disappeared from her face, I again became aware of everything around me again, including the two big, black crows that flew from behind the old woman with their talons aimed in my direction.

I dove out of the tent, back into the increasingly crazy storm. I hit the mud hard, splattering what little bit of my dress and skin that had not already been covered in it. I struggled back to my feet and turned around, ready to defend myself. I knew I would not be able to see the crows until they were very close, but hopefully it would be enough time to cast a protection spell.

The crows were suddenly in my line of sight. They split up and came at me from both sides. I started casting a shield spell, but before I could finish, I realized something was wrong. The spell was not casting. The crows were too close for me to do anything, so I raised my arms to protect myself as best as I could and braced myself for the pain.

Something hit me from the side, knocking me into the mud again. I was confused. Where was the pain? I opened my eyes in time to see one of the crows just miss me as it flew by. In the dark and against the black of the crow’s leg, I was able to clearly see a glowing talisman. That was why my powers were not working.

“Damita, run!”

I did not recognize the man’s voice, but at that moment I did not really care. I was defenseless without my magic, and even with it, I would be nothing but a momentary annoyance to the witch inside the tent.

I scrambled to my feet and took off running. At least that is what I tried to do. My dress shoes, which had been a smart, comfortable, yet fashionable choice for the wedding, were now more of a hindrance than anything else.

I felt a strong pair of hands yank me up, hard, by my arm. Once I was back on my feet, he let go of my arm and took off in front of me. I managed to run on my own and started to follow him. I was not sure where we were headed, but I assumed it was safety.

After we had made it a little ways away, I slipped in the mud again. Before I hit the ground again, he reached out, grabbed me, and pulled me inside a nearby tent. As I collapsed to the ground trying to catch my breath, I heard him casting a shield spell around the tent.

He came back to where I was sitting, and cast a light spell before kneeling down next to me. When my breathing had finally calmed down, he asked, “Are you alright, Princess Damita?”

I was a member of the royal family. I was not just the youngest princess of the country either; I was also half witch. It was not unusual for someone to recognize me.

“I think so,” I breathed, sighing in relief. Then I looked up at the young man who had addressed me.

He pushed back the hood of his black cloak, and the ball of pale, white light from his spell revealed a younger man than I had been expecting. From his features, he did not look like he could have even seen twenty summers yet. His long, dark brown hair was tied into a tight ponytail, giving full view to his magic symbols, his midnight blue eyes, his nose that looked like it may have been broken once, and his full lips.

All of the magic users in the kingdom had to register with the king’s court, a job I had been given upon my return from magic school two years prior. I knew all of the magic users who lived within my father’s kingdom. I had never seen this young man before.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“My name is Torrin,” he said, bowing his head, but keeping his eyes locked on mine.

“I am grateful for your help, Torrin. I believe I may owe you my life. But may I ask what you are doing here? What is happening?”

“Petra would not have killed you. She wants you alive. I am here to protect you and see that she does not get what she wants.”

“Petra? The Demon-witch? The one who gave her soul to a demon in exchange for his power?”

Torrin nodded his head in reply.

“I thought she was just a legend.”

“She is as real as you are.”

“What would the Demon-witch want with me?”

Torrin shook his head. “I do not know the reasons behind her actions, but I do know that they involve you.”

I was silent for a moment, taking that in. “How do we stop her?”

Torrin looked at me. His tone made it sound as if he knew I would argue if he did not make the decision sound final. “We must get you out of here. I know you will want to protect your family. I can enhance the protection spells around the castle that should last until we have gotten far enough away that Petra will be following us. There is no other way to stop her.”

“And once we are away?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to hear his answer.

Torrin was silent for a moment. That silence cleared away all of the doubt I had about not wanting to hear his answer. “I do not know. There is no sure way to defeat her.”

I looked down at my hands. I had not even realized that they were clenched, tightly gripping the fabric of my dress which, despite the mud and rain water, still managed to shimmer and shift between blue and red in the little light. The shifting of color, though nowhere near as glamorous as my sister’s dress, made me think about her. She did not deserve this. She deserved a happy wedding, one where her freakish, half-bred sister did not steal the spotlight. That is what I had tried to give her, why I did not stand next to her during the service. This day was supposed to be about her.

I braced myself and fought back tears. Then I looked back up at Torrin. “Alright. If it will protect my family, I will do anything.”

Torrin nodded his head. “I believe your witch friend will want to join us. She is headed this way.”

He then stood up and dispelled the light and the shield. He pulled his hood back up and said, “Come. We must move quickly. The crows are probably nearby.”

I stood, opened the tent, and stepped back into the storm. I sensed Mika not too far away and made my way toward her. Torrin followed me.

As we neared her, Mika stopped and looked questioningly at Torrin behind me. “Who is he?”

“His name is Torrin. He says we have to get out of here quickly. It is the Demon-witch,” I explained quickly.

Mika nodded, but her questioning gaze did not change. I started to head toward the castle, but Mika’s hand moved to stop me. “I have already seen to the protection spells. Everyone inside is as safe as they can be. If we must go, we should go now.”

I hesitated. Could I really just leave without saying goodbye to my family? My father and my sister were everything to me. They would worry if I suddenly disappeared.

“You do not want to endanger them anymore. Come,” Torrin said.

You do not want to endanger them anymore… than you already have. Despite how much acceptance my family and our people had always had for me, I had always worried that something bad would happen because of my blood, and Torrin’s unspoken words cut right through me.

I nodded my head, and the three of us took off toward the woods. The tears I had been fighting against finally broke through, mixing with the rain as both fell down my face.

I heard the crows behind us, but we made our way as best as we could.
When we reached the cover of the trees, the rain suddenly stopped. Petra’s spell did not reach this far.

I turned back, looking for one last glimpse of a home I would probably never see again, but all I could see was the storm.