Chapter 11 The Writer, The Crimson Witch and the Dark Prince

Ariadne, John Peter and Walter

The witch and her apprentice wandered the alley of the Davidson Street unpretentiously as the setting afternoon sun shone in the mixture between the hues of crimson and orange.

The people around are looking at them accusingly like they'd done a terrible thing, some are looking at them with amused faces, probably of the way they dress for a costume party. Yet there are some who are ignoring their presence as they were busy doing their afternoon rites.

"We've got at least hours to look for the writer." Colleen looked at the amazed young witch beside her.

Ariadne just nodded.

They've been walking for a little while now, wandering the streets and they still have found nothing, not even a single clue to where the writer is. It's just the same as they were at Samdiperove, the same scenario is going in cycles again.

The sky began shifting its features and the dark clouds have brought forth a darkening sky.

"It looks like it's going to rain." Ariadne gazed at the sky and see the flocks of brown and white pigeons flying in the minty-chilled horizon.

The street has gotten deserted little by little. At their front stood the big coliseum-like school.

"Let's hurry."

"To where?" Ariadne looked at her master gingerly.

"To. . ." Colleen paused.

"What is it master?" Ariadne asked with the slightest bit of concern in her voice. Colleen's malignant coal-black eyes lit up.

"There's an outrageously strong power presence clutched in a certain place, a fairy's and a necromancer's." Colleen's eyes widened in disbelief.

"A fairy and a necromancer in a single place? It can't be. They're supposedly  sophisticated, that's absurd."

"And there's this. . .this blood boiling presence, it overflows with unnatural-intrinsic manas. There is this resemblance of a babe too," she looks at Ariadne.

"Aishah." They blurted simultaneously, both drawing out evil smiles.

"Where are these presences clustered?" Ariadne straightened, changing her exhaustive aura.

"West," Colleen uttered, a lighting struck as soon as she blurted the word out. The clouds rumbled and an outburst bursted.

"Wretched witches!" She cursed and a woman suddenly bumped her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking the way," the blonde woman in the eyeglasses who seemed to be looking for something inside her bag apologized for getting herself bumped.

The woman continued walking and took an umbrella from her bag, opening it to shed herself from the rain. She ignored the witches who are now drenched in rainwater.

"Filthy mortal," Colleen hushed and was about to cast a spell when flocks of small winged bat-like creatures appeared from the rippling dark portal from up above the darkened clouds.

Colleen dodged one of the bat-like creatures whose talons are ready to pierce her already drenched cloak. She snapped her fingers trapping the creature in a prismatic bubble. The bubble popped vaporizing the creature inside.

"What are these creatures?" Ariadne shot fiery bolts of red light at the bat-like creatures, disinteresting the flying small beasts.

"They're beasts from the land of Barnania, the nattbakkas,"

"But. What are these creatures doing in here?" Ariadne asked worriedly, killing another nattbakka by shooting it with a bolt of red light.

"They're summoned by someone, and the only individuals who are capable of doing such acts are. . .It can't be!. . .a. . .a shadow mage?"

"Like the one we killed at Canipus lupus?"

"We haven't killed him!" Colleen shot an angry look at her.

Ariadne refreshed the memory from their encounter with the shadow mage in the land of the wolves—Canipus lupus, a secluded area in the southern region of Samdiperove, it is the land of the ferocious dogs of all kinds; werewolves, wolves, foxes, poodles, hounds, etc.

The land of the wolves was ruled by the legendary were-fox ladies, the BRAMZA, Britney, Rhea, Analyn, Marian, Zhyra and Angel. These six ladies were cursed by the great Chihuahua who was once inhabiting the land of Barnania.

Ariadne shook the bothersome memory, that doesn't help her in her fight right now. A nattbakka was able to scratch her arm causing it to bleed.

"Are you okay?" Colleen asked in concern as she disintegrated the nattbakka that scratched Ariadne's arm.

Meanwhile, John descended from the portal he made for himself, heavily breathing the chilly air of the world of the unenlightened.

"So this is the world of the unenlightened? What an absurd place to live in?!" John stated in the mixture of Joshua's deep and hoarse voice.

The dusk was about to take its place as the air is completely growing chilly. The cloudburst stopped.

"When will this stop?! These creatures seem to be rapidly growing." Ariadne grumbled.

Colleen created an enormous bubble from her palms and shot it to the disoriented flying nattbakkas which are either attacking them or the people around, some of the nattbakkas which are raking the roofs of the houses nonstop are captured by the growing bubble.

"We need to hurry!" Colleen popped the bubble with the snap of her fingers, vaporizing the hundreds of trapped nattbakkas inside.

"Let's go." Ariadne agreed, her damp auburn hair matches her now multicolored cloak. Colleen's black cloak dried off as she enveloped herself with a prismatic mist.

"Zephyr!" Colleen called the wind through her thoughts. The drizzle stopped. The dark clouds thinned out, clearing up the sky which now shone in its intrinsic dusk hues.

Colleen casts an invisibility spell on them as the wind carry them in the air.

"Where to?" The voice of the wind asked in Colleen's thought.

"The writer."

"To the writer!" The wind stated plainly and starts flying the witches to where the cluster of strong powers is.

"To the writer, we sail!" The wind began singing in a high pitched falsetto.

"To the west is not to fail,

Ay, ay! To the writer's trail,

I, and the two witches, we'll, hail!"

"There," Colleen pointed her index finger at the house with the green painted roof.

The west wind slowly descended them in front of the Dan house.

"Off I go!" The wind hushed.

"Thank you." Colleen retorted.

The woman in the eyeglasses with the blonde hair stood at the front door. She closed her umbrella and opened the door, Walter stood there, shocked.

"Mom, why haven't you told me you're coming home."

The woman pushed her son and quickly gets inside, at the same time closing the oak door.

A waft of chilly air hit the witches.

"What was that?" Ariadne staggered.

"A paralyzing charm, but how can that see through our invisibility spell?" Colleen stood there semi-petrified.

"Welcome to the world of the unenlightened witches." Ariadne Mae floats in midair, her glistening wings flap gracefully while her white magnificent gown shimmers.

"A fairy?" Ariadne managed to utter in the paralyzed state she's in.

"Let us go! We don't have business to deal with you." Colleen demanded through a telepathic communication.

"But I have business to deal with this young witch here and the writer." Ariadne Mae confided, her innocent aura shifted into then of the evil's

"Don't you say you're a minion of my sister?"

"A minion?" Ariadne Mae chuckled.

"How funny." Ariadne Mae chuckled, dispelling the invisibility spell and revealing the witches who stood on the pathway petrified.

"Sorry I'm late," John apologized, fixing his cloak. The golden locket glinted on his neck.

"Why have you chosen to possess that body?" Ariadne Mae bombarded, shooting a look of disapproval.

"Why not? It suits me, and this body possesses an immense power." John countered.

"That one is a son of Josephine. She sure will kill you if she saw you in that body."

"Well, she'd better understand." John moved his gaze to the witches who stood there frozen. His coal-black eyes widened.

"Colleen!" He shouted angrily and shoot a fiery black misty ball towards the witches which made the witches flew meters away, blood spilling from their mouths.

Ariadne forced to stand up, staggering on her feet to move beside her the half-conscious master.

"Imbecile!" Ariadne Mae shot a white bolt of light towards John, sending him to a veranda of the nearest house near Walter's.

The night has finally come and the round moon is shining brightly. The flying nattbakkas spoil the moon's beautiful lighting as they shadowed it.

John was brought back to consciousness because of the attack. He blinked his eyes, feeling the surge of power in his veins.

"Where am I?" He asks himself, taking a descent on the strange land.

"Master," Ariadne has managed to be beside her master. She reached her finger into her mouth, Colleen bit it making her blood spill to her mouth. Ariadne moaned from the sudden pang of pain. Slowly, Colleen feels her strength regaining and her power restoring.

"A drop of blood is a beauty of eternal." The witches both said in unison.

Ariadne floats in midair, she feels lightened again just like what she felt during the attack of Josephine's cult. Red swirling mists are slowly consuming her body, the process of the long-lost memory flooded her thoughts.

Young Ariadne smiled happily with the faceless people. The scene shifts, she ran from the pursuit of the evil looking creatures with distorted faces, she ran with a boy in spectacles, they were both running away from the monsters in the midst of the forest of Feesh, they held hands and the boy let loose of his hands from hers to face the monsters. Ariadne was left alone, she ran, crying, she ran and ran till she fell into a cliff. The scene shifted again, this time she saw the faces of her parents, the round face of her mother and the solemn face of her father which looks very familiar, she'd met this guy's face before, the face of one of Josephine's cult, the very same face of Fred's. The scenes shattered. She opened her eyes which are now glowing in power. Her green cloak has shifted into the color of pure crimson. She feels more powerful.

Ariadne Mae laughs hard. Something is awakened inside her, a crazy feeling of wanting to destroy someone or anything.

"So, this is the real power of the Crimson Witch? It's. . ." Ariadne Mae stopped as a bubble made of red mists consumed her, she looked shocked like she has touched an electrifying object.

"Damn you!" Ariadne Mae shouted and the bubble popped. Ariadne Mae flaps her wings as they change in colors, they glint, her golden hair shimmered and her white gown was seemingly emitting a radiant aura.    

"Cowering already?!" She asked the wide-eyed Colleen who has now gotten up from the lawn.

John paced up and walked on the strange land. He doesn't know what he is doing there, he doesn't know where to go to. He looked up at the sky and tried locating the powers of Kim yet all that he detects were the immense powers he has just happened to be feeling. He grins without him trying, he walked out from the veranda and went into the open lawn. Ariadne Mae stared at him.

"Recovering so slow? You coward baggage." Her eyes gleamed.

Meanwhile, Ariadne, with her long crimson hair covering her face, stood there, dazed with her overflowing power, and at the same time processing the unreliable memories in her head slowly.

Colleen opened her palms and shot a blasting spell towards John, John deflected it with ease.

"Beware with that nephew of yours," Ariadne warned in a tone she doesn't usually use in talking to her Master. She becomes bolder, firmer, stronger and more powerful, she even grows instincts for predicting what's to happen.

"That's quite a. . .?!!!!" Ariadne Mae stops, she stared at John and tried looking through him yet she can't, she sees a barrier through him, she can't read him. 

"What the?!" Ariadne Mae flapped her wings to take higher ascent.

"You full of wretchedness nonsense bunny!" She screamed angrily as a black shadow appears near her, the silhouette of Joshua. Joshua twisted his neck and moves his black image on the swirling nattbakkas which are still flying in the sky.

"Why aren't there any people running around? I'd like to hear them scream." Joshua clenched his fist and threw an enormous amount of black power to them.

"Unlucky you for I already put them into a deep slumber." Ariadne Mae smiled and shot a bolt of white light into Joshua's black one, their powers swirl and ignited. The two of them smiled together.

"Would it kill them?" Joshua turned his smile into a grin. His shadow form is floating beside the fairy.

"Don't think so, maybe that curly witch will."

"Even if she did survive, I'll kill her myself." Joshua's shadow swirled. His already hoarse voice grew even hoarser.

Colleen looks at the incoming enormous ball of black and white light surging down towards them, it seems like it's going to hit them. It will surely kill them.

Ariadne just stood there, her eyes are not showing any signs of fear, she looks fearless and invincible.

John, on the other hand, grins wider, the bloodthirstiness of power is growing within him. He raised his hand and grinned a very terrifying evil grin and shot a blindingly purple beacon from his hand. The golden locket on his neck shimmered as soon as the attack took flight.

"No one defies me." He half whispered, sending the attack back— boomeranging the massive powers back to their conjurers.

"How can you use so much power without a body? And how have you been vomited out?"

"I thought you can read minds."

"Pfft, that damn dark wizard incapacitated my ability."

"I'm a shadow mage, after all. I live in shadows, I don't need a body when there are shadows around, especially at night."

Ariadne Mae's eyes widened as her power and Joshua's surged back towards them and shockingly its strength has doubled. She hastily covered herself in a bubble-shield and hoped it wouldn't break. Joshua quickly makes a portal and gets into it. The balls hit her shield and it breaks making her unable to move in shock. She falls down on a black swirling portal which just appeared suddenly, a hand then pulled her inside the portal and she disappeared with it.