Evil Witch

Thea had fallen asleep while watching over Asuren. When she opened her eyes, her head was over her arms that were resting on the bed of the unconscious patient. She looked around the room. The beds were empty. Everyone had gathered at the dining table near the back door. They were talking while having a delicious meal.

"Thea, come here and eat with us," Gia waved a hand at her. "We are talking about the seal bearer that our new friends are pursuing."

Thea joined them and filled a plate with all the dishes on the table.

"Have you located this seal bearer?" Thea glanced at Riz.

"Not yet," Riz was eating a lot. "According to Calix, when they were dragged into the Deadly Barrier, he was momentarily awakened and noticed a glowing mark at the hand of the blonde-haired disciple."

"Its shape looked like a boar's head," Calix said.

"Boar head…" Thea whispered and recalled the scroll that she had read a thousand years ago. "I had seen that mark, the boar seal. We really are after a seal bearer. Let's head out and search for it after we eat."

"We already talked about the search team," Riz said. "Since Juliann and Calix had been found in Amethyst Forest, the boar seal is probably around the area. Gia and Juliann will search the southern region of Daybreak Realm. Sel will join them later. Ayhan, Calix, and I will search the eastern region of the forest."

"What about me?" Thea glared at her friend that was obviously trying to keep him inside that house and away from danger.

"I'm not trying to keep you out of harm's way," Riz glared back at her. "You will be guarding Asuren. Ayhan said that he could lose control at any moment. Once he wakes up, and he is still in control of his body, you can take him to the western region of Daybreak Realm and search for the boar seal. If his eyes are purple, you have to help him regain control of his body."

"Why me?" Thea was torn between searching for the seal and watching over Asuren.

"We can leave Ayhan here. But if something bad happens, he cannot inform us as quickly as you can," Riz explained.

"Gia is the healer…"

"I already brewed the medicine he needs for today," Gia had quickly interrupted with a suspicious smile. "I left instructions on when he should take it. I'll give it to you before we leave. That is if you want to stay here and guard him."

"I do want to guard him…"

"Then it is settled," Riz triumphantly beamed. "You will stay here and guard him."

Thea accepted the decision of her friends with a glare. What else could she say when their vote was unanimous?

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Auren was terrified when he opened his eyes and saw that he was chained against the wall of a cold and dark chamber. It was nowhere in Nightfall Realm. That place was another prison cell inside his head.

A purple silhouette had manifested in front of him. Its dark violet eyes looked mercilessly at him.

"You are mine, Asuren," it whispered chillingly in his ear. "You cannot run away from me. And if I tell you to take that fairy to me, you will take her to me!"

The silhouette clawed at his chest and the agonizing pain awakened him. He clutched at his painful chest and rolled against the bed until he plunged onto the floor.

"No…" Asuren lifted his head and looked around. His vision was dimming. Even after blinking, all he could perceive was darkness.

He had to get out of that place. He spread his wings but he quickly collapsed on the floor after hitting something hard. It must be the wall. He leaned on it and slowly found his way towards the door.

^#########^

Thea was reheating the food Gia had prepared earlier when she heard a loud thud from the adjacent room. She hurriedly checked it out and saw Asuren leaning on the wall and slowly walking towards the door. His eyes were wide open with fear but he seemed blind of his surroundings.

"Asuren…" she carefully approached him but he scrambled away from her grasp and tried to flap his damaged wings.

He floated from the ground by a few inches before plummeting fast to the ground after hitting another wall.

"Drinking medicine might help," Thea cautiously followed Asuren. "Gia brewed a few…"

"No…" his right eye changed from green to purple. "I need… to leave…"

"Fine," Thea was instantly reminded of the Evil Witch. He grabbed Asuren by his waist and told him, "Let's leave," she spread her wings and brought Asuren to a cave in the depths of the Mossjade Forest, not far from the house of Gia.

"Please leave..." Asuren pulled away from her grasp as soon as they had landed. He crouched at the farthest corner of the cave and hid behind the shadows. "I don't want to hurt you."

He seemed to be suppressing something terrifying inside of him and it was causing him great pain. He was sweating a lot and violently trembling while clutching his chest.

"You can let it out," Thea was anxious, but she had to help Asuren. He had been left in her care. "Whatever it is, I can handle it. I might be weaker than you, but I can fight. Believe in me."

Asuren suddenly stopped squirming in agony.

"You can handle it?" His voice became more chilling. Both his eyes turned ominously purple. A wicked smile curved on his lips when he asked, "Are you sure about it?" In his right hand, a purple dagger had manifested. "Let's see how long can you last."

Thea spread her wings and glided away from the purple blades. She had no idea where her strength was coming from but she could feel her energy overflowing while Asuren seemed to be getting weaker. His movements were slow. She could easily dodge every slash of his purple blade. After a few minutes of clashing blades with him, he had lowered his dagger and dropped on his knees. He looked exhausted and was catching his breath.

"Kill me…" he pleaded with tears in his eyes.

Thea was momentarily surprised by that sudden request.

"If you let me live… your life will be in danger. You must kill me now… before I kill more innocent fairies... I am begging you… end my life… while you still can…"

Thea tightened the grip on her wind daggers but instead of attacking, she asked, "Why do you want Asuren dead?"

"What are you saying?" he stared at her with confusion.

"I heard things about you, Evil Witch. You want Asuren dead," Thea willed her wind blades to vanish. "But your poison and the Deadly Barrier failed to kill him. Are you running out of options that you are asking someone else to do it for you?" she summoned wind gusts and trapped Asuren with it. "I will not kill him. You failed again this time," she tightened the grip on the possessed fairy and admitted, "I don't know how to push you out of his body but I can make him stay in this cave until he regains control of his body. I'm sure he can do it."

"This useless puppet!" The Evil Witch angrily bellowed and freed herself from the wind gusts. "What else did he tell you?" she furiously asked as she clashed daggers with Thea.

"He didn't tell me anything," Thea answered and pushed the Evil Witch away with a wave of her wind blades.

"If this useless puppet did not tell you anything, how did you know about those things?" the Evil Witch attacked again.

"I already said it. I heard things about you when I was in Nightfall Realm," Thea deflected the daggers but did not counter. She was careful not to add another serious injury to Asuren. "What I didn't hear is your reason for wanting him dead."

"This useless puppet will destroy everything!" the Evil Witch waved her daggers and created a powerful wind that shoved Thea against the wall. "If you do not want to kill him, I will find another fairy who can grant my wish."

"How can you escape from me?" Thea summoned another powerful wind gusts and trapped Asuren before he could soar out of the cave. She focused all her strength on restraining his movements. "You poisoned and cursed him repeatedly. You probably did it to easily control him. Unfortunately for you, his body is weaker than mine at this moment."

"You will regret helping this useless puppet," The Evil Witch seethed as she struggled against the wind gusts binding the body she was possessing.

"You will regret sending him here in Daybreak Realm," Thea further strengthened her wind gusts and kept Asuren trapped while hoping that he could soon regain control of his body.

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