“Come with me.” The demon extended a hand to her.
Faye eyed his hand with a confused frown. “Again? I’m tired, Raxx.”
“We’re going somewhere different this time.”
“Where?”
Raxx gritted his teeth. “You’ll see. Come on.”
“Not until you tell me where you’re taking me.” Faye crossed her arms.
The shadow demon took a deep steadying breath as he felt his frustration growing. “I’m taking you to meet a friend of mine, Tabitha. She’s a witch.”
Faye’s eyes lit up, despite her stony expression remaining unmoved. Her gaze flickered to his extended hand once more. She hesitated before reaching out and grasping it firmly with her own.
Raxx glanced back at the runic spell he had cast onto the walls of the cell the night before and focussed his majick.
Shadow travel was very complex; he couldn’t travel on a whim, like most of his companions assumed. Teleportation required a very particular set of runes set up on either end of the destination.
Thankfully, half his work was – and forever would be – cut out for him. Years prior, Tabitha had tattooed the beginning part of the runic markings down the side of his ribs, so he would never need to worry about carving them out before being able to teleport. All that was required was a landing spot.
So far, Raxx had only been able to set up two of these incredibly complex spells – one at his home and the other in Tabitha’s office. The third, here in the cell, was more of a temporary measure.
It took a great deal of time and effort to set up a permanent incantation, but a simple one like this would be serviceable, maybe a handful of times, before the links broke and it became useless.
Though it was a superior way to travel, he was loath to use shadow travel too frequently. It always drained his majick and often left him with a blinding headache he would struggle to shift for days. Travelling from an incomplete incantation, like the one in Faye’s cell, was especially taxing as his majick would be left to pick up the shortfall in the spell.
Raxx closed his eyes and silently read the incantation to himself. The ground wavered beneath their feet and he held Faye tighter. There was a momentary lurch that always made his stomach flip, before solid ground was beneath their feet once more.
“You’re late.”
The room was dimly lit, with a few scant candles dotted around. Tabitha sat behind her large, wooden desk, her fingers drumming the surface. No, notherfingers...
“Indi?” Faye gaped.
Indeed, Indi – or at least an extremely close approximation to her – sat in Tabitha’s chair. The faerie’s face was pale; her expression hollow and vacant, void of Indi’s cheery nature. Indi’s striking violet eyes were gone, replaced by a familiar serpent-like gaze, set in bright yellow irises. Tabitha.
“It’s not Indi, Faye,” Raxx replied.
“Correct.” Tabitha stood and extended an arm, appraising it as she did so. “Your friend Indi got herself into a spot of bother, so we’ve struck up a temporary arrangement.”
“What is the meaning of this, Tab?” Raxx growled.
“I’ll fill you in on the details later.”The witch fixed him with a serious expression.
“You had better. Why tonight, of all nights? Could have picked a better evening to impersonate one of Faye’s friends – this is going to frighten her.”
“Ah, my sweet demon, there is a method to my madness. You shall soon see.”Before Raxx had a chance to respond, Tabitha turned her attention to Faye.
“Fear not princess. I am friend, not foe.”
“Is Indi alright?” Faye asked, her eyes wide with concern.
“She is safe and sound, no need to fret.” Tabitha snapped her fingers together and a roll of parchment appeared in her hand. She held it out to Faye. “See for yourself.”
The princess hesitated for a moment, but stepped forwards and accepted the witch’s offer. She unfurled the parchment and scanned her eyes over it.
“This is a contract,” Faye muttered under her breath.
