Cearbhail:

Hey everyone. Took me a couple days, but here you go.

Enjoy ^^ ...

[Mother Red]

Hedge Red,

It has come to my knowledge that the previous Mother of the Nottingham Coven has unfortunately come to an untimely end. As you already know, I sent my daughter to help reestablish the Nottingham Coven and elect a new leader while she guided the remaining gifted students to become the next generation of mana users in the Nottingham coven. As I am sure my daughter has already stated to you, I have selected you to become the next Mother of the Nottingham Coven. Congratulations are in order, of course, and in time you will be invited up to York with your coven members to have the official ceremony of mothers. You shall receive your full robes and taught the most advanced arts we have knowledge of. Until such a time, keep my daughter safe and use her as a link between myself and you.

I do have an assignment for you, however. I heard about some Assassins running around the town. I do not fully trust these individuals. I do not believe they have our family's best interests in mind. You should do well to resist any contact with these possibly dangerous militants. Remember, you are the leader of your family branch now… and anyone that would cause us harm should be avoided at all times. I heard of the reports of damage to Nottingham, and that led to a purge that almost killed everyone in your family branch. If it is true that the Assassins were behind the carnage that resulted of that action, then your family branch is not safe around them. Do well to remember this.

Until such a time that I am able to bring you to York; do please take care of yourself and your family,

Mother Goose.

…

I sighed as I folded the note given to me from Vicky. If only Mother Goose knew half of what was going on. I guess she didn't really know that I was one of the Assassins now. Oh joy. I wonder if she'd even accept me as a Mother if she knew that I was training to become an Assassin. I couldn't really tell either way, so it was pointless to even think about it. It was what it was. As far as I could tell, Malik was a great guy. He helped me save my sisters, and anything past that was in response to what our king did to us. So, it was really the king that was the bad guy in all this. We were just doing what we could to protect the town, as we should. We have the power, and those with the power should at least attempt to do something good with it.

Vicky stood there with her arms crossed as she glared up at me with inquisitive eyes. "What did mother want?"

I shrugged and handed her the note. "She just confirmed that I'm the new Mother of this coven, and told me to keep you safe."

Vicky scanned the note for a few seconds before nodding. "And apparently she does not like Malik." She muttered just loud enough for me to hear. She looked up at me for a few seconds before nodding at me to follow her. "Red, we need to talk about something."

I looked around. Everyone was getting set up for dinner already. Today had been a pretty long day. I mean, yesterday, I managed to get Vicky to take a nap for 12 hours before she woke up in the healing tent with Brian sleeping next to her, I guess. All I remember is a loud scream. Then there was a large fire and she accidentally burned down one of our healing tents. Brian sprinted out of the tent with her chasing him while throwing fireballs. Vicky hadn't quite forgiven me for hitting her hard enough to put her out cold for half a day. She said it was a waste of time that could have been used to finish up this project today like she wanted. Now we're behind by a whole day.

Looking at the tiny crazy-powerful witch standing before me, I shuddered to think that she wanted a proper rematch against me. But, I shrugged and followed her out of the dining hall. She took her time as she jumped into the cleared out ground. Just two days ago, this place was packed with a foot or more of snow. But ever since we've been warming the atmosphere up around here, there was no snow left in our little town. I liked having all the snow around, but it was pretty dangerous for everyone slipping while constructing new buildings.

We continued to walk through the dirt before we stepped up to the invisible border that separated the protected town and the untamed snowy field beyond. I could see a small stretch of snow that quickly built up to knee deep. Vicky looked back at me for a second before looking around the rest of the town. "I think it's safe to talk here." She said as she walked around the border of the town's protection circle. "I lied about my reason for being here."

"What reason?" When she first came here, she talked about her mother sending her here to protect the family and keep it together while Mother Goose sent someone to take over the spot of Branch Mother. I just had not known that I would be the one to take her spot. And now Vicky was telling me that she had come here for a separate reason? That didn't make any sense.

"I was actually in town before the purge happened." Vicky stated. "There was this man in York that was killing members of our coven. He's an Assassin." She stated obviously, waving her hand like it didn't matter. "And we feared that he was moving here to Nottingham to do something to this coven." She paused for a second before shrugging. "And when I got here, I saw the girl Laila. When I approached her, to see if she was the Assassin killing my sisters back home, she stopped and looked around. She hadn't looked directly at me, so I thought maybe she was picking up my presence or something. Since the Assassin killing my family branch's sisters, I thought she was a witch herself and able to sense our energy. It wouldn't be the first time a rogue went out of his or her way to kill... to kill family members."

"Wait, wait." I held up my hand. "You came here to track an Assassin?"

She nodded. "Yes. Mother mentioned it to me at a meeting she held to warn the Hedges about the deaths. She didn't tell me directly to leave, but the tone in her voice hinted that she expected me to come here and find the Assassin… and kill him. So, there I was, Laila in front of me, and I had my staff charged up and ready to kill her."

Vicky's eyes glazed over for a second and she unfocused her eyes. When she didn't answer my question, I waved my hand over her eyes. "Um…" When she snapped out of it, she looked back up at me. "What happened next?"

"Men started gathering around us. They looked at me and then commented on my robes. Called me a witch and then said that Wolfe would want to have me. They started coming after me, grabbing my arms and flinging me to the ground as they started binding my arms with this… magick jamming cloth. That girl Assassin looked back at me. She never even said a word. When she looked down at me, I could see the terror and hatred in her eyes. It wasn't directed at me. It was directed at the people tying me up. She screamed something at them and then charged in. She killed the first couple people before they could even do anything. When more men started coming after her, she started backing away. I think… I think she was drawing them away from me. When they had all their eyes on her, she nodded to me to run. And I did. I took off. I watched as Laila went down." She shook her head. "And to find out that she let herself get captured to be taken to that ship…"

Laila knew all along we were on that ship when she was brought to us? I didn't know that. And Vicky was here the whole time too? "But… what…" I couldn't even form a proper question in my mind. What did any of that have to do what was going on now?

Vicky shrugged at my crappy question. "How could I kill someone that protected me?" She looked up at me. "So, I didn't. I watched. I saw what happened on that ship. That cloth drained me of all my magick. I watched as Malik fought the guards outside the town. I saw the ship crash into the harbor." She shook her head. "You think you were the cause of the ship crash. It was me." I saw tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "I was hesitant. I was too ahead of myself to actually do something to help. I could have blasted those men off me before they bound me. I was scared. I'd never used my magick for anything above practice before that day."

"But…", I stopped to think about it. "If you had blasted those men, Laila might have attacked you." She shrugged. "And then my sisters and I would not have been freed. We would have ended up in France."

Vicky looked down. "I- I had not thought of it like that." She almost smiled. "But regardless, Laila was only on that ship because I didn't kill those men when I had the chance. The lives of those that died during the purge… that died in the crash of the ship… those lives are on my hands." She looked down at her clenched fists for a second. Then she looked up at me. "And the reason I tell you now is this…" She tapped the giant bruise on her right cheek. "I have been pushing my training so that I will not hesitate a second time to do the right thing, and I have been repenting for my crimes by helping with this town. I understand that you knocked me out because I'd gone too far off the deep end; used too much of my power… and you know… thanks for protecting me."

"So, wait." I paused while I collected my thoughts. "You brought me all the way out here and told me the story of tracking an Assassin because you wanted to explain your reason for almost killing yourself last night?"

She nodded. "You did the right thing. I needed the sleep; I was cracking."

"What about your mission? Finding that Assassin? And why did you decide to trust Malik? Don't you think he's the Assassin that's killing our family? I mean, more than half of our coven was killed in one night because of his plan."

Vicky crossed her arms as she listened to me. "Well, to be honest, I decided to trust Malik because of what I saw that night Mother Bo-Peep died."

"You were there that night?" She nodded. "And you didn't try to save her?" I screamed at her.

Vicky nodded again. "That cloth." She rubbed her hands. "It was a sickening feeling. It burned, like they knew it would hurt me. It ripped the magick from my body. It took me days to get even a small amount back. And while I waited for my magick to return, I stalked around Malik, keeping an eye on him. I did not trust him and to be honest, I wanted to kill him. So, when I saw him up on the roof watching Mother Bo-Peep hanging, I didn't use the power in my staff to save her life… I used it to attack Malik. I threw up a wall that kept him from racing off the rooftop he was hiding up. I thought if I boxed him in, I could collect enough power to strike him with a lightning bolt."

I stood there as I processed what she said. "But..." I thought of the night when Malik and I raced to save Mother Bo-Peep. He was ahead of me and then he just fell down. I didn't know he hadn't come to a stop because something stopped him. That was Vicky?

I looked down at her as she waited for me to continue. When I didn't, she sighed. "Another bad decision." She looked away. "I could have done something to save Bo-Peep and Jingleheimer, but I was too caught up in trying to kill Malik at the time. While I was collecting enough of my life energy for one lightning strike, I heard Bo-Peep's voice. She was whispering over my shoulder. She told me to be nice to Malik. She told me that he would save our coven. Save my life. Save England. So, I did what I could. The lightning bolt had already formed and it had to discharge, so I made it arc off into the sky where it would light the whole town. They would forever remember that night… the night that a wonderful woman died." She shook her head. "And because Bo-Peep said I had to be nice, I watched Malik as my power started to return to me. The things he said and did… I don't know. He just didn't seem like the bad man I thought he was. I knew he was Laila's brother, and I liked her too. So, I decided to honor Bo-Peep's final request. I called mom and told her everything that happened as far as the purge went. I didn't tell her about Malik or Laila. In case she would tell me to kill them."

I nodded to Vicky. "So… that's the whole thing then?"

Vicky shook her head. "Not even close. That man that was killing my sisters is in town. I've seen him once or twice."

"Why haven't you killed him?"

She shrugged. "I'm trying this Malik's way." She blushed a bit before looking up at me. "I don't want to be a killer, like mom wanted me to be. Malik doesn't want us to kill anyone so… I will keep an eye on the murderer. If he makes a move towards us, I will kill him. Do not mistake me on that. And I will make sure he suffers every second of his slow execution. I will drill the memory of everyone from my family branch into his brain while I fray his mind. By the time he dies, he will be a shell of a man with the only memory of those bloody faces in his mind, of every second they lived and talked. He will see their lives from birth to death where he will see his bloody hands, knowing nothing more of himself other than what he truly is… a monster. And when he cries for mercy, for redemption… for freedom from his eternal punishment… I won't kill him. I'll teleport him to a distant island where he can spend the rest of his miserable life contemplating what it means to know only death. If he's smart, he'll kill himself. But I doubt he'll do it."

Wow, that was a lot for Vicky to share with me. I didn't know all this stuff had been bothering her for this long. For her to be forcing herself to train this hard because of it really told me a lot about her. She wasn't so different from me after all. I finally nodded to her. "Well, thanks for sharing that with me. I could have done without the whole… I will make him suffer speech though."

She shrugged. "Killing him would be easier, and I have to be sure he's the right man. We've never seen his face, only recorded moments of time. And those are fuzzy since it was always raining in York when he committed his crimes. The water distorted the energy and the image was always too blurry to see properly. But still… I think it's the right man. If he tries to make a move against anyone here, then I know I've found him, and he will suffer. But… because I respect Malik and see that he is generally right about this Assassin stuff and how they operate… I will not kill anyone, just like he told us."

…

[Malik]

"So, we're killing Wolfe?" Little Ashley said as she walked behind me.

I nodded. "Yes, we're totally killing him." Looking at the state of the town ahead of us, I had no doubts about that now. Bitch had to die.

Of course, we've been spending the last day training and scouting out this village. And Wolfe was worse than I thought he was. The towns I saw earlier that Wolfe's army had blown through were nothing but smoke and ash now. Bodies of men lied charred in a pile of logs in each village. Those men from Strawsville were nothing now. They were all burned alive, it seemed. The way the burnt bones seemed to reach out away from the fire told me that a few of them tried to run but were unsuccessful. The whole town of Strawsville was being manned by knights wearing a crest of a full moon with a black wolf's shadow howling inside it. I saw that same crest on Wolfe's armor all the time. So, these were his troops. Of course, we saw the same type of carnage and death at the milling town not too far away. When we scouted out towards the town that Bricks lived in… well, I could see an entire camp of knights set up. Giant ballistas and catapults were set up and already firing into the town. How Bricks had been able to hold off against this for so long was beyond me. His town wasn't so small, however, and that wall did look intimidating. I wasn't sure if anything could bust through it.

"So… how are we going to do it?" She asked me as she looked over to me. "Locksley's too injured to fight; his men are in no better shape. And I doubt you're going to let women and children fight." Then she shrugged. "Well, besides me anyway."

I nodded. She was right about that. I wasn't about to let untrained lumberjacks take the full attack. And we were vastly outnumbered and out-bowed. Luckily, I had a chance to get Ashley trained up a bit. Ever since I found out her abilities were with potion and whatnots, I changed out training a bit. I had her brewing potions all morning. And I think we were ready. "I think we're ready to begin."

"Really? Only a day of fighting and brewing potions and the two of us are suddenly ready to take on an army?" She said with a hint of a chuckle. She finally shook her head. "Wow, your gods must be amazing if they let you get away with this."

"Gods have nothing to do with it." I responded back at her. "They work passively anyway. We determine our future." I looked back at her. "You ready?"

She shrugged. "Maybe? What's the plan again? I thought we'd be up in Bricksville, or whatever it's called. You know, fighting the entire imperial legion."

I shook my head. "Nah, not yet. I want to chip away at the army. And taking this town back so that we have a real town to sleep in is just step one. Not to mention… I don't know where Wolfe is. If we can kill him here and now, then it all ends here."

"What's to stop the King from continuing this crusade after Wolfe is dead?" She asked me as she looked out over the town looming ahead of us.

"Nothing." I replied back. "Unless the towns were suddenly besieged by an evil fairy." I looked at her and nodded. "You know, a sickening creature of magick and whatnot."

She took immediate offence to that as her mouth gaped open. "Sickening creature?"

I nodded. "Why not? Feed their fears. Got those potions of fear?" She pulled out a few vials of some blue liquid and swished them in front of me. "Want the first dose?" Was that her idea of a joke?

I grunted as I nodded her to follow me. "Keep to the shadows and stay low."

"You know, it would be so much easier to be stealthy if we weren't dressed in white." She replied.

"Not with all this snow." I said back to her. "We blend in nicely now."

As we approached the town, I could see a guard patrolling nearby. With all the thick snow, there were actual pathways that had formed from routine patrols. The guard just followed his previous footsteps as he walked along, looking out at the woods at us. He must have not seen us because he just continued to look around as he eventually walked past us. I readied a dagger and took aim at the guard. He paused for a second next to a large pile of snow. I tossed my dagger, catching him right in the throat. He reached for his throat for a second before he stumbled and fell into the large pile of snow. I saw the snow shift around him but the guy never resurfaced.

I nodded to Ashley. "Your turn. Show me what you got."

She looked uncertain before groaning. "Do I have to kill anyone?"

I shrugged. "I'll leave that up to you. You have your little fairy ears ready?"

Oh yeah, she was totally dressed up with these wings made out of ice and had covered her body in some sort of glitter that made her look more like a creature of superstition than any human. Her new fairy robes were still white and whatnot, since she was trying to portray some sort of winter fairy, but they were so revealing that any guards that saw her would be too distracted to do anything anyway.

Ashley sighed as she pulled out a potion. She took a small sip of it and then rubbed her hands over her ears. Her ears morphed into some sort of large pointy ears and then she stood up. She confidently walked out towards the town. The guards were immediately interested in her, and not in the good way.

"Halt!" One of the soldiers shouted as he pulled out his sword and aimed it toward her. "What business do you have here?" He shouted to Ashley.

"You have trespassed on my hallowed ground and desecrated it with your filthy human metal." Ashley screamed to the village. "Now…you shall burn." She spread her arms out as she started singing. Now, I had only seen this once before when we rehearsed it, but man was it something to see now. Animals started walking up from the woods, walking out to join Ashley as she stood there. "Leave now, or suffer the consequences."

"Under the Orders of King John…"

"King John is but an ant to the fae folk." Ashley interrupted him. She raised her hands in the air and I felt the wind around me start to pick up. "If you do not flee, you will be forced to face your worst fears. The Realm of the Fae is not to be messed with." She reached behind her back and readied her bottles filled with that blue fear juice. She popped the lids and let the potion spill out into the snow. Before it hit the ground, the potion turned into a thick mist that started to gather behind her.

Some of the knights weren't going for it. They charged for her. And she stuck out her hand as a reply. That thick mist rolled from behind her and slammed into their faces. The knights were instantly on their knees screaming up at something they couldn't see. One of the knights started pulling his armor off as he screamed that he was burning alive. Another clawed at his leg as he said wolves were eating him. The other just stood there with a wide look on his face. I don't know what he was seeing, but it had scared him stiff.

Ashley looked at the other guards still standing there. "Flee now and never return or suffer with your friends." She started gathering more of that mist around her and the animals started stepping closer to the town. The guards didn't wait to find out if she would hold true to her threats. They took off running, grabbing their horses and dashing off into the night. When the knights were out of sight, Ashley looked back at me and smiled. "How was that?"

I nodded. "That was pretty good." I said as I walked out of the woods and up to her. The three guards were already foaming at the mouth. I slit their throats so that they wouldn't suffer anymore. "Think they'll stay away?"

She nodded. "I know circles, remember? I just have to draw a circle much like this fear spell, and they'll get the message. Only people I allow through will be able to do so." And if she could do something like that, I had a pretty good idea. "Think you could make more of that fear potion? On a grand scale?"

She smiled as she looked over at me. "Are you thinking of carpet bombing the camp outside Bricksville?"

I nodded. "Yeah, something like that. And while everyone is screaming in horror, I find Wolfe and send him to hell, or wherever it is where bad people go when they die."

"France?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, close enough."

Cearbhail:

More character development! For both Ashley and Vicky. Yay!