Hokurr

“Here.” Inella had a manservant set down a dais on a pattern with an intricate design. Inella and her coven were settling into the Hokurr Palace with its golden facets and extravagant tapestries. She had intended to confront Addimar, but she had not been able to find him. Inella didn’t know it, but Addimar was aware that Yoseline was on the planet, and he was actively running from her. Inella took her mind off of Addimar and focused on reworking the room.

Would you like to know what happened in Hokurr? It’s not too exciting. Hokurr was completely out of cavalry and soldiers. The city was now almost entirely women and children. A majority of the men who were left were to be killed. See, out of the men left in the city there were workers, but most workers had pledged. After that all the men were some form of royalty. And all the royalty was to be executed. It would be the same in Hokurr as it was in Fa’tal, and it will continue to be that way in every kingdom afterwards. The event of execution was made short. Instead of one chopping block and a long line of waiting men in their Sunday best, you got multiple witches stepping up to do the decapitating. Lyndross was always ready to do it. As was Inella. Nehaynosh did it ceremoniously. As if her authority made her- an unspoken duty. The other women who volunteered changed from time to time. You can imagine all the pain most of the women had faced at the hands of men. Not necessarily royal men, but the systems that preserved royalty dictated society in ways that worked against the feminine spirit. That is only to start. To begin, culture often makes women do more house labor. And not the kind of labor that is usually paid. Cooking, cleaning. Culture can dictate that boys get to be boys, and sooooo lazy to the point that the girls are cleaning up after themselves, on top of cleaning up after their brothers, and fathers.

The shaking aura. The concentrated malice. The negative thoughts, constant. Constant berating. And no sympathy from the mother, because she had it the same way. Being, existing in this space for too long allows you to understand how patriarchy exists in the micro space, which is a gateway to understanding the macro space. Patriarchy works in the micro space with advantages like not doing chores, lowered expectations, which attitudes are allowed,and rhetorical packages which only worsen in all male spaces. The macro space is a small handful of people taking advantage of wealth discrepancy. They use money to make propaganda that will have the populace fighting with anyone except the true enemy, and it doesn’t matter which system it is: Feudalism, capitalism, oligarchy, republicanism, etc. It’s always the small handful of people at the top. That’s the true enemy.

The point is, the women were willing to do whatever was necessary for the cause. The movement. The march across the country. The living riot. And killing off the handful of royals was absolutely necessary.

While Inella was reorganizing King Sidregar’s room, the other witches were scattered within Hokurr. Hokurr was near the largest lake on the continent. Many birds are nearby. Birds in the vicinity means bird shit in the vicinity. With all the mages dead in Hokurr, birdshit covered most of the city. The white splatters looked like marble from a distance, but it was truly grey slate that had been overly appreciated by a bird or three.

A bronze statue in the city of a bear standing and waving. “Awe, this is actually really cute.” Moira said. Adda agreed with a nod and a smile. The two strolled happily along past June and Lyndross, who were arguing.

“No!” June said firmly.

“Well, up yours then.” Lyndross walked off in a rage. She eventually ran into Inella inside. “When are we leaving this bloody disgusting city? I hate Hokurr.” She said to Inella.

“I can tell that your anger obviously isn’t about something else.” Inella said with a knowing look. It came to Inella that she might need to act like a little bit of a mother for Lyndross in the coming moment, but she was careful not to be obvious, or worse yet, overbearing.

“Well June keeps trying to manage me. It’s fucking annoying.”

Inella: “What do you mean she is trying to manage you?”

Lyndross: “Well she is always discouraging me from doing things. Like just today I wanted to jump down from a roof into some hay. She told me no and pulled my ear like I was her babe. It was the most embarrassing shit, it made me red all over.”

Inella: “So, the things that she is telling you not to do… are they all about you not doing things that could potentially hurt you?”

Lyndross: “Yes.”

Inella: “And you know how that makes you sound?”

Lyndross: “Yes.”

Inella: “Well, you can’t be mad at her for not wanting you to hurt yourself.”

Lyndross: “I know that. I just am worried that if I let her control me here, she will start controlling me in other places too. I don’t want to change who I am. But I like her so much. Maybe enough to change a little.”

Inella: “You don’t need to worry about changing yet. She is wise to discourage you from hurting yourself. It is your job as a partner to trust that she won’t abuse your trust. You are only worrying about her controlling you. She hasn’t actually tried to control you yet. That would be a red flag, but June has done nothing wrong thus far. And if you like her so much then you should trust that she won’t try to control you, at least not in any way that isn’t concerned with your general safety.

Lyndross: “Fucking fine. I need to go apologize, then. Thank you, mother.”

Lyndross left the room and went to find June. Having heard Lyndross call her ‘mother,’ Inella was taking a rare, unambitious moment to contemplate the different definitions of the word ‘mother.’

Lyndross found June. Lyndross tried her best to maintain a calm composure. She said she was sorry, and it sounded genuine. It only took June a moment to forgive.

“I don’t need you trying to hurt yourself when so many other people are already trying, after all.” June said. The two embraced, walked away together.

Several women came up to Inella to ask when they would depart for Ko’fell. After fielding the questions Inella took a second to sit in a chair and just rest. She had her eyes closed for a full minute. This was enough for her. She opened her eyes and Dorian was in the room. He said hello, and Inella said it back. “So, you did this room? I really like what you’ve done with it.” Dorian said in a tone kind and genuine.

“Thank you.” Inella said. “It is a design I’ve always liked. It comes from Knhocvuijlijn Thomeresettin IV, out of his acclaimed work ‘The Relationship Between Architecture and Interior Arrangement.’ Yes. I read it a few times when I was 7 years old. It had so many pictures in it, but what I’ve done here is a favorite of mine but with a tweek- a personal touch. I adjusted the space between the dressers, junior couch, sconce, and rug. Centered it, in a way.”

“Impressive, my memory is not that intact at all. You’ve put the room together well. I like the blue.” Dorian smiled.

“If you like it, you can stay here. I have not procured anyone to ward Hokurr yet. I know that you could easily put a shine on this city. Dorian, I don’t mean to sound backwards but your magical abilities far exceed cleaning bird crap. Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I welcome everyone to fight.” Inella said.

“No, I would be glad to stay. You are right, I am capable of cleaning the shit off this city. I think the architecture is nice enough. It really isn’t a bad place when it’s clean” Dorian said. He thought of how he had been crushed in the last fight. That experience made him happy to stay behind, even if it was in the kingdom by the continent’s largest lake. The lake that had the densest population of swell bottomed birds was his neighbor. Well, Dorian liked lakes in the first place. He could visit often if he stayed behind. He’d never really been privileged enough to “visit” a lake. Dorian smiled at Inella. The two then talked about architecture to no end over tea.

Nehaynosh was alone in her room. She was relaxing in bed. She wasn’t planning on sleeping yet, but she was enjoying the comfort. She was thinking about how she had always wanted children, but she had never had any. She was thinking that it was probably too late to try now, but she wouldn’t know unless she tried. The thought almost made her get out of bed, instead she promised to keep her eyes open and play it a little slower. She could certainly be more prepared. She sighed and rolled over.

It was late in the night. Inella was by herself in bed. She was sleeping in the room next to where she had decorated. Her bed was white with gold sewing patterns and fringes. There was a purple chair in the corner. A chestnut nightstand. A bedpan at the end of the bed. Inella got up and prepared a traveling spell. Her goal was to go to Ko’fell and have the king dead before sunrise. Ko’fell was almost completely unprotected because of the raiding party from the Tufula islands and their guerilla warfare tactics. Inella was confident to no end. Her black robes billowed in the night air as she sped to her destination. She was wearing a slight smile. The momentum pressed her straight black hair backwards. It was invisible in the night.

The kingdom was waiting unaware. Not a soul in the city could have told you that Inella was present. No one except for king Borundu, and that was only once Inella entered his chambers. It was funny to her what she walked in on. The man was crying, his head held in his hands. His sobbing was predicated with interspersed words. “Why? Why me? Why my city? Why am I the first king ever to have his court mage abandon him? Why, why, why?” He cried. Inella noted that the mirror mage, Dwende, who had been at the attack of the caves, was not here. That was important information, she wanted badly to kill him, but she apparently would have to wait. Inella hated waiting, but she had become very good at it. She had waited her whole life. She could wait longer to kill Dwende. She could enjoy killing the king for now- it would have to suffice.

“Hello, Borundu.” Inella said casually. Borundu unconsciously wiped his tears away as his head rose. “Note how I did not say “king.””Inella manifested a sword and pointed it wryly at king Borundu. “Take your crown off.”

“Inella?” Borundu said with surprise, but he was not surprised for long. “I suppose it was inevitable that you would be here. Well, you can’t hurt me. I have already lost everything. Everything but my crown, which I refuse to take off.”

“Is that how it is going to be? Well I was trying to be considerate. Didn’t want to get blood on it. Oh well.” Inella raised her arm to swing the sword, but the king stopped her with urgent words.

“Wait. Wait. You’re going to kill me?” The king shuddered. A fear within him that had the privilege never to have encountered before reared it’s ugly neck and headbutted him square in the chest.

“Are you off your rocker? Of course I’m here to kill you, what the fuck else would I be here for?” Inella began to swing again but the king held his hands up defenselessly.

“Wait. I’m sure that I’m much more valuable to you alive. I could tell you the plans of the remaining kings. Or you could use me as a hostage for a trade. Please, spare me.” The king began to cry hysterically, with a greater density than his earlier rain.

“That is admirably creative, especially in a moment like this. Unfortunately for you, you are worthless. There is but one more step on your path, and I will now take that step for you. End of the road. End of the line. Any last words?” It was a kindness Inella rarely offered. It was not like she was going to write his last words down so that they could be remembered.

“If I only have one thing left to say it is that I regret my attack on the caves. Don’t mistake me, cur, my regret is not that I was attacking. My regret is that I did not send more men to assault you and yours. And I’d let any individual of your coven burn just for-” The king could not finish, his head was on the floor. Just as Inella had predicted, there were specks of blood on the crown. Inella picked up the headpiece, wiped it clean, and turned to leave.Does it speak to the encapsulation of all patriarchal rulers that Borundu would be vile, malicious, ill-intended, and prickly in his last mortal moments? Yes. Undoubtedly. {Perhaps it speaks to all corruption. Picture Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffet, I’m sure they would be as abrupt, crude, and ignant in their last moments. A dripping head slice (OH BUT WHAT ABOUT YOUR AMAZON STOCKS---- fuck you bro, shut the fuck up).It is known that power corrupts. Inella herself is not protected from this. She certainly has power.} Inella returned to Hokurr the same way that she had gone to Ko’fell- zooming.

“Where have you been, mother?” Nehaynosh’s tone was created from the duality of deference and indignation. Nehaynosh was upset at seeing Inella arrive so late. Nehaynosh had gone to Inella’s room to talk about her predicament of wanting a child and Inella was missing. Since that discovery, Nehaynosh had been nervously pacing, waiting and dreading. Confident in Inella, just unaware of what she was doing. Deference is why Nehaynosh had addressed Inella as ‘mother.’ To smother her fuming rage. Like a mother upset with a daughter. Pissed off. Nehaynosh would be the mother in age, but Inella was the head of the coven. No one spoke out against that. No one did seriously at least. No one but Lyndross. The vision was too important. Freedom for women for the rest of time. In theory at least.

But didn’t Inella sacrifice her own coven? She killed Blair only to practice reanimation, and hadn’t even succeeded. Does the end justify the means?

“I’ve killed Borundu. I was in Ko’fell.” Inella twirled the crown around on her pointer finger as she spoke.

“I suppose I can see that.” Nehyanosh extended both hands out from her chest and pointed doubly at the crown, “what with the crown and all.”

“Yes. Yes.” Inella took a moment to escape her smug victory wind. Inella looked at Nehyanosh intently and saw it in her eyes. “What’s wrong? Did you need to speak with me?”

“Well, I was going to speak with you hours ago. I suppose I can still speak with you now, if you aren’t too tired.” Nehaynosh’s eyes were downcast as she finished. Inella channeled a small spike of electricity into her finger and shocked herself in the stomach with it to wake herself up.

“No, of course not. I’m not tired at all.” Inella was sure to cut the spell off before any part of her began burning/smoking. The two women walked to Inella’s room. They sat together on the junior couch. It was rounded, felt, and had four pillows (two throw). The throw pillows were thrown off because there was barely room to fit the two. They sat lumped together tightly. Inella’s leg skin was rubbing against Nehaynosh’s nightshift. Feeling softness. The women were spooning. Nehaynosh was the little spoon. Inella the big spoon. “What’s wrong, sweety?” Inella asked in a soft, considerate, aching voice.

“I think I may have had a panic attack. I was thinking about how badly I want to have a child.” Nehaynosh waited a broken, slanted moment. “I don’t even know if I could get pregnant.”

“I am sure you are still fertile. A woman as strong as you? It wouldn’t be characteristic for you to be barren yet. You’re still so young. So radiant, beautiful, glowing. Nehaynosh, I’m sure that if you found a man you would be in a birth pool nine months later. I’m positive.” Inella said. She wasn’t sure if her advice was perfect. She couldn’t relate to Nehaynosh. Inella had never wanted children. Sure, she was biologically inclined to, but she never thought about children, or wanted them. She was too focused on progressing herself. Hours and hours of cramming spells in your head did not make it easy to daydream or play mommy. Inella had been genuinely nice, and that was all that mattered in the moment.

“Well, now the next problem is that I don’t know any of the men here. I wouldn’t know which one to sit on.” Nehaynosh said.

“Who said you need to know a man to sit on him?” Inella joked. The two laughed. Nehaynosh could feel Inella wriggling from laughter on her back. “I’m sure a man can be found. Or two. I don’t know how spry you are feeling.”

“Hey! Spry? And after you just called me young. Ackh.” Nehaynosh clenched her teeth in opposition of Inella.

“I didn’t mean spry in an old way. Nehaynosh, you’ve been seriously injured several times on the march East. I don’t know if you are still sore. Still feeling residual pain. I didn’t mean it in an old way.” Inella cupped her hands to show non-aggression.

“Well, I think you are ageist.” Nehaynosh chirped.

“Really? That would explain why the second in command of my coven is one of the eldest.”

“I’m just kidding.” Nehaynosh said. Inella began to poke her in the back. “Stop it.” Nehaynosh laughed. “Stop.” Inella stopped poking her in the back.

“The revolution can wait a day while you get laid tomorrow. Besides, now that I have the king dead, all we have to do is send an emissary to Ko’fell. We can head straight for Luzan after that.”

“And Luzan has a queen. That will be tough.” Nehaynosh remarked.

“What do you mean?” Inella asked.

“Well, are you going to kill her?” Nehaynosh asked back.

“I wasn’t planning on it. She is a woman after all. I figured we could be diplomatic in Luzan. Assuming they don’t attack us on sight.”

“You think that they won’t attack us on sight?” Nehaynosh asked with a scoff.

“We could send a message ahead of us. Something.”

“I suppose, but they might think it is a trick.”

“Then I suppose we have to kidnap the queen.” Inella saying this made Nehaynosh laugh outright. A mirthful, lengthy laugh. It echoed in the room, off the stony corners, down, and continued. “Are you done? I don’t think it will be difficult to kidnap her.”

“And what about all the women from Luzan who despise her. To Kotsi and Kota the queen of Luzan is a living tyrant.”

“Is that so? I never knew that.” Inella said unsarcastically.

“Yes, you did know. You must’ve forgotten.” Nehaynosh scolded Inella like a parent. “You should speak with Kota and Kotsi before we get to Luzan. Before any plans are turned into actions. You simply must speak to them. Both of them. No arguments.” As Nehaynosh spoke, Inella opened her mouth to argue but was cut off. Nehaynosh had the faster tongue. The women talked for very little longer, and eventually Nehaynosh left for her room. When Inella woke up, she had a clear list of things to do. Her priority was finding a man for Nehaynosh. After that, she had to speak to Kota and Kotsi. After that, she had to send an emissary to Ko’fell. Or maybe before. Hmm. No matter which way she put it she had three things to do. But finding a man was certainly first.

Inella strolled out on the dusty road beneath the rising sun. The rays of light enriched her outfit with heat and made her skin so pale it was near a glow. She put her hand over her eyes to see better. She had not found a man yet. She’d seen a woman selling apples and pears. And another woman selling cabbages in a wooden cart. And a third woman who was extracting honey from a beehive. Cluck. Cluck-chk. Two wooden saloon doors swung closed. A man in a black cowboy hat walked out. He had a pipe in his mouth. He looked to be at least forty. His black hair was cropped in a rough mullet. He hadn’t shaved in days. Scruffy? Yes. Pokey? like a hedgehog. He had on matching brown leather chaps and a vest. He got up onto a beautiful brown horse. He swung easily into the saddle. The man was clearly practiced.

“You got an eye looking for something?” The man asked as his horse clicked and clacked past Inella in a slow walk. “Name’s Clint.” The cowboy took off his hat and raised it in a polite gesture.

“Indeed I do have an eye out for something. Semen.” Inella said without looking at the man. She kept her eyes locked on the saloon door.

“You’re looking to get pregnant?” Clint was forward. Quick. To the point.

“Ew, no. A friend of mine is looking to get pregnant. I am looking for her.” Inella finally turned to look Clint in the eyes. Clint’s brow furrowed when he realized how wicked Inella’s eyes were. Stormy blue.

“Well I don’t have any diseases afflicting my family or heritage. No history of serious illnesses. And good strong bones and joints.” Clint paused. “But I don’t want to presume you would be scouting for me.”

Inella gave the man a look up and down. “You have a real rugged look about you. I think she would like that.” Clint reached out his hand to swing Inella up on the horse. The two click clack click clacked back to Nehaynosh’s room.

“Oh, visitors this early?” Nehaynosh said from behind her door as she opened it.

“This is Clint. Gotta run.” Inella said. Nehaynosh’s jaw dropped when she saw Clint. Inella left immediately to let the two sort out awkward sexual tensions by themselves. Inella had to find Kota and Kotsi.

“Howdy, ma’am. Your friend has informed me that your name is Nehaynosh. A beautiful name. Also informed me you need something done. A beautiful something.”

“H- h- h- hubba hubba.” Was all Nehaynosh said as she pulled Clint in the door by his arm and firmly closed the door behind him.

Kota and Kotsi were talking back and forth to each other.

“You’re beautiful.”

“You’re so beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.”

“So that’s how it’s going to be? You’re beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.”

“Yo-” Inella walked around a corner and into the two women.

“Oh, how lucky that you are both together. I need to speak with both of you.”

“What about?” Kota asked.

“I was thinking of sparing the queen’s life. She is a woman after all.” Inella said.

“What?! Why would you spare her?” Kotsi erupted. “She is more corrupt and conniving than any of the kings.”

“Surely you're joking, Inella.” Kota implied.

“No, I’m being quite serious. I think that we can kidnap her and inform her of how she must rule from now on. And only kidnap her if we need to. All we really need to do is speak with her.”

“It is ultimately your decision, but I advise against sparing the queen.” Kota said.

“As do I.” Kotsi added.

“You would have me add more blood to my hands than I already have?” Inella baited.

“Yes, honestly.” Kotsi said. Kota nodded her head in solidarity.

“Then it is decided. Long die the queen. Hate kill the queen, not love.” Inella said dramatically.

“I would argue cause will kill the queen.” Kota said.

“Perhaps karma will kill the queen for how much terror her hand has smote the swamp and the soil of the land?” Kotsi managed to outperform the two prior. Outperform them handedly.

“Well, then if you’ll excuse me. I need to appoint an emissary for Ko’fell.” Inella left the two women. She walked around thinking to herself about who she wanted to send to Ko’fell. About who would be a good fit. It wasn’t a matter of trust. There wasn’t anyone who she would not trust to leave in Ko’fell. Did she want to send someone who was from Ko’fell? There were several who came to mind. Did she want to send someone who wasn’t from Ko’fell? That brought an abundance of candidates to mind. Eventually Inella decided on sending Caliame, who happily went.

Calaime had her hair braided. She had on a white shirt with long sleeves with black pants and boots. She said goodbyes to many women, her longest exchange of words being with June, Dousza, and Koa. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Inella had checked off each box on her checklist. A list now empty. It was time to rest. Her bed was a welcome softness. A wrap of sheets and warmth that let her float out of thinking, burden, and wakefulness. Float down and slip into dreaming. She had a discernible dream, the dream a prophet or an oracle might have. In her dream both of her arms were being pulled apart by forces outside of herself. Addimar held one arm. Yoseline held the other. “Choose me. Choose me.” They repeated those two words tirelessly as they hurt her.

Inella woke in a sweaty gasp. “Shit.” She mumbled to no one but herself, there was no one else around. Inella stuck two fingers to her head. A wispy, bending ray of white light absorbed into her brain. It was a spell that Inella cast on herself to ward her dreams and make them pleasant. Now when she dreamed, she dreamed of kittens being clumsy and cute. She woke up feeling refreshed.

Stride to Luzan

Unfortunately for Inella, the refreshed feeling was fleeting. The witches had been walking towards Luzan for 18 days. It was beautiful at first. There were great sights to see on the path. Mountains with snowy caps, fields of blooming flowers, rivers with waterfalls here and there. Rushing water over the perpetually slick rock. The eventual shrinking of battered stones. But the women were tired- tired at the same time as the view was beautiful. On top of being tired, the path was now a swamp. It would remain swampy until Luzan, which was two days' walk from where the women were. Everyone was groggy in the bog.

And don’t get me wrong, swamps have their beauty. They also have their bugs, and large bugs at that. Bubbling muck here, dark waters with waiting reptiles. Thick heat, sweating under the canopy of tightly crossed trees, hands wiping soaked foreheads.

“I feel like I might faint.” Lyndross said without trying to be dramatic. June was walking beside her holding a pot in front of her with both hands. June laughed in a mild, fading way.

“Oh, whatever, you big cry baby.” June stuck her tongue out. Lyndross stuck her tongue out to match in addition to pulling her eyelids away from her eyes up and down. “Ok, I can’t do that. My hands are full. You win this time, Melina (a pet name that June used for Lyndross).” June gave up reluctantly, defeatedly. Lyndross punched her lightly in the arm and smiled.

“Hey, when we get to Luzan we should have a spell competition. Like when I tried magma versus dry fire against Selena. We could do ice this time, you and I, Lover’s eye.” Lyndross said.

“Ice? I’m good with ice. What did you have in mind exactly?” June asked.

“I was envisioning ice bolts versus frost wind.” Lyndross commented.

“Ice bolts, or ice spears, or do you think that those are the same thing?” June laughed at herself.

“I consider bolts synonymous with spears. Any length of ice, and the shape of a cylinder. Pointed on both ends for higher damage, obviously.”

“And which one am I going to do?”

“I will let you decide, my sweet. My garden flower. Prize flower, beautiful, long petaled flower. Decisive summer, heat of my heart. Shade of my sun, feet of silk. Beauty I am lucky to see. Easel’s perfection. My painting of golden beauty. mmmmmmmmm” Lyndross did an obnoxious, flirtatious moan. A little comical thing after a mostly poetic compliment. “The choice is yours, Mejune (one of the many pet names Lyndross had for June).” It made Lyndross think for a second. She knew she cared about June. Yet, she still felt like she needed some sort of proof. It was then that Lyndross realized that the ridiculous amount of pet names she had for June was certainly a form of evidence. A microdose of evidence at the very least. But she knew in her heart of hearts that she liked, maybe loved June. Maybe love. Maybe love only because Lyndross had never felt romantic love yet. Only physical attraction. June was something different to her, something new.

“I will do the ice bolts. And I will make them undeniably long. Each of them will be grander than four feet, and each of them will surely pierce a soldier or two. My aim is not to be questioned or belittled .”

“Deal.” Lyndross said while biting her lower lip. She was studying June’s face, appreciating it.

Walk. Walk. Walk. Stride as they tried it was more of a trudge. Each held a grudge to the heat of the swamp and the dirt that did smudge.

One more day of walking.

Walk. Walk.

Inella could see the dark green spires of the plated castle. The treeline was dark and ominous. Vines were hanging down, and some of those shadows had to be snakes. It was impossible to see them moving in the fading light. It was hard to hear them unless you were dangerously close. Inella was not afraid of snakes, but there were many who were. Hell, I’m afraid of snakes.

“We will rest here for the night.” Inella said as the women emerged from out of the swamp and into a mile long pasture that worked its way to the edge of Luzan (the most densely populated city on the continent), the birthplace of voodoo. There were chickens running everywhere like they owned the place. Cramped, small houses made of tin. Tarps tied with gross, moldy rope made for rain cover. The ground outside of the pasture in the city was a mixture of mud and the swamp that made up the city. Few horses, and all of them afraid to step. You never know when an alligator might walk around the corner in Luzan. Gambling was the most lucrative business. That, and selling magically made products. Luzan was the only city on the continent where magic was legal for the general populace. Or that was how it was for a long time. Magic was now legal in all of the cities Inella had conquered, and it would stay that way for two generations. People forget so easily.

The women woke up out of their tents with various yawning breaths, stretching arms, and cozy apparel. The fashion of the witches is a cultural melting pot from across the continent.

“June.” Lyndross used her hand to gently shake June’s shoulder. June turned over on the ground bed and smudged the sleepy eye boogers out of her eyes with the backs of her curved pointer fingers.

“Hmm? What?” June creaked. She waited for a moment. Lyndross was not saying anything, just waiting to make eye contact. “Well, what do you want? Did you wake me up for nothing?”

“I want to have sex.” Lyndross said in a submissive tone. That woke June right up.

Inella was cooking eggs in a black pot over a log circle fire. Nehaynosh came out in two wraps of cloth. A thick black cotton that covered her back and arms that combined with a grey wool front that dangled in the back. Inella turned and saw Nehaynosh stir from her tent, observed her approaching the fire and said, “Do you feel pregnant?”

Nehaynosh put a finger on her chin and thought before speaking. “I think it is too soon to tell. I don’t feel pregnant, but I was craving peanuts… and I don’t usually eat peanuts.

“Hm.” Inella hummed shortly. Inella gave a knowing head lilt and cheeky eye framing. She scrunched her forehead into a knowing look. It’s easy to know as a witch.

“Hey babe.” Adda said.

“Hey babeeeeeee.” Moira replied. Adda swiped a strand of Moira’s hair off her forehead. The two got out of their tent which was parked far away from where Inella and Neyahnosh were. As they got out of their tent, they mutually desired breakfast. They walked to Koa. Koa usually cooked in the morning because she felt like being nice and sharing almost every morning. Koa was at a fire that had oatmeal cooking. There were three bricks of different sugar. Brown sugar, white sugar, and salt sugar. There was also a gourd of goat milk. Kotsi was petting the goat that was tied to a stick with a sturdy fish wishbone top. Kota was also at the fire and was saying something to Koa.

“Yes, my mother was trafficked by one of the Queen’s cartels.” Kotsi said.

“Oh my light.” Koa’s tone? astonished. “The queen of Luzan has cartels? That’s awful. Like plural organizations? How awful.” Koa being so kind, you could tell how genuine she was by how often her tone inflected. Always rising from its base.

“Yes, quite horrible. But we need not speak of this and ruin the meal.” Kotsi said.

“Oh, are you going to break fast with us?” Kota said as Adda and Moira approached. Adda and Moira nodded their heads while holding hands. Five bowls were served up. Four of the women took the brown sugar, while Kotsi took a mixture of white sugar and salt sugar. Koa went to feed the goat. Koa spoke to the goat as she approached it. “Hello there sweet girl.”

Dremeira was in cougar form, sleek and dark. Prowling through brush that grew on wickedly twisted, knobby swamp wood. She let out a quiet chuff. A kindling growl. A brown ferret ran from cover and tried to climb a tree. Futile. Dremeira took one crouching step and then leapt and caught the prey in both paws. Large, powerful paws with sharp claws. She bit it apart and swallowed the warm, bloody meat, fur, and bones. Dremeira turned to a human and walked away, swiping at her mouth with an arm of skin and not fur, an arm that had been completely furry only a second earlier. Dremeira wandered around by herself, but she was not lonely. She turned into a bird and flew up into the sky. High in the sky. Just for the fuck of it. Or maybe just for exercise. Definitely for the view. It is truly beautiful to change your perspective, to look at things much larger than yourself as if they were small.

Inella called all the women to meet after the tents were put away. The plan of attack had to be tactically explained. “It will be a three pronged strike. Our intel tells us that the percentage of soldiers fighting for the queen who practice magic is roughly fifty. To assume that the percentage was as low as forty, this would still be a great task for us. We have yet to attack a position that is fortified with even a 20% wizard force. And to say that fighting a force of roughly 50% magicians is twice as hard as any battle is certainly an understatement. The power of these wizards we are yet to face is exponentially amplified because they have the ability to work together. I do not say this to discourage you. Based on all the women who have joined the cause as we have moved East, we have actually gained numbers, even though we have lost many sisters, and many sisters have stayed behind in the places we have liberated. We have a numbers advantage. All this means is that we must use our collective strength more effectively than they can use their strength. To do this, we will break up into three groups. I will lead one of the groups, and I will take with me all the women with the least experience. Nehaynosh will be taking all of our strongest women. That means all of the teachers (Nestelle, Beyla, Selena, Dremeira, June, Rasha, Heather) as well as Ihe, Kota, Calie, Sunin, and Kotsi. Lyndross will take the rest with her.

My group will attack the city from the Northeast. Our goal will be one powerful attack. This attack should draw the guard out. With the soldiers advancing towards us, Lyndross will take a fortified position to the Northwest and flank if the soldiers overextend far enough. Nehaynosh will lead her party through the Southern entrance of the city and secure it from inside after my party attacks.” Inella stopped for a moment and let the women murmur with the people next to them about the decision. Lyndross was not happy with being split up from June. The less magically inclined women were happy with their drawn lot. They would find a way to be helpful without being in a dangerous position. Moira and Adda were happy that they could stick together in the flanking group. If they were to die, they wanted to be together.

In two and a half hours the women were in position. They had moved stealthily and remained unseen.

Now Inella was explaining to her group that they were going to get into rows. Inella was the canon head at the front. Just one person alone in her own row. She sat cross legged with her thumbs touching her fingers. Then there were five rows of 27 women behind her. After that each row was one less person. From 26, 25, 24, all the way down to 1. Koa was the 33rd row. The first row since Inella to be comprised of only one person. Koa sat with crossed legs. She was breathing slowly, mindfully. When it was time to perform the group spell she would reach both of her arms out and put them on the backs of the two women in front of her. It was not time yet. Behind Koa was a pattern. Directly behind Koa there were two women, and behind those two women another individual. The pattern was 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1. And it went so far back into the swampy terrain that Koa could not see the end of the line. Inella had explained that by putting the rows of 27 behind her at the front, it would give the appearance of her whole force behind her. Inella was positioned a half a mile away from the castle in Luzan. The archers posted in the parapets could barely see Inella and the rows behind her. This meant that the archers couldn’t see where the rows started dwindling. The archers had no idea that, through all the trees, brush, mud, marsh, swamp, and water, the line of women was decreasing. And there was no way for these archers to see all the way back to Koa, let alone to the end of the line.

Inella took a deep breath and was ready. She communicated with the woman at the back of the line, a recent recruit from Ko’fell named Chiqxci. Chiqxci took a deep breath and began to perform the first spell that a mage is ever taught in school: the spell known as giving. Giving is the ability to transfer your mana to another person by touch. Chiqxci reached both her hands out and let mana flow through them and into the two women in front of her. This process was repeated. After a minute the flow had reached Koa. Koa was overwhelmed by the force, the pool of mana was only through her for a moment, a shudder, and then passed in a split, half in each woman before Koa. And then the flow passed through the middle woman in the row. She would receive mana from behind, and from both left and right. A conduit to the next row, that process was repeated until it got to the rows of 27 women. Once there, the women were all gritting their teeth, clammy and spastic. The mana curled in a mass that did not separate into tendrils or leafs, it was a straight flow. It brought some of the women almost entirely up from their criss cross applesauce meditation sitting positions. The wave of mana hit the rows of 27 like a wave of water. A great flow passed into Inella’s back. There was so much mana gathered that it could not all go into Inella at once. In fact, it wasn’t even fully out of the row of 26 women yet.

When Inella felt the impact of the mana entering her body she smiled and opened her eyes. She looked out in the direction of the tower. She felt inside of herself. She could tell that all of the mana was not in her yet. She was wearing a long cape of residue that flowed through those behind her, a smoky blue. Inella was not afraid, but she was almost bursting with mana. Her tank was full, and in seconds it would be overflowing. Inella began to expend mana, and she had to do so as fast as possible so that she didn’t lose too much of it because she couldn’t circuit it. A half ring of bright orange flame came out of Inella’s fingertips. It grew in meters by the half second. Inella closed her eyes to focus on rushing out the fire. The half ring of fire rose up into the sky, higher and higher. As the mana blew into Inella, the semi ring shape became a full ring. And once it was a full ring, it filled itself in and became a circle, which thickened and became a sphere. A tremendous ball of flame in the sky. Over a hundred yards tall. And the mana was not done flowing into Inella. The globe of fire grew until it was so large that the sun and all the clouds in the sky were blocked out. Inella diverted some of the available mana into a second spell that kept the heat and hot winds that were being generated as the ball of fire spun and gained momentum. Inella launched it towards Luzan with no warning or notice. She still felt bloated with mana. She made the trajectory high, so that that flaming gargantuan would have a long time to fly in the air. As it flew through the air towards Luzan, Inella used her remaining mana to create a great fiery tail for the globe of bright orange flame. The tail was a red flame, and it exited from Inella’s fingertips in the shape of an upside down pyramid that had an elongated tail.

The guards in Luzan screamed frightened screams. Most panicked and ran around waving their arms in full suits of armor. The few magicians who kept their heads huddled together to put up a barrier in the sky. A pine green, glass clear magic shield was posted over the city. It intercepted the ball of fire after it had reached the zenith of its arc and began to descend. A deafening hissing sound sizzled from the impact of the fireball on the shield. The shield bent inwards from the momentum, but it corrected back to equilibrium. As the shield pushed back out, Inella guided the tail of flame to wrap under the shield. The result was 37 dead from a whip of scorching heat. The tail quickly dissipated after that, but Inella concentrated on keeping the globe of fire enduring. It was a constant battle that moved the flame sphere ever so slightly back and forth.

The soldiers in Luzan were given a directive to attack the witches out in the field, and within minutes soldiers of all sorts were striding out of the grey stone archways built into the city walls. Lyndross and her unit were on them as soon as they came out. Lyndross shot an icy spray of wind that froze several men in place; they were unable to move any joints in their solid black armor. The warriors in the field began to cast spells, and Lyndross worked to counter many of them. Behind her, the women worked together to create a siege weapon. A spell that created several large puzzle pieces. These pieces fit together to make a steam engine with a drill tip on the end that spun with a loud grr.

Adda was splitting off from the mana share that had made the siege machine. Given the title of engine keeper, Adda was to maintain the siege machine as it rolled forwards through Luzan, the same way Inella was maintaining the fireball that glowed fervently over the city. The rest of the women worked on a different spell. Their next spell was a thick wall of green vines covered with countless spikes. The wall grew, and moved forward to provide Lyndross cover to the North, as it also grew South towards Luzan’s walls. Once it reached the walls, it would shape itself into stairs of stone. This was Moira’s task and the reason she was isolated, to maintain the vines. The women continued to share their mana and create different spells. This left one woman to maintain the spell as the rest of the women moved on to the next idea.

Lyndross peeked from behind the wall of ivy at who was in front of her. There were four soldiers approaching her. She froze the closest one in place. The other three used magical attacks. A slicing wind blade of poisonous gas, a swarm of murderous hornets, and earthy spikes that protruded up from the ground in a line towards Lyndross. Lyndross used a current of air to blow the gas into the wasps. Once they started to die, Lyndross wrapped the two (gas and hornets) in a clear glass cube. Lyndross pulled a corner of the glass to herself, then ran up it in a spiral to avoid the ground spikes. At the top of the glass spiral Lyndross jumped down and created two huge wings on her back. She flew through the air dive bombing the remaining three soldiers with cones of snow that froze them in place. From her elevated position, Lyndross could see that the soldiers who had been running out of the city were coming back in. It had been a bait. A small number of cavalry was headed at Inella, but Lyndross didn’t want to chase them down, she wanted to keep attacking the city.

When the cavalry reached Inella they all prepared spells. Inella tied her concentration into four different pockets like Addimar had taught her. She focused on the fire globe, she focused on countering the spells of the cavalry before they could be completed, she focused on sending a wicked, searing smile of fire towards them, and she focused on a second spell, a trap. The cavalry collectively countered the fire spell that they could see, but this left them helpless to Inella’s trap. Each cavalry soldier was pulled off of their horse by long hands of dirty orange clay that whipped downwards to be impaled on menacing metallic spikes staked in the ground. The horses whinnied and trotted away unharmed.

Lyndross flew to the archway where the soldiers were retreating back into the city. She froze it shut. This left 48 soldiers outside of the city. Some of them ran towards the other gates, others stood and fought.

One mage from Luzan created a rolling steel ball that rammed into the siege machine and toppled it over. On its side, the siege machine had no ability to move forward. Adda conceptualized this issue in the wrong frame of mind. Had she been a more experienced witch, she could have righted the siege machine onto its wheels so that it could advance with the ease of picking up a feather. Instead, she imagined that it would be difficult to pick the siege machine up. Since Adda believed it would be difficult, it became difficult. She was stuck with a heavy thought in her mind. The thought that she would need enough physical strength to pick up the metal monster. Her muscles began to shake and burn. Veins in her temple popped up. Her breathing became short, and her concentration slipped. The siege machine disappeared instantly, as if it had never existed in the first place. All that was left behind was the rubble it had created.

Seeing his success, the mage from Luzan went to work on a new spell. He made a copper scaled dragon which breathed fire ceaselessly on the vines that Moira was maintaining. Moira began to sweat from the heat of the burning vines. All parts of the vines turned to ash, except for the vines which had transformed into stone stairs on the outside of the city walls. This was what Moira maintained since she didn’t know how to tie it off and do something else. Adda found her way to Moira to check in on her and tell her what had happened. The mage from Luzan continued to counter spells. He had free range to counter spells until Lyndross was back. Lyndross was busy with the soldiers she had halted the retreat of. The mage from Luzan countered fast, but not fast enough to get ahead of the creative spells that were created to cause havoc.

Lyndross let her wings malt away. The white feathers floated down to the ground swaying back and forth. Before they hit the ground, Lyndross changed the property of the feathers to be steel. The quill and bristle sharpened. Lyndross imagined that she had more than forty mouths. The feathers flew to the enemy soldiers- homing missiles. Once each feather was in place in a complicated net, the fat ends of the feather grew mouths which blew out the icy wind Lyndross had promised June to use for the fight. The metal feathers spun in circles which increased the range of the ice attack. The spinning feathers also sliced through anything in their way. Lyndross encased herself in crystal momentarily so that her own attack would not harm her. The attack cut down 25 of the soldiers, and then Lyndross stopped giving the spell mana. All the living soldiers had prepared defensive spells of some sort, some of those spells being outright copies of the crystal spell Lyndross had cast. All of the wizards who had copied Lyndross were much slower to get out of the encasing than she was. This allowed her to crush them into dust with an invisible force like a clenching fist, or a pair of quick, rustless shears.

Adda and Moira worked together to defeat the soldier who was interrupting the collective spells. Moira made a spell of hot, gummy sap. She wove strands of fire through it carefully. Then she feigned like she was going to throw it at the man. In response, the man made a glass shield that pushed straight at Moira. Had Moira thrown the ball of pitch at the man it would have reflected back on her. Instead, Moira’s next move was to slinky the pitch through the air to Adda, who caught it. Adda made a feigning throw, causing the man to put a shield up at her. Adda passed the glowing amber colony of stickiness back to Moira. Moira whipped it around the first shield and knocked the man in the back. His clothes caught fire and he danced frantically in pain. This was his last dance.

Moira passed the pitch rope to Adda. The two then made wooden chariots pulled by aquatic horses. The ocean stamped forth in a fury of quick hooves. The two women held the glowing, amber colored, pitch-drip between the rushing chariots, and cut through the men on the battlefield who were still defending against the metallic feathers with augmented mouths spitting thick frost. Lyndross casually jumped on the back of Adda’s Chariot. From this position she sent swarms of small fire missiles in the direction of the firing archers. In the distance a woman screamed and died. The first victim of the Luzan archers who had been firing with unimpressive aim for the duration of the fight. Another archer hit Lyndross in the heel. “Motherfucker.” She said with gritted teeth and a deepened tone. Her anger multiplied the amount of hustling phoenixes that rocketed out of her fingertips. A wizard inside the walls had cast a spell on the architecture of the city to protect it. It was a mint colored shimmering one fourth of a millimeter thick. As Lyndross sprayed the direction of the archers many of the flaming tongues sizzled out of existence in a warped popping sound on the mint barrier.

Lyndross screamed, and four bolts of lightning struck down over the city. The shield absorbed the lightning and smoked. The energy shattered, fractured, and shot out in all directions. A man fell from the rampart with a lightning shaped hole in his neck. Moira used her cast a shield over the three women (Lyndross, Adda, and Moira). The lightning ricocheted into the sky and then down into the grass. Holes in the grass, black and smoky. The chariots took a hard right turn and burst through a hole in the wall of stone. Lyndross ceased her fire spell as she went under the opening in the wall. She generated two carnivorous birds, one out of each hand, with a beautiful spell.

They were doppelganger predators. Raptors. Pinks heads and lengthy necks that had longer feathers than the short, strawberry colored feathers on the head. Beady eyes and long, slanted, slate orange beaks that were sharp and piercing. Brick projectiles flying upwards. Magnificent green wings, white stomach, yellow hindquarters. Strong talons, the birds flew with free reign, slashing at men’s throats. Men who were too slow to counterspell were picked. One man shot a fireball at the right bird. Which made the left bird squawk and fly off to hunt elsewhere. The birds flew in big, powerful swirls of graceful flapping. Lyndross converted the fire into smoke before it could hit the right bird. The right bird used the smoke to stealth itself momentarily. A brief pause and then it attacked with a swooping chomp. The arm which the fireball had come out of was bitten off. It fell over the side of the wall and into the still smoking grass.

The left bird killed two more before a mage shot a bolt of lightning at it. Lyndross countered the lightning and turned it into lemon ice. The left bird twirled and evaded the ice easily, and ran directly through the man. A spurting mass was ripped off his throat. The right bird was under attack from three different mages and Lyndross couldn’t save it. The left bird shrieked in pain and went into a frenzy. It was so tactically agile that it was completely untargetable. It used only the tip of a single talon to fly by and slice. With such precise speed, it was unstoppable. Darting around and ripping lethal slits on arteries. Men were flailing, bleeding and casting hectic spells. From further in the city, a healing spell put the blood back into some of the men. The blood floated eerily through the air in loosely controlled streams. One of the chariots had been blasted away by a spell of hardened mud. The three women now huddled together in the remaining chariot. Lyndross erected a crystal barrier to absorb incoming spells. The design was beautiful. A clear lattice of straight lines in the bubbly white matter.

The left bird attacked until it died, Lyndross and the other two women had rolled far away. The left bird died overworking itself while trying to get revenge. Adda pulled one of the wooden boards on the floor of the chariot. Sticking her hand through the hole, Adda cast a spell. A wave of tar. She focused so that the sticky, black, bubbling tar did not spray on the wheels of the chariot. It layered thickly on the ground inside the city. Soldiers and pedestrians alike struggled to navigate the impassable terrain. Sandals got stuck in the tar and abandoned. After casting for 15 seconds, Adda said, “I’m almost out of mana, I can’t keep this up any longer.” At which Moira shared some mana with Adda. This resulted in the two of them being low on mana, because Moira did not have much mana left either. Lyndross had plenty still, but she would need all of it and more for the current battle. There were simply too many spells that needed to be countered, too many lives she had to protect.

Lyndross said, “you two should try and find Nehaynosh’s party. This crystallized chariot will probably be able to help them in some way.” She left the chariot to head back the same way she’d come. The chariot crashing and the two birds whirring had drawn attention from the men on the walls, but that moment had passed. Lyndross’ group was under fire. They were retreating backwards- outnumbered by the number of men on the walls who were casting various spells at them.

Lyndross made another bird and flew on its back. She hovered over the tar at first, and then rose up in a quick curve to get above the walls. Lyndross clenched her thighs to stay on. Two swords of fire sliced men in half as she rose. The swords were extinguished quickly. Lyndross made a spell in her fingers to increase her grip strength. She dug his fingers in to grip the bird. Killing two soldiers had gotten the attention of the soldiers on the wall. Lyndross held on tightly as the bird made evasive maneuvers hundreds of feet in the air. Up so high, Lyndross felt smothered by the heat of the fire Inella was still maintaining. The dodging performance gave the rest of the women time to retreat further backwards and regroup.

On the other side of the city Nehaynosh and her group were infiltrating. This would ultimately end badly because the citizens decided to fight for the money the queen had promised them.

The citizens became derelicts in the street. Wild fighters with swords, spears, working farmer’s tools, and claws. Biting, sharp teeth. Magic here and there, but few knew how to read or speak a spell. The magic here was mostly voodoo, and there were no dolls made up. But when a woman was captured, and a doll was made up of her, she was as good as dead. In this portion of the fight several women died. The women who died are: Beyla, Ihe, Selena, Sunin, and Heather, along with countless other women along the way. The battle of Luzan had the highest amount of coven casualties of any battle. May we always remember to hold hope by its nervous hair. --_----_----__---_----_---__---__----_--

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“Fucking shit, Nehaynosh. What happened to you?” Inella exasperated. It was her first time seeing Nehyanosh since the groups had split.

“A great deal, unfortunately.” Nehaynosh responded soberly. There were visible wounds on her body, but Inella could only imagine what else had happened.

“Do you need healing?” Inella asked as Koa entered. The three women were under a covered porch made of empty whiskey bottles.

“Not as badly as Lyndross.” Nehaynosh pointed at Lyndross. Lyndross had guts hanging out everywhere. Lyndross was coughing as she limped along. Koa got right to her, waving to Inella and Nehaynosh as she passed them. “Besides, you’re piss at healing anyways, what would you even do?”

“I could tickle you and put a smile on that mean mug you’ve got going. How about that?” Inella wiggled her fingers playfully at Nehaynosh.

“Sorry for the grimace, but I am in a great deal of pain.” Nehaynosh said without flinching.

“I know what I will do.” Inella cast a spell to block Nehaynosh’s pain receptors. Inella had learned to use this spell for herself all the time, but she had never thought to use it on someone else until now.

“Hm, that’s quite nice, whatever you’ve done.”