Sasha was learning to hate Elias. He had been tormenting her for the better part of two days, unwilling to break his spell, having her inner turmoil being a constant need.

“You have gotten what you wanted. I went down to the underground. No, please Elias, end this. It is crazy.”

“I like keeping you around.” Elias teased. “This way I don’t have to risk you making troubles.”

“I’m not a troublemaker.”

“Liar”, Elias said as he walked towards the graveyard. “Now, you heard the queen, you have to grow stronger. Come to think of it, both queens actually agree on this one. My mother asked if you had made any improvements.”

“I will not grow strong as long as all I can think about is you!”

“Flattered, but it won’t help you.”

Sasha looked at the gravestone. Aaliyah, and surrounding her, six smaller stones.

“If you will not help me you can leave. You are a distraction I can’t afford right now.”

“But I might help you think clearer?” Elias came up from behind, hugging her. “You know, by all means, Aaliyah and I, we are kind of next kin. Both of us like good-looking hang around.”

“Just leave”, Sasha hissed. She was stronger than her desire. It was all just a foul spell.

“Sure. Don’t be pissed”, Elias said. “Come back stronger, and then we will torture Aiden. I am looking forward to it.”

He throws her a goodbye kiss and hurried away, smiling as he almost jogged to the castle.

Sasha breathed heavily, trying to ignore the pain she felt. Reminding herself that it was she that was stupid enough to go into the trap and what she felt now was nothing more than magic. Real good magic having her purr like a kitten.

“It’s not real, just ignore it”, she said out loud. Still, she started to move after him.

“As real as I am”, a low voice answered her. “And you have it bad.”

Sasha stopped and turned around, but seeing nothing more than the mist over the graveyard.

“The dragon queen says you have something that belongs to me, sweet child.”

“Aaliyah?”

She thanked the queen for sending Aaliyah her way. Anything getting her thoughts off Elias was a blessing.

“In person. We haven’t had visitors in years, got me curious.”

“What did she said?”

And how could she talk to the dead?

“You tell me what you have.”

“I got something from Anna. Something she had stolen from you years ago. That’s about it.”

“I see, I have been waiting for this to come. But first thing first, have you used it?”

“Used it? I got stripped naked of my magic. I haven’t made as much as a healing potion since then.”

The fog was getting more and more solid. In front of Sasha, she saw it take the form of a body. Two hands out of thin air were stretched out towards Sasha.

“Give it to me.”

“I can't, I’m not a healer, and I don’t even know how to call on it. I’m nullified, weaker than a baby witch”, Sasha confessed. “I got some of my magic back, but I must get rid of yours before I can use it. Really”, she sighed. “Can’t you just, take it?”

She tried to call it out of her stomach. It was an odd form of magic, something she had never met before.

“I know you are under his spell”, the fog said, her arms now resting towards the side. “Do you know how the spell of the torture kiss works?”

“I haven’t needed to use it.” It really was cheating, but it suited Elias going for the foul magic.

“Well, I´m not a taker, so we will have to work around this. The kiss of torture will build on what is already there.”

“Yeah, just rub it in will you”, Sasha was not keen on listening to Aaliyah.

“What you have inside you is a spell that shouldn’t be let out of its box. I used it, and because of it I and my soldiers are punished. We will stay here, in this graveyard, safeguard that spell, ensuring that it will never, ever, be used again.”

“You have been waiting for it”, Sasha said. “What is it?”

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” Aaliyah asked. She sighed. “Well, tell her boys.”

Six small figures of fog were starting to rise from the earth. They were a darker shape than Aaliyah, and they seemed to have a problem rising above their stones as if part of them was still clutching to their coffins.

“We, we belong to her”, the ghosts were whispering, their voices cold, dull, without life, without feelings. “She cast the spell, she took our hearts. We belong to her.”

It dawned on Sasha then. Aaliyah was the keeper of men, not because she had been irresistible, but because she had collected them.

“You cheated”, she said, looking at the bigger fog with the contours of a woman. “They are not yours of free choice.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s like the kiss of torture. I was building on what was already there.”

“It’s not there, and you took away their free will. I, I can see why it should be kept away.” Just the thought of her having that kind of magic inside her, made Sasha want to vomit. This was dark, and it was evil in its purest form. “Just, take it away. Cut it out of me will you?”

“I can’t do that child. I can say I’m sorry though, and that I am grateful for you not knowing what you had access to. Would you have used it? On him, if you could?”

“You are sick”, Sasha said.

“We can trade. You are still a taker”, the ghost whispered, covering her with fog and moist.

Sasha shuddered. She was still a taker. It was the core of her essence, the dragon’s gift. They would never be able to take that away from her, in the end, she was a destroyer.

“What do you have that I want? I can’t trade if it has no value.”

“You could be nice”, Aaliyah said. “Give us a good deal.”

“I can’t, it does not work that way. Wish it did.”

The ghosts circled her, whispering among them. Sasha tried to find the magic inside her, looking at what the queen had given her. The magic was filled with venom.

“We have gifts, and we have bits of advice. Each one could grant you a favor, something to collect when the time is hard. Something useful”, the ghosts of the men said.

Sasha pondered, that would have more value for her. She put her hand on the gravestone, feeling the smooth moss underneath her fingers. She liked to take it. She liked to win. There was nothing wrong with doing a good trade.

“So if I give you the magic, you will grant me favors?” she licked her mouth, already wondering if she could gain something useful. Something strong enough to kill an insane king, a king that was known to be the best fucking healer in this country. He has survived more ambushes than what were possibly human.

“Each one of us is given a gift to be able to protect the dark magic from ever being found again. Although we don’t want the magic, we want our hearts back.”

“Would these gifts be useful?” Sasha asked.

“You will have to trust us”, Aaliyah said, “this trade will be in your favor.”

Anything she could get instead of this magic was a fair trade, so Sasha was more than eager to agree. Sasha nodded towards the small ghost figures, giving each of them a bow of respect. They were the victims of this trade. They were the ones that would lose.

“I can take your heart back with the evil magic inside me, but if I use that magic I will lose my own”, Sasha took away some of the moss from the stone, looking up at the figure of Aaliyah. “If you give me their hearts, I will give you the magic. That’s a fair trade, and that I could do.”

“So it boils down to this”, Aaliyah said circling the men. She pondered as if tasting Sasha’s suggestion. “Do you trust me? Do you forgive me?”

“We have already talked about it Aaliyah”, they said with one emotionless voice.

“Very well”, Aaliyah said. “I agree.”

“Then it’s done”, Sasha said. She waited for Aaliyah and in front of her six small red lights were seen. That was the easy part, now, she somehow had to find the magic inside her, and present it to her.

She got it to concentrate to her stomach, a living ball of fire, fizzing and swirling around. She did want their hearts, she did want to do the nice thing, but in the end, she was a taker, and however much she concentrated on getting the gift out to her fingerprints she failed.

“You know, when I was a small kid, I liked to think that I could be invisible. That I could have some extra special superpower, like being able to evaporate like a ghost, going places no one could without being seen”, Aaliyah said. “Think of it. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Like you do now?” Sasha smiled. Of course, Aaliyah was right. She had to concentrate on the favors, of the very exciting and valuable gifts the men would give her. Of how she could surprise her father, coming unseen, crushing his skull, burning his testicles. She would let him pay the price for what he has done.

“Splendid, remarkable indeed”, Aaliyah said and snatched away the magic, “a very good job girl.”

“Thanks, I guess”, Sasha said and looked at the small red lights she had in her hand. She felt lightheaded. “Who is up?” she asked and picked one of the red bulbs, the smallest one, almost not shining at all, but having a red stone in the middle of it.

“Mine”, the man most far away from Sasha said. He was almost completely stuck in the earth, only the upper part of his head out. The fog got clearer when she came closer, and she softly slipped the heart over, amazingly looking at it as it absorbed into the fog.

“Oh man, does this feel good?”

He slowly entered out of the earth, his complete body now visible, only small parts of fog still making him look a bit dim. He was a tall man, his shoulders wide, and the smile on his face the ones of a child.

“I have not been feeling this good in years. You are a gift from the god’s child”, he said, brushing her head with his hand. “I will grant you the favor of being solidly grounded to the earth. It doesn’t matter if it is physical or mental. If there is any time you need to not be moved, call me.”

A small tear fell down his cheek, and he picked it up, handing it over to Sasha and closing her hand around it.

“I can make everything clearer. I can make you take decisions without the burden of emotions. I will help you girl.”

“Thank you”, Sasha said and curtseyed. It was a very valuable gift indeed.

Next up was a man suddenly standing next to Sasha, already having a foggy hand pointing towards a heart.

“I guess you cannot wait?” she said.

“I´m has done feeling dull”, he said. “I want what he has.”

“And you will have”, Sasha said and handed it over.

The same thing was happening again, the man raised from the earth, his feet now being visible, and the big smile almost a copy of the big guy.

“My gift is not as grand as my brothers, but I will lie for you. I will let you come away with exactly anything, anywhere, once.”

“We might be siblings?” she said, smiling at him.

“No sweetheart, you are such an amateur”, he said and laughed. “I can get anyone to believe they went to the graveyard to visits their loved ones, and let them forget about them for a lifetime.”

“You are a protector”, Sasha said. The gods did want the magic unseen and unknown.

He bowed, and Sasha smiled, picking up the next heart. This heart was a big one, shiny and pulsating even now, so many years since it was stolen.

“That would be mine”, the third man said. He sat down on the earth, half of his body disappeared in the little hill he had chosen as his place, letting his head rest on the gravestone behind.

“There you go.”

The man’s feet got up from the earth. He was very good looking, not more than in his twenties, and he lay down on the earth, a blissful smile on his face. Sasha let him have his time, she waited for him and listening to the song he started to hum at.

“You have a sweet voice”, she said as the last tune ended.

“Thank you girl”, the man said and rose from the ground. “Now, I heard the dragon queen, I know your fate. So this is what I will give you.”

He took a strand of grass from the ground and placed it in her hair. It disappeared into thin air, but it felt like a protective helmet.

“Any memory harsh enough for you to want to erase it, I will take it away”, he said.

“You make me feel wary”, she said. “I guess I don’t want to know?”

“The future writes itself”, he said, “Who says you will need it?”

She had three hearts left, and three men were standing in front of her, hand in hand, each one of them eagerly looking at the heart. Sasha holds them out in her hands, letting them pick them, understanding their eagerness, and joyfully smiling as she saw them get high on life. Their faces were a fond memory she would store inside for days to come.

“We will also have gifts for you”, one of them said, stepping forward, planting his hand on her head. “I will make a fair punishment, on whomever you want to punish”, he said.

“Can I use it now?” she asked, laughing. “I know precisely whom.”

“I would say it is better to wait. Be sure of what you ask”, he said. “My punishment and your punishment may not be done in the same way.”

“I hear what you say, and I will listen, at least until I know how to handle it”, she said.

“Two gifts to go”, the next men said. “I am a taker, like you. I can put anyone to sleep.”

“And I can erase their memory if he just puts them to sleep”, the last man said. “I guess we are not a happy bunch, our gifts more of the hurting people kind.”

“Well, you are protectors, not clowns”, Sasha said. “I do appreciate the gifts tremendously. Thank you, all of you. Really much”, she said.

She turned around, looking sternly at Aaliyah.

“What you did was wrong. How can I know, you will not try to steal their hearts again?”

“No, you can’t know. But know this, I want them living, I don’t want them dull. I never asked for them to change. I love them all, has always done, I never intended of destroying them.” She paused, looking at the men around her. “You have every reason to hate me, but I will not use this magic again. I will win your loyalty, and I hope to win your love, by time, but I will never, ever, do this to you again. I am sincerely sorry for the fool I was.”

They were hugging, all of them, and Sasha smiled. She would slip away now, she had no right to intrude on this, and she had no right to listen to the confessions. She slowly started to walk away from the graveyard, feeling faith again, feeling strong.

Her fingertips glowed like a soft fire.