Torment (Craving 2)

Almost simultaneously we jumped out of the car and I pointed to a pebbled footpath lined with overgrown bushes.

Jeremy hurried to step in front of me, and I objected as he had to push me into the low brush to maneuver himself in the lead. “Hey!”

“A gentleman never lets a lady walk into a questionable situation before he has had an opportunity to assess the situation.”

“I don’t claim to be a lady.” I chuckled.

“Well then, let’s take care of that, shall we?” he said, and grinned, picking up a long stick and tapped my shoulder with it. “I dub thee Lady Bobbie. End of discussion.”

I giggled. “Very well, Sir Jeremy, but I don’t need a whole lot of protection….witch here, remember?”

“All the same—honor bound, you know, and besides, Devin told me he would feed me to the Demon Realm if I allowed one hair on your head to be damaged.” He grinned and continued down the path.

I laughed and shook my head, but what was the use in arguing?

The path opened onto a small grassy circle surrounded by old and weathered evergreens. In the center was a structure of what looked like sticks weaved into a thick fence that was 8’ x 2’ x 8’. I have never seen anything like it before in my life, and my imagination began to run wild.

“Wow, how old is this thing?”

“No one knows, but from the research I’ve done, it has been written about back to medieval times, for sure. There was no mention of when it first appeared,” Jeremy said.

“So what are you supposed to do…touch it and ask for something?” I asked as I stared at the structure.

He shrugged and said, palm stretched towards it, “Let’s see.”

I grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Wait…what if…?”

“We won’t know, will we, unless we try,” he said grimly.

“Okay, wait…let me get a feel for it.”

I put out both my palms and stretched out my witchy sensors without physically touching the wall. Warmth came back to me. That was a good sign. “Okay, but we do this together.”

We went directly up to the center of the odd wall and put our palms against it. It didn’t feel like wood, but instead…and then suddenly, whoosh!

We stared at each other and then around ourselves as we were no longer at the wall. Instead, we both stood inside a dimly lit hut, and as I hugged myself, I knew we were inside the wall. This fact was confirmed when a soft genderless voice said, “Welcome, Warlock Ascot and the prodigy of Lady MacForly. You are, both of you, as is the Dark Warlock, the last of your kind.”

“Thanks,” I answered as Jeremy wasn’t talking but inspecting his surroundings. “Er…what is this…and what do you mean, last of our kind?”

“You came here for answers. I can give you some, not all,” the voice said.

“Okie-doke,” I said. “Let’s start with, where are we?”

“Inside a realm only immortal witches may enter. I am a portal for those of you who have lost your way.”

“Lost our way?” Jeremy asked.

“Forgotten your ancestors,” the voice answered.

“Right,” I said thoughtfully. “You said Warlock Ascot and…”

The voice cut me short. “Listen carefully. Your families were honored rulers in the Land of the Wizards, no longer a part of the Universe,” the voice answered without emotion.

“Why? What happened?” I asked.

“All was destroyed in the war between Light and Dark, but, you, Warlock Ascot, were sent here, as was Lady Lisa, and then the Wizard of Light, Beyland. I was created by the council and sent here as well.”

“Wait, are you saying that Bobbie and I are from the same realm?”