“Hazel Domitreu, witch from the Black Hill’s coven, you are a hairsbreadth from being charged with immoral and malicious use of magic.”
Hazel gasped in shock. It was one of the worst crimes a witch could be charged with and the punishment would only mean one thing. Banishment.
“But…but,” Hazel stammered, staring at them in disbelief, unable to even say the words to defend herself against the accusations laid against her.
“However,” Elizabeth spoke before Hazel could say anything, even if she could have. “We also believe that you had no knowledge or dark intentions. Just that you were very, very foolish.” Every word shot out like a bullet from a gun, filling Hazel with chagrin.
“So, you aren’t banishing me?” She asked hopefully.
“No, we are not,” the council member with the stern features sighed. “But we do have any number of questions that you will most definitely will be–.” She was cut off abruptly as the youngest member, the woman who had been escorting the two men to be detained, ran back in breathless and pale face under the golden hue of her skin.
“Jaz, what is it, dear?” The older council member asked, her blue eyed gaze concerned under the severe slash of brows.
“Oh, highest mother, I…they…” she paused for a moment in answering, trying to catch her breath, “just, you have to come outside, now!”
The urgency in her trembling voice had them all instantly hurrying to see what had caused such terror in the normally stoic witch’s face.
“Oh my goddess,” Margaret whispered as they came outside to find two giant beasts, one a scarlet red with golden eyes and the other silver scaled, glinting like moonlight as he moved jerkily, angrily.
Hazel froze for the briefest of moments before pushing past the other women and running towards them, ignoring their warnings and the orders to halt that were shouted after her.
Panic ran through her, but mostly concern for these dragon warriors, thrashing and flailing in the front lawn in broad daylight. There was a ring of about ten or twelve council members surrounding them, all chanting a containment spell deep and in time with one another so it sounded like it was coming from one giant voice.
“Wait, stop! You’re hurting them!” Hazel pleaded as she ran closer still. She could see the pain burning their wild eyed gazes, so familiar to her now. It suddenly seemed so strange to her that she hadn’t recognized Jayce’s dragon for him when she’d seen him that night, his deep red scales glimmering in the starlight
“Stop it!” She cried again as she threw herself in between the witches and the howling beasts that they were surrounding.
“Get out of the way, Hazel!” Elizabeth shouted, her voice almost as stern as her expression but Hazel ignored her completely, instead rushing out stand in between the dragons, reaching out a hand towards both.
She closed her eyes tight, blocking out the cacophony going on around her and instead focusing only on the two men. She searched for that mysterious connection, narrowing her thoughts until only one remained. Come back to me. Come back. Please come back.
She repeated it mentally over and over, trying desperately to send it to them somehow, to access the thoughts they seemed to so easily read.
Please. Come back. Come back. Again and again she shouted the thought, echoing it over in her mind. Within moments she could feel a change in the air around her. It seemed to almost shift, but she refused to open her eyes to look, refused to pause the litany she mentally replayed to them.
Hazel almost jumped out of her skin as warm fingers reached out and touched her own, still outstretched to either side. Strong hands twined with her own and she finally blinked open her eyes to find them wide on a set of silvery grey and amber gold.
“What the hell just happened?” The highest council member demanded as she stalked toward them, snapping the tension between the three as Hazel turned to face her, their hands still all linked together.
“Well, you see–.”
“We couldn’t control it.” Nika said, his confused voice interrupting Hazel. He looked utterly lost as he tried to find the words to explain. “It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. We couldn’t control it. We can always control when we shift, when we change, but the further we got away from the house, away from Hazel…” he paused, shaking his head and making his bronze colored curls dance around his ears but his sharp silver gaze never left hers. Jayce picked up where he left off.