The Devil's Cursed Witch

Draven landed back on the flattened peak, but before he could say a word to the  young eagle and elf, he felt a strange fluctuation coming from a certain direction and froze in  place.

Crackle, crackle!

A gust of hot wind suddenly blew over, one with the strength of an incoming hurricane. A bolt of lightning crashed down with vengeance, as if it planned to scorch the earth black.

In a mere moment, the bright and sunny weather changed.  Sudden darkness enveloped the sky. A distant sound of explosion echoed in the air, and it was so strong its vibrations could be felt by Draven.

The King of Agartha turned to look in the direction of its source-- the palace.

The sky over the palace was covered in pitch black clouds, making one have the illusion that night had fallen. The threatening lightning and thunder appeared  as if they were omens of disaster.

Divine power.

Another divine power was being unleashed in the palace.

It was the most destructive divine power  he had only caught a glimpse of, but he knew who was the owner of that power.

"I am late," Draven said before disappearing from the destroyed peak of the mountain.

----

Meanwhile, back in the Netherfields, Cornelia was holding a ring on her palm. It was an item that belonged to Thala Grimsbane which her sister had taken from her chamber, as Maria knew Cornelia's scrying would be more precise if she had a proper medium.

Cornelia went to a less crowded part of the graveyard, trying to sense the presence of Thala, when she suddenly grew pale.

She accidentally saw something  in front of a grave.

'Camellia flowers?'

She was frightened out of her wits. The shape of the bouquet, the number of flowers, even the angle of sunlight hitting those petals...

It was the same view as in her ominous vision.

Cornelia looked at her apprentice who was standing behind the senior witches of her coven.  "Silvia, who brought those flowers?" Cornelia pointed at the bouquet.

"Let me inquire, my lady." The young witch quickly asked a nearby sister and returned with news. "Commander Morpheus brought them, my lady."

Cornelia was shocked.

'Morph? Could it be...'

The red-haired witch felt her breath stuck in her chest. With her eyes wide open, the scenes of that vision played in front of her eyes once again. A low laugh soon escaped her lips, sounding so distorted it was as if she was about to grow mad.

'Someone important to me? Of course, His Majesty is important but it was only because he is a benefactor who helped us witches again and again, because I owe the King a debt of gratitude and I strive to return his trust... but as a person...my important person...How could Morph's importance compare to the King?'

Tears rolled down her eyes at the realization of what that vision of hers was going to cause.

'I thought I have successfully moved on...but it seems I've yet to forget that man. My heart remains foolish...'

As if to mock her, the heaven suddenly turned dark like the night sky. Flash of lightning struck without warning, causing all the supernatural beings in the Kingdom of Agartha to be enveloped by a sense of tension and fear. Just then, an explosion occurred south of the graveyard, and waves of strong vibrations rocked the earth.

Cornelia dropped the ring in her hand as she stood up in place, the blood in her body turning cold as ice.

'No, no, no!'

As desperation hit her, Cornelia immediately enveloped herself in magic, but before she vanished, her gaze happened to meet Zelda's. There were tears in Zelda's reddened eyes, the traces on her aged face showing she had been crying for some time.

Cornelia understood. Zelda knew. She had known all along.

'I hope I am not late!'

The Head of the Witches disappeared from Netherfields even before her subordinates could say a word.

--

Minutes ago, before the skies of Agartha darkened, Leeora had been approached by the Wood Elves who were residing outside of Ronan, bringing along with them their spouses or families to greet the High Elder of their clan. Since they live in other cities, they had little chance to interact with Leeora who almost never leaves Ronan except for the palace during council meetings.

"Greetings, High Elder."

"How have you been, dear? It has been six months since I last saw..."

After she accepted their courtesy, Leeora sensed something upon returning to the graves of her fallen clan members. She smelled precious herbs that were mixed together.

Rosemary, yarrow, chamomile, mugwort...

She carefully looked around and found that every grave had those wreaths in front of them, the herbs she smelled all woven together along with pine. Some graves had small baskets of those plants, while others had clay pots with a different mix of plants as well, showing great care and thought had been put on those offerings. As if the person who put them there knew the names and preferences of those buried.please visit

For the Wood Elves, these plants held a ceremonial meaning of 'protection' and 'healing'.

Why didn't she notice it before? This arrangement was not done by her. Could it be one of the elders?

"Who put these wreaths here?" Leeora asked the elder closest to her.

"Greetings, High Elder. Are they not a nice gesture? Commander Morpheus gifted it in honor of our deceased friends and families. From what I heard, not just us. He also arranged something for each of the elf clans."

'Morph did?'

A sense of unease struck the elderly elf, but before she could collect her thoughts, the sunny sky was replaced by ominous darkness. Her unease turned to fear when she sensed the source of the explosion.

'The palace!'

After a quick word to the elder, Leeora then hurried to leave the graveyard.

Though those who had knowledge of the vision were the fastest to react, the others weren't slow as well.

The warriors immediately deployed formations, the authority figures quick to calm their own people, prioritizing to put the elderly, the weak and the children to the safest locations.

Thanks to the preparations they had from expecting trouble from the humans,  the clan leaders and elders present in the Netherfields prioritized the safety of the people first. Those who could fly went to the sky, and the shapeshifters transformed into their beast forms, looking in the direction where the sky was pitch black.

Even the weakest supernatural beings felt the threat coming from that direction, and they reacted as if they were going to face the biggest disaster.

"Everyone, be careful! Witches, make sure the barriers are maintained."

"The feathered races, first scout the situation and report! Don't approach the source of that power!"

"Could it be those black magic scoundrels attacking?"

"People, calm down. Don't spread panic. Our warriors are checking out the situation--"

The uproar rose in the Netherfields. Perhaps because today was the day of mourning, but the majority thought that it was an attack caused by black magic practitioners.

Mothers embraced their young children to protect them, while the others, regardless of their gender or age, as long as they had an ability to fight, were preparing to fight. Especially those who held deep grudges against black magic practitioners, they were even gritting their teeth, expectant to exact their vengeance.

The first batch of scouts landed  where Chief of the Shapeshifters, Agraleus, was standing. They were members of the Divine Eagle Clan, considered the fastest of the scouts. The two shapeshifters looked panicked.

"Chief! Please head to the palace!"

"What's going on?" Agraleus asked.

"Commander Morpheus is injured!"

Though the news shocked him, Agraleus was able to quickly regain his composure. After all, though he had long retired from fighting, he was also a battle-hardened warrior himself, and as one of the highest authority figures of the kingdom, he knew only by remaining clearheaded would he be able to stabilize the situation.

"Report the situation."

"The Commander is currently at the King's palace. The human--I mean, the King's mate, her powers are out of control. We can't even approach the outer walls. Her powers are not allowing anyone to enter there. When we left, the Commander was at the brink of losing his life. We do not know how long he can resist."

"It can't be." Agraleus gritted his teeth and looked around. "Where is His Majesty? Did you report this to him?"

"Not yet. We didn't see His Majesty, but since this relates to his mate, perhaps he had already left for the palace."

Not waiting for another moment, Agraleus opened his wings to rush towards the palace.

After news spread from their own scouts, the other clan leaders hurried to leave for the palace as well, not without leaving instructions to the strongest members of their clans.

"No one is to leave the Netherfields. Wait for further instructions."

"Yes, elder!"

"I obey your order, leader!"

"Please rest assured, Father. We warriors will protect everyone here!"

===

A/N- The third book of "Devil and Witch" series has been launched today on web app. It is a story of Dragon and a new queen of witches- A black witch, who I have mentioned before in this .

Title- The Devil's Betrothed.

It is the entry for WSA 2023 contest. I wish all of your support once again as this can be the last WSA I am participating in. Let's get a Gold this time, I believe we can. <3<3

You can find the in my web author profile or you can simply search the title in web app.