NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Perdita saw the man move towards her, fast and swift, claw swiping in the air at her face. She shifted, barely missing the man’s nails by an inch.

The man scoffed, his head tilted to the side, watching Perdita. She had missed his first strike by an inch; the second time wouldn’t be hard. He thought, and he charged at her once more, dragging a thick fog behind him as he muttered spells under his breath.

Perdita’s eyes scanned her environment, looking for a loophole as she watched the man observe her. When he came at her again, she struck back, needing not to whisper spells as she could perform her magic with or without it.

With the force of the fog coming at Perdita with the man, she quickly countered it with fire that sizzled away the thickness of the fog, some of it burning the man.

He cursed, anger bubbling deep within him, having not expected such a move from Perdita. ”We can peacefully end this without you getting hurt. All you have to do is come with me.”

”Says the one who just got the heat of my fire. Why don’t we worry your face won’t leave with more scars than it has already?” Perdita hummed, eyes sharp on him. Her words seemed to irk another nerve as he launched at her with a blinding force; however, before Perdita could move and counter his attack, his hand caught her arm in a tight grip, claws digging deep into her skin.

Perdita winced in pure horror and pain from the man’s claws dangerously lodged into her arm, blood immediately dripping to the forest floor.

She should not have sought to provoke him!

A smile ghosted over the man’s lips, eyes crinkling dangerously as he stared at her. ”You think you can escape me. Having abilities without knowing how to use them can be quite useless.” He taunted, raising his other hand, ready to trap her.

”Mhmm,” Perdita hummed, biting back the pain on her arm. Focusing on her inner strength, her other hand caught his shoulder before he could do anything. ”Initially, I wanted to leave you alive to get information from you, but now you seem useless and of no use to me. Let me quickly end this.”

About to taunt Perdita’s threat, Perdita had already exerted strength and energy on his shoulder, and the next thing he saw happen had his eyes wide in horror.

His shoulder, which Perdita held, began to wither, drying up like the bark of the trees that creaked under the magic that wafted around the place.

”What the hell did you do?!” The man’s horrified shriek rang out, making a nearby crow fly away in haste. His eyes burned in rage, and he quickly moved away from Perdita, holding his bony hand. When he tried to move it, it creaked and fell off his shoulder to the ground like a log of wood.

Perdita’s face scrunched at the sight, and she dusted her hand. This man should have let her be, or else he wouldn’t have met this fate. She stared at her arm where the man’s claws were earlier, noticing the wound was healing slower than usual.

”Where did the man beside me go before you attacked me?” Perdita questioned, walking closer to the man whose face had an apprehensive edge on it.

He hissed at her question, infuriated he had lost his arm, and the urge to avenge made his blood boil and rush to his veins, but the danger of attacking Perdita again held him back.

”What man?!” He snapped, glaring furiously at Perdita. He saw her begin to walk towards him, and he subconsciously inched backward.

”Stand where you are.” Perdita commanded, making the man’s steps halt abruptly. Not only was he apprehensive, but he was also beginning to fear Perdita. Truly, what they said was true about the vampire-witch sibling. At first glance at Perdita, he had thought she would be easy to defeat, but he should have known better!

”W...wait.” The man stretched his free arm towards Perdita, whose steps continued towards him, a blue flame swirling around her index finger. If she released it on him, he knew he wouldn’t survive it, as any magic done under the blue flame was sure to have an undeniable amount of damage on anything it touched.

”I am waiting, or else you would have crumbled into a heap of dust some minutes ago. Tell me, where did you see him go?” Perdita continued to question, enjoying the fear she instilled in the man who quivered with every step of hers towards him.

”I didn’t see anybody. Who are you talking about?” A confused expression for a moment replaced the horror that played on his face.

”Useless,” Perdita mumbled under her breath.

It seems Sthena had left her before the man came at her. That sly vampire!

”It is not my wish to kill you, but leaving you puts me at a disadvantage of you rattling to your coven about my existence. And I do not want that,” Perdita said thoughtfully. Stopping a foot away from him, she scrunched to his level on the forest’s floor where he sat. ”Tell me, what is it going to be?”

”I promise not to breathe a word to anyone. Whatever I saw happen here remains with me. S-pare me.” Just a few minutes earlier, he had been confident he would capture Perdita, but right now, he sat here begging for his life!

”Of course you wouldn’t dare breathe a word. That is why your tongue shall belong to you no more.” Perdita uttered the words that brought a new surge of fear in the man’s body.

Before he could speak, Perdita caught hold of his mouth and forced her finger to hold the man’s tongue, and she did the same thing she had done to his hand. She didn’t stop there; she caught his good hand and rendered it bony and useless.

She didn’t want to show mercy to people like him. If she wasn’t able to defend herself, he would have abducted and perhaps killed her like they had done to the warden’s son. Like Sthena had said earlier, witches were conniving and were not to be trusted.

The man’s expression was masked in horror at the predicament he had met. He sat on the floor staring at his missing hand and the other paralyzed. What would become of him now?! He tried to talk but to no avail, as his tongue was also missing!

Perdio clicked her tongue, eyes searching the forest to catch sight of anyone. She turned to leave but was stopped by a voice that sounded behind her.

”Look at you turning someone’s arms into a piece of art. Quite remarkable.”

Sthena? Perdo internally quizzed. She slowly turned to see him. Sthena! It truly was him. A relieved expression appeared on her face that quickly vanished when she remembered he had left her. ”Sthena!”

”Yes, darling?” Sthena tilted his head to the side, watching her. ”Did you miss me?”