Book 3: Chapter 68: The Witch in the Willow
The Duchess’s ice blue eyes blazed with the light of Viktor’s immortal heart as she expanded the ice barrier around them to the perimeter of the bog swamp, deflecting the next three burning arrows into the brush of the forest where they illuminated the dark shadows of the trees.
“There!” Larissa shouted, pointing towards the figures of more than one man who scurried away through the forest.
“Lumi,” Carina snarled as the two witches raced to the end of the bridge.
The elemental wolf spun away from the nervous warhorse, its fur shimmering as it disappeared from view, even as the giant scriva smashed its way through the trees in pursuit. The bog witch quickly yanked the warhorse’s reins free from its branch and mounted the chestnut stallion before offering a hand up to the Duchess. They sprinted down the trail left behind the rampaging elemental as they followed the tracks of the giant scriva and their would-be assassins.
The warhorse snorted in protest as they nearly trampled the first of Lumi’s victims. Carina caught a glimpse of the decapitated body dressed in scarlet armor, half concealed beneath a ripped black cloak and a snapped birch tree.
“Witch Hunters,” Larissa hissed in a far from friendly tone. “Those bastards are never far behind any plague.”
The Duchess said nothing as she scanned the area around them. A riderless black horse could be seen galloping erratically through the trees as it kicked the air behind it in blind panic before bolting away. The ice witch quickly summoned two of the unforgiven as falcons to survey the forest and river from above. While the path Lumi had left for them to follow was unmistakable, she had no desire to be led into another ambush.
‘There’s no way they didn’t see us standing in the middle of the river when they fired that arrow. Depending on how long they were watching us, they would have noticed we were extracting the source of the plague. Did they misunderstand our intentions or just attack us on principle?’