The Witch & The Imp

The last thing Circi saw was the sun bouncing off the sword as it came down on her neck. She closed her eyes, bore the pain, and when she opened her eyes again she was in her bed. She jumped out promptly and grasped her neck. She was in her night clothes, her hair was freshly washed and dried and curled perfectly, even with magic she could never get it to curl like this. She looked down at her bed and gasped. Gwain was there and now waking up. He tussled back his hair and smiled. “What’s wrong love? Come back to bed before you wake Borus.”
Circi began to sweat. “Gwain..you..no.”
“What?” he smirked
She knelt down on the bed and caressed his face, making sure he was real. “You’re dead.”
Gwain kissed her forehead. “Why did nobody tell me? I believe that means the 13 need a new knight.”
Circi threw herself up once more and looked around her room. She approached the wicker cradle to her left. Circi looked down and there was her baby boy, fresh and beautiful. This shocked her more due to the fact that her son never met his father. “Gwain you are not a knight anymore. You broke your vows, and Borus, you never met him.” She started to panic and breathing became hard. “The battle, Veli is here. He broke the wall!”
Gwain rushed to Circi’s side and held her gently. “Calm down love. Are you sick?” He picked up a blade leaning against a wall. “You see this pommel? It means I am a Knight of 13,” he assured her. He held her once more. “Veli is dead. He was hiding in Eldre and you found him and killed him. There is no battle, the walls stand strong.”
Circi leaned into her husband, soaking up his embrace; still she was not soothed. She pulled away from him and waved her hand in the air. Clean black clothes appeared in place of her night gown. She ran out of the room, through the rest of the house and out the door. She looked to the sky. It was as if day and night merged into one. A silky blue sky filled with white stars and a purple gimmer hung over her. She looked around and no one was there, the town was vacant.
Her husband, now covered in armor, met her outside. She rested her pale hands on his breastplate. “Gwain, what’s happening?” But Gwain did not answer. The color faded from his eyes and the knight turned to dust in Circi’s hands. Her emerald eyes grew wide and she fell to her knees weeping. As she scrambled to re-assemble the dust she heard a giggle. Her wet eyes turned to fire and she levitated back onto her feet. She looked at the man before her, “YOU!” she yelled.


The man(if you could call him that) smiled. He rolled back his shoulders and flicked back his long, straight brown hair. “You know when I said the house needed dusting, this isn’t what I meant.” He said giggling.
“Imp, What did you do!?” She yelled, raising her finger.”
“Me?” he scoffed, “why I did nothing, well except save your life. You see dearie you died.”
Circi’s skin grew even paler. “The battle.”
“Oh yes, you finally had your epic duel with your twin brother, and you lost. Do you know what it’s like to put so much time into someone just to have them fail? It’s truly heartbreaking.”
The witch’s rage dissipated. Now there was no emotion, no life. “Another trick Ratican? I can’t be dead if I am talking to you. Unless my mind is cruel enough to conjure you up.”
The imp rubbed his scaly hands, “Heh, you are dead, but you're not. See, knowing that there was a chance you would lose, I made an insurance policy. I bound your soul to a pretty little gem. So when you oh-so heroic brother lopped off your head your soul went inside this gem rather than whatever afterlife awaited it. Probably best, your afterlife would not have been a happy one.”
Circi thrust her hand forward and lifted the imp into the air, choking the air out of his lungs. She approached slowly and started into his pale blue eyes. “You bastard! I am not your plaything, and my soul was not yours to mess with! You ruined my life and now you ruin my death! I don’t care if you are the Dark One so help me I’ll kill you imp!” She waved her hand to the left and sent Ratican flying through the wooden wall of a house.
The imp leaped up and dusted off his leather tunic, completely unaffected by what just happened. “I saved your life, and this is how you treat me, and they call me a monster. You should be thanking me she-devil. This means your soul can be put back into a body and you can be reborn. Although I suppose your old body won’t do, missing head and all.”
“Than revive me so I can finish what I started!” Circi commanded, conjuring a ball of fire in her palm.
“Mmmmm,no. Like I said you failed. I can’t save you twice. Besides, your brother intrigues me. Perhaps I was wrong about which of Filavandrel’s children I need.”
Now doubt clouded Circi’s mind. A million questions pounded in her skull. “What do you mean you need us? What are you after Ratican. What could be so important that you of all people would save a life?”