Chapter 2: Chapter 2
The last thing I remember was being shot from the tree I was perched in, watching over the coven we were supposed to attack. Then the sizzling pain of an arrow latched into my hip, causing me to fall from the tree and hit the ground which broke my leg. I don't remember anything after that.
...
I woke up in a dimly lit room. The smell of spices and lavender filled my nose as I drifted into consciousness. A freckled face came into my peripheral vision, green eyes and ginger hair.
An angel? No...a witch.
I immediately grab for the dagger kept in my boot, only to realize that it's not there. I then try to sit up but gasp as lava hot pain shoots up my leg and into my hip.
"You got shot" the freckled face says as she stands up and helps me sit so I can eat, "I had to save you...though I wouldn't have cared if the wolves got you first" her voice has the faintest accent, common for witches.
"Well then why did you save me?"
"Because you were betrayed by your hunting party, and that is even more unforgivable" she says it so calmly as she give me a bowl of soup. That's where the smell of spices came from.
I raise an eyebrow at her
"It's not poisoned. If it was, you'd be dead as soon as you touched the bowl" her lips quirk up into the smallest smile.
"So....i owe you a life debt now. Since you saved mine," I drawl out slowly, keeping my golden eyes on her. She spins around so fast that she drops a pot of dirt she was holding, "excuse me?"
"I can't leave your side until I save your life in return" I clarify, eyes bore into hers.
"I'd rather be burned at the stake then work with a witch hunter" she snarls, reaching for a fire poker to prod at the flames.
"That can be arranged" A smirk crawls up my lips as she shoots me a look taken directly out of the nightmares of children.
This woman isn't like the witches we'd been told about during training; she doesn't have the sharp nails or the long noses...maybe we were just told stories to scare us. We began our training when we turned twelve.
"I hate humans, but I hate disloyalty more" the accented voice comes back, washing over me like a beautiful poison.
"Interesting code of morals for a witch. I thought you were all into cursing people and hiding in plain sight" I shot back, wanting to get a rise out of her.
The witch sighs "Fine. I have to go to the mountains as my coven's delegate. The Council of Witches meets every three years to discuss...things," her eyes flick to me for a second before continuing, "You will accompany me there"
...
Our journey starts out with utter silence. For three days the witch doesn't speak to me, which I can't blame her for since my hunting party was the one that almost kill her coven and now she's stuck with me.
Finally, we make camp in a secluded cave, shelter from the rain and any predators the witch tells me. She makes a fire by throwing dirt into the air, whispering something incoherent, and as soon as the dirt touches the ground, sparks appear at our feet. The sound of thunder surrounds us as she hands me a small flask of soup and medicine she brought "You're no good to me weak or dead" is all she spits out. I try to make myself as small as possible, slowly drinking the soup and medicine.
"I'm Wren" the words escape my lips randomly. She looks over and studies me with her beautiful green eyes before rolling onto her side to sleep with her back to me.
...
A week passes before something happens that puts a chip in the witches walls and I make a breakthrough. It happens because a loud splash wakes me from sleep, causing me to shoot up from where I slept, gasping in pain once again at the still-healing wound in my leg and hip. Ignoring it, I stumble out and follow where the splash came from until I reach a lake...where a lake monster is wrestling with the witch. She is hopelessly loosing, whatever spells she tries are useless against the monster. It wraps it's slimy arms around her and yanks her down under the water.
I wait for her to resurface, but nothing happens, so without thinking, I launch myself into the lake, stabbing at the monster with my knife and grab at the witch, hauling her to safety. Her red hair is soaked and stringy, I cant hear her breathing so I search for a pulse. Nothing. I do the next best thing, I press my hands to her chest like we were trained to do and roll her onto her side as water shoots out of her mouth. She gasps for air as water expells from her lungs. I hit her on the back a couple of times to help the water leave faster. She gives me an angry look as she stumbles to her feet and storms off, soaking wet but no less breathtaking.
Anger wells up inside of me as I walk after her, catching up and shoving her against a tree, my gold eyes bore into her blue ones. I'm taller than her by at least a head which makes me look smaller as I look down on her and plunge into my words "Look, I know this isnt an ideal situation. You dont like me and I dont like you, but we have to at least be civil if we want to survive. You cant swim and I cant walk properly. We need each other if you're going to get to that mountain" my fingernails dig into her arms as I press her against the tree, wanting my anger to sink into her bones.
"Astrid" her voice is quiet and she refuuses to look at me.
"What?"
"My name is Astrid"
She repeats her name as we sit around a fire she made, the spoon in the small pot of soup we share.
"I'm not a full witch. I can only heal. That's why I don't actually live with my coven. When your hunting party came to the woods near us, they were looking for me because they knew I was the one who knew how to stop the poisons that other covens were spreading and they wanted me alive. When they shot you, the strings around their neck choked them and they died" this last bit throws me into a deep hole of confusion and anger. These people who I'd known since I was twelve had betrayed me for no reason and then got what they deserved, I looked down at my own string necklace that we all knew would kill me I betrayed my kin.
"Why did they die but I didnt?"
"You almost did" is all Astrid says.
"So you know how to stop the poisons the other covens are spreading. And that's why you want to go to the council? Can you talk to them?" I ask, changing the subject, to which she snorts, "hell no. They have all the poisons hidden amongst members of the coven, I'm going to steal each one and make it so the poison can't hurt anyone" her green eyes light up with nervous glee at telling someone this.
I nod slowly, listening intently as I wrap the injury that twists around her arm, obvious teeth marks from the lake monster embedded in her skin. Hopefully, this monster wasn't poisonous, is the only thing circling around in my thoughts. Astrid looks up from the fire at me,
"Thank you, for helping me earlier"
"Well you saved my life and now I saved yours" I shrug, "so does that mean my life debt is over?"
"Stay" Astrid whispers and as the fire fades, I think I see a smile and a flash of fangs.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone