Free Witches by Phil Stern

before the wizard himself had entered the fray.
    Luckily, a shot to the lung from an archer had disabled the one called Marissa, allowing the wizard to concentrate all his energy on April. Still, it took all his skill and strength to finally subdue her, suffering much abuse himself in the process.
    Though intending to take the two girls captive, the magician had thankfully driven his sword through April’s heart, stringing her up in the village square for good measure. Marissa, though grievously wounded, should recover sufficiently to properly serve her new lord and master. Even now the other girls were succoring their sister in the dungeon below.
    But clearly, the damnable Coven now knew Jain to be his base of operations. He needed to relocate to an already prepared fortress in another dimension, taking the girls and his small supply of midate with him. From there he could venture out and take more captives, avoiding battle except on his terms...
    Wait! Were there more witches approaching from the south? Fearfully, the wizard dropped the well bucket, running back toward the castle proper, preparing to duck inside its stout walls.
    No. He sensed only one earth stone. A single witch, without support. Gensrow smiled, carefully flexing his burned arm. Let her come. Fighting alone, on his castle grounds, the witch had no chance. Another loss for the Coven, while yet another addition to his harem.
    Once he took this girl and made his escape, it might be years before the Coven found him again. And by then he would be too strong for them to ever defeat.
     
    ***
     
    Three of Jain’s five moons hung low over the castle. Staring up at the thick stone walls, Tiffany drew her heavy sword. Earth fire rippled along the sharp edge, sparking down into the grass with a dull hiss.
    Extending her sensitivity, the sorceress detected a magical trip wire surrounding the wizard’s abode. Tossing an experimental rock at the nearest stone wall, she was unsurprised to find it immediately encased in a stout iron cage. Behind her, in the forest she’d just traversed, a pack of wolves began howling.
    Battling the castle minions would bring her no closer to defeating their Lord. Gathering all her energy, Tiffany teleported to the center well of the roof.
    It was a calculated risk, the young witch very vulnerable after such extreme exertion. She took a moment to recover in the bright moonlight, studying her surroundings.
    The ramparts rose ten feet above her head, with several sets of stairs leading up to a stone walkway running three feet below the staggered parapet. Huge iron cauldrons sat in the lower center area, the better to prepare boiling oil to dump on would-be invaders, amid stacks of pikes, cross bows, and other ancient arms.
    Inspecting the weapons, a glint of unnaturally smooth metal caught her eye. There, amid the medieval junk, sat a row of sleek laser rifles.
    Clearly, the wizard had brought the guns to Jain from a modern world. As Lord Gensrow already enjoyed absolute magical dominance in Jain, the guns were clearly intended for cross-dimensional invasion.
    Before she could disable them, the entire roof erupted. Amid a mighty, collective shriek, hundreds of rats suddenly charged the sorceress, flowing out from every nook and cranny. Tiffany unleashed a pulse of magical energy, the green first bursting outward. Every last rodent was blasted up and over the ramparts, to fall, burning and broken, to the ground below.
    “Now that wasn’t very nice, was it?”
    Whipping about, Tiffany’s blade oriented on the wizard himself, standing some two dozen feet away. A tall man wearing plain black clothes, the magician’s horribly mangled face gathered in a sneer. Casually hefting a heavy broadsword, Gensrow laughed.
    “Hmmm, you’re very pretty.” Eyes widening, the wizard gave a satisfied nod. “You will serve me well.”
    Revolted, she retreated a half-step.“Never!”
    “You will serve me!” he bellowed, wildly swinging the sword.