Free The Immortal Mystic (Book 5) by Sam Ferguson Page B

walls rolled by him as if he were no more than a ghost. The cobblestone streets beneath his feet moved for him. They changed to dirt alleyways and then he saw the dagger. He felt the tearing sensation of Lord Lokton’s sinew as it was rent asunder and the blade plunged in to drink the man’s life away. All at once he felt the horror and dread of what he had done. He turned to run away. His mouth was open to scream, but no words emerged.
    A trio of women stood behind him in the shadows. Each of them grinning and jeering at Lokton’s corpse in the alley. Aparen looked at them and then begged them for help. The women ignored him. One of them approached and took the dagger from his hand and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. As she backed away, a pink cord streamed from her lips to Aparen’s cheek. He moved to wipe it away, but it only stuck to his hand. The more he struggled, the larger the pink cord grew until it bound his entire body. The end of the cord turned sharp and pierced his chest. It wormed through his insides until it bound his heart. He felt the organ struggle to beat within his chest. The three women erupted in laughter. Only then did he realize it was Silvi that had kissed him. The other two witches stood beside her now as she held the pink cord like a leash. In that moment, reliving the experience, he saw the truth of it. The witches had manipulated him. Silvi had charmed him. It was never her appearance that Aparen had longed to please. All of it was an illusion.
    Aparen turned back to Lord Lokton. The corpse rose to its feet and reached out for Aparen. “You have betrayed me,” the corpse gasped.
    Aparen struggled, but the corpse opened its mouth and swallowed Aparen in an instant. The darkness returned, but Aparen was not returned to the tower. This was a much colder, emptier space. He felt himself floating away and saw Lord Lokton and his wife. She was newly pregnant with child, though he was not sure how he knew this. Hairen, the old witch, crept toward them from the shadows. The witch held a knife in her hand and crept ever closer while the happy couple looked at a newly built crib.
    “Behind you!” Aparen shouted. He ran forward on instinct, moving in to save the pair. There was no ground beneath him. His feet churned the cold space, but could not bring him any closer. Hairen held her hand out and a blue light flew from Lady Lokton’s stomach. The happy couple began to frown, and the crib fell apart. Hairen cackled maniacally and then drew a line in the air behind the couple. Blood seeped from the line in the air and then Hairen disappeared.
    Aparen felt a force pull him from the couple, and his eyes filled with tears. They disappeared from before him. A moment later his father and mother stood before him. They were sorrowful, and staring out at an empty room, his room. As before, Aparen saw Hairen approaching. This time she sent the blue light out and it entered his mother’s stomach. His mother and father became happy and immediately began arranging baby items into the room. As the time passed, his mother’s belly grew. Hairen cackled again and then drew another line in the air. As with the first, this one bled slowly, dropping scarlet liquid onto the ground.
    “Entwined by stolen flesh, let the blood between these two houses boil and froth, like a tempest of lava,” Hairen said. Then she vanished.
    In a matter of seconds Aparen watched as he was born. To his left, he watched Lord and Lady Lokton struggle through sadness and grief together. At once he felt both his parents’ joy and also the depth of sorrow from the Loktons. In his heart, he now understood what the satyr was telling him. He had slain his rightful father, and had been cursed by the witches since before his birth. Nothing more than a pawn in a very cold game of revenge.
    “Enough!” he cried out into the air around him. The air melted around him and he fell to land with a thawump!
    “Can you see yet?” the satyr