Witch Song (Witch Song #1)

Chapter 27

A few paces apart, both women stopped and faced each other. Senna was surprised by Espen's beauty—somehow, it seemed wrong that someone so evil should be beautiful. Her waist-length, dark hair shifted softly in the wind. Her skin was impossibly clear, with a smattering of innocent-looking freckles across her nose. Senna was dressed after the manner of the Witches, in shades of green and gold—the colors of life and growth. Espen wore a black cloak with a red dress—the colors of death and blood.

Desperate to make the first move, Senna threw a barrier seed and started singing it to maturity. Not very original, perhaps, but the tree would protect her from anything physical Espen grew. Espen smiled—the smile of a starving woman about to delve into a table of delicacies. She also threw down a barrier seed.

Senna would have liked to grow her barrier tree a little bigger, but she didn't want to lose the advantage of her slight lead. Her deft fingers dove into a pocket of her belt and grabbed a handful of seeds as small as sand. Her song changed.

Wind, carry my seeds upon thy back,

Toward the Witch with purpose black.

The wind gusted past her, twisting her hair around her face. She threw the seeds high into the air. It caught them and carried the majority past both barrier trees, where they pelted Espen like the gritty wind before a storm.

Senna immediately switched her song.

Thine, with vine of thorn,

Bind up Espen, her song to scorn.

The vines shot up around Espen's ankles. Espen ignored them. Instead, she focused on Senna, her song a soft murmur. The Witch threw something in the air. Senna saw the wind catch a white powder as fine as flour. She had time to do little more than suck in a deep breath before the powder engulfed her.

The powder seemed to stick to Senna's sweat. It burned and stung as though driving needles through her skin. The worst pain was in her eyes. She barely had the presence of mind not to gasp and fill her lungs with the toxic stuff. She wasn't sure what the powder was, but she knew she had to get away from it. She couldn't sing if she couldn't breathe.

Senna stumbled back, her eyes on fire. Without any other option, she shut them and ran blindly away from the defense of her barrier tree. When she'd finally freed herself from the choking vapor, she turned frantically to find Espen. Through her tear-filled eyes, she saw the Dark Witch nearly covered in vines. Only her face remained uncovered, her mouth working frantically.

Desperately trying to catch her breath, Senna staggered on her feet, her hands reaching inside her seed belt. But before she could form a song on her lips, she felt a presence behind her. Eyes wide, she whirled to face this new threat.

In an instant, she realized what Espen had done. The powder had driven her away from her barrier tree—her physical protection—toward another barrier tree. One Espen had been busily singing to life while Senna's thine had been binding her.

The great tree stretched toward her. Senna dove to the side. She felt the whoosh of air as a branch barely missed her. She scrabbled madly to get away. Feeling another branch coming, she dove. But this branch whipped out at the last second, cracking across her ribs.

She felt like she'd been branded by a white hot, iron rod. Gasping, she twisted away from the scrambling branches' hold. She was nearly out of the tree's reach. She'd just managed to get her feet under her for the second time when the tree stretched out, wrapping one of its longest branches around her ankle. It snatched her up so fast it felt like she'd left her stomach on the ground that was fast falling away from her.

It flicked like a whip, sending her careening end over end through the air. She saw ground then sky, ground then sky, moving together so fast they blurred together.