Will of the Witch [Legacy, BK 2 - Completed]

Chapter 6.3

JOHN

I opened my eyes and found the ceiling above me familiar, but I had trouble placing it. My body ached, all the way down to my bones, and to the point that I was afraid to move. I rolled my head to the side, casting a lazy glance around the room I was in, and quickly realized that I wasn't at Ezra's.

Tamner was grinding something in a stone bowl on the other side of the fire, his form wavering the heat. Noise from next to me caused me to turn, and I found Hunter sitting, his back leaning against the rough packed dirt wall. A pose I'd seen Ezra in so many times when we were last here with Poe.

Hunter's eyes were closed, dark circles under them standing out in the light from the fire.

"He worries for your health," Tamner said softly, coming closer to me with the stone bowl. "First he sleep since you came. Day before last."

I turned back to Tamner. "That long?"

He nodded, transferring the fine powder from the bowl to a cup of water that was nearby, mixing it with a wooden spoon. "Can you sit?"

I tried, groaning as my body fought me every step of the way.

Hunter came awake with a start and was beside me in the blink of an eye, steadying me with a hand on my shoulder as I wavered.

"Are you sure you should be sitting up?" Hunter asked.

"I'm alright," I said, but deep inside, I knew I was lying. I wasn't alright. Far from it. I felt blind, everything around me was dulled, the magic I'd grown up using painfully out of reach.

"John?" Hunter's voice sounded worried.

I turned my focus back to him. He held the cup that Tamner had been holding just a moment ago. Concern was etched all over his face as if he'd tried to get my attention a few times already.

I rubbed at my face. "Sorry, what?"

"Drink?"

I took the cup from him and drank the potion, the super bitter taste of the herbs made it hard to choke down, but I managed it.

When I finished and turned to hand Tamner the cup back, but he was gone. I didn't remember him leaving.

"He went to find Ezra," Hunter said, noticing my look. "How are you feeling?"

I hung my head, not really wanting to discuss the problem.

He gently took the cup from my hands, setting it aside. "Tamner said the poison is mostly out of your system by now. You should start feeling better soon."

I shook my head. "It's already done the damage it was supposed to."

"What?" Hunter looked at me sharply.

Tamner returned then, Ezra and Avery in tow. I laid back into the bed of furs, exhausted all the way down through my soul. I had to tell them.

"Hey,'" Ez said, coming to sit near me and Hunter. "How are you feeling?"

Shrugging, I glanced away. I did not want to be center of the pity party. Poor John, he's run away. Poor John, he was kidnapped. Poor John, he's lost his magic.

I caught Ezra sharing a worried glance with Avery, but it was Hunter that asked, "Do you know what poison it was?"

"I didn't even see you get hurt," Ez said, trying to draw me back into the conversation.

Closing my eyes, the memory was right there, clear as day. "I was watching Liam from the hall. I saw him pulled the dart from his back pocket, he had it hidden in his hand." I took a deep breath, but it didn't do anything to steady the growing pain in my chest. "Considering what it's done to me, I think it's what the witches have been developing. The one that strips you of the ability to use your power."

Silence overtook the little hut, the only sounds coming from the fire as the others stared at me. Hunter was the one to finally break it.

"You can't use your power?"

"I can feel it," I said, stretching my hand out on the dirt floor next to his leg. An ache bloomed in my chest that had nothing to do with physical pain. "I can feel the earth and the plants, but I can't reach it, can't touch it. It doesn't react to me."

"Like phantom limb syndrome," Avery whispered. "You can feel it, but it's not there."

And gone for good. Yes, that was an excellent way of putting it.

Ezra closed his eyes, bowing his head for a moment. "I'm sorry," he started, but hell if I was going to let him continue on that thought.

"No," I interrupted him. "I'm the one that's sorry, it was my fault. I'm the reason they found you at the house, and the reason they came." The memory of my mother sitting in the dining room flashed in my mind, the harsh words leaving her graceful face. It really was all my fault.

"Is there an antidote? " Hunter asked.

"No," I said around the lump growing in my throat. "Not that I'd heard of."

The silence was almost too much for me, but thankfully Tamner came back then with another cup for me. I sat up again, already feeling a bit stronger. This time the potion was streaming, the contents a tea that smelled sweet.

Tamner's wethered old hand patted my arm as he handed the cup over. "Rest, now. We worry about tomorrow, tomorrow."

Ezra got to his feet, Avery not far behind him. "Tamner's right, you should rest. We can talk again later."

They left as I sipped at the cup Tamner had handed me. The liquid hot enough to burn my tongue, the taste sweet enough to make me gag. Tamner took the cup away when I finished, and I laid back against the furs and blankets that made up the sick bed I was on.

"Can I get you anything?" Hunter asked, hovering over me. "Are you hungry?"

I grit my teeth, finding the attention too much. "No."

"What about some water?"

Why did he care? I was nothing now. Worthless. My power was all I had left, and now that was gone, too. Ezra should have just left me behind.

"I'm fine," I snapped, and turned to my side, trying to find a more comfortable position to lay. "Don't worry about me. I'll just end up hurting you, too."

Hunter was quiet a moment. "It's not your fault, you know."

"Are you fucking kidding?" I yelled, flipping back around to look at him. "This is ALL my fault! If I hadn't answered that text from my sister, they would have still thought I was dead and never traced my phone! And they didn't just find me when they did that. They found Ezra's house, knew that they'd returned. They attacked all of you, because of me!"

Tears were hot on my cheeks. I didn't want him to see me like this. I covered my face with my arm, wishing I could just disappear.

"John-"

"Just go."

The rustling movement of clothes told me he'd listened, but then his voice came from the door.

"You shouldn't blame yourself," he said, his voice was thick with emotion. "I don't know what I'd do without my family; that you had to give yours up to stand for what you believe in, that makes you stronger than any of us. Power or no power."

I turned my back to the door and Hunter. I couldn't bring myself to agree with him. 

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This chapter gets me every time I read it. Leave me a comment below and tell me what you think! Next update will be on New Years Day! Have a safe holiday everyone! <3 J.D.