From Embers

26 - Liar, Liar, Light Her on Fire Part 1

"Yer aff yer heid, dirty scrote."

A spitball hit Martha's eye. Her thin brows knitted together and the lights flickered as she wiped the dripping spit with her apron. The witch snapped her fingers. Rhistel's hyperactive nerves came to an immediate stop and her vision doubled. Any heat she felt before was gone, replaced with an emptiness that she'd never felt before. The small window shut.

"You kicked the bear." Jai-Jai's cheeks were ruddy and smoke tendrils rose steadily from her nose. She sucked in a deep breath, slowly letting it out over Alanis. Rising, Jai-Jai knocked on each wall, a dull echo sounded back. "Must be in the lower levels," she said absentmindedly, "we're buried."

"Can't ye burn our way oot?"

"If I had a way to get us out do you think I'd still be here? This body only allows a small fraction of my powers."

"Liar." Blowing on her hands wasn't helping anymore. Rhistel pitied all those who didn't share in her power more than she'd ever had before. The biting chill wasn't new to her; Scottish winters were harsh and seemingly never-ending. Yet, never had it eaten away at her fire. The usual flames which coursed through her veins were nought more than embers. Snapping her fingers, Rhistel tried to light even a small spark. Nothing happened. "When we were at the city, could ye have attacked the humans, enabling our safe escape?"

"It's impossible to calculate what could have happened. What good would it have done? Exposing myself was never an option."

"What good would it have done?" Rhistel repeated. "We wouldn't be stuck in this bloody mess. The only reason we came here was for me sistae to rest because she was injured. Ye could've stopped this from ever happenin'."

"I could have prevented a lot of things." Jai-Jai picked under ner nails, sitting beside Alanis again. "But, I'm preventing a lot worse by hiding."

"How? What canny be so important that ye think risking other's lives is worth it."

Jai-Jai bristled. "Hush, now. I can feel your heat escaping every second you stay worked up. Sit down and focus on staying warm."

Rhistel ground her teeth together.

"And, don't think of telling anyone about me."

"Why no'."

"How would you ever prove your theory?"

"Sen's been suspicious since the beginning. He'll have yer throat. Is tha' what ye were after all along? To ensure our failure? Maybe dragons are helping their old friends again. A bet ye jumped up real quick to help destroy the world."

"I said stop pacing and sit." The strength in Jai-Jai's voice sent chills down Rhistel's spine. She dropped to the floor. "Stop blabbing on like a child and think before you speak, for once."

The cigarette cravings were eating at Rhistel. "If ye were a wee lass when dragons left, then ye'd have tae be older than my nanna. Ye don't look a day over twenty-five, looking good for an old lady."

"I can't concentrate on keeping your sister from dying if you keep on bothering me." Jai-Jai's features slipped back into a poker face.

"Don't worry, Sweety. You should let her pass on, it's only prolonging her pain if you keep this up." A fine mist blew under the door, settling to the far right. The grey cloud grew larger and formed itself into a womanly shape. Martha stepped out, waving the smoke away, her wife following close behind.

Rhistel lunged forward. Dorithea took one large step and formed a triangle with her hands. Whispering, she shoved her hands towards the elf. Glowing runes floated through the air and slammed into Rhistel. They felt hot on her skin as they wiggled their way down her arms. Her fist was only a centimetre from the witch's face when she stopped, muscles twitching and unable to move.

"Children should respect their elders," Dorithea croaked. Stepping past Rhistel, she patted her head. Her gaze turned to Jai-Jai, who paid the witches no attention as she stroked Alanis' hair. The spell was repeated, and Jai-Jai stopped moving too.

Martha tutted, "Be nice to our guest. If you overwork them their meat will be tough. It's a lot harder to extract the properties we need." The woman pinched Rhistel's cheeks, giving her a wide smile. "Youth is such a fickle potion. We'll need every extract that'll squeeze out of them."

Rhistel's blood boiled. The only thought that consumed her was how many ways she wanted to dismember the older women.

The two women busied themselves around the small freezer, drawing shapes and ruins on the walls, never glancing back to their guests. Martha clapped and a fur coat dropped into her arms. "Can't have you catching a cold." She wrapped the coat around Dorithea's shoulders.

Martha's humming bounced off the walls, filling the room; the tune wormed its way through Rhistel's ear canal, making it itch more than her scalp. The other women made her feel small, like an insignificant bug that spent its days scurrying around, trying not to get squished underfoot. How could she compete with dragons and magicians who could cast a spell in three words or less?

Jai-Jai's sharp voice cut through Martha's song, "How cliche."

"Whatever do you mean?" Martha batted her lashes. On a younger woman, it would have looked cute, but, it looked foolish on the woman's wrinkled face.

"Two old crones, finding victims through their shady hotel business, creating youth potions. This whole situation reads like a bad story parents tell their misbehaving children. Don't talk to strangers, they may eat you."

Out of the corner of her eye, Rhistel saw Jai-Jai's finger twitch. Martha, however, did not. She knelt beside the human, dusting her shoulder. "Oh, my child. We're so much more than a small child's nightmare." The back of her hand grazed Jai-Jai's jaw before pulling back, hissing. "How are you so warm?"