a Witch's Bargain

The Stars Incline Us, They Do Not Bind Us
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Chapter 2

a witch’s bargain

 

«And when exactly did this monster crash through the wall?»

 

«Just past midnight.»

 

«Can you describe it?»

 

«It looked like a giant lizard, but it was covered in blue scales, like a fish. It had antlers on its head and smoke was spewing from its nostrils. It looked like it might have been hurt as well.»

 

«Thank you, Angel Yongsun. Your description of the dangerous monster will help tremendously in catching it… And, uh, Angel… if you have any free time, perhaps you would like to—»

 

«Constable Park!»

 

The doors to the sleeping quarters flew open. The constable who was taking Yongsun’s statement whipped around in response to hearing his name. His face paled, Yongsun recognised the expression: fear. She had met many people and different types of soldiers during the Great War, they had all shared the same expression of fear. Therefore, when Constable Park clenched his jaw, his lips and gulped, Yongsun knew exactly what he felt.

 

«Oh no.» He whispered as he put his pencil and notepad into his pocket.

 

«What are you doing here, witch?» Constable Park seethed with spite.

 

The witch in question was tall, but not as tall as Constable Park. Her hands were tucked into the pockets of her black slacks and she had a grey checkered waistcoat — she wore pride and dignity as if they were clothes.

 

«The Head Angels let me in.» The witch replied and smiled so charmingly it made Yongsun’s heart skip a beat.

 

«How rude of me,» the witch said and held out her hand, «I am Ahn Heeyeon.»

 

«Angel Yongsun.» Yongsun replied as she took the witch’s hand.

 

«Of course! You’re the Angel who witnessed it all! I heard your comrades talking about you, thank the stars you’re safe.»

 

Constable Park scratched his head and frowned as he looked around the room, in an attempt to avoid meeting the witch’s intense stare. He shifted on the balls of his feet and Yongsun could see sweat marks forming in his armpits.

 

Yongsun yawned, and quickly covered with her hand. She had not gotten a wink of sleep. Head Angel Solji had kept her up most of the night, checking for scrapes and bruises. Luckily, Yongsun’s forearms were the only things that had to be bandaged.

 

«Well, it seems that my work here is done. I should get going. May the stars light your way, Angel.» Constable Park said quickly and tipped his cap to Yongsun.

 

When Constable Park turned to Heeyeon, he looked at her with half-lidded eyes and said rudely:

 

«Witch.»

 

«Stars light your way, constable!» Heeyeon called after him as he left the sleeping quarters.

 

Then, still wearing that charming smile, she turned to Yongsun.

 

«Sorry about that, he doesn’t like me very much. Well, most of the constables down at the station don’t like me. After all, I am a witch.»

 

Yongsun found Heeyeon utterly strange — she had not met anyone like her. Admittedly, she had never met a witch before, only read about them in the books that Wheein occasionally made her read. But a witch who talked in a chipper voice, exuded kindness, and did not seem even remotely dangerous was the last thing Yongsun had expected.

 

«Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I’m here.»

 

«The beast, I presume.» Yongsun said with uncertainty and adjusted her glasses.

 

Heeyeon’s smile brightened and Yongsun was inclined to smile with her.

 

«Now that is a pleasant surprise! I like your description! But I must ask, because I must know, why don’t you think it was a monster?»

 

«Monsters show up just before midnight.» Yongsun replied with a gleam in her eye and was rather proud of herself for knowing that. «The beast crashed through the wall just after the clock struck twelve.»

 

«But you don’t think it was a beast either, do you?»

 

Yongsun leaned back a bit, lowering her head, her confidence quickly vanished.

 

«It’s okay to say it. Nobody will hurt you.» The witch sat down beside Yongsun, scooting closer. «The King can’t hear you, nobody will come and cut out your tongue because you speak the truth. You have my word.»

 

«The walls might have ears.»

 

«I assure you they don’t.» The witch smiled and held up her hand and winked.

 

She must’ve put a silencing spell on the walls, Yongsun thought. «Dragon.» She said out loud.

 

It felt as if a huge weight on Yongsun’s chest had been lifted when she uttered the word. Heeyeon sat down beside her, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

 

«Right you are indeed.» Heeyeon said, nodding, and looking quite solemn.

 

Saying the word dragon in the Land of Couronne was not what got your tongue cut out, it was the implications behind it. Dragon meant magician (and magician’s had a habit of changing forms) and all of the magicians in Couronne were extinct, systematically killed by the King who wanted to harness the power in a magician’s stone, which was the source of a magician’s magic. The stones came in all sorts of colours; emerald green, sunshine yellow, pure white, azure blue or scarlet red, but no two stones shared the same colour.

 

The stones also came in different shapes, but not different sizes, they were all small enough to hold comfortably in ones hand. It was said that a magician’s stone had once been the heart of a star before it fell from the sky, which was why magicians were worshipped by loyal — fanatical — disciples of the Fate of Cosmos called starfollowers.

 

And one could guess how much trouble the starfollowers caused the King of Couronne when they found out he was killing magicians in order to win the war.

 

«Did you perhaps see which way the dragon went?»

 

«It went out through the hole it created.»

 

«Ah.» Heeyeon remarked, looking a bit unsatisfied by the answer.

 

She stood up, looking proud and tall, and wiped her hands on her slacks. Then she adjusted the cuffs of her shirt and said:

 

«Well, that’s too bad, doesn’t do much for me. If you remember any thing please contact me before you contact Constable Park.» The witch reached into her pocket and pulled out something small. «Here’s my business card.»

 

Yongsun looked at the card with great interest, but frowned when she realised there was nothing on it — it was blank. She flipped it over to make sure she was not being taken for a fool.

 

«Flick it once with your index finger.» The witch told her before she left Yongsun alone in the sleeping quarters.

 

Yongsun flicked the card and, just like magic, letters slowly appeared. She could read the card clearly:

 

Ahn Heeyeon

Aeronautical Engineer and pilot.

To contact Ahn Heeyeon, flick the card twice, then wait.

 

Before Yongsun had time to put the card away, the doors burst open, startling her so that she nearly dropped the card on the floor. The witch had returned. Heeyeon’s face was serious and she looked very determined.

 

But when she came to stand in front of Yongsun, Heeyeon fiddled with her hands and stumbled over her words. It seemed a rather unusual thing for Heeyeon to do. She finally clasped her hands behind her back, puffed out her chest, and lifted her chin.

 

«I changed my mind!» She exclaimed. «It has been such a long time since I last saw the dragon, the magician, I mean. I’ll be honest and say I’m not quite sure what she looks like right now. But you saw her! And I am sure that you would recognise the dragon if you saw it again!»

 

Heeyeon looked very happy now, her charming smile had returned.

 

«How about a witch’s bargain? Help me find the dragon before the police do.»

 

Yongsun stared dumbly at Heeyeon. She must have heard wrong.

 

A witch’s bargain?

 

Yongsun shook her head and adjusted her glasses, pushing them further up the bridge of her nose, then she folded her hands in her lap, scrunching the card Heeyeon had given her. She bit the inside of her cheek before she spoke:

 

«I cannot.»

 

«Why not?»

 

«I cannot leave this place.»

 

«By the stars! That’s just absurd!» Heeyeon exclaimed and ran a hand through her long silver hair.

 

«Tell me, Angel Yongsun from Sector 12, do you want to spend the rest of your life in Heaven, or do you want to get out of this old brick building and see more of Kingston?» Heeyeon towered over her, but Yongsun was not intimidated, the witch only reminded her of Wheein. «A witch’s bargain would pardon you f

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Comments

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Gwyn_hananii
#1
Chapter 37: ❤️❤️❤️
girlofeternity_ss #2
This is a very interesting story.
Jscl38 #3
Chapter 36: Thank you so much for this story. I have few words to describe how much reading it has meant.
Jscl38 #4
Chapter 29: This story remains one of the most intense fics I’ve read. Sometimes I can’t believe it’s free. Thank you!
rivdelrey #5
Chapter 37: What a journey! I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word of this fic. This is one of the fics that I always looked forward to for updates.
Wooshtheroosh #6
Chapter 37: Ahhh damnn. This story is finished ;^;

This was a very wild ride and an amazing story to read. Everytime it updated, I was always exicited to read it.

U did very amazing in the ending so don't worry author-nim :)) it was amazing. This fic is amazing.

So thank u for this story :) and im looking forward to more :D

Stay safee!!
SeeLee101 #7
Chapter 37: I love it!
And yes, time well spent!
Thank you.

My message is short, I’m sorry. ^^;
Just woke up. :D
Thank you once again.
hwgah234 #8
Chapter 37: :,) this was such a great story. I love this world you’ve created. Thanks for writing it!!! (And thanks for letting MoonSun live lol, I was really afraid they’d die. Permanently haha)
hamzzi_star
#9
Chapter 37: See you soon <3
hamzzi_star
#10
Chapter 36: Ah... It's the end... Well... I don't have words for this.

Thanks for the story, up and downs but in the end the broke free from the destiny the star have for them.

Take care and rest well!!!