Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99935 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99935 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
“There are limits, yes. There are rules—certainly. But a witch needn’t bargain with her power to get it to do her bidding,” he said. “Any more than she need bid her blood to run or her heart to beat. This essentially means that the power of the goddess—a piece of that goddess—lives within her.
“And there’s nothing the gods hate more than DEMONS!” he burst out, gesturing at us with finger and bottle. “That means that no matter how powerful the dark magic you throw at her, you cannot strip her of her power nor turn it against her. The divine in her will resist the filthy, blasphemous magic of a demon with strength not even a lord of hell can hope to match.
“And even worse, the power of the goddess will destroy you,” he hissed. “And she won’t do it gently or quickly.”
Somnus nearly popped his head off shaking it. “Now, now, this doesn’t mean that demons can’t defeat a witch with magic. They just can’t take her magic from her, or compulse her not to use it. You will need other tricks up your sleeve.”
I found myself nodding along as I wrote—completely absorbed.
“In other words,” Ronin spoke up. “A demon must attack the woman, not the witch.”
Again another vigorous bob that made his furry ears flap in the breeze. “Egg-xactly.”
Attack the woman, not the witch? How would that work?
I opened my mouth to ask, but Somnus was already moving on.
“Now, what about fae, werewolves, and vampires? Do you all stand a better chance?” Bright, swimming eyes tried to sweep over us with a serious look. “This depends. Witches created immobilization spells”—he pointed at the vampires—“and anti-shifting spells—“he pointed at Tristan—“and illusion-cancelling spells”—he pointed at the fae—“centuries ago.
“The witches have a counter for every tool in your arsenal, and they have done for long since before you all were born, so,” he said, sloshing the whiskey when he clapped, “it becomes less a matter of if you’re tough enough to face a witch, and more a matter if you’re quick enough to get her before her spells get you.”
Somnus smiled the wide, beaming grin of a drunken fool. “And seeing as the little witch sneaking around our school is doing such an excellent job of hiding herself, methinks you’ve all lost the element of surprise.”
No classroom in Abaddon Academy had ever been so quiet.
“But no long faces!” he bellowed, shooting my heart into my throat again. “Stop looking so doomed. You’re putting me off my drink! This is what this class is for,” Somnus said. “To teach you how to fight a witch, so come on. Who knows the first thing to do once you’ve got the sneaking witch cornered?”
A few looks passed among the groups, but no one spoke up.
“Anyone?” Somnus slurred. “Annnnnyyyyoonnne?”
A hand shot up, whipping my head around. “I have an idea, sir. I know exactly what to do.”
I goggled at Ronin. Who even knew such a bright, chirpy sound could come from him?
“Yes, yes,” Somnus agreed. The panda demon tried to gesture to him, but ended up waving his bottle about ten feet to Ronin’s right. “Hit us with it.”
“Well, it occurs to me, sir, that the most obvious magic to use against a witch is a lust compulsion.”
“L-lust compulsion, you say?”
“Oh yes.” Something in Ronin’s smile dimmed mine. “A lust compulsion does nothing more than turn one’s natural, normal desires up to maximum. Her magic won’t enter the equation. The witch would be consumed with pursuing the object of her desires, and while she’s busy trying to mount the poor bastard, we’d get back that element of surprise.”
“Hmm, hmm, hmm.” Somnus could’ve been nodding, or he could be nodding off. It was hard to tell as his chin fell on his chest.
“Good!” he bellowed, suddenly shooting up and once again scaring the mess out of me.
Will you stop doing that?!
“Very good, and exactly correct,” Somnus cried. “Target the woman, not the witch. Good. Very... good.”
Somnus lost the fight. Head lolling again, he tipped over—and crashed to the floor. A loud, ear-ripping snore rumbled his chest as he cuddled his bottle and went back to sleep.
“Thank you, sir,” Ronin drawled, “but this is a classroom and talk is cheap. I’m sure everyone would feel a lot better about facing down this witch, if they see the compulsion in action.”
And with that sentence alone, I knew exactly who suggested to Professor Somnus that he should make this a magic class.
I tried to stand. “Wait—!”
Ronin clamped down on my shoulder. “The compulsion is desiderium. The cost is the inability to have an erection or orgasm for twenty-four hours, but the result—” He held up his fingers.
“Don’t!”
“—is so worth it.”
A cloud of pink smoke formed in the air, and forced itself into my nose, mouth, and eyes. I wasn’t even done screaming before I got hot.