Chapter 15 – Yayisha

Yayisha strode across the roof of the temple. Energy cracked on her fingertips as she strode carefully amidst the large, decorative shrubs that towered over her on either side of the path. The garden in which she walked dominated the temple’s roof.

Her skin tingled as soon as she rounded a corner. Down the intersecting pathway about fifteen feet from her was a summoned creature constructed mostly of hay and plants, its unnatural eyes lit with mystical fire. Crude hands rose over its head, forming a bolt of black energy. It hurled the sphere at her.

She dove for cover behind an oversized clay vase. Yayisha twisted her body mid-air and landed, skidding clumsily onto her backside. Sweat drenched her entire body. A troublesome drip of it fell from a wisp of her black hair. It landed in her eye, the burning sensation aggravating her even further. Mother’s had me up here for hours with this whelp.

This “whelp” was a man named Dayl, a warlock mother had summoned to mentor and test Yayisha’s magical skills. He had a constant grin on his fat face, two skinny legs and a bald head. He’d been at the temple for two weeks, teaching Yayisha how to throw magic. And Yayisha knew it was not just coincidence that he started teaching just two days after she had inadvertently hurt Sterl.

Mother says he’ll be fine. And yet, Yayisha had not been permitted outside the temple since the incident. In fact, the only time she ever got to see the sky was when Dayl was training her on the roof of the temple.

Yayisha stood and formed her own ball of fire. It was yellow and green and only half the size of Dayl’s bolts of energy. As the enchanted straw man rounded the corner, she pushed the magical sphere toward it. The clumsy figure hurled its own black ball of energy at her right after hers exploded into the creature, incinerating it. Yayisha dove, this time more smoothly, easily dodging the poorly thrown magic which flew down the path behind her. She rolled to the balls of her feet behind a clay pot.

That should be all of his summoned creatures. Now it’s just me and the whelp.

She frowned. Why hadn’t there been an explosion from the energy hitting something? She looked back to where the ball should have flown and gasped. The black ball hovered in mid-air, not ten feet from her. Two green eyes appeared in the black fire of the flame. Its eyes narrowed as it formed a wicked grin, its smile an orange flame.

Yayisha’s eyes widened.

A voice yelled from somewhere in in the roof garden. “Didn’t see that coming, did you, Little One?”

Little One? I’m taller than him buy a foot! He’s trying to distract me.

The flaming orb zoomed toward her. She leapt and dove to the right. The orb smashed into the clay pot she’d been using for cover, shattering it. Clay and soil debris exploded. A sharp fragment from the pot clipped the skin between the knuckles of her left hand, slicing her skin.

She ignored the spark of pain and jumped to her feet. Rage filled her. He dares draw blood? She yelled, “That’s not fair! You haven’t taught me how to—“

A black ball burst through the brush of a thick, weedy plant and exploded into her left side. Heat seemed to burn the skin from her body, though she knew the magical bolts that Dayl threw at her left no marks. Still, the shock and pain took the breath from her. The momentum of the blow thrust her into another clay pot across the narrow path. Her hip smacked into the lip of it. The pot held its form, which thrust Yayisha’s upper body into the Wayal Bush it held. The long barbs and vines of the plant wrapped around her arms, legs, and chest. Yayisha found herself quickly entangled.

Dayl laughed. “Do you think this a child’s game of Warriors and Castles?”

“You told me the rules! You said only bolts of energy!” Yayisha yelled, trying to free herself from the vines.

“Rules? In combat, there are no rules.”

The fat man strode around the corner, his thick red robes clean and untouched by their confrontation. In both hands were smiling balls of flame. “I’ve served in both wars, Little One. Fought in battles you’ve but imagined. How did you ever expect to beat me?”

Yayisha tried to stand but the Wayal Bush’s vines were strong and sinewy. A particularly nasty vine had someone wrapped all the way around her waist and chest.

“Little One, do you know the many uses of the Wayal in which you are entangled? Castle defenders plant these along its moats to entangle and trip charging men to make them easier targets for archers atop the tower walls. Trappers often place their traps near them so they catch injured game that had managed to escape their traps. Hunters herd animals into groves of them.”

And I let this cretin herd me right the section of the garden where they are grown. It was a mistake she’d never make again.

“Let me up, fat man.”

Dayl shook his head. “Afraid not. Why, I’ve already summoned these. It’d be a shame to waste them.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

The fat man smirked and held out his hands. “Wouldn’t I?”

The black spheres floated out of his hands, hovering just above him.

“Let me out of here!”

“As you wish.” Dayl pushed his hands forward. The balls sped right at her and then dove at the last moment, crashing into the clay pot that held the prickly bush that entangled her. Pot and soil exploded all around her.

Moments later, she found herself laying on the ground, her arms and legs scratched and bleeding. Several barbs were buried all over her skin, the thick branch was still wrapped around her torso.

Yayisha screamed.

“That’s enough for now, Warlock Dayl,” Zelicia said as she appeared next to the man. Her eyebrows arched as her eyes settled on Yayisha. “I’d say she’s lost this one.”

Mother’s been watching all this time? How embarrassing!

Dayl bowed. “I’ll take my leave, if it pleases my liege?”

“Oh, it pleases me. Take the rest of the day for yourself. Take any of the town’s whores for yourself.”

“All two of them, milady?”

Zelicia said, “I sent for more. Soon we’ll have a dozen more, all Southern Beauties. Seems some refugees from the war will do anything for shelter.” Zelicia looked down at her daughter. “If this one doesn’t improve, perhaps I’ll let you have the honor of bleeding her.”

Dayl’s eyes widened.

Yayisha couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She wouldn’t allow that scoundrel to touch me. Would she?

“Off with you, Dayl. I’ve a daughter to scold,” Zelicia said.

“As you command,” the warlock said. He casually turned and disappeared down a hedge row. But not without peering down at Yayisha one last time.

He hungers for me like the rest of the men. I can see it in his eyes.

“How could you lose to him again?” Mother said.

“Mother, he caught me by surprise. I—“

Zelicia twisted her wrist and squeezed her hand. The prickly vine tightened. Yayisha shrieked, the pain so intense it brought tears to her eyes.

“Two weeks with the man, to learn and defeat him. And I find you laying helpless and beaten again.”

“I didn’t know he control the energy like that. Yesterday he just threw them straight and—“

The vine tightened. Yayisha closer her eyes, trying to ignore the pain. Suddenly, she felt herself floating off the ground.

When she opened her eyes, Yayisha was still wrapped in the vine, floating with her feet nearly touching the stone floor of the rooftop. Standing a mere foot away from her, Zelicia balled her fist and swung at her face.

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Yayisha kicked forward with both feet. Mother dropped her fist and darted to the side, grabbing both of Yayisha’s feet. Zelicia swung her sideways. Yayisha flew through the air. As she watched the ground grow closer, she closed her eyes, dreading the impact.

She didn’t hit the ground. Instead she floated there, looking at mother from her horizontal pose in midair.

Two green flaming spheres appeared in mother’s hands, matching Dayl’s own spheres in size. Zelicia said, “The man is a master of offense. Keep running from him, and you’ll never win. When confronted with powerful men, remember this: they’re still men. Most of them think with their cocks before anything else. Most are conceited, quick to pounce on the weak. Powerful men are often aggressive. And unfortunately, the most powerful of them are physically disgusting. Sound familiar?”

Yayisha nodded. “Dayl.”

“Yes, he’s all those things. Remember these things the next time you face the man. And you better beat him.” Zelicia twisted her wrist. Yayisha spun as the thick vine was ripped from around her. She yelped as her back slammed into the ground under her.

Yayisha blacked out for a moment. When she opened her eyes, mother knelt above her, mending all of her wounds, even the most menial of scratches.

“Thank you, mother.” Perhaps if I show her respect, she’ll let me go see Sterl.

Her mother smiled. “Of course, daughter.”

Then Zelicia leaned forward and grabbed a handful of her daughter’s hair. “Let that man defeat you again, and I’ll make you his apprentice. And you know what masters are allowed to do to their apprentices?”

Yayisha nodded. “Anything they want.”

Without another word, mother stood and left her on the rooftop.

She wouldn’t do such a thing. Not to me. Would she?

Still, Yayisha shook. She was completely, utterly terrified.

Later that evening, Yayisha tip-toed into the temple hallway, sticking to the shadows near the walls as much as possible. Barely a soul wandered the halls that late at night, and bypassing the bar her father had installed on the outside of her door had been easily bypassed with her magic.

She moved down several flights of steps, her heart pattering. Hopefully mother will not find out I’ve left my room. Not yet.

Finally she ended up in the guest’s halls, which were empty except for three rooms. Animus was in one, apparently recovering from Stiggler’s fever. I couldn’t get lucky enough for him to die. Yet he still could end up slow. Or worse. Which will make him easier prey. It was tempting to try and sneak into his room and finish him, but mother would not have made it so easy for her. When Yayisha looked closely at his door, Yayisha sensed the magic coursing all around the room. It was as she thought. You live another day, brother.

Sterl’s cousin Lier wasted away in another room, the Stiggler’s still eating away at his body. He’ll be dead soon. She wondered how close him and Sterl were, hoping not at all. Yayisha still pined to see Sterl, and knew that him not being brought to the temple was mother’s doing. She has no right keeping me from him.

Finally, Yayisha approached the last door. Her hands were shaking as she knocked lightly. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, putting on what she thought was a shy smile that she’d practiced for hours in her mirror.

Dayl opened the door, a crack at first. Upon seeing Yayisha in nothing but a black silky robe that barely covered her rump, he opened the door further. “Yayisha. I wasn’t expecting visitors. It’s late. You should return to your quarters at once.”

But his eyes reflected other notions.

She tried her shy smile which was more believable when she actually blushed, though she hadn’t planned on that. I’m so nervous! “I couldn’t sleep. And after what you did to me during our duel this morning….” She paused, opening her robe to show reveal more of her breasts, “It made me want you even more.”

He licked his lips, eyes gawking at her nearly exposed breasts. “More?”

I must take him quickly. Before mother finds us.

Yayisha pushed her way in the door, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pressed her lips into the older man’s own. He staggered backward, and with her bare foot she gently shut the door behind them, hearing to latch behind her.

It wasn’t how she ever dreamed her first kiss would happen.

Dayl groaned. Yayisha felt his hands groping at her breasts but she pressed into him until her nipples pressed hard against him through her robe. His hands skidded roughly down her sides and settled on her narrow hips.

Thoroughly disgusted, Yayisha forced herself to groan as if actually turned on by him. Dayl responded by gripping Yayisha’s firm ass with both hands. Her eyes flung open as she felt another part of him pressing against her left thigh. Yayisha forced herself to groan again.

Yayisha pulled her lips away from him and placed both her hands on Dayl’s face. “Do you find me attractive?”

In response, Dayl gripped her ass even tighter.

“Do you?” Yayisha asked him again.

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

“Do you wish to fuck me, warlock?”

“Of course! What warm-blooded man wouldn’t?”

Yayisha groaned again. “Then let me give it to you.”

Yayisha created two lethal balls of energy in the palms of her hands, both of which were still squeezing Dayl’s face. She willed all of her power into them and forced them away from her.

Dayl didn’t even have a chance to scream. His face, brains, and skull exploded through the back of his skull.

Yayisha watched the faceless corpse fall. Peering down at her first felled warlock, she shivered and wasted little time as she walked over to his bed and sat on its edge, crossing her legs and tightening her robe.

Moments later, Zelicia burst into the room. At first, her eyes widened as she glanced at Dayl’s corpse. Her eyes immediately became coal black as an energy shield formed all around her. She scanned the entire room before settling her eyes on her daughter. “Well?”

Yayisha smiled. “Guess I’ll be needing a new mentor.”

Yayisha had the momentary appreciation of seeing her mother’s surprise.

It took nearly a minute, but eventually mother’s eyes returned to normal. To her daughter’s surprise, Zelicia nodded and said. “You killed him. Seeing no immediate way to ensure victory the next time you faced him, you used your womanly wiles to catch him unawares?”

Yayisha nodded, shocked mother figured out her plan without any explanation.

Mother smiled. “For once, I’m proud of you.”

End Chapter

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