Penny sat down on the floor with her hands feeling the carpet under her hand and her wet hair being rubbed and towed dry by Damien. He sat behind her on the bed and she sat right in front of the fireplace to feel the warm air that wafted towards them. She had her eyes closed as she enjoyed him tending to her. Once he was done rubbing her hair with the towel, he let his fingers brush through the front of her scalp gently.
Life had turned much quieter than before, thought Penny to herself. Her mother had no appeared again after they met her in the land of Wovile during the time of the massacre.
Finally, she could relax her back and have time with Damien just like they used to when he had brought her here from the black market. She leaned her head back, letting it fall behind and Damien didn’t lose the opportunity of kissing on her forehead. She smiled looking up at him before bringing her head back and getting up so that she could sit with him on the bed.
“I think it is time to summon the elemental person to you,” Damien said, taking her hand and holding it in his as she settled on the bed, “The black witch has finally decided to help.”
“How did that happen?” she raised her eyebrows in question. His partner had killed himself and they had thought this black witch would do the same.
Damien replied to her, “The black witcher values his life compared to the other one. He appears to be more on being a child in this business who was only following orders.”
“What about ingredients?” for the ritual to take place they needed the ingredients and he placed his feet on the ground to stand up and say,
“Everything prepared. We will need to see why you are unable to summon and receive the ability which is rightfully yours,” said Damien, tugging her hand and taking her down and out of the mansion to where the black witcher was tied. With Isaiah being an example of flipping sides where they hadn’t known, Damien didn’t want to risk again like last time.
The black witches were tricky creatures who were hard to trust and to believe their words was equal to walking on the edge of the sword.
Walking into the dungeon, Penny and Damien came to see the man who was still bound where his hands were not bound but his legs were bound to the wall. His mouth which was stuffed by the cloth was now free to move and talk. Damien unlocked the man’s legs and pulled him to the next room that he had prepared with the ingredients and map that he had memorized the last two times he had seen the black witches draw.
The scrawny black witch was asked to read the spells as he didn’t know about the elemental abilities. Penny’s blood was used again and the blood started to move like snakes in different directions once it fell on the parchment where the design had been drawn.
Penny saw the way the blood moved up as if it were trying to evaporate up in the air but in the end, it splashed the drops back on the parchment turning the surface of the design that couldn’t be used again.
At the hour of past midnight, Penny could hear something distant that had her awake. She looked at the mirrored ceiling of the bed. A faint reflection of herself and she turned to see Damien who had awakened with her. His ears were much sharper than hers.
“The air is turning cold,” Penny whispered to Damien. Pushing the covers from her body, she stepped out of the bed. Walking towards the patio where the doors were open with the curtains flying with the gentle wind.
Damien slowly moved himself out and followed her to hear a woman’s voice.
“You again.”
It was the water lady who had been summoned by the ritual they had run with the black witch today.
“I feel like you are going to call me again after I leave,” the woman spoke, her body sparkling due to the ridges and curves on her as the moonlight fell on her body.
“Good evening, water lady,” Damien greeted the woman whose eyes narrowed at him.
Penny tried remembering her name before saying, “Siera,” she greeted the woman whose eyes now softened.
“You must be doing something wrong,” said Siera to her. Though she was made of water, the wind affected her as her flowing hair moved to the side with drops of water that looked as of they were floating out to disappear in the night, “I might be your element but you are doing something wrong which is not letting me see you as the elemental witch.”
“We did it thrice with the black witches, it was the same ritual,” Penny replied for the woman to not react but stare at her to make her look almost like a statue, “There’s also the wind element.”
“Did the elemental person come to meet you?” Penny nodded her head for the lady to continue to stare before she said, “I don’t sense the ability in you.”
“I met him once but he didn’t give me the ability,” on Penny’s answer the woman finally changed her expression.
“That can’t be. He must have given it to you,” and in return, the young white witch shook her head, “He must have been your first summoner, wait you didn’t summon him?” asked the lady to her.
“No, he just happened to be there that day,” Penny didn’t know what that meant anymore. Every time she tried summoning it always ended up with the water bearer to come to her who didn’t recognize her to be the element.
The woman gave her a blank look again and then said, “The wind element bearer has not shown up at anyone’s doorsteps. I say this because I didn’t find any wind elements nor a whisper about him.”
“Did he go missing?” Penny wondered, giving a look at Damien.
Siera then said, “Elemental bearers cannot go missing unless they decide they want to,” then where else was he? Was there a memory she was missing? Penny questioned herself.
“Don’t wake me up from my slumber without meeting the elemental bearer of wind,” the water woman looked slightly annoyed but much better than how she looked the previous time they had met, “You going through the ritual will only bring me here and waste both our time,” before Penny could ask any more questions, the woman disappeared in thin air.
