“This is the place,” Alara proclaimed.

Raias looked around the cave and wrinkled her brow in disgust. “How come people in distress can’t find cleaner places to hold up in? This cave is filthy.”

“It’s not like He chose where this would happen.”

A psychic scream echoed through everyone’s mind. Jacard remained unconscious.

“There he goes again. Alara, can you put a damper on that?”

“I’m not sure. He appears to be in mid-transformation.”

“Transformation into what? That doesn’t even look natural.” Raias pulled back her long black hair into a pony and unsheathed a long dagger and settled into a battle stance. “We should just put him out of his misery. This could be the result of some curse.”

Alara reached into her robe and pulled forth a piece of glass and looked him over. “No, stop! He is human, well at least part of him. I cannot imagine the pain he is in. Stuck between a human form and some sort of giant lizard?”

Raias put away the weapon. “Do you think he is some sort of strange Were-being?”

“No, the looking glass is showing his true self.” She paused for a moment. “Oh, my! He is also part vampere?”

“Damn it, Alara, get out of the way.” Raias pulled forth a short sword this time. “I’ll start with the head.”

Alara got between the two. “He is helpless. Plus, the vampere portion of him is small. He is also part human, but most of him, something else.

Another wave of anguish emitted from him. The psychic scream was deafening and heard for miles by anyone with the ability to listen.

“Either let me kill him or shut him up. I can’t take another of those screams. If he were using his voice, he would be unable to make a sound by now?”

Alara pulled forth a cutting knife.

“Now, you’re thinking straight.”

“No. I am going to remove some of his clothes. They are constricting him, causing some of the pain. He does not have enough strength to break through them.” Alara cut and removed his shirt and his pants, avoiding undergarments.

“Elef?” Jacard mumbled. His body swelled with the release then collapsed. He fell unconscious again.

Raias almost laughed. “L? F? Well, we know he is delirious. His attempt to recite the alphabet is way off.”

Alara tightened her lips and gave Raias a stern look. “This is not a laughing matter. We need to take him back to the coven. Neferita will know what to do. We can’t do this alone. We need help.”
Raias walked to the back of the cave. Her nose wrinkled at the smell. She dusted off a small ledge where she sat down.  She closed her eyes, and she mentally called out to her sisters.

Alara and Raias waited for their sisters to arrive. Alara drew a circle around Jacard.  She added archaic symbols that only their coven knew meant. She then sang a small prayer.

“Sancta mater exaudi orationem meam.
Sana defendat, et perdidit alter hoc.
Dona ei si est voluntatis, et amor curae.
Demus ei totum plenum est.”

Holy mother, hear my prayer.
Protect and heal this lost one.
Grant him if it is your will, love, and care.
Make him whole, complete, and done.

The circle turned blue, and a slight shimmer formed over Jacard. He did not seem to react. She did not know why, but she felt close to this stranger. She would not, could not, let him die.

Raias joined Alara. “You would use your magic to help this… this MAN!” She threw her arms in the air. “Mark my words, you will regret this.” Raias turned away to explore the cave.

While Raias was preoccupied, Alara reached deep inside herself.  She summoned pure energy. Her order forbade this technique of healing. She quickly placed a part of her into his chest, his heart. His breathing grew easier, and his face relaxed.

“Look, He has responded. I knew there was a chance that the magic might reject him, but it didn’t. It is helping him. You can’t argue with that.”

“Alara, being a priestess and a witch, gives you a distinct perspective. But stop and think about it. When you cast a spell, you use words and or songs to form your will. The power flows through you. Is praying and calling upon the mother that different? Have you ever thought that it is you using your power to heal, not our deity providing some boon to you?”

Alara’s eye grew wide. She tilted her head and looked at her under her brow. Raias had never questioned the goddess before. Why now? “I am quite sure it is something that you find hard to understand. It is faith. I also have an overwhelming feeling that this young man has a future. I will do everything I can to ensure he gets a chance at it.”

Raias looked away and walked off again. She had gone too far, and she knew it.

A flurry of snowflakes and wind entered the cavern. Three more witches arrived, and the outside snow came in with them for a moment.  They were all dressed the same as the rest of their order, a leather tunic with a rope belt and laced sandals. Each wore different animal skins or furs for warmth.

Tiana, the leader of the new group, looked around and surveyed the situation. “It is cold out there.” She saw the young man. “Oh my. What do we have here? What have you gotten us into Raias?”

“Me? Oh, no. I wanted to cut the creature’s head off and move on.” She waved her arm around the cave. “This is all, Alara.”

“Then, what is this?” She turned to Alara, waiting for a response.

Alara took a deep breath and paused for a moment, gathering her courage. Tiana, her older sibling, had a way of making her look and feel bad. “We must assist those in need at times of crisis. I do not know what to make of him, but I know that Neferita will know what to do. I cannot leave him. Please, sister, help me take him back to the coven.”

Tiana shook her head and sighs. “Alright, Alara. Let us do this. Everyone gathered around and lent their aid.”

Raias stared. “You can’t be serious. Come on. Someone has to use their head around here. We should not take him in. It is asking for trouble.”

Tiana reached for Raias hand. “It is not up to us.” She turned to Alara. “I hope you know what you are doing?”

The group formed a circle. Each took a point near his body. Each used their own type of mystic energy and lifted.  Together they were able to raise him.

Jacard moaned again in pain.

Tiana drew in each woman’s energy and formed it into something else. A call, a Will. A Movement.

An opening formed in the back of the cave.

Everyone walked through carrying Jacard. The last thing heard in the cave was Alara saying, “I hate this part. It feels a little like dying.” She was the last to pass through, holding his head. Then the cave is empty, as though they were never there.