Star-Crossed

Zane Joly

        From the sky above, a ring of metal about sixty feet across descended. Ekto inhaled sharply. A broomstick. The ships didn’t actually look anything like broomsticks, but that was their nickname, as the peculiar ring-ships were only ever used by witches. The broomstick settled at the docking platform, lying on the ground horizontally. A door opened in the side and a woman walked out.

Ekto wasn’t surprised at the tall, pointy hat. The tiny crystal stars dangling on strings from the brim were a little more curious. The woman’s shirt left her arms exposed, and Ekto saw they were covered in constellation tattoos. Ah, a star witch then. A witch was uncommon, but a star witch landing on a planet’s surface was quite rare. A bag was slung over her shoulder. Witches always had bags with them.

“Eh, hello ma’am,” said Ekto, walking up, “I’m the uh, the manager for this dock section. There’s a, uh, an extra docking fee for broomstick ships.”

The woman looked at Ekto. He felt uncomfortable under her gaze. He’d only personally met one other star witch, and her stare had been just as piercing. Her eyes were black like all witches’ were, but they glimmered with tiny points of white light.

“Sorry,” said the man, “City rule, not mine. Got nothing against broomsticks or… their passengers. Counting the extra fee, it’s thirty Ekrem dollars for the docking and an additional fee of five for each day after the first.”

“I don’t intend to stay long,” said the woman, “I’m just running a rather important errand.” She reached into a pocket and pulled out a square metal coin worth thirty Ekrem dollars and handed it to Ekto.

“I need to put a name down for the records,” said the dock worker, “What’s the ship’s name?” Ekto remembered that witches didn’t name their ships, “Or your name? Anything will work, really, just a formality.”

“Hmm,” said the witch, “Put down ‘fuck you, witchhunters’.”

“Excuse me?” asked Ekto.

“Well, witch hunters will be tracking me soon, if they aren’t already,” explained the woman, “So they will go through the records your docks have, and will inevitably find my ship. So I figure I should at least leave them a note. If you really don’t want to, you can just put down my actual name, Estella.”

“Right,” said Ekto. He considered offering the dock’s insurance package for ships, but it would have been unnecessary. People knew better than to touch a witch’s ship. He watched the star witch walk away from the docks. She walked like someone with a purpose, and from experience he knew that when a witch walked like that, it was best to stay out of their way.

Estella walked through the city. She looked up and squinted against the sun. She had nothing against suns, in fact she rather liked them. It was just that she didn’t like being so close to them and to have their light refracted by the thick prison of atmosphere. If it had at least been night and she could see the other stars, that would have been a little more comfortable. But she had a mission.

Plenty of people stared at Estella, and one or two of them delivered quick insults, but she didn’t care. The star witch made her way across the city and took a road leading to the outskirts. The road turned into a path between trees and Estella continued to walk along it. She honestly couldn’t remember the name of this planet, she had seen so many, but the soil here was a purplish red.

The star witch left the treeline and saw a moderate sized building. It was made of wood and mud but still seemed well constructed. It seemed impractically flammable, but Estella guessed that anyone who set a flamethrower or torch on this building would have the fire turn against them.

A man was sitting on a rocking chair in front of the building, reading a book. He looked up when Estella approached. His eyes were the pure black of an earth witch. “Star witch,” he said, “You’re a little outside your domain, aren’t you?”

The different families of witches didn’t always get along. The star and earth witches had a particularly difficult relationship. It was fortunate they rarely interacted, as earth witches avoided leaving their worlds and star witches avoided stepping on them.

“Necessity has made me come here,” said Estella, “I humbly ask for the aid of your coven.”

A few other earth witches were coming out of the temple and out of the woods, having sensed the presence of an interloper. Estella was fairly certain that they wouldn’t attack her, but it was best to remain respectful while she was a guest in their domain.

“Our aid with what?” asked the man, closing his book. 

“Finding something,” said Estella, “I’ve been tracking a group of Ekrem Federation agents who took one of our own. A moon witch. You may have little respect for me, but witches of earth and moon have some kinship. I just need you to find the ship. If you’re feeling particularly generous, help me get into the ship and take care of its guards.”

The earth witches looked at each other and she could tell they were talking to each other without speaking. The one in the chair looked at Estella. “Meddling with the Ekrem Federation is dangerous business. Witch hunters, we would deal with, but it is not our concern if the federation arrests a witch not within our coven.”

“Several of the agents on this ship are former witch hunters,” said Estella, “And this witch wasn’t arrested, she was kidnapped. She’s being taken to be presented in the president’s husband’s menagerie.”

“Menagerie?” asked the earth witch, black eyes narrowing. That was an insult that Estella hoped they would not allow to go unpunished. The way most governments dealt with witches was that both parties mostly agreed to leave the other alone. Any witch that blatantly broke the law in a significant way was arrested and taken from the others with minimal complaint, and any unjustified government attack on witches was punished. To take a witch entirely for the purpose of display was a definite overstep by the Ekrem Federation.

The earth witches looked at each other and held their silent council again. When they were done, the witch in the chair stood. “Very well,” he said, “We’ll find this ship for you, help you free the moon witch, and then the pair of you get off world as fast as you can.”

“Thank you,” said Estella, “I owe your coven a debt.”

Three of the earth witches moved to stand by each other in a circle. “You’re looking for an Ekrem Federation ship carrying a moon witch that landed recently, yes?” one of them asked.

“Correct,” said Estella, “It’s a kestrel class ship if that helps.”

The trinity of witches lifted their arms, fingers barely touching. Winds began to whip around them, stirring up leaves from the ground. Each of the three reached out and plucked a leaf out of the air. They crumpled the leaves up in their hands and knelt down to the ground, pouring the tiny scraps onto the earth. They stared at the remains of the leaves for a few moments before standing. “We know where the ship is,” one of them said, “It’s not far from here.” The three headed off into the woods and Estella followed them.

The earth witches walked between the trees with ease, seemingly not noticing the rocks they sidestepped or the branches they ducked under. Estella, for her part, tripped on roots several times. She hated being on planets.

After about an hour, the witches stopped. One of the earth witches pointed to a gap between the trees and Estella went to see. A large circular area had been cleared of trees and in the center sat a familiar looking ship, the blue, gray, and green emblem of the Ekrem Federation on its side. Six armed guards stood by the entrance to the ship.

One of the earth witches lifted up their hand and narrowed their eyes. Estella saw the ground beneath the guards start to shift and rumble. The roots of the dead trees rose from the soil and lunged at them. One of the roots wrapped around the throat of a guard and started to strangle her. The witch controlling the roots was already visibly strained and the other two lifted up their own hands to help them.

Estella had never much liked trees, but she had to admit it was satisfying to see one of those bastards impaled by roots. The star witch started running towards the ship, drawing a few items out of her bag.

In one hand, Estella held a throwing sling. In her other was a round lump of lithium, a light metal born from bursting stars. She placed the lump into the sling and twirled it around a few times before releasing. With a crack sound one of the guards fell to the ground. Estella would have taken care of the others, but the roots had already dealt with them. She picked the bloody stone off the ground.

In the ship’s control room, two women sat. One was named Vanessa and was drinking tea, the other one, Betild, was glaring at her. “I’m telling you,” said the latter, “The star witch is no longer a problem. She can track us in space but not when we’re on a planet. We wait here for a while until she loses our scent, then book it and by the time she finds us again, we’ll be too far away. Then we deliver that thing to Mister Colbren and all get promotions, and that witch gets arrested and executed.”

“I agree with you that she can’t track us on a planet’s surface,” said Vanessa, “But she’s resourceful. There’s an earth coven not far from here, in fact.”

“Stars and dirt witches don’t work together,” said the first woman.

The second one pointed to the nearby security camera screens. One showing footage of the outside of the ship displayed the guards getting murdered by roots as the star witch walked towards the vessel. Vanessa raised an eyebrow and took a long sip of tea.

“Ahh!” screamed Betild, “Oh no. We’re dead, we’re dead, we’re dead-”

“Oh calm down,” said Vanessa, finishing her cup and placing it in a holder. She pressed a button and the ship lurched.

The witches were standing in the cargo bay when they felt the ship shift beneath them. The earth witches looked at the outside of the ship with panic. “It’s lifting off!” one of them said, “If we leave the planet, our magic doesn’t work.”

“You can go,” said Estella, “You’ve helped enough. I can deal with them.” The earth witches didn’t wait for her to finish the sentence before they were jumping down to the ground. Estella walked to the door between the cargo bay and the rest of the ship and tried to open it, but it was locked and refused to budge. She sighed and wrapped her arms around a nearby railing, preparing to hold on for dear life.

Vanessa cracked her knuckles and put her hands on the controls. She ignored the warning light telling her the cargo bay door was still open as she pushed up the speed and tilted the ship upwards.

Estella’s hat went flying off and she grit her teeth, holding onto the railing so hard it hurt. The pressure shifted dramatically and quickly, but she was used to that and her enchanted tattoos protected against altitude sickness. The surface of the planet started to shrink away behind her. The ship lifted out of the atmosphere and the stars emerged. Estella smiled and let go of the railing. She fell out of the ship and for a moment hung in airless void, countless diamonds of endless night shining in every direction. Cold wrapped around her. Then her tattoos started to glow with silver light. A pair of wings, made from points of light and threads of silver between them, emerged from Estella’s back. She flew forward, heat and light pouring from her like a shooting star. 

The door to the ship melted in front of the witch and she passed through. The air in the room in front of her rushed out, leaving the several guards that had been waiting for her gasping and choking. Estella hummed as she floated by them and opened the next door. This room was empty and she closed the door behind her. Estella’s wings disappeared, but her tattoos remained glowing. Even out of view of the stars, she was still in her element when in the expanse of space.

Estella moved to the next room. This one did have guards, three of them, all pointing guns at her. The star witch would have given a vaguely intimidating one-liner, except they pulled the triggers before she got the chance. She raised her hands and a shield of silver light formed in front of her, deflecting the bullets. “Rude,” said Estella. When the gunfire ceased, she lowered her hands and the shield dissipated. Estella opened her mouth and a torrent of starfire rushed out, consuming the soldiers.

“How’s that plan of yours working out?” asked Betild.

Vanessa sighed. “Look, I forgot she could do that thing with the wings. Don’t worry, we can still deal with this. Go guard the cargo. I’m not done yet.” Betild growled and stalked out of the room. Vanessa frowned and thought. Did she have time to make another cup of tea before the witch was killed? Probably not. She sighed and grabbed the controls.

Estella wasn’t sure how long she could keep this up. She was a powerful star witch but even she had limits. Still, she would see this through, no matter what. She could feel that she was getting closer.

The star witch opened the last door. On the other side stood five soldiers and one woman carrying a pistol dressed in an Ekrem Federation officer’s clothing. Behind them was a cage, ten feet tall and fifteen wide. It wasn’t lit, but from the darkness inside two small circles of white light shone.

“Let her go,” said Estella, “And you can all live. You have my word.” There was a growl from inside the cage.

“I’m afraid not,” said the officer, “I am Commander Betild of the Ekrem Federation, and I was tasked with retrieving one of these for the president’s husband. You are a traitor to the federation, witch.”

Estella was about to say something when she felt a shift. The ship was descending again and had reentered the planet’s atmosphere. Her tattoos started to fade and she could feel the magic leaving. Betild smiled. “I gave you a chance to surrender,” the witch pointed out as she drew out her sling and a lump of lithium, “Just remember that.”

Estella tossed the stone into the air and caught it with the sling as it spun around. She imbued it with all the magic she had left and let the stone go. It flew forward, trailing light. The stone missed the commander by an inch.

“You might want to work on your aim,” said Betild. Estella just smiled. From the cage a growl sounded. The commander turned to see that the stone had melted through the magnetic lock on the cage. She looked up to see those two circles of white light staring at her.

The cage door was thrown open, knocking down Betild and one of the guards. Emerging from the darkness came a fur-covered behemoth. Two long arms ended in claws and a mouth full of sharp teeth snarled. Each of her eyes were gleaming circles of white light against blackness, like full moons.

Estella leaned back against the wall and hummed to herself as the scene unfolded. Guns fired and several bullets landed in the beast’s flesh, but the wounds healed almost instantaneously. The monster roared and charged. One soldier had his head pulled off, another had his torso ripped in half, and the rest had their throats ripped out by canine teeth. The commander managed to get one useless shot off before her skull was crushed by a headbutt.

The monster turned to look at Estella. She growled and turned toward the door the other witch hadn’t come through. She ripped the door open and stalked down the hall, the star witch following after. The two came to the control room of the ship. It was empty.

Vanessa was sitting in an escape pod, hurtling away from the ship, watching her tea steep. Such a shame about the lost cargo. Ah, well. Better alive and a failure then dead and still a failure. 

The pod slowed when it approached the ground, but the impact was still rather rough. Vanessa had to cover the teacup with her hand to keep it from spilling. She removed the tea bag and took a sip. It was slightly bitter. This really wasn’t her lucky day.

The Ekrem Federation agent opened the door to her pod and stepped out, dusting herself off. She looked around. Stepping out from between the trees around her were several figures with pure black eyes. None of them looked happy, and one of them had a bow pointed at her. “You know, I forgot about you,” Vanessa commented, “Damn.” The witch with the bow released the arrow, and the agent fell.

Estella had taken the ship back into space and positioned it carefully. They would go back down to get on the broomstick, but there was something else that had to be dealt with first. “Alright,” she said to the crouching beast, “Come on.” She’d checked the blueprint of the ship and found a large enough room in it with a window, the commander’s quarters.

The two witches went to the room and looked out the window. Filling the view was a moon, shining with white light from the sun’s rays reflecting off it. The beast let out a long breath as she shrank. The fur receded, the claws and teeth disappeared and soon standing there was a short woman wearing a green dress.

“Hello, Ayla,” said Estella. She knew Ayla disliked it when Estella talked while the other was in beast form, as she couldn’t respond. “I’m sorry I took so long.”

“It’s alright, Stella, I know you came as fast as you could,” said the moon witch. She ran her hands over her own body. “Oh, that feels good,” she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been in beast form for so long. They wouldn’t let me see moonlight so I could turn back. I think they intended to keep me like that for the rest of my life in the menagerie.”

“I wish all those awful people were still alive,” said Estella, “So that I could kill them again for you.”

Ayla smiled. “You always know just what to say,” she teased.

Estella moved forward and tilted the other witch’s head up. Two pairs of black eyes shining with light met then closed as the two kissed. The pair wrapped their arms around each other and the iron wedding rings on their fingers glinted in the moonlight.