2. The Night Witch

"Stop!"

That was the monk with empty hands speaking. Sky wanted to say that too, actually, but her voice was just gone, she was too horrified to speak. Not like they would listen to her – if they didn't do it before. But they listened to him, that guy seemed to be the leader of the monks.

"What's wrong, Brother?" the one with the crossbow frowned, clearly displeased with this untimely pity.

"Look at her eyes!" the leader said.

"She's crying. So what? Witches can cry too, that just shows she has no honor!"

"I'm not talking about that. Pay attention to the color of her eyes!"

All five of them were staring at her again, bringing the torches closer. The light was blinding her and the heat was burning, but Sky forced herself to keep her eyes wide open. Those weirdoes didn't point the crossbow at her again, that was a relief!

Sky already accepted she wouldn't understand what happened to her. Not now, at least. She just had to go with the flow.

Finally, the monks started talking again.

"They're green!"

"Why are they green? They're not supposed to be like that!"

"Aydelline's eyes have always been violet!"

"Quiet!" the leader ordered them. Then he turned to Sky again: "So who are you?"

"I'm Skylar Fall, I'm a nurse and I have no idea where I am! Please… I don't want to die here!"

"What kind of trick is this?" the one with the crossbow asked.

"Aydelline's trick, it seems," the leader replied thoughtfully. "Her final trick. When she understood she can't escape us, she switched bodies with that girl."

"Is it even possible?"

"For a witch like Aydelline, everything is possible."

"She can be lying!"

"That's what I'm about to check out. Leave us! I need to talk to her in private."

The monks didn't like that order, but didn't dare to argue. They walked out of the dungeon, leaving Sky alone with their leader. She used that time to study him better. It was a man in his late 50s, tall and thin, with his face dark and covered in a map of wrinkles. His beard and hair were totally white, and his tan hinted that he lived in a warm country, possibly by the sea.

Sky was hoping he'd set her free, but he wasn't that kind. His mercy went as far as keeping her alive – for now. But he still left her naked and in chains.

"Tell me everything about yourself," he said strictly. "Your life depends on your honesty. If you lie, I'll feel it – and that would be the end for you."

Sky wasn't going to try her luck. Besides, she had no idea what she could lie about! She still didn't know where she ended up and who those psychos were. They seemed to believe in witches… and they were pointing crossbows at helpless women. Not the kind of people she wanted to mess with!

So she told the monk everything there was to know about her life. Much to her shame, it was a short and unentertaining story. Sky had only just realized how little she had to lose! But that didn't mean she was ready to die.

The monk listened to her in silence, and she had no idea what he was thinking about. But when she finished talking, he spoke again.

"You're from another world."

"What?.." Sky asked, bewildered.

"The things you're talking about don't exist in our world, and yet you're not lying. So you have to be from another world. There are numerous worlds out there. Nothing surprising."

"Actually, it's very surprising! How could I travel from another world?"

"You didn't travel, your body is still where it belongs. Only your soul was brought here."

"But why?"

"For that, you should blame Aydelline," the monk explained. "You're inside her body now."

"So who's Aydelline?"

It turned out that Aydelline was a powerful Night Witch. Sky had no idea what a Night Witch was, but the monk said it so matter-of-factly, like it was an explanation in itself. Everyone knows Night Witches! Sky didn't dare to ask him about it, she didn't want to annoy him with her ignorance, her position was still too unstable.

That Aydelline was no kind witch, that's for sure! She obviously didn't care much about the law. The monk wasn't too specific about what she did, but Sky didn't want to know all the details. It was enough for her to learn she was inside the body of a criminal. And a very dangerous one! Aydelline used her great powers for her personal pleasure, she didn't give a damn about anyone else.

Hearing about magic was strange – to say the least. Sky wanted to argue with the monk more than once, to say it was all impossible, it was just a trick, or a joke, or something… But she forced herself to stay quiet. She was in another world, in a Night Witch's body! Wasn't that the best proof magic was real?

Now she was locked in the castle of the monks that executed witches. They weren't the ones who caught her, Aydelline was just delivered here for the trial. But they knew how to control her powers, not giving her a slightest chance to escape.

They judged her and decided she should die. First of all, she committed too many crimes. Second, she was too powerful, and holding her in a prison was too dangerous.

Aydelline obviously didn't want to die. Even here, trapped and chained, she was powerful enough to perform one final spell. She switched souls with a girl from another world. That was the only way for her to escape – to abandon everything she had, forcing someone else to be executed in her place.

"But why me?" Sky asked, when the monk finished talking. "Why would she choose someone like me?"

"I don't think she actually had a choice. Her magic was restricted here. It was a blind shot."

"So she ended up in my body?"

"That is very likely."

Well, then Aydelline's blind shot backfired. She used the remains of her magic to escape death – only to end up in a body seconds from being destroyed! Serves her right though, since she didn't have any pity for Sky. Sky would be dead now if it weren't for the old monk's attentiveness!

"That means she died in a car accident…" Sky whispered.

"I'm not sure what a car is, but if you were to die that moment, the chances are high Aydelline didn't have enough time to do anything. She might be dead – or not. There's no certain way to know."

"I don't care about her! I want to know what happens to me… I didn't do anything she was sentenced to die for! And I don't feel any magic in me…"

That was true. According to the monk, Aydelline was an extraordinarily powerful witch. But no matter how much Sky tried, she couldn't feel any special power inside that body. Maybe it was because she was inside the castle meant for keeping witches. Or maybe Aydelline took her magic with her when she jumped into another world!

It was all so confusing…

The monk was in no hurry to answer, he thought about it for a while. But he didn't call anyone to kill her – that was progress!

"Your situation is unique," he finally admitted. "You can't go home. Your body is destroyed… And I even doubt it's possible to send your soul back. Aydelline's spell was chaotic, she was relying on pure luck. It's normally impossible to repeat such spells."

"So…I'm just supposed to accept death instead of her?"

"That wouldn't be fair, I presume. This body you're in committed many crimes. But your soul is innocent, it's not truly a soul of a witch. Still, we can't let you go. There's no guarantee Aydelline won't come back. And we don't know how you are going to use her power!"

"But I don't have that power!"

"It may awaken any moment."

"What's left for me then?" Sky asked in confusion.

"I believe the safest thing to do would be sending you to the Witch Island."

Sky didn't like the sound of it – but it was better than death.

"What's that?"

"A prison for witches," the monk explained. "Not everyone is sentenced to die, it strongly depends on the crime. Some witches are allowed to live and work on the Witch Island."

"But I'm not a witch!" Sky reminded. "How am I supposed to survive there?"

"Humans live there too."

"Humans who have lived in this world their whole life… But it's not my world, I know next to nothing about it!" Sky was near panic. And she had all the reasons for it! She had mere scraps of knowledge about the place she ended up in, no magic powers, no clothes! Even in her own world, it would be very hard to survive this. And in this one, going straight to prison seemed as merciful as getting an arrow straight into her heart.

But this time the monk showed no pity for her:

"That's the best I can offer you, Skylar Fall. A chance. And it's more than Aydelline left you with – she was probably confident we'll kill you without questions. Now your life will be in your hands."