6. The Grand Master

It had never been easy – being the Grand Master of the Witch Island. If the decision was up to Arrius, he would never say yes to it. But no-one asked for his opinion. Nearly 10 years ago the council of the White Dragon Order appointed him here, and since then Arrius was guarding this place.

He was born to become a Duke. That would've been a totally different life for him – which never happened. His family was noble and ancient, but it wasn't too rich. At least, not rich enough to pay for the right not to give the Order their sons.

Only the boys of noble blood could become Masters of the White Dragon Order. To them, it meant leaving their past lives behind and becoming knights for the rest of their days. It was a sad lot for them, but the Order needed new blood. They could pay for their freedom though – huge money that the Order could use to hunt witches.

Arrius's family couldn't pay. And frankly, it wasn't willing to. His parents had six sons, he was the third. He had no chances of inheriting anything. He was useless! So when the Order chose him among all the de Tirah children, they gave him away easily.

What followed for him was the life of merciless training, and then the ritual that gave him the power to neutralize any magic possible. Arrius quickly became one of the best warriors of his generation – and the best witch hunters. That didn't go unnoticed. He barely turned 30, when he was appointed the Grand Master of the Witch Island.

It was an honor that he didn't welcome. It took Arrius many years to get used to that. He was a hunter, he killed witches, and now he had to live side by side with them! And that peaceful coexistence taught him that they weren't all that bad, they weren't the monsters he believed they were. So was he wrong in killing them? Was he used blindly?

Those were wrong thoughts for the Grand Master. Evil ones, sinful ones. He was trying to stay away from them, and during daytime, when he was busy, he could. But at night they kept coming back, keeping him up till the very morning.

And now things got even worse. Now Arrius was attracted to one of them!

He didn't even know her… No, not entirely so. He knew her name, because he knew the names of all the witches that came to his island. And he saw her once, he even talked to her briefly. But that was a standard procedure! He got to know every newcomer that way. He saw them, talked to them and immediately forgot them afterwards, he had no place in his memory for their names and faces.

This time something went wrong. When he first saw her, he felt like a bolt of lightning went straight through him. His heart skipped a bit, and he could only hope his voice didn't give that away. Arrius was grateful that his face was hidden under helmet at that moment!

She was beautiful, no doubt about that, but many witches that came to the island were beautiful, and none of them managed to mesmerize him so much. Her pale skin, her green eyes, the waves of her black hair, her amazing body – everything about her was just perfect. She looked so tired and lonely… He wanted to help. To come to her, hug her, hold her close.

But he did what was right. He asked her the neutral questions he had to ask her, and then let her go. She disappeared into the rain… And he tried to believe he'd forget her as easily as he did with the others.

No such luck though. He remembered her the same night. How she looked at him, how her lips trembled when she begged him for help… How she would've looked next to him on this bed. He gave up to those thoughts, drowning in them till the dawn broke over the island. He hoped it would be enough: this momentarily weakness, this pleasure, to get his freedom back and finally stop thinking about her.

He failed again. Arrius went through his day, but his mind was with her. He wanted to find her… And he couldn't. He, the greatest man on this island, couldn't do what he wanted. There was a certain irony in it.

He kept telling himself he could get over this. This strange attraction seemed to be getting weaker, soon it would disappear completely – and he'd be free again! He actually believed that – until one of the knights told him:

"Master Arrius, you need to come with us. They found a body of a witch in the forest. It's one of yesterday's newcomers."

That's when he felt like his heart just stopped. Could it be her? She said she didn't know how to use her powers! And the letter he received about her confirmed it. What if something happened to her? The Witch Island was a dangerous place by all means. Arrius didn't have to help, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to forgive himself if she actually was the dead witch found in the forest.

He hurried to put his helmet on, to hide his feelings from his brothers.

"Take me there!" he ordered.

They didn't suspect anything. He wouldn't let them! If he couldn't fight this attraction, he had to at least hide it.

They left the town and went to the forest. Arrius knew he had to think about the crime itself. It was outrageous – to kill a witch, that had never happened before! But his thoughts kept returning to whom that witch was. He didn't know what he'd do if it was actually her.

The body was found in the forest next to the road. It was easy to see her – a pale spot in the green grass. She was lying there, naked and so strangely peaceful – in spite of an ugly wound ruining her chest.

It wasn't HER. That was the first thing Arrius noted, and he barely suppressed a sigh of relief. It wasn't his green-eyed fantasy… This woman didn't even look like her. She was also young, but with dark skin and brown hair. Her eyes were closed, and he couldn't see their color… Not like it mattered anyway. As long as it wasn't HER, he didn't care who it was.

He couldn't ignore that crime though. It was his job as the Grand Master to find out what happened here.

He didn't remember that witch, but it wasn't strange at all, it was normal, unlike his obsession. She was new, she had nowhere to go… And someone used it to drag her into that forest and kill her.

"What kind of witch was she?" Arrius asked his assistant.

"A Beast Witch, but a weak one, according to the letter we got on her."

A weak Beast Witch is still a Beast Witch! Those witches know how to fight, and even if the opponent was stronger, she wouldn't have given up her life easily. At least, she shouldn't have… and yet she did. Looking at her, Arrius couldn't find any signs of a fight. No, just a single mortal wound…

It was easy to be sure about that, because the one who killed her undressed her. Her clothes and shoes were nowhere to be seen. Everything appeared like he brought her here, killed her and left her on the ground, like she was just sleeping. And then he left! Covered in blood, carrying her stuff… perhaps more?

"That wound is too large for a mere stab," Arrius pointed out.

"You're right, my lord. The one who did this cut her heart out."

"And where is her heart?"

"It's gone."

Things just got worse from here… Cutting a woman's heart out was already a horrible crime. Cutting a witch's heart out could be part of some grim ritual. Arrius didn't know enough about magic to be sure.

He didn't really feel sorry for the young witch – he didn't know her. But he had to find her killer, because that creature was a threat to his island!

"Send the knights to talk to people," Arrius ordered. "Bring the enforcement from one of the towers if you have to. We need to find anyone who could've witnessed it."

"It won't be easy, Grand Master… You know how things are during those rains! People stay in. Nobody knows anything. Many crimes happen…"

"Crimes are different. I don't really care if one witch steals from another. They can deal with it themselves! But this… This is a threat to the entire island. I don't care why this witch was sent to prison. If the court decided she had the right to live, I won't let anyone think he's the main judge here!"

"Yes, Grand Master. What about the body?"

If someone killed the green-eyed one, Arrius would've been devastated. He'd have to bury her himself and mourn her… But this poor witch didn't live on the island long enough for anyone to attend her funeral.

"Burn her and bring the ashes to the sea. I don't think anyone would miss her!"