There it was. The Vesper Spear. It shone brightly in the cave, covered in several protection spells. A leftover from before the master crafter had died. And now that it had no owner it would be simple to make it mine. Oh, the bounties I could catch with that baby would make me break into the top three. But first I had to get down there and… Where did it go? A shine of metal had me looking to one of the lower tunnels. The bare hint of a shadow was quickly disappearing. I gritted my teeth as I flew my broom after the thief. He was a quick one. But once we got out into the open it was easy to ensnare him in a spell. The man dropped the spear as he fell. And he even had the nerve to curse at me. “Damn you, witch. Let me go.” All those muscles did nothing for him as he wriggled on the ground. I merely had to step over him to grab the spear. But the blasted thing had already bonded to him and wouldn’t accept my magic. “Hey, give that back. I need it.” The thing was already responding to his desires as it shook in my hands. But I didn’t reach fourth place by fighting weak creatures. And my ruby pendant quickly supplied me with enough strength to subdue the spear. But it wasn’t enough to break the bond. “Please. I need to save my brother.” He was whining now. “It’s the only thing that can kill a necromancer.” I turned to him. “Which necromancer?” “Lord Koschey.” I choked on a laugh. To stumble upon the highest mark on the guilds wanted list meant the fates were smiling on me. And with this mark I could reach third. No, I’d become the most powerful witch in the whole guild. Maybe even the whole region. I looked down at the man. His clothes were well made. And he had a decent amount charms. Not to mention the powerful onyx stone on his armband. He was probably from one of the more esteemed assassins guilds. Perfect. “How about I make you a deal. I’ll give you back the spear and help you save your brother. But you have to become my familiar.” He blinked at me for a moment. “Deal.” “Then let’s start with introductions.” I held out a hand as his bonds disappeared. “I’m Aporia.” “Garret.” He took my hand and winced as my magic poured through him. I smiled as the contract settled into place. And I handed him the spear. “Now how do you feel about flying this thing?” We landed in a clearing covered in green mist. But there was no manor. Not even the hint of magical wards. “I swear it was here.” Garret said looking around. But he didn’t seem to notice the stench of death. Or the cracking in the ground. We didn’t have much time. “Give me something of your brother’s.” A skeletal hand popped out of the earth. “Quickly.” He unbraided one of his plaits and handed me a slightly darker lock of hair. Dandruff flaked from it as he held it out. Grimacing, I used two fingers to grab it. “Anything else you need from me?” “Just don’t let those things kill me.” I sat on a less deadly patch of ground as he turned to the emerging skeletons. Rubbing my ruby pendant I erected a barrier. And then I started chanting a spell. The disgusting hair burst into flames. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the smoke. The inherent shadow magic mingled with mine. But it was hard to pinpoint the source. He was close but something was blocking him. My ruby warmed against my skin as I pushed harder. But the shadow magic was obscured by this green mist. I blinked as wind whooshed past my cheek. A sword was an inch from my nose. The skeleton soldier was trying to force it past my barrier. But the spell wasn’t done yet. It’d taken a lot just to open my eyes. And with Garret being swarmed by the rest of the skeletons, I was quickly running out of options. Glancing down at the burning hair, I urged the spell to finish. But I only succeeded in depleting my magic faster. Even my ruby pendant was growing cold. Damn, if I’d known I’d be dealing with the undead, I would’ve brought the black opal instead. Now my barrier was cracking. And my heart sped up as the skeleton stepped closer. This spell had better be worth an eye. I closed them as the barrier shattered. But instead of a blade, dust flew into my face. Coughing, I blinked up at Garret. His spear was already sucking in the green haze the dust released. “Did you find him?” Garret asked through pants. I looked down at the smoldering hair and groaned. The damn necromancer had hidden him well. But the pay was too good to give up. Dusting myself off I picked up the hair that had survived. “Give me the spear.” He obeyed. And I tied the rest of the hair around the base of the spear tip. And sprinkled the rest of the ash on top of it. The last vestiges of the spell acted quickly sending the spear flying from my hands. It sunk into one of the trees the skeletons had been guarding. And the facade quickly broke revealing a wall and entrance to a manor. Beyond the gate was a man tied to a post in the middle of the yard. “Agnar!” Garret grabbed the spear and used it to slash through the gate. But I stopped him before he could get too close. Two red lines extended from the hair. But it was impossible to tell who was the necromancer and who was the victim. Both lines disappeared into the man’s chest as he lifted his swollen face. “He’s hurt.” Garret strained against me. But despite his bigger frame he couldn’t loosen my hold. “There’s too much magic here.” I said as I watched the spear gobble up the green mist nearest. But the grounds were covered in it. “I can bypass that easily. If you’d just let me go to him.” I shook my head. It was all too easy. But my ruby was far too depleted to do a proper scan of his mind. My black opal could’ve done this with ease. But what was that bulge under his shirt? A muttered spell revealed an emerald engraved with an arrow. “Kill him.” Stumbling back I shouted to Garret. “Kill him, now!” The man’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Don’t. Please.” Garret grunted, his body straining against my command. But he took a step and then another. And he roared as he started to run. He made one last effort to stop himself. But in the end the spear plunged into the man’s chest. I let out a breathe as one of the red lines disappeared. I deemed it safe enough to walk towards the two. “Now Garret, I need you to-“ His roar cut me off. I stumbled to stop as he ripped the spear from the man’s body. He threw at my feet. Blood covered his trembling fingers. He looked me in the eyes. “You made me do this.” His breathing came out in ragged spurts. “Why?” I didn’t have time to respond as the green mist obscured the man. Grabbing the spear, I threw it. But it was too late. It bounced off a barrier as Koschey emerged. The green emerald shone on his chest as the mist thinned. Garret rushed him. “Give me my brother.” Koschey waved a hand and skeletal fingers grabbed my familiar. He struggled against them but it was useless. Without the spear he had no hope of defeating them. The necromancer stopped before me and licked his lips. “What a delicious soul. Much stronger than any assassin.” I tilted my head. “Would you be willing to trade then?” He raised an eyebrow. “You’d sacrifice yourself for a lesser being?” I glanced at Garret. “Well, I did make a promise.” “He offered the same to my brother.” Garret said, still struggling to get to us. “Don’t trust him, Aporia.” “Aporia?!” I cursed. Koschey was already sending his minions. One almost grabbed my ankle as I jumped on my broom. But there were too many surrounding the spear. “I’m going to enjoy taking down the fourth witch.” Koschey said as he summoned skeletal birds to chase me. “Get the spear.” I told Garret as I flew past. But I could only evade for so long. To make things worse the birds had fire breath. What depth of hell had he found them? They were even wearing down my barrier. “Got it.” Garret slew the ones holding him and made for the necromancer. “Do you think I’d make it that easy?” Koschey summoned even more skeletons to his side. I grabbed my ruby. It was still cold from the last spell. But there was just enough juice for what I needed. Muttering an incantation I directed my magic to Garret. The spear began to glow with a red light. Then grew to a bright white. Just like that of the fallen star it had been made from. But what mattered most was that it still had Koschey’s blood. “Garret-“ A blast of flame cut me off. But he seemed to understand. With a great roar he threw the spear. Koschey chuckled erecting his barrier. But his smile disappeared when the spear imbedded itself into the emerald. Green light was escaping it as he tried to keep it together. But nothing could stop the light from bursting forth. I shielded my eyes as light exploded out. When I opened them the skeletons had been reduced to a green mist. And were being sucked into the spear still embedded in the emerald. But it wasn’t Koschey that wore it. “Agnar!” Garret rushed to his brother’s side. This time I didn’t stop him. I landed and touched the emerald. Koschey was there alright. But we’d damaged his magic gem enough for his soul to be sucked back in to recuperate. Not that he’d been in his body in the first place. I looked back to Agnar. It looked like he was coming to. Thankfully he was no longer entangled in green mist. Giggling, I removed the spear and picked up the emerald. Koschey assaulted my mind with all manner of curses and threats. But he only made my smile grow larger. One incantation and he was sucked into my ruby. Emerald and all. It felt so much better to have full magic reserves. And a necromancer had them near to bursting. That was nothing to the while werewolf pack in the black opal. But I was grateful that the ruby could handle it. “I’m sorry for ever doubting you, Aporia.” Garret bowed his head. “Thank you.” “Glad we’re on the same page.” I handed him the spear. “We’ve got many more bounties to collect before I can become the most powerful witch in this world.” Garret nodded. And we turned to Agnar as he let out a groan. Soon I’d be more than the fourth witch.

You’d think that being on the edge of an asteroid belt would yield any amount of excitement. I mean that’s why I became a lighthouse apprentice. But what was there to do when there wasn’t a single ship passing through. And I could barely get any practice in with the old lady hogging the controls. All she did was sleep anyway. While I tolled away up keeping the place. Those light cannons didn’t keep themselves clean, you know. And try cleaning inside an oversized space suit. It’s nearly impossible. But I do it every day. And today was no different. I was cleaning space junk out of Bertha, our biggest cannon, and cursing the faulty cap that was supposed to protect the barrel. But that’s when my communicator beeped. An odd occurrence when the old lady usually yelled at me through the com. I touched my wrist and a request came through. One ship. 2,874 passengers. 859 crew. And it was taking the most dangerous path through the belt. Just what was the cruiser thinking taking a joy ride in this area? No, I couldn’t think about that. Not when their eta was in five minutes. I scrambled into the air lock and called the old lady. I called again once I’d shimmied out of the suit. Still no answer. One more time from the elevator and I was met with silence. I found her asleep at the controls and shook her. Her snoring didn’t miss a beat. Huffing, I rolled her out of the way. I grabbed another chair and studied the board. Now what had she said was first? The cannons. All the canon lights were blinking which meant the automatic detection system was working at least. I pushed the button to activate them. Now the coordinates that the ship had sent. The engines whirled to life and we began moving. Great, now what was next? A loud snore reverberated through the control room. Right. Communication. I entered their com number and turned on the mic. “This is lighthouse 427 responding to your request. What is your current state?” Static filled the room. “This is cruiser Zulu49er. We have a confirmed hostile on our tail. And our shields are at thirty percent. We are requesting immediate assistance.” Only pirates could cause a pleasure cruise to go so far off course. And as the lighthouse came into position I saw the distressed ship as a mere spec in the distance. But these years of practice weren’t for nothing. Bringing up the targeting system, I aimed for the cruiser and said, “Follow the light and I’ll guide you through.” With the push of a button light exploded from the beacon. It pierced through twenty miles of rock, avoiding each asteroid depending on the pre-installed data of the ship’s width. Green flashed as it connected with the cruiser’s receiver. And that was my cue to start shooting at any asteroid that got in the way. A simple enough situation that I’d practice countless times in the simulation. But that had never included a pirate ship actively shooting at my charge. And it was much easier when I turned off the coms to block out the hysteria breaking through the static. The cruiser sped along my light taking heavy hits from behind. But the pirates cleverly stayed behind the much larger ship. I couldn’t get a clear shot at them. I opened up coms. “Shield status?” “Fifteen percent.” Damn it. They weren’t even halfway through. Time for the big guns. I brought up the only canon I hadn’t been using. Bertha. It was risky using her because I hadn’t finished cleaning out all the space junk. She could misfire. Or the aim could be off just enough to severely damage the cruiser. Once again I cursed that busted cap. And the suppliers that had yet to get to this supposedly dangerous part of space. I blew out a breath trying to plot out the perfect time for when the pirates would be exposed. There. An asteroid coming directly into the path at a rate just slow enough to possibly miss the cruiser. Usually I’d shoot it down for being so close. But the pirates would have to dodge out of the way. Though the cruiser’s tail might still get hit. I opened the coms. “Increase your speed by twenty three percent.” “That will put our shields down to nothing.” “Trust me. I’m a light keeper. We always get our people safely through.” As long as you forgot about the incident a few decades ago. There were shouts on the other side. Arguments I think. There wasn’t time for this. “Sir, your window is closing.” More shouts but the cruiser noticeably began to pick up speed. I lined Bertha up taking careful aim for where I knew the pirates would be. Fives seconds. Four. Three. Two. The lighthouse shook with the explosion but the stabilizers held. And Bertha’s light zig zagged through the field, avoiding any rocks that might lessen the power of the beam. As for the pirates... Well let’s just say they made lovely additions to our little asteroid belt. A few moments later the cruiser flew by and all communications ceased. I sat back in my chair with a huff. “No thank you. Not even a gift of supplies?” “Those types of cruisers never pause their schedules unless it’s something dire.” The old lady’s voice nearly had my heart jumping out of my chest. Add that’s when I realized that she’d stopped snoring quite a while ago. “You couldn’t have lent a hand?” She shrugged. “There’s only one lighthouse keeper per tower. And you took that title from me when you saved your first ship.” “So does that mean that I’m in charge?” She chuckled. “Go cover Bertha’s barrel. There’s a lot of debris coming our way.” I left the control room cursing the pirates. Cursing that oversized space suit. And most of all cursing that damn cap.