As you know (for those that read my posts :-) ), I've been working on the sequel to The Ugly Princess. The book is written from two viewpoints, Olive's and the witch - Cassandra Dragon Slayer. Below is the first chapter. Let me know what you think. Thanks for your input! Henderson

CHAPTER 1
Cassandra Dragon Slayer

I was flying again. The icy wind blasted at my face like a thousand razor-sharp needles in a relentless pattern of pain – the feeling was darkly delicious and if I had a heart, I imagine it would be filled with an utter blackness of delight as I flew towards destruction.

Not my destruction, of course, but that of a stupid, little girl who thought herself the Last of the Winnowwood. She had managed to use a glimpse of her power to destroy the invasion fleet that had been sent by my benefactor, King Viratrex of the Druzazzi. It was only a glimpse. If she had any idea of the power she truly wielded, the invasion would never have gone as far as it did. I was relieved she was stupid. If she had full use of her powers, even I, Cassandra Dragon Slayer, the most powerful witch in the Borealis kingdoms, might be wary, might hesitate to go to war with one so powerful. But if one doesn’t know how powerful they are, an enemy can destroy you before you realize you are even under attack.

Over a hundred years has passed me by as I lay rotting in that disgusting dungeon, yet, I had managed to regain my freedom. I cackled a snort of laughter at the irony of that. I had been vainglorious in my own powers, fooled by men that had been far cleverer than I had given them credit for, and paid a dear price for that arrogance.
Now, as I drew close to the five-hundredth anniversary of my own conversion into the Sisterhood of Witches, I marveled at the thought of how my powers would grow.

The significance of that five hundredth anniversary to a witch is almost unrivaled in magnitude -- it is called the Anniversary of the Phoenix. The power that you can obtain from that ceremony can increase your magical strength astronomically, if you are cunning and fearless, and there is no witch that is more cunning and fearless than me. I had cursed and destroyed almost all of our enemy single-handedly, simply by understanding their weakness, their secret desire. But now, it was my turn. My turn to rule – they would be subjugated under my boot and I would hold them enthralled with my power.

I had believed for many long years that I would not be able to take advantage of my Phoenix Anniversary. I thought I was going to be stuck in that dungeon away from the light of the darkest day, isolated from its power, unable to receive the gift it would bring me in its magical rays. I had accepted that, believing I would never come into the glory I had once anticipated for my life. How things had changed. My dreams for my future were once again alive, I felt like purring in gratitude.

Yes, I had been forced to bind myself to the King, or he would never have had his Sorcerer reverse the powerful spells he had put into place to hold me. I would need to free myself from that binding before the Phoenix Ceremony, or I would not be able to receive those additional powers. Everything had to be accomplished by the midday rays of the winter solstice – the day magic could be magnified and transferred. The day of deepest darkness, the day of gloom and night, the day of her utter desperation.

If all went according to plan, I would not only receive the powers of the Phoenix, but part of the powers of this stupid, little girl as well. I would be invincible! Not that I would let King Viratrex in on that part of the bargain. If I played my part well, he would never realize what was happening until it was far too late.

I had not wasted those hundred years in solitude. No, I had honed my powers, my enchantments, my memories, as well as my plans for revenge. To have this opportunity to avenge my ancestors against our most venomous enemy was a gift – and I would not waste it. I savored contemplating her death, as I knew the ceremony we would use to break her and steal her powers on the solstice was one filled with endless pain and terror for the giver. She would die. Painfully, mercilessly, in screaming agony. I reveled in the thought of it.

I could feel the exuberance that my exosso flew with, trembling with power beneath me. She too had not flown in all these years and it had hurt her to her core. Her power rippled through my body as I felt her adjust our position in the air, bolting like a prisoner from a cage, which we were. Witches don’t fly on brooms, we fly on bones – our bones – and its formal name is an exosso. Usually, we just call it our bone. When we are created, one of our rib bones is removed and put into a cauldron with our fresh, young witch blood and the blood of animals we have gathered for the rite. I had chosen the blood of the eagle, the bear and the owl for my bone to form my exosso. It would give me speed, strength and cleverness throughout my path. My bone, my exosso, had never failed me – and I trusted her completely in delivering on her part of the mission that was before us.

There’s another bone that is removed during the ceremony. That bone was currently wrapped around my left wrist. It has a name – Dreambreaker. It’s my wand and knows my black soul as well as I know myself. I’ll save the story for how it’s created when I can describe it to you in action, so you will truly understand what you must sacrifice to become a Witch. But it is all worth it, so very worth it, to live the nightmare of your dreams.

At last, we were soaring to our future. I would find my own elite converts to witches from women who sought power in this life to live fiercely, with might, with rage, with evil, with a darkness that would overtake this world. I would grow my coven, then the world would have to deal with us as we conquered it. But first, I would destroy this stupid, little girl.