Meera stopped in her tracks. Another chill went up her spine, and she couldn't be sure if it was because of the cold evening wind or what Yoana had said and that, too, in such a matter-of-fact manner.

"Did you say she took your men?" Meera asked.

Yoana nodded. "It's the truth. We all saw it happen with our very eyes. Some say she took them to eat them all." She noticed Meera's shivering and motioned her to follow. "Let's talk in the sauna. My gran should be there. She spends all her time there these days."

Meera was happy to oblige. First, it was mirrors eating people, then shadow monsters eating people, and now witches too. What is it with this world and eating people?

By the time they arrived at the sauna, Meera was shivering like a leaf in the wind. Yoana opened the door, and the warm wind just sucked Meera in. It hugged her close, warming her bones, and this was only the entryway.

"This way," Yoana said. "Let me get out of these clothes, and I'll take you to Gran."

Yoana disappeared into what Meera assumed was one of the changing rooms. She returned a few moments later, draped in a towel. She handed one to Meera as well. So, Meera ditched the bedsheet, which had begun to get toasty and covered herself in the towel and followed the plump woman.

The whole place was made of wood and dripped water from the steam coming from the room up ahead. It got warmer the closer they got to the room. Meera wasn't sure if there were any healing properties in the steam, but she felt herself getting better, becoming more alive with each step.

Yoana opened the door, and they were bathed in a wall of steam. It was like being engulfed in a much-needed warmth, like a tight hug. Meera was in bliss, that is, until she walked in. Then it was true heaven aside from the cabal of women just lounging around, and most of them were old but with a few younger ones here and there.

All conversations stopped when Meera walked in. This was the reaction she had expected to get when she walked into the inn, and now that she had gotten the reaction, she was not very fond of it. She felt out of place, and her initial reaction was to slowly back out before getting attacked.

"Ah, you're up," said an old woman in the center of the group. "Come, dear. We've all been waiting for you to get up."

Meera got over her hesitation and walked into the room. The room was also made of polished wood, or it looked like it, thanks to all the steam which came from a big, smooth, circular stone in the middle of the room. Meera felt heat coming off the rock. A younger woman got up and poured some water over the stone, and it immediately turned to steam.

Meera ensured her towel was secure and followed Yoana to the group of older women, who had grouped around the one who had spoken.

"Come, sit, dear." The old woman said in a sweet, grandmotherly voice. She had a head of grey hair and bags under her eyes. Her hands seemed rough, and there was nothing of note besides the towel around her.

"Meera, this is my gran, Edna. Gran, this is Meera."

Edna squinted. "Never heard that name before. Are you from off-world, child?"

"Something like that," Meera said as she sat opposite the woman.

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks to the steam."

Edna smiled and gave a wizened nod. "Yes, this place is magical. Look, dear, I hope you don't mind if we skip the pleasantries and get right to the topic of how and why you are here."

"I would prefer it that way," Meera replied. "I came here looking for the witch of this valley, but as soon I entered the forest, I was attacked by those Mirror Golems."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Now that she said it, she was reminded that she still had to go through her notifications and hoped for some good skills.

"The witches' guardians," Edna said, and many others nodded grimly.

"The witch made those? Guess she likes her privacy," Meera commented.

"You've got that right," said another woman to Edna's right. "The moment we enter the woods, they show up to pummel us into the ground."

"Well, I took care of ten of them, and then the big one appeared, but it didn't pursue me out of the woods," Meera said.

"That is not surprising," Edna said. "Those things have been keeping us penned in. We cannot even leave to trade for grain or other essentials."

"I also noticed that all of your men are missing," Meera said. "Yoana mentioned that the witch took them. What's her name, by the way?"

"We don't know the vile creature's name. She never told us much when she arrived, and we don't want to know her name. Some say those things can hear you when you call out their names. She showed up in the village one day, a few months ago, and offered all the men to live in servitude to her in exchange for eternal bliss, and not a single one refused. They all just got up and left. They dropped whatever they were doing and followed the witch into the woods."

"She put a spell on my man," said a middle-aged woman. "There is no way he would leave me and his children like that."

"They all just left. Just like that?" Meera asked. "No word to you, and walked away with her."

All the heads nodded at this.

"She even took some of the older lads," Edna said. "We've only left the little boys, and we fear she will come for them too once they've grown."

"And you've never been to the witch to ask her to return your men?"

The middle-aged woman who had spoken before scoffed. "We've tried several times, and each time those infernal golems have chased us off. You're the first visitor we've had in months."

"And you don't know what she's been doing here?"

Edna shook her head. "We haven't had a word with the woman since that day. Every day, we toil and hope that our men will return. Hope that the curse will be lifted off our forest so we can move through the forest like we once did. If it continues like this, we will not last long. Food's running low. So, you can imagine our desperation. We've been trapped in our own homes." She took Meera's hand in her own. "Meera dear, you're our only hope. You're the only adventurer who's been strong enough to survive those golems. I hate to ask you this after we've just met, but we need someone to deal with this witch and bring our men back home."

"Please, my children keep asking for their Pa and when he's coming home," another woman with dirty blonde hair said. "I can't keep saying soon. They think he's run off with the witch, and she's turned them into something unholy or has him under her trap."

"Please, do this for us, and we'll be eternally grateful."

Then more women added their pleas to the point that they had to shout to get their voices heard. It got to the point that Edna had to stand to calm them down. She raised both hands and shouted at them to be silent.

"I'll do it," Meera said. "I came here looking for that witch anyways."

"You did?" Edna frowned, and she was not the only one surprised. Several of them frowned or wore looks of disbelief.

Meera nodded. "I heard the Champion came this way to entreat with her. I was wondering, did he stop by in this village, by any chance?"

That shook the room like an earthquake. They all stared at each other as Meera told them the world was ending, which was true, given that the Champion had shown himself.

"You all do know that the Champion has revealed himself, right?" Meera asked.

A lot of heads shook. Edna, Yoana, and others stared at Meera like she had grown horns.

"The Champion is real and alive?" Edna asked.

"Yes, he has been here for six months. It's all everyone can talk about. How do you not know about this? How long ago did the witch come here?"

"About half a year ago."

"What about your Gateway mirror? Do you have one in the village?" Meera asked.

Edna shook her head. "No, not in the village. There used to be one close by, in this clearing in the forest, but we think that's where the witch has made her home."

"So, no travel outside the village. That would explain why you don't know about the Champion," Meera said, more to herself than anyone else. But it looked like she opened a can of worms as the conversation changed focus.

"By Champion, you mean the one who is supposed to defeat Aetheron."

"If he is here, then Aetheron must be waking, which means the end is here."

Then the conversation lunged into shrieking and lots of hand-waving. In other words, general mayhem. This was the reaction, Meera had expected from the people once they learned their world would be ending, not the celebrations, she had seen in Belacre. It took them some time to calm down, and in that time, Meera decided never to tell them that she was the Champion's sister.

Finally, Edna stood and calmed the women again, with help from her granddaughter. "We'll talk about this later. If the Champion has revealed himself, he brings grave tidings, but for now, we must remain focused on ridding us of the witch's curse."

There were some muted aye, but no one openly denied that what Edna spoke was true.

"Great! Now, I need my armor and things back and point me in the direction, and I'll go have words with this witch." Meera stood and remembered something. "Oh, and a room where I can prepare before I head out."