Pacing was all he could do. Pacing and glaring at his house as he waited for that witch to come out and tell him whether his son would live or die. Joshua bit his thumb, trying to steady his nerves while the world around him seemed to carry on without worry. His wife, Darla, stood beside him, equally beside herself with worry, though she kept her eyes firmly on the half-harvested wheat fields that flanked both sides of their house.

Theo, his eldest daughter’s husband, was hard at work doing what needed to be done. Though guilt was biting at both of them, neither he nor Darla could work in this situation. Besides, one way or another it wouldn’t be too long before they knew the fate of their youngest, their first and only son, Jonas. 

For six summers, their only boy had been happy and full of life, then some illness took him and refused to let go. Day after day, it got worse and worse until, out of desperation, Joshua had gone out of his way to find The Witch that lived in the woods and beg for her help. He had heard of her deeds, healing things that couldn’t be healed, curing ailments that couldn’t be cured, and everything in between. He’d also heard tales of the magics she wielded. 

Was that why she had forced them to wait outside? So that they couldn’t see her lay down a curse upon their home? Upon his only boy? 

Joshua shook his head. Even if she were to do so right in front of him, he couldn’t know what a curse looked like, let alone what it would even do. 

“Pa!” Elena, his eldest daughter, came running down the path, her arms burdened by The Witch’s payment: a week’s worth of bread, a sweet roll, a bit of cheese, and some smoked meats. Cheap, compared to the doctors that had shown up and done nothing. Elena was the spitting image of her mother back in her youth: beautiful auburn hair and bright blue eyes that captured the soul. 

“Did you get everything okay?” Joshua took a step forward, turning his back to the house for the first time in over an hour. 

Elena nodded as she caught her breath. “Yes. It was easy, too; Theo’s father even gave extra once I explained things.” She bounced to the side to look at their home. “Still no word?”

Joshua shook his head. Part of The Witch’s payment was that they tell no one that she was here—especially if they were asking. Theo’s father was the town’s butcher, a kind man whose heart was only matched by his mouth. Would The Witch curse them if word got out? 

“No,” Darla answered before he could speak. “The Witch of the Forest hasn’t so much as come out, and the coughing has stopped, so—” 

“We should go in then.” Elena responded, trying to offload the payment onto Joshua. “It’s our house ain’t it? Who knows what she’s doing to Jonas in there!”

Before Joshua could even begin to try and stop his headstrong daughter, the door to their home opened. The usual creak that was once barely noticeable drowned out the noises of the animals, field work, and life itself as The Witch came into view. 

Her youth had been a shock at first, and even now Joshua had a hard time trying to accept that this girl who was no older than his own daughter would be able to save his son. Her worn and weathered clothes were plain, the kind of outfit that was hobbled together with whatever would last, save for the scarlet scarf that was wrapped tightly around her face, covering everything below her eyes and acting as a mask of sorts. 

While many would call his wife and daughter redheads, compared to The Witch’s hair, they were more orange or coppery. The Witch had hair a deep, pure red, closer to the blood of a freshly-butchered pig than anything a human might naturally have. The color of her hair was but one of The Witch’s less than human features; in the few glimpses that he had gotten of her ears, they had been pointed at the end and longer than any human ears he’d seen.

But it was her eyes that seemed the least human. No matter the light, they seemed to glow a haunting purple that spoke of the magic she wielded. 

The annoyed and soured look she had first given him certainly didn’t help things either. 

The Witch closed the door behind her and walked forward, tugging at her scarf to loosen it so it no longer clung to her face like a second skin. 

“Well?” Elena asked, stepping towards The Witch, her arms flapping in annoyance. “How is he?” 

The Witch smiled briefly, her teeth flashing for a moment. They were normal human teeth at least. 

“Jonas will be fine.” Her voice was calm, if perhaps a bit tired. She turned towards Joshua and offered him the same polite smile that she had his daughter. 

“Your spells worked then?” Darla asked, moving to flank The Witch with Elena. 

The Witch’s smile vanished, and she twitched her lips. Her shoulders slumped, and then she nodded. “Yes, yes, he should start to recover soon. But he’s going to need a great deal of rest and—” 

Darla didn’t wait for The Witch to finish her sentence and ran towards the house, Elena following soon after. From the fields, even Theodore began making his way to the house. 

The Witch reached into her pouch and presented Joshua with a small bag, a vial, and a paper note. She stared at his burdened arms for a moment, her brow furrowing at what was apparently a great inconvenience despite it being the payment she asked for. She sighed and turned towards the stone fence, finding a flat spot to put the items down, the bag and vial holding the paper in place.

“You can read, right?” She started grabbing items from her payment, starting with the cheese and meats that quickly went into her bag, while the bread got quickly tucked under her arms. 

He could only shrug. “A bit, but Theodore can read more than me.” 

She nodded and grabbed the sweet roll from him, carefully poking at the bread and sniffing it. Her eyes rolled back and her smile returned if only for a moment. He’d seen his daughter do something similar a dozen or so times already. “Okay, well, the instructions—” she gestured with her elbow towards the pouch and vial “—go over what I’m about to tell you, so pay attention.” 

He examined the items for a moment before grabbing them from the fence. The liquid in the vial wasn’t as clear as he first thought, rather, it was a murky, almost milky white, while the bag was filled with what felt like pellets. 

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“Give him the vial tomorrow, then after that, give him one of the pills in the bag in the morning and again at night. Do it until the bag is empty. If you stop because he looks or feels better, there’s a chance that he’ll get sick again. Do you understand?” 

“Yes Ma’am.” Joshua nodded and swallowed. He felt his skin crawl as The Witch narrowed her eyes at him. 

Then she gave a small sigh and started to walk along her way, carefully holding her payments so that she might munch on the sweet roll as she walked. 

He probably should have asked her name. 

Not that she would have given it to him. 

XXXX

“The Witch of the Forest.” Sera tore off another bit of the sweet roll as she walked. The light and fluffy bread wouldn’t keep as well as the others but it made an excellent meal for the way back. Between the cheese and dried meats, she’d have plenty of backup food for the winter, though this place was more bountiful than her last home. Even the winters appeared to be mild here. 

She’d hate to leave it so soon. Just over a year, and already rumors of her had spread from one side of the forest to the other of the Witch of the Forest. How she could heal anything, cure anything, use magic, sucked blood, would take children, and so many other things. There was some truth to the rumors, of course. She knew how to treat illnesses and injuries, and she knew how to use magic to help things along. 

“Well, better than the Blood Witch the Kingdom of Arson would call me.” And so far she hadn’t been hunted by their inquisitors either. For good or bad, the people of Vult were at least mildly more accepting of having someone like her. “Though, only just.” 

It was only a matter of time before something happened and they blamed it on her. Then her secret would be out, the pitchforks would be brought out, and the knights would be called to hunt her down. 

“Ideally…” She gazed up around the positively gigantic trees that dominated the forest she had called her home. The forest itself was large enough to swallow the seaward side of the mountains that divided Volt and Arson. “I’ll find a place where I don’t have to hide anymore, maybe a place that will let me live in a large city.”

She paused and considered for a moment. Then again, she wasn’t exactly a people person. The relationship of giving them medicine and them giving her tasty food was a good one. She tried coin at first, but most places weren’t too keen on selling her things for any number of reasons. 

“Still, what would it be like?” she wondered, glancing up at the tallest branches of the trees around her. The sky above her was a beautiful mixture of orange and blue, highlighted by pink and yellow clouds as the sun began to kiss the horizon. “To live in the city, to be just a human and be able to eat a warm fancy meal.” 

With darkness coming and the shadows growing longer from both the mountains that loomed on the horizon and from the trees themselves, the forest slowly began to wake. Mushrooms began to glow a rainbow of colors, ranging from bright blues to calming purples. Lustrous flowers that fed on magic began to bloom from every nook and cranny. The very air of the place felt charged. 

“A full moon,” Sera mused, recalling her mother’s lessons on how the sun and moons affected magic. While the sun would burn away magic so that those creatures that lived off of it would hide in the shadows, the moon would empower it. With a smile on her face, she doubled her pace once more. If she wanted to have enough supplies to last until the next desperate farmer came banging on her door, she’d have to head out and begin to harvest what magical plants she could. 

Darkness and magic. The two went hand in hand with each other. And in places strong with magic, there was no telling what the night would bring. Barely-there creatures appeared out of thin air, dancing between the shadows and laughing with each other as they avoided the last few fading rays of light. Even the Terrestrial-day bound animals that called the woods their home took on a more magical appearance, patterns of magic appeared along their fur so long as they stood in the shadow only to vanish once they passed through the sunlight. 

Coming to a large clearing that was dominated by a body of water that was too large to be called a pond but too small to be called a lake, Sera paused and waited for the final few moments of daylight to fade. Already, deep in the waters she could see the magic stirring the dancing colors of blues, greens, purples, and reds, speaking of the life that lived just below the surface. 

A twig snapped. 

Her heart raced. 

The enchantment of the magic around her faded, and she turned and ran. 

The creature roared after her, a hungry frenzy that sounded equal parts pained and ferocious. 

Sera darted along the path, tossing her bread to the side in hopes to both lighten her load and to distract the beast that had decided she was prey. 

It had only taken a glance to know that she should run. She scrambled over a large tree that had fallen not too long ago, its sides already slick with moss. The crunching and tearing of wood spoke of the creature’s power. 

She felt its claws barely scraping past her bag, snagging it for a second before she tore free. Whatever contents inside were likely lost as she continued to try and evade the creature. She took a sharp turn around a large tree, crashing through some plants that flooded the area with their magical lights as she went. The creature slid along the ground, giving her the first clean look at it. 

A tri-horn. A feline creature named for the three horns that jutted from its head, two curling to the side to run along the jawline, while the third swooped between the eyes, giving the creature an armored look that betrayed its grace. In a land without magic, they would be the Apex. 

A roar escaped the creature, and the tri-horn charged at her, fangs, claws, and horns ready to tear her to shreds. 

She reached down, grabbing some of the magic around her, and pulled it up, creating a thick screen of glowing particles that would blind any creature that called the day its home. She barely dodged out of the way as her foe crashed blindly forward. She swept past the side and sprinted down the path, barely sliding under a fallen log to avoid its claws once more.

The creature was on her again. 

Its growls grew closer.

Its breath tickled at her neck.

Her life was moments from ending. 

“Hiyaa!” 

She saw hope charging down the trail in front of her. A large Sprig was barreling down towards her, its massive horns tearing their way through the lowest of branches with ease as it trampled the flora under its hooves. Much like their smaller cousins the sheep, male Sprigs were territorial. 

The Sprig came up short when it finally saw the Tri-horn and quickly scrambled to the side, a panicked bleat coming from its mouth.

However, they were still prey animals, and knew better than to fight a hungry Tri-horn. 

The creature that was riding the Sprig did not share those same fears, however. 

Larger than most humans, and faster too, the armored figure rolled from the ground, grabbing hold of the long, elegant sword that would dwarf Sera in height. 

Sera gasped as she felt the Tri-horn’s claw slash into her back, her eyes losing focus as she stumbled forward. There was no way that knight could make it in time. There was no way that knight could fight off a Tri-horn. 

She was proven wrong. 

With a roar that echoed throughout the forest that seemed to quell even magic itself, the knight charged, his sword slamming into the Tri-horn like an ax to a tree, sending the beast back in an awe-inspiring feat of strength. 

Sera stumbled forward, tearing her eyes away from the fight for a few heartbeats before she turned and saw that not only was the knight still alive, they were winning. Through strength or skill, the knight had pushed the beast back towards the tree, his sword buried deep inside the chest of the Tri-horn as it flailed about, its claws scratching and clawing at the knight’s armor. 

With one final scream, the knight thrust his sword upwards, slicing the beast towards the neck, marking its hastening demise. In its death throes, the Tri-horn pulled back and let one last final attack against the knight, slamming into his helmet before at long last, the creature stopped thrashing. 

The Knight stood for a moment, then fell backwards. 

Sera blinked. The wound on her shoulder was pulsing with a dull pain, but she could still move her arm mostly fine. She winced as she attempted to move it above her shoulder. Okay, less than fine. With a few labored steps, she considered the battle that had just taken place. The Tri-Horn was impaled against the tree, still held up by the sword that seemed to capture and hold the moonlight far more than it should.

The knight lay face up on the ground, surrounded by magical plants that seemed curious as to what this creature was doing here crushing them. 

He was still breathing, at least. 

Scratched and damaged though it might be, the breastplate the knight had on still bore the crest of Volt clearly. This wasn’t some random traveler, some vagabond knight seeking to make a name for themselves or their house; no, this was a fully-fledged knight of the realm. 

That almost made her want to turn away and leave him to die. 

But her mother wouldn’t have done that. 

With a sigh, Sera knelt down beside the knight and stared at his helmet. It had been spun around with the Tri-horn’s last attack. With a slow and steady hand, Sera began to remove the helmet as best she could to get a better look at the damage. 

The knight was a woman: a woman with hair so dark it would make a raven blush, skin that looked as though she had gotten a dozen farmer’s tans all at once, and a nose that was large and slightly flat. 

Sera blinked and stared at the woman that had saved her for a second. Then she looked down at the woman’s body. While most could claim that they were taller than Sera, this woman was in another class entirely. She easily had a foot on her, and probably double her body weight.

The dull pain in her shoulder let out a sharp cry. 

“How am I supposed to move you?”