Freedom, pure and unadulterated even within the protective cage of the Guardian’s bones. Her cheeks ached from her constant smile, though she wasn’t often awake. Thankfully there wasn’t much to see high up in the sky, beyond clouds and strife. She glimpsed stars and more beyond, hovering above rain and storms. She shivered despite the bright sun ever shining through the gaps of the bones.
Time became a blur, and there wasn’t much keeping her grounded to reality beyond Urk’s tight grip on her hand. Even while they slept her little goblin clung to her without fail. It was important, for the Guardian pulled more of her being into itself, sapping her of her strength. She was Matriarch only to the Guardians now, but they siphoned her power.
Zara awoke to gloom, and icy cold winds, though the horizon appeared bright. She felt drained, and her clothes were flimsy upon her emaciated body. Her eyes begged to shut again, but every time her head drooped, Urk squeezed her hand. The goblin was curled into a ball, still wearing their dragon bone armour, while hers had vanished. She hadn’t the energy to react, nor even feel herself as the beautiful sunrise filled her lofty vision.
Fresh air, and warm sunlight trickled through the gaps in the bones. It softened her again; she smiled and felt her eyes droop. Urk’s grip tightened, pinching almost, and she yanked her hand away, again and again to no avail.
Where is my staff? Zara asked herself with a sleepy smile on her face. Her hand shifted, twitched really, but the thought vanished from her mind and soon she was curling into a ball beside Urk, letting go.
Zara’s next awakening was rife with pain, and spurred on by a fall. Much too fast and too steep, but not the kind that would have you jumping up in a soft bed. The Guardian fell, devoid of the power that reanimated it. A sudden vanishing that was followed by a rush that sank her stomach. Brief, for her consciousness only returned for a blink of the fall, and now in the deep darkness of night, amongst soil and wild grass and roots and upturned trees.
She yelped when she shifted, focused in her left upper arm, something poked her humerus and filled her eyes with tears. Zara groaned and stifled a scream as she sat up. The excruciating, flesh tearing pain might have been focused in her arm, but her entire body throbbed and ached after every slight twitch.
Her eyes finally dared to lower towards her arm, and the sight filled her throat with searing bile. A black bone bore right through her arm. Blood congealed both ends, but the sharpest tip poked through the inner side of her arm and even pricked her side.
Zara shut her eyes and cursed under her breath, trembling, before fighting for her body to calm itself. A few droplets trickled down her cheeks but she soon opened her eyes and searched her surroundings. When Urk’s small body didn’t appear, she panicked and surged to her feet, then groaned as her head filled with fuzz. Her throat burned with bile again, but she forced it back down and blinked until her eyes adjusted to the deep darkness.
She tested each step in the darkness, searching for anything that wasn’t a shattered branch. It was truly a crash landing. Her surroundings were swarmed by felled trees, splintered branches and loose leaves. Eventually she stubbed her toe on her dragon bone staff, stifled another curse and snapped off her wand from its head with gritted teeth.
The dragon bone in her arm proved a minor inconvenience with one wave of her wand. Instead of removing it she melded it to her flesh, diminishing it into its base form before using it to heal her entire body.
Zara stood fatigued after it was done, aching, but nothing more. She glowed with power now and fused her wand and staff together once more. Her mind focused on Urk now, for that was a bone from their armour.
The darkness deepened, despite the clear night above, it mocked her and panic rushed her chest. She dropped to her knees and snatched at the mess beneath her when her eyes failed, groping at the mess below. Zara was frantic, teary eyed, with chaos in her heart, still groggy from her sudden and painful awakening. None of this was supposed to happen as it did.
Stop! Her courage screamed as her vision blurred. She quelled her trembling, and put a stopper to her pitiful worry.
Calm yourself, you’re not powerless. You are the Matriarch.
Zara sniffed and wiped her eyes with her muddied hands. She snatched up her staff and made light out of a ball of diamonds above her head. It sparkled and glittered, but best of all it glowed like the brightest lanterns that stood tall amongst the cobblestone streets of an imperial town.
She sparked three more diamond orbs and spread them out from herself, inspecting the vastness of damage the Guardians caused. A scar along the dense and ancient looking forest she found herself within. No sign remained of the Guardians other than their destruction, but during a moment of pause, she felt their presence hum beneath the earth.
Her new found calm was a necessary accomplishment, for when she did find Urk, it shattered her heart. Her goblin child was a mangled thing between two shattered trunks. An arm bent the wrong way, the other crushed beneath one of the squashed trees. Their blood already clotted around their dragon bone armour, which was cracked and on the brink of disuse.
Zara yelped and rushed towards them, waving her staff and flinging the debris from her little one. What remained of their dragon bone armour was just enough to keep their little heart going. Bones were reset and wounds closed with more magical waves. She held the calm and slumbering Urk in her arms, refusing to let them go.
Hours passed until she trusted Urk’s body was stable before placing them on a makeshift litter of softened leaves and branches. She rose with her depleted strength and waved her flimsy arms to build a makeshift cabin. Every wall raised drained her further, her cheeks hollowed, and her skin sagged. By the time she carried Urk into their new bed, she collapsed in the middle of the largest room, whatever it was, hardly furnished, but thankfully she thought to place a thick carpet to soften her fall.
*
A thimbleful of sinkweed milk, then a pinch of crushed winebite leaves and a cup of goat milk, she recited the recipe in her mind while she rushed around her makeshift kitchen. Mouthing it to herself, for any sort of change would lead to the worst reaction.
Zara rushed to bottle it after watching it turn pink, with little dots of black floating within it. Just right, she shook it and emerged through the curtain of dried leaves into the ruinous waiting area of the shack. Concocting these alchemical solutions were more than enough to have her burned, brewing beyond the comforts of her home was the first choice she made.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Her anonymous client, who she suspected was one Lisbet Kind, jumped upon her return. The green flecks in her hazel eyes sparkled as her eyes widened. Zara smirked beneath her own mask and veil, before presenting her potion to the woman.
“Here we are then,” Zara spoke in a voice far from her own, gruff and hoarse, presenting her medicinal concoction. “One spoonful in a cup of clean and warm water, two spoons if it is cold, at sunrise. You must not drink any spirits from sunrise to sunset, or it will make you spew out your stomach, understood?”
Her client nodded, wide eyed.
“If this is for a child, only use warm water and half a spoon. Repeat my instructions to me.”
Her client did, after a moment’s hesitation, and with a voice that confirmed it was Lisbet before her. She squeaked, but did not miss a step. Lisbet mumbled her thanks and handed a rather fat pouch in payment. Zara watched the woman hesitate before the rickety door of the shack, then she spun around with fearful eyes.
“Is…would prayer harm its… should I avoid prayer?”
Zara fought back a snort, and was glad for the veil that covered her bemused expression. They really did think she was a woods witch, when all she did was alchemy. Of course, the fear of her potential wrath was what kept them coming back, rather than the proven efficacy of her potions. An amusing irony, one she didn’t mind playing into, though she knew Lisbet had a sickly girl, which only made the coin pouch heavier in her hand.
“If it calms your mind and heart, pray away, my potions are beyond such influences.”
Her answer both softened and perturbed her, perfect. There was a glint of relief in her eyes and then she was off, rushing away from the shack and back to town.
The Imperium was strict on who was allowed to wield power, and what sort of power, within their ever-growing borders, but she wasn’t one to scoff at theirs either. Belief was irrelevant, whatever they wielded was very effective, divine or not. As long as she could continue her trade in secret, she didn’t care.
Zara lingered for a moment, listening to the creaking trees and rustling leaves outside her shack. Not for any more clients, but for anyone fool enough to believe she would walk out as well. This was one of a few shacks she erected outside Linken, all of them well stocked, all of them equipped for escape should Inquisitors come knocking. So far, the townsfolk were wise enough to see value in her wares, and kept her an open secret, though she had heard of a few soldiers muttering about the witch in the woods.
She turned back into her makeshift kitchen and cleared up the little mess remaining, which wasn’t much. It made escaping easier, should time be against her. Ingredients were stored away, jars and bottles wrapped in cushioned boxes, shoved within cabinets. The bottles and glasses were easy to replace, and a fraction of her payment, the ingredients were a matter of knowledge, and she possessed plenty.
Zara eyed her workspace one last time before nodding to herself and made her way to the covered trap door in the corner. She dragged the barrel to the side, then lifted the rug, and false floor before lifting the metal handle with a quick tug. Only the false floor would remain above the door, but it blended sufficiently with the grimy floor that most eyes wouldn’t think twice to investigate.
She undressed her veil and mask, removed her apron and thickened cloak within the tunnel after lighting the first lamp. Another barrel waited, and she stuffed them into it, before covering it again with the cloth. Zara smiled to herself as she held her lamp up against the darkness ahead of her. Her legs knew the way, and her mind enjoyed the potential of the heavy pouch.
I might help Uren with his little girlfriend, she snorted at the thought. The girl was much too timid for him, but who was she to judge?
The fool boy had love in his eyes, following her around like a puppy. At least he seemed happy, at least it took him away from the barracks in the centre of town. The Imperials had a way of drawing in able bodied men to their ranks with worrying efficiency.
“Grandmother!”
*
Matriarch Zara gasped awake, snatched from her pleasant dream, and thrust back into pain and hollowness. Her stomach growled and her limbs dropped back down after her moment of shock. She snatched her pounding head with trembling hands, and blinked Urk’s concerned expression into view.
Their hand pushed her back down when she tried to rise again, Urk pushed harder, with strength that surprised her. She watched Urk’s already bulbous eyes widen, before their hands lifted from her.
I don’t remember that much strength.
“How long?” It was all she could manage. Her vision was still blurry, and only Urk seemed clear.
“Almost four… days, three nights… grandmother,” Urk stepped back and looked healthy, a little taller somehow, their hair loose atop their head and jaw freshly shaved. “I make soup with rabbits… found boar… yesterday. Will hunt when dark.”
A beautiful sunrise stretched its warm, fiery fingers through the windows, lifting her spirits somewhat. She was a shell; her clothes wore her and all her plump was gone. Urk returned with a steaming bowl of sweet-smelling soup, with her wand free from her staff and a wooden spoon.
Zara mumbled her thanks but caught the hard expression on Urk’s face. Their eyes darted along her face, then a flash of confusion sparked on them. They lingered for a moment before turning away.
“What’s wrong baby?” She wheezed.
Urk nibbled their lip, shifting on their feet with restless fingers.
“Did something happen while I was asleep?”
“No,” Urk rushed.
It seemed a lie to her, but she didn’t wish to press. Fatigue kept her incurious mostly, but she was too hungry to worry.
“You speak in… dreams.”
“Happens during the,”
“Who is Uren?”
Zara froze.