"The truth is, the harder you fight, the sweeter the rewards in the end."

Mary Kom, Indian Athlete

The cave was narrow, only a dozen paces deep, and had a deeply pungent smell that made Milly’s nose twitch in disgust. Animal carcasses, half eaten and ripped apart, were strewn haphazardly across the cave floor. Against the back wall, covered in discarded antlers and entrails, was an unadorned bronze chest.

“Oh, that's gross,” Milly said. “Do we really need what's in there?”

Rain laughed and, without missing a beat, grabbed a hunk of fur off the ground and swept the entrails off the top of the chest.

“I think being a butcher’s daughter might have prepared you perfectly for this contest,” Milly teased.

Rain kicked aside the desiccated carcass of a squirrel and inserted her key into the lock. There was a rhythmic hum, and the key dissolved into dust. With a click and a hiss, the lid popped opened.

Rain looked inside. “What the heck is this?”

She pulled out a leather-bound briefcase engraved with a myriad of plants and animals in fine silver. “It’s gorgeous,” Rain whispered.

Milly knelt beside her as Rain slowly unraveled the thin bronze coils and eased open the case.

Inside were a dozen glass bottles, each a different size and shape with a unique stopper for the top. Rain gently grasped the one shaped like a frog and pulled it out.

“They are so adorable,” she cooed. “but what are they for?”

“Perhaps that will tell you,” Milly said, pointing to a small leather-bound book in a small pocket on the underside of the lid.

Rain withdrew the book. “A Beginner’s Guide to Alchemy,” she read, cracking open the weathered cover.

The pages inside were covered with instructions, sketches, and recipes, creating step-by-step instructions for how to create simple potions from various plants and animals.

“It’s like brewing tea, but magical,” Rain whispered, eyes shining with delight.

As Rain scrolled through the pages, a screen appeared in front of her.

Talent Book: Alchemy (Beginner)

Prerequisite Talent: Nature’s Bounty

You may learn the talent “Alchemy (Beginner)”

Do you want to learn the talent “Alchemy (Beginner)”?

Rain looked at the prompt with excitement. “Of course I do!” she said with confidence.

The leather-bound book shook in Rain’s hands, and Rain's eyes turned milky white. She trembled, her fingers grasping the book tightly. The words and sketches began to detach themselves from the page and flew into Rain's pupils, as if sucked into a vortex that led to her mind.

Seconds later it was over. The book was blank. Every word and symbol had been absorbed by Rain. She stopped trembling, and the milkiness in her eyes faded away.

You have learned the talent “Alchemy (Beginner)”

“Milly, it’s incredible,” whispered Rain, her eyes flickering back and forth as if reading words that Milly could not see. “I can see it in my mind. Sleep draughts, nausea elixirs, and here’s one for the common cold. Is that an explosive? What the heck is Essence of the Shrieking Mushroom?”

“I’m sure we will find out eventually. Now, what do I do with my key? You already opened the chest.”

Milly held up the rusted iron key, and they jumped as the lid of the bronze chest suddenly slammed shut. They heard the lock click back into place and a gentle hum emanate from its depths.

“You don’t suppose…,” Milly wondered, as she inserted her key and watched it dissolve. There was a click, and the lid popped open.

Milly peeked into the chest. Inside was a round, wide brimmed hat with a long-pointed top and a bronze buckle on a purple ribbon encircling the base. It was decorated with glistening stars and moons that perfectly matched her gown.

Milly drew it out slowly, a look of confusion on her face.

Rain burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, Milly. That’s perfect for you,” she snorted between giggles.

“It’s a witch’s hat,” complained Milly, holding it by the point as if it were filthy. “It looks like it's part of a Halloween costume. Why would it give me this?”

“Well, let’s consider the facts,” Rain said, trying, unsuccessfully, to sound serious. “You're wearing a black gown that resembles the night sky. The ring of your finger has an embedded skull. Your hoodie has a pentagram on it. You’ve got this whole goth girl thing going for you, and…” Rain took a dramatic pause. “You can use magic! I don’t think you need the hat for people to think you're a witch!”

“I’m not a goth,” Milly mumbled, still holding the hat away from her. “I mean, not really. I couldn't afford the clothes. But I guess…maybe…”

Milly focused on the hat.

Milly’s First Witch’s Hat

Yer a wizard, Milly

Benefit: Increases the wearer’s magic by 2

Benefit: Grants Talent “Reanimate Rodent”

“Oh, gross. Gross, gross, gross. Do I have to use it?” Milly protested.

“Yes!” exclaimed Rain. “Put it on. Put it on.”

Milly sighed and slipped the hat onto her head. It was a perfect fit, the conical hat curling back comfortably into a half-moon shape.

“And…” Rain said expectedly.

“Please don’t make me.”

“Every talent is an advantage, right?” Rain insisted.

Milly gave a deeply reluctant groan and shifted her gaze to the desiccated squirrel that Rain had kicked. She felt the invisible magic inside her spiral out towards the carcass.

The squirrel carcass began to move, twitching its skeletal legs back and forth as if waking from sleep. It pulled itself upright, and Milly gasped as its head snapped towards her, empty eye sockets gazing sightlessly forward.

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

The squirrel of matted fur and cracked bone sat there unmoving, watching its witch.

I can feel it in my mind. It's faint, but it's there - skittering around like nails on a chalkboard.

Milly shivered.

“Make it do something,” Rain said, circling around the squirrel, utterly fascinated.

“Maybe you should wear the hat,” Milly whispered. “I don’t like how it feels, or how it's looking at me.”

“It is literally called “Milly’s First Witch’s Hat, Milly. If you don’t like it looking at you, tell it to look somewhere else.”

“Um…Mr. Squirrel, can you…,” Milly did not have to complete the sentence. The squirrel responded to her thoughts. It turned and walked away from Milly until it reached the wall furthest away from her.

“It’s horribly adorable,” Rain said, hands clasped together in delight. “It could ride on your shoulder.”

“No!” Milly shouted, shocked at the very notion. She just wanted the squirrel to go away.

The squirrel collapsed into a heap against the wall, and its bones turned to ash.

“At least we know the talent works,” Rain said, disappointed.

“I could feel it in my head,” Milly said, trying to forget the sensation. “I don’t like rodents. Not since…not since my first night sleeping beside a dumpster when I was sixteen,” Milly shivered at the memory.

Rain didn't pry. She just threw a comforting arm around Milly's shoulders and squeezed. “Well, I’m proud of you for trying, Mils. You are the bravest woman I know.”

Milly looked up at her, surprised. “I’m not brave,” she mumbled.

Rain gave her another squeeze and stood up. “Sure, Milly, sure. Now, should we get out of here? I want to see what other trouble we can find.”

* * *

Ten minutes later they were back along the river, headed north down the wide valley. They made slow progress, but Milly did not mind. She giggled as she watched Rain scurry from plant to plant, picking leaves and stems with abandon and stashing them in her inventory.

“This Nature’s Bounty feat is amazing Milly,” she exclaimed for the third time in as many minutes, “Look, this plant here with the purple flowers? It can be brewed into tea that improves sleep. And these stems can be pressed into a poison that temporarily paralyzes someone. I'd had better not mix those two up. Oh, this one can be brewed into a drink three times stronger than coffee. My customer's will love that, though I'll need to figure out the overly bitter taste.”

“That’s great, Rain,” Milly laughed, picking her way carefully over roots and rocks, her own talent screen floating in front of her. She had been agonizing over her decision, unable to choose from so many remarkable options. It felt overwhelming.

“Did you pick one yet?” Rain inquired, popping her head up behind the transparent screen and causing Milly to jump in surprise.

“Damn it. No, I haven’t decided yet. If anything, I’m more lost than I was five minutes ago,” Milly admitted, frustrated.

Rain gave a mischievous grin, and moved to Milly’s side to gaze at her talent map. She looked into Milly’s eyes and smiled.

“You should change your approach. Do not worry about all the options. Think about what challenges you have and see if anything will help you fix them.”

Milly looked at her friend in surprise. “Rain, that’s…kind of brilliant.”

“I give lots of advice as a barista. It’s like being a bartender, only people are sober. Usually.”

Milly chuckled, “Ok. Problems… challenges… Well, we are stuck in a Contest where death is around every corner. That seems like a big problem.”

“Maybe a smaller problem? I don’t think there is a talent for ‘win the Contest’ located in there.” Rain watched the screen for a moment, but it didn't move. “Didn’t think so.”

Milly started counting problems on her fingers. “No food. No supplies. Every other minute I just want to fall apart and cry.”

“Do the first two worry you?” asked Rain, playing devil’s advocate.

Milly thought about it. “Well, we know there is food out here. We have seen the bananas and coconuts around the tower and animal paths in this forest. I saw buffalo in the plains and I’m sure there are fish in the ocean. I spent three months homeless on the streets after I ran away from my foster home and always managed to find something to eat. At least we have a roof over our heads and the bounty of nature at our doorstep. We will struggle to feed eight hundred people, but I think we can fend for ourselves.”

“And feeling like you are going to fall apart?" prompted Rain, concerned.

“I’m off my meds,” Milly said, feeling ashamed. She had never told anyone about her medication. “I have depression. I've had it for years, but my doctor is trying to get me to try non-pharmaceutical management.”

“Maybe there is a talent to help you with your depression?"

Milly considered this for a long while, but finally dismissed it. “No, I… how do I put this? I’m battling depression, but I’ve lived with it for so long that the fight has become part of me. If I use this system to make it go away, it would feel like… I don’t know. Cheating? Or like I had given up? That probably sounds stupid.”

“Can you manage it off your meds?” Rain asked without judgement.

“I’m not sure,” Milly responded tentatively. “Honestly, it has been so crazy these past two days that I haven’t sat still long enough to really think about it.”

“Then perhaps this isn't the time to use a talent point on it,” Rain concluded. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any plants that might help replace your medication, and you can always use a future talent point for it if it comes to that.”

There was one other problem on Milly’s mind, so fresh that she hesitated to raise it.

“Mr. Stone,” she said softly. “I’m scared of what will happen when I go back to the tower. He made me feel so small. I’m afraid he’ll try to use me. Or turn people against me. He has so much power, and I have so little.”

Rain stopped walking and stared at the majestic mountain peak before them. She looked to Milly, adorned in her midnight dress and witch’s hat, and smiled.

“This is office politics 101, Milly. People like Mr. Stone prey on weakness. They belittle people to make themselves seem big and eliminate those who do not fall in line. If he sees you as weak, he will target you. You need to show him your strength. Show him you are not to be messed with. Show him he will be in for a world of pain if tries anything like that with you.”

“And how exactly do I do that?” Milly asked. “I'm not strong. Not like that.”

Rain looked skeptically at Milly. “Yes, you are, Mils. I just watch you decimate a party of goblins. But strength is about more than simply being physically strong. Lots of strong people are taken down because they are passive, unknown, or alone. You need to create a story of strength that is spoken from the mouths of every person at the tower.”

“And just how exactly am I to do that?” Milly asked, overwhelmed.

“You already are,” Rain said, pointing to Milly’s gown and hat. “People saw you take down that ogre. You have healed some of them. Lean into it!”

As Rain spoke, Milly’s talent window shifted, zooming in to the top left corner of the map to the section entitled ‘Witchcraft.’

“But I’m not a witch!” Milly protested.

Rain burst out laughing. Her enthusiastic giggles echoed down the valley.

“You could be. It's perfect. You've got the clothes. The gloomy disposition. The long, black hair. You can create undead rodents and kill ogres. Build the legend! Even Jacob Stone would not mess with the Witch of the Castle of Glass.

“The Witch of the Castle of Glass?”

“Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

It all felt a bit much, but Rain was glowing with delight and Milly did not have any better ideas.

“Okay,” Milly said, hesitantly. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot. But I don’t think anyone will be convinced.”

“Fake it until you make it,” Rain recited.

Milly sighed and scanned the witchcraft section of the talent map. The branches were vast, but only five beginner talents were currently available to her – earth, wood, metal, fire, and water. The rest were obscured until their prerequisites had been met.

“Pick something flashy,” recommended Rain. “The Witch of the Castle of Glass needs to be flashy.”

Milly thought for a long moment and settled on fire magic, believing it would be the most versatile. She locked it in, and felt the knowledge enter her mind, the power of her fire flowing from the same pocket of magical energy where healing came from.

It felt warm.

It felt powerful.

Milly stretched out her palm, pointed at a fallen log, and tapped into the power.

Her hand became encased in blue flame, pleasantly warm. She formed in into a ball in her palm and thrust it forward at the log. The ball of fire flew forward and struck the target with a loud crack. Pieces fractured as it exploded, and moments later there was a gaping hole where it had struck, the wood along the edges of the hole lit with glowing embers.

“Now that will get Stone’s attention,” whooped Rain with excitement.

Milly looked at her hand, completely untouched by the fire. “Unbelievable,” she whispered. “This is what it can do at beginner level? What kind of contest is this?”

“Are we ready to find some more adventure, Witch Milly, the witchiest witch that ever was?” Rain asked, giving her a deep bow.

Milly laughed. “Lead on, Rain. Let’s see what other trouble we can find.”

“Oh, we should find a dead rat for you to reanimate. You need a familiar,” Rain demanded. "All witches have familiars."

“No rats!” shouted Milly, running down the path as Rain chased after her. The two friends continued upriver, laughing, the horrors of the contest forgotten in the moment.

“The Witch of the Castle of Glass,” Milly whispered as she sped through the woods. “I might grow to like that.”

Mildred Persephone Brown

Player

Level: 6

Specialty: Survival

Strength: 10 (+4 from Wedding Ring of Phillip the Ogre)

Agility: 11 (+5 from Gown of Moon and Stars)

Toughness: 10

Magic: 13 (+5 from Gown of Moon and Stars, +2 from Milly's First Witch's Hat)

Talents: Healer's Touch, Fire Magic (Beginner), Reanimate Rodent (Witch's Hat)

Rain Desjarlais

Player

Level: 3

Specialty: Brewing, Experimentation

Strength: 8

Agility: 8

Toughness: 4

Magic: 6

Talents: Nature's Bounty, Alchemy (Beginner)