Scarecrow Beaux missed the music. The silence made his mind feel hazy and disoriented, his vision blurry, and his hearing muted. But when the music started, the world sharpened into focus and he could think clearly again. The music, however, hadn’t come for what felt like an eternity.
“Does this look right? Do you recognize it?”
Scarecrow Beaux tried to lift his head to get a look at the owner of the voice, but his body refused to obey him, remaining slumped along its pole like a ragdoll.
“No. Wait… Maybe. You said they could hide their homes in illusions, right?”
“Brother Aaron, if you could…”
“Yes, Father Nicolas.”
The voices sank into silence, and the drone of evening insects filled the air like white noise.
“I can sense no trances of illusion magic,” Brother Aaron reported.
“You said you had evidence that it was somewhere around here, right?”
“Of course,” Father Nicolas said. “We know they are somewhere on this island. Though we are uncertain where- the Baptists only told us so much.”
“It’s not a large island. Let’s keep searching.”
Beaux tried moving again, wanting to see the speakers and get a better idea of what they were talking about, but his body remained limp.
“I didn’t come this far for nothing,” one of the men declared grimly as they began trudging away. “I will not be going home without my daughter.”
“Of course, Mr. Byrne,” Father Nicolas said politely. “And we will not be leaving until the witches are appropriately dealt with.”
*
Maisha glared at the nonsensical numbers and letters in front of her, her frustration growing. Something was wrong in her calculations- something important. The cloud patterns around the house over the past several weeks had clued her in; Stratocumulus filled the sky on days that should have been clear. Towering cumulonimbus appeared when they shouldn’t have. And while this wasn’t necessarily abnormal- patterns such as these could change in rather short timescales- the abnormalities had prompted her to investigate her predictions a little further.
And something wasn’t adding up.
The metallic taste of blood rose in Maisha’s throat as she once again peered into her crystal ball, searching through the future and the past for any clues. She knew she should stop but…
If this is something related to me… if it’s something that could ruin my plans…
Maisha swallowed down the blood with a gulp of ginger tea. And continued her search.
*
“This… I think this is it! This is the house they took me to!” Sean Byrne exclaimed in excitement when he and the clergymen he was with found the little hut in the woods. He rubbed his forehead, trying to piece together the broken memories from when he had been here before. Though the scenes were hazy, he recognized the area without a doubt.
“So this is the dreaded den of evil…” one of the men behind him muttered icily.
“Indeed,” Father Nicolas nodded solemnly, “I can sense the devil in this house.”
“S-so… what should we do,” whispered a rather frightened looking man at the back of the group.
“Everyone knows a witch’s one weakness is fire,” Father Nicolas replied, prompting the men behind him to nod in grave agreement. “So let us burn-”
“Wait!” Sean Byrne interrupted, shooting an imploring look at the clergymen. “My daughter may be in there, we must save her first. We must-”
“If your daughter’s soul is still salvageable, The Lord will protect her from the flames,” Father Nicolas drawled.
“I didn’t hire you to burn my daughter alive!” Sean Byrne seethed, his voice rising. “I hired you to save her! How DARE you-”
“MR. BYRNE!” Father Nicolas firmly interjected. “Pull yourself together, son. We will surely save your daughter if she remains,” the priest continued, softening his tone and putting a gentle hand on Sean’s shoulder. “But the girl you once knew… may already be gone.”
Sean Byrne quieted at the priest’s words, his anger dissolving into something more akin to fear.
“Apologies… Father Nicolas. I lost myself for a moment,” Sean conceded, lowering his head.
Father Nicolas nodded in understanding.
“Now then, if you will, Brother Aaron.”
Brother Aaron bowed his head and pressed his hands together in prayer. Half a second later, white flames leapt up around the sides of the house, engulfing it in a sea of light. Thick plumes of smoke rose above the treetops, casting the dark morning into an eerie haze, and long, flickering shadows snaked through the forest as if in a mad dance.
“May this holy fire cleanse the souls of the unclean,” Father Nicolas prayed, pressing his palms together in sincerity.
“And may The Lord protect those still pure of heart.”
*
Morg’s eyes snapped open, her clothes drenched in sweat and her lips chapped as if she had been standing too close to a campfire for too long. White flames still danced across her vision, contradicting the sight of the peaceful forest surrounding her. She looked dazedly at Xisa sleeping peacefully to her left, Song Laoshi and Baigu to her right, blinking slowly. Memories of the day before came flooding back to her- their adventures practicing combat magic on various monsters and creatures, and their hike deep into the wilderness. It must have been at least an hour since they laid down to rest, but Morg felt as if she hadn’t slept at all.
“S-Song Laoshi,” the young girl finally rasped out, shaking her mentor first gently, then a little more violently. “Song… Song Laoshi! Song Laoshi, something’s happening back at the house! I think… I think Maisha may be in trouble! Song Laoshi!”
Songbai blearily looked up at Morg- just what was this kid shouting about in the middle of the night?
“Song Laoshi! Song Laoshi, something’s going on back at the house! Some people in funny clothes came and… and… well I’m not sure, but something’s wrong! We have to go back!”
Songbai shot up, causing the wooly wolf beside her to snap to her feet in alarm.
“What? What did you say?”
“I-I-I think someone’s at the house!” Morg repeated in a panic. Xisa blinked her eyes open to stare in confusion at her companions.
“It’s a little fuzzy but… but in my dream… no I remember… no I saw… well there are strange people at the house and… and maybe there was a fire…”
“Alright, alright, calm down first,” Songbai said steadily, placing a hand on Morg’s shoulder. “What angle did you see all this from? Was it the same as when you get visions from that tree of yours?”
Morg nodded as she tried to calm her racing heart.
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“What exactly did you see? What people? Speak slowly and try to remember all the details.”
“Um… I’m not exactly certain of the details…” Morg mumbled, rubbing her temples. “I think they were mostly men, and there were… at least three of them… the images aren’t very clear…”
“You mentioned something about a fire. Can you remember anything about that?” Songbai asked, staring intently at the young girl.
“I remember… I felt like I was burning up in my dream, and there was a loud cracking noise, like a campfire, and a bright light…”
Songbai stood up and whipped out her folding fan, pacing back and forth in front of Morg and Xisa. After a short stint of silence, she snapped her fan shut and spun around to face the girls.
“I need to check on Maisha, but I don’t know what’s going on in Cyewen, or how safe you two will be. But I can’t just leave you two alone- even if Baigu is with you, it isn’t safe. So you’re coming with me. But you must listen to everything I say.”
Morg gave a resolute nod while Xisa offered a more confused one.
Songbai turned her back to the girls and twisted her hands into a series of strange motions until a gnarled door formed within the oak tree towering beside them.
“Stay close to me for now. I can always send you girls somewhere else if I really need to, but we should stick together for now,” the elder witch said half to herself as she drew a familiar symbol on the oak door. “If this was some sort of ploy to separate you two from me… nevermind. Let’s go.”
*
Xisa stroked Yuzan thoughtfully as she followed her companions through the oak door. Songbai had translated a couple things for her, but they were mostly speaking English. And while she could catch a phrase here and there, she still had no idea what was going on- only that they needed to go back to Cyewen and that Songbai wanted them to stick close to her.
“Ugh…”
Xisa glanced up just in time to see Morg slump to the ground, sweat beading up on her forehead and her face a sickly pale shade. Xisa immediately dropped to the ground next to her, grabbing her friend’s hands in concern.
She… she’s burning up! Does she have a fever? But she was fine just a few seconds ago!
“Haaaaa… maybe I should have left you two back in Baile Cailleach,” Songbai sighed with worry as she stooped down to lift Morg. Motioning to Xisa and Baigu to follow, the elder witch started quickly heading into town with Morg in her arms.
“Cyewen has several spells guarding it from unwanted visitors in addition to those surrounding the island,” Songbai explained in a low voice as she creaked open the door to one of the town’s abandoned buildings. “Stay hidden here with Baigu until Maisha or I come to find you- don’t trust anyone else.”
Xisa nodded with wide eyes, suddenly feeling nervous.
After Songbai leaned Morg gently against one of the walls, she reached a hand into her pocket and fished out a paper, quickly drawing a symbol on it- one of the wandering runes, Xisa guessed.
“Take this,” Songbai instructed Xisa, holding out the slip of paper. “If anything happens, draw this rune and get out of here. And look after each other.”
Before Xisa could say anything else, Songbai had already left the building and started down the path out of Cyewen proper towards Maisha’s cottage. Xisa reached under her shirt and stroked Yuzan with a finger, trying to ease her growing anxiety.
Alright… so we’ll just stay hidden here… should be simple enough, Xisa thought, looking around nervously.
If we really need to escape like Songbai said, I’ll just draw this symbol on the door, the young witch thought, her eyes tracing out the shape on the paper in her hands as if trying to commit it to memory. It’s not the only door here either, so if someone enters one door, we’ll just beeline for the other and-
“Dad?!” Morg rasped out, shooting upright. Xisa stared at her in alarm.
“My dad! My dad is here!” the young girl said with a nervous excitement as she unsteadily rose to her feet. Xisa felt her stomach twist even more- she could understand Morg again, and every time that had happened, one of them had later lost control of their magic. Xisa hurriedly grabbed Morg’s arm and shook her head violently- it wasn’t a good idea to follow after Songbai right now. Baigu similarly grabbed onto Morg’s shirt with her teeth, gently pulling her towards Xisa.
Morg blinked slowly at her companions.
“Why? Why shouldn’t I?” she cried in frustration. “He’s my father! He’s my father and I haven’t seen him in months, why should I wait any longer?! He’s even come looking for me, how could I ignore him?!”
“If…” Xisa started, “If you lose control…”
The fire in Morg’s eyes dimmed.
“Right…” the young witch conceded, leaning against Xisa as her legs began trembling. “If I lose control again…” she trailed off.
“Songbai… mentioned…”
“Yeah, we should stay out of sight,” Morg nodded weakly, her head slumping against Xisa’s shoulder.
“M-Morg…” Xisa tried, patting her cheek gently. The young witch was still burning up. Baigu worriedly sniffed Morg's face and let out a low whine. Xisa let out a commiserating sigh.
If I just knew some sort of… cooling magic… or… could I somehow transfer some of Morg’s discomfort to myself?
Xisa stared down at Morg’s pale face and twisted expression, wishing she knew what to do.
I hope Maisha and Songbai come find us soon…
“-ts a misunderstanding!” Morg suddenly gasped.
“Morg?” Xisa tried, staring at her friend in worry.
“Hah!” Morg shouted, her eyes snapping open, causing Xisa to reel back in surprise. Morg sucked in a labored breath, her eyes wide with panic. Without sparing a glance at her companions, the young witch lifted herself back to her feet.
“I have… to find… my father,” she said breathlessly. “Before… before it’s too late.”
“You can’t!” Xisa cried, rushing to Morg’s side and grabbing onto her. Morg shook off her friend, her eyes desperate.
“I have to! If something happens that I could have stopped just by clearing up his misunderstandings… I have to go! If he just listens to me, he’ll realize that this is the best place for me to be! That I’m doing this to protect them!”
Baigu whined again, gently tugging on the hem of Morg’s shirt with her teeth. But Morg yanked the fabric away and violently opened the door. When Baigu tried to follow her, she shut the door in the wolf’s face and jammed it shut with one of the rocks littering the cobblestone road
“So don’t try to stop me!”
*
As Morg bolted out of the village and into the forest, the scenes in her vision blurred together, making it difficult to distinguish between what she was seeing through her physical body and what she was seeing through the eyes of her tree. One second, she was rushing through the dim forest, morning just barely lightening the horizon. But the next, white hot flames were flickering across her vision, fire spreading from the house to the surrounding trees.
And she was stuck there, watching, unable to move, unable to intervene.
“I’m giving you a choice,” Songbai hissed, “You can either leave this island now, peacefully. Or I can personally send you to your precious afterlife.”
“We have the protection of God on our side,” one of the men drawled. “Your threats do not frighten us, witch.”
Songbai’s expression darkened and she tightened her hold on the limp woman in her arms. Maisha’s face was smeared with ash, and parts of her hair and clothes appeared singed from the fire. Songbai, too, had not escaped the damage. Her clothes had black patches all over, and white ash speckled her dark hair.
“There is no need for us to fight,” Songbai tried again through gritted teeth, her eyes flicking over to Sean Byrne.
“I disagree,” the man said slowly. “You practice the devil’s magic with evil in your heart. You bewitched the minds of upstanding Christians, you kidnapped one of our own. No honorable man would be able to pass by without standing up to such wickedness.”
No! Morg thought to herself desperately as she narrowly avoided tripping over a tree root. No one kidnapped me! I am here of my own free will- I am here to learn to protect the people I love!
Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead as she continued to run through the forest. Her vision through the eyes of the tree seemed to grow stronger with every step, overlapping with that of her own two eyes, causing her to stumble every several steps. And she could hear their voices. Could feel the heat of the fire as it swept through the forest.
Songbai maneuvered Maisha in her arms and began twisting her hands into a series of signs, her mouth moving almost imperceptibly. Morg could just make out an earthy door forming out of the dirt, causing her to slow her steps.
Great… great! Song Laoshi and Maisha can just leave without fighting!
“Your threats from earlier were all empty. After all, every witch knows to show fear in the face of God,” the man affirmed calmly. “Brother Richard. If you will.”
At the man’s signal, a nervous looking young man stepped forward and pressed his palms together as if in prayer. But before anything could happen, Songbai snapped her fingers and the man turned to stone, frozen in place.
“Do not test me, priest,” she hissed as she turned to the now fully-formed door and quickly drew a symbol on it.
That’s Cyewen’s symbol! She must be going back into town to collect me and Xisa!
“Stop her!” the man shouted, just as one of the younger men leapt towards the door. But before they could reach her, Songbai had already slipped inside with Maisha in tow, the door closing with a thud.
“I’m sorry, Father Nicolas,” one of the men said solemnly. “I could not reach the door in time.”
Morg let out a sigh of relief, her steps slowing to a stop.
“Not to worry, Brother Aaron,” Father Nicolas droned with a slight smile. “It is all part of The Lord’s plan.”
Morg rubbed her eyes and temples, trying to organize the visions in her head, but she couldn’t seem to separate what she saw through the eyes of the tree from what she was seeing with her own. It wasn’t until a thick hand clapped down on her shoulder that she realized something had gone terribly amiss.
“It seems we will not be leaving empty-handed after all.”