Witch of the Woods 3

Win walks inside the cottage, expecting to find his target, and she is indeed standing there. Win narrows his eyes as he starts his approach. He figures that if she gave him so much strife running away, he shouldn’t give her any chance now that she’s forced to fight. He finds the shortest line between his hip and her neck. Just as he’s about to jolt forward and finish her, he notices that she’s holding a piece of paper out in front of her. The text on the page is very simple, efficiently written so that the message comes across quickly.

“STOP! Please don’t hurt me!”

The bold words on the paper stop Win. He sheathes his sword, then realizes he’s still glaring at her regardless. He slaps his cheeks lightly so he snaps out of it. Now that he’s calm, he allows himself to start talking.

“My apologies. It seems I jumped to conclusions. I assumed you were the Witch of the Woods.” She turns to a nearby table, writes something on the back of the paper, then displays it to Win.

“I’m not.”

“I see that now. I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Win, I’m an adventurer. If it’s alright to ask, are you mute?” She writes something on the same sheet of paper.

“I am. My name is Calliope.”

“I see. Do you live in this cottage?”

“I do.”

“Do you know anything about the recent disappearances?” She shakes her head. “I suppose that’s good. If it’s alright, may I stay here for a while to organize my thoughts.” She nods. They sit in silence for a while until Calliope approaches Win with a piece of paper.

“What are you doing here? What is the Witch of the Woods?”

“You don’t know? Are you not from around here? Well, anyway, it seems the Witch is an old story in the nearby village. But it’s also what they’ve taken to calling the entity that’s been responsible for a recent string of disappearances. I’m investigating it. Well, I say that like it’s not possible that there might be multiple, unrelated forces at work.”

“May I accompany you?”

“It’ll be dangerous.” Win remembers the barriers he faced. “Can you explain those barriers of yours before I make a decision?” Calliope seems puzzled, then realizes and quickly writes something down.

“Protection of the spirits.” Win’s eyes light up.

“Spirits?! Can you control them? Can you show me? Ah, I was starting to think that it definitely wasn’t a witch I was after!” Calliope looks a little pensive to answer.

“I cannot control them.” Win tries to mask his disappointment.

“I see. I’ve heard there are ways to harness their power, do you know if that’s true at least?”

“I cannot speak.” Win takes a moment to process the answer.

“Is that it, then. That’s too bad. Well, regardless, if you think you would be safe even if a battle began, I would be glad to have your company. I’m sure you know these woods better than me.”

After resting for a while longer, Win and Calliope depart. When they exit the house, Win notices the small motes of light begin to cling to her body. They start walking through the forest. She leads him around in silence. Nothing seems amiss.

As they walk, Win settles into a deep calm. Although he still wouldn’t be caught off guard, he doesn’t need to devote all his attention to his surroundings. Every once in a while, when something catches his attention, Win stops. He stops and kneels so he can look more closely at the flower beside his foot. He stops and reaches up to brush his hand against the leaves of the trees above him. Eventually, when he stops, Calliope presses a sheet of paper against the bark of a nearby tree and starts writing. When Win is again ready to walk, he’s greeted by a question.

“Do you like the forest?”

“I do. I like nature as a whole, really. It’s quiet, and I can be away from people. Well, and perhaps this is insensitive, that may be the reason why I haven’t gotten tired of you yet, even after all these hours.” Win doesn’t know what came over him, but he continues to share. “I don’t like people, and I don’t like being around people. I even grew tired of my own family. I’m that sort of man.” Win can only hear his own words as a warning to her.

Calliope doesn’t spend the effort to respond, and instead they continue walking. They eventually come to a stone face and a small cave opening with a small clearing around it. Calliope seems surprised to see it. Win walks up to the entrance with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“This seems to be as good a lead as any. Stay behind me.”

The two of them walk inside. Win no longer spares any attention. He keeps moving forward, scanning for dangers, absorbing every detail that might matter. The cave is far too smooth to be natural. It is manmade, almost certainly through a spell. Although Win figures that he could make a similar cave by himself, he doesn’t know to what purpose he would. The village is close enough that it would probably be faster than constructing such a shelter. Beyond that, it’s clear to Win that it was inhabited only a short time ago, and likely had been for quite a while. They must have left within the last week, but even then they never arrived in the village. Win smiles as a formulates a simple hypothesis: this may well be the Witch’s lair, and that’s what made them leave so haphazardly.

Win is somewhat emboldened and searches deeper into the cave. In the deepest room he sees something, stops, and tries to obstruct it from Calliope’s view.

“It’s bodies. You don’t need to see them.”

In the center of the room are a pile of several bodies. They look like they’ve been drained of all the water in them. They’re nothing more than husks now, but that doesn’t make it any less gruesome to Win. He wraps all the bodies in his cloak, then lifts it on his back to carry them back to the village. Win and Calliope walk out of the cave.

When they exit, the sun has finally set. Standing in the clearing is a dark, vaguely effeminate figure, with long claws on its hands. It stares Win down. Win drops the bodies and his cloak behind him.

“Run away. I’ve found my target, I’ll be fine.” Win brandishes his sword at the monster before him.