The black eyed witch, p.12
The Black Eyed Witch, page 12
“Mary? Any idea where this snake came from? I have seen all kinds of monsters but never one of them.”
Mary shook her head, so as Lithia and Hana when she looked at them in hope they knew.
“Shit,” whispered Kali.
“Where do we bury them?” asked Hana.
“Hitomi wanted to be cremated and her ashes spread in the air at the top of the castle. That was her wish if anything happened to her. I don’t know about Ode. Once Asha calms down, we will follow her wish for what she sees fit for her.”
Hana and Lithia were about to leave the room as Kali halted them.
“You did well on defeating this new monstrosity. Just a shame about the losses we must endure. Go check on Asha. She needs all the support she can get. In the meantime, Mary and I will study this snake’s head to see what we can learn from it after we cremated Hitomi.”
Lithia and Hana left the dungeon without a word and went straight up to see Asha. She was lying on her side of the bed, whimpering without acknowledging when the two knocked and entered the room. Lithia sat next to her and put a comforting arm around her. Asha slowly turned around, her eyes watery.
“What will happen to Ode now?” asked Asha, sobbing.
“They want to know from you what should be done. They will cremate Hitomi,” replied Lithia.
Asha was lost in her thoughts for a while and slowly stood up, Lithia helping her.
“You two are good friends but I am afraid I need to leave. I will take Ode with me and return to Afran to bury her. I can’t stay any longer. Not after all this time we have been together here. Farewell, you two. I hope a happier life will bestow you.”
Asha hugged Lithia and Hana tight, grabbed her belongings and walked slowly out of the room. Hana and Lithia remained behind.
“This is bad,” said Hana, “who knew that a new monster will cause such damage. But to be honest, I think I will also be devastated if anything should happen to you.”
“Thanks. I will also feel terrible if I lose you.”
They hugged each other and shared a quick kiss. Both smiled as they let go, but Lithia’s expression changed.
“I ask myself how this snake was so strong and so big, how the trees could carry such a huge thing and, most of all, why couldn’t our swords penetrate its skin?” said Lithia.
“Let’s hope Kali and Mary can work out what it is and how to defeat it in case we should ever fight one again. So far, we know its mouth is the only weak spot but we can’t always defeat it by jumping in it.”
“There is not much we can do, now. We will wait and see.”
Mary knocked on their door and requested to follow her up to the top of the castle. Lithia and Hana found Kali standing, holding an urn. Her two red pads were flapping at the strong, cool wind.
“Thanks for coming,” said Kali. “This is to say farewell to Hitomi, a fine leader and friend. May her loss not be forgotten.”
Kali opened the urn and tipped it over. The ashes left behind a trail as the wind caught it. She then threw the urn off the edge and stared at the direction where the ashes flew.
Mary silently motioned to Lithia and Hana to go back down, while she remained with Kali.
An hour later, Kali came to their room and asked them to sit down.
“I have given it some thought. Asha left with Ode to Afran. I know you guys were together for over twenty-five years and I am glad you got along. Now, due to these dire circumstances, I am willing to allow you to leave the castle and be by yourselves. Or you can stay and continue your lessons. You don’t have to make this decision now. I will leave you two to decide.”
Kali stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her. Lithia and Hana looked at each other silently, thinking about the offer that was given to them.
Chapter 14
Lithia wakes up after hearing Ronan’s heavy breathing. She quickly gets out of bed just to see him doing pushups in his undergarments. She lustfully grins at his muscular shoulders and arms. Ronan stands up, breathing heavily while swinging his arms in circles to relax his muscles. At the edge of his eyes, he sees Lithia standing near the bed.
“Sorry. I did not mean to wake you. I got up earlier than expected and could not fall asleep again.”
“Oh, I did hear you getting up and having breakfast. It was the breathing that almost sounded like you were struggling against someone I could not sense.”
“I see. Well, I was struggling to do as many pushups as possible,” says Ronan, sarcastically.
He washes himself off with a wet cloth and puts some clothes on. Lithia gets dressed as well.
“By the way, I left some bread for you if you want it. It was the only thing I could see that was freshly made, without any poison added to it. I don’t trust anything in this town.”
“Thanks, but I think you should take it with you. Who knows when you will have the chance to eat something again. I do not eat as frequently as you need to, remember?”
“Point taken.”
He wraps up the bread and puts it in his bag. Lithia packs her stuff and they leave together the premise.
The boy who took their horses the night before is still covered in filth and smells after horses. He looks tired, as if he had only a few hours of sleep. Ronan wonders if the kid even slept at all.
The boy brings the wrong horses. Lithia and Ronan look at him, wondering if it is a prank, but the boy appears to be about to fall as he toggles, holding the reins of the horses that keep him on his feet. Ronan kneels down to his level.
“Did you sleep last night?”
The boy, who can barely keep his eyes open, slowly nods off.
“Come, Lithia. I think we need to get our horses by ourselves. The boy clearly had no sleep.”
Ronan gently grabs the boy by the shoulders and he wakes up immediately, staring in panic at Lithia. Ronan snaps his fingers.
“Where you forced to stay up all night?” asks Ronan.
The boy hesitates, avoiding eye contact.
“I assure you, I am not mad at you. Why don’t you show me who told you to work? I would like to speak to him.”
The boy silently points to the stables and lowers his head again. Ronan motions to Lithia to follow him.
In front of the stable, they hear a whip being cracked several times, then coursing from a man. As they enter, a man looks up and shouts.
“What? What they are doing here?”
He is a middle aged man, with a long, full-brown beard wearing soggy, raggedy clothing.
Ronan politely addresses the mix-up and wants to ensure they get the right horses.
“Did this fucking boy fuck up again? I will teach him a lesson.”
As the man approaches, the boy starts to winch and kneels down, hands over his head. The bearded man, who smells worse than the kid, makes Ronan and Lithia wanted to gag. Before he can reach out for the kid Ronan steps in front of him, looking displeased.
“Alright, you have some explaining to do,” Ronan says with a sharp tone. “If anyone should be punished, it is you for mixing up the horses in the first place. Also, it is clear that you don’t treat the kids morally. Forcing them to stay up all night at this age… no wonder they can’t get things done.”
The man, outraged, shouts at Ronan.
“Why the fuck does this matter to you? They are fucking children. If they want to make some money, they should work for it.”
He draws his face close to Ronan’s, trying to look menacing. At this stage, Ronan is tempted to punch him in the face but holds himself back. He takes a few steps back and looks at the boy.
“Do you still have these gold coins I gave you last night?” asks Ronan.
The boy shakes its head and looks at the foul-stenched man. Ronan, annoyed, pushes him violently away, causing him to fall on the ground. The few kids look at Ronan in amazement. All of them filthy, with ripped clothes and bruises on their faces, and most likely on their bodies, too. The man stands up and swears at Ronan, trying to swing his whip back. But the whip is gone, so he swings his hand only. Stunned, he looks at his empty hand. Ronan grins as he turns to Lithia, who is holding it in her hands.
“I will fucking kill you, you fucking bastards,” shouts the man and storms at Ronan. Ronan kicks him hard in the chest and he flies several meters back, gasping for air as he holds his chest.
Ronan slowly walks towards him after telling Lithia to grab their horses. The kids cheer at Ronan because he stood up for them. The man crawls away in panic on his back as he sees Ronan coming closer.
“Now listen you piece of shit,” says Ronan, threatening. “From now on you do not overwork these kids. They will go home now, if they have one, and get some rest and if people like me give them a reward, they keep it. The reason why I am not beating the shit out of you is because I do not want to shock these children by seeing a blood-soaked body.”
He looks at the kids and signals them to go out. One of the girls turns around and waves at him, but suddenly her happy face changes to shook. Ronan knows right away that the man is attacking him, so he quickly steps aside. The man flies past him, losing his balance and landing face forward on the ground. He immediately stands up in anger and attacks Ronan again by throwing fists at him. Ronan blocks his heavy punches with his arms. He waits for the right moment and punches him in the face. The bearded man is stunned at first, before more punches fly at him. His lips split and blood spits from his broken nose, as Ronan continues throwing punches at him. With an aimed upper-cut, the man timbers to the ground, rolling around as he holds his face, grunting in pain. Blood drips between his fingers and onto the ground.
Ronan shakes his hand and walks out of the stable, where Lithia is waiting for him with the horses, holding a bucket of water.
“Don’t tell me you want to splash me with it?” he asks, panicking slightly.
“No. It is just to wash your hands. You do have some of his blood on you.”
She graciously holds out the bucket. The water turns red as soon he puts his hands in. After he washes off the blood, Lithia tosses the bucket away. Afterwards, she uses a cloth and wipes off the very little blood splattered on his armour.
“Your fighting style was different. Is that what Royal guards learn?” asks Lithia.
“No. I have learned it in Asran when I was married. It is called kickboxing.”
“Wow. Looks like you can let out your frustrations on someone with that.”
Ronan smiles. “Come. Let us get out. Do not want to stay any longer here.”
Ronan takes a deep breath when they are far enough from the walls of Arde. Lithia can see that he feels more relaxed as they ride up the street.
How come,” she starts,” you don’t like being around people too much? You worked in Terom, which is packed with people.”
“I have never liked being surrounded by many people. If I have no other choice, I can accept it. In my case I needed to stay in Terom because there I could work my way up as a royal guard. Work was better and the pay higher than in any other place.”
“Fair enough, but now I have another question… see, you have told me that you don’t like children and yet you cared for those kids back there.”
“Yes, I don’t like children but it doesn’t mean that they need to be treated like that. That asshole was clearly slaving them to death. He enjoys having power over the weak, he knows they can’t fight back and would do anything to keep this power if someone like me steps in-between.”
“Were you considering on killing him?”
“It occured to me, but since I am with you I wanted to be sure that you don't get the blame for it.”
“Noran may come through here eventually and know about us, but I see your point. How many people did you kill so far? Without this trip.”
Ronan looks at her in surprise. He was not expecting this question so he thinks about remaining silent, but then decides to answer indirectly.
“I think you have killed more in your four hundred years than I have.”
“In my case, it would be mainly monsters since this is what I do. As for humans... only in self-defense.”
“Same here, minus the monsters of course,” he says, shrugging.
“I guess this was too personal?” asked Lithia, slightly ashamed.
“I have no problem answering personal questions. It’s the question itself that is something no sane individual would proudly answer,” replies Ronan, cold.
“I am sorry. I did not mean to offend you.”
“No harm done. Just be more aware what questions you ask. Not only to me, to anyone. Well, sane humans that is. I guess you talk about how many you have killed, which would make sense since it is your job, but my job is to uphold the rules. We don't usually kill, but if someone is causing problems like serious crimes such as murders, we do it without hesitation.”
“I am really glad I can be with you. I am learning much more about your kind, and you of course.”
She glances at him with a warm smile that Ronan acknowledges with a smile as well.
“You really like me, don’t you?” he asks, cunningly.
“Yes, I do. Nothing has changed since last night. I am still amazed that you actually have interest in me.”
“As my friend Daniel said, I have always been after special women. But you do know that we humans don’t live that long and I will not look like this in twenty years, right?”
“I know that. But I would still like to enjoy this time with you, as long as it lasts.”
She holds her hand out as she comes closer with her horse. He takes it and smiles warmly at her.
“Well then. I guess we should keep on moving, otherwise we will meet your friends in a month,” says Ronan.
He is about to put on his gear but Lithia stops him.
“We ride at the speed you are accustomed with. We will still manage to get there in time. These horses don’t need to rest as your regular ones. Also, I don’t think we will get any more surprises from Noran.”
“That’s what I thought as well and look what happened last night.”
“True. But this path is not very common. This is why I want to take it. He would not think that we go there. He might have his creatures luring on paths and roads where he thinks we will travel on, but not through that forest.”
“I guess we will find out if you are right. I am just surprised that you are taking it all so calmly of a sudden. Several days ago you were in a hurry.”
“I know. But my friends are out of his reach.” She pauses for a moment. “And I know this is very selfish of me, but I honestly want to spend more time with you. Who knows if we can be together once we try to assassinate him.”
Ronan is not sure how to respond to her sentimentality. Yet, at the same time, he knows she is right. One of them may die, if not both, and they will never be together again. He questions if it is desperation to be near a woman again, or if he really likes her but does not know how to accept it. Especially now that she opened up to him, and he cannot deny that he also feels attracted to her and wants to treasure this rare occurrence for as long as it could last.
He can see that she is shy but willing to go through it, so he decides to accept.
“It is selfish, but since we have been open with each other I would like to spend more time with you, too,” says Ronan, calmly.
“Thank you,” responds Lithia relaxed. “We both haven’t had anyone for such a long time and I trust you. Something I very rarely do with humans. I take it that you don't trust me entirely at this stage. I know what you want to say about last night, but I trusted you for not exploiting me and you did not disappoint.”
Both remain silent for a while, avoiding eye contact. Ronan breaks the silence without looking at her.
“I trust you for doing the right thing. You have shown me who you really are and that not everyone of your kind is as we were told. You also have flaws and emotions as we do. For this, you have earned my respect. You may not have conquered my entire heart but you are very close on achieving it.”
The comforting smile from Ronan delights Lithia. She hits the reins and yells.
“Catch me if you can.”
Chapter 15
It is late afternoon when Lithia points to Ronan to the forest far ahead. They ride over open fields of grass and flowers.
The forest they are heading to looks like any other forest Ronan came across: huge trees, dense vegetation and the smell of mushrooms. But he has a funny feeling about this one the closer they come to it. It feels like suddenly everything becomes silent, as if life stops there.
“When you came through here, was it always this quiet?”
“I don’t know. I usually race through. I did not take any notice when I walked around to see if there was anything that could potentially harm any beings, since it is said that no one came out of it.”
“Well, it certainly is big, but I do not think that anyone who enters would get lost. Also, who knows what animals are here.”
“Actually, there is one funny thing. I did not sense anything. Usually I sense wildlife around me, but not here. Wait, are you telling me you are afraid to go in there because you can’t hear anything?”
“It is just a funny feeling I am having getting closer to it. Usually, when I have this feeling, something always happens.”
“I am still around, which should conclude that nothing is in there that would harm you. Besides some lonely bandits, that is all I can think of that could harm anyone. If they are in there, of course.”
They arrive in front of the forest. It looks dark as they peer through the trees, even when the descending sun shines in. Most of the trees has thick trunks and, to Ronan’s surprise, the barks are very dark for the type of trees. Oak, pine, mahogany, chestnut, all their barks are charcoal in colour.
“You must have gone through this forest without looking. Don’t you find it strange that the barks here are all so dark? And it looks like it’s their natural colour, not caused by a fire.”
