V Way Back Home

My journey back was not going smoothly as I had to pass through several inclines filled with thick snow. I climbed slowly and stepped my feet firmly on the ground. My hands held on to the lush grass, which was quite difficult on the way down, but very helpful on the way up. After feeling quite tired due to the difficult terrain, I decided to rest for a while.

Suddenly there was a noise from behind a bush. I ignored it and thought it was just the sound of wild animals, although my feelings told me otherwise. The longer it went on, the clearer the sound became. I approached the bush to check, but there was nothing. I hurried away.

Cornwall was far to the north and I had to pass through Windstone to get to York. But I didn't want to go through that place, so I planned to take the route south and then turn east. Passing through the forest which I thought was better than the vast plain of Windstone which was so cold and lonely.

From the moment I started entering the forest, there were noises that seemed to follow. I kept walking regardless. For a moment, the noise disappeared, then came back even louder. I was sure it wasn't an animal or just the wind. I had a bad feeling and gripped my rifle tightly. Suddenly a female witch glided towards me on a broomstick. I dodged and fired my gun, but my shots always missed.

The witch kept flying and was able to dodge so nimbly, while continuing to retaliate with her magic. Meanwhile, I tried so hard to avoid her that the magic hit the trees and broke the branches. Unfortunately, one last shot of magic managed to hit my body and I was thrown violently to the ground.

I tried to get up and find another way by running to the east. There were many trees that were short but had long and strong branches. The witch chased me with her broom. I started running between the short trees while trying to think of a technique to attack her.

A long branch crossed in front of me. I quickly ducked and threw my body forward. Apparently my reflexes were pretty good. Unprepared, the witch had no time to dodge and hit the branch hard then crashed to the ground, while her broom continued to fly somewhere.

The witch got up and laughed. She looked very old, ugly with her matted hair and torn dress.

"You're just hunting alone? Why didn't you bring your friends?" She let out a shrill witchy laugh.

"You should be grateful that I'm alone! Let's see how far your magic can go!"

I pulled the trigger and fired a bullet at her. She was quite surprised but a single bullet was not enough to make a significant wound. The witch laughed again and pulled out a very sharp dagger. She suddenly jumped at me and tried to stab me with her dagger.

With my quick reflexes, I lay underneath her and kept her at bay with my rifle. When the dagger was almost in front of my neck, I kicked it with all my power until the witch fell to the ground. I think my heavy, thick boots were quiet good in creating a lethal kick. It looked like she was in quite a bit of pain as I kicked her right in the chest. Still better than a bullet hitting her arm.

Among the lush trees around me, there were some hanging roots that seemed strong enough to swing. I quickly climbed up one of the trees by holding on to the root rope. When the witch started to stand up, I slid up using the roots and knocked the old witch into another, larger tree. I pulled out a dagger and stabbed her right in the heart. She screamed and instantly her body turned into a pile of ashes.

***

After traveling through the rough terrain and meeting that annoying witch, I arrived at Glaze. The atmosphere was bustling. Several healers and blacksmiths were gathered around, walking around like they were talking about something. It seemed like the atmosphere here was chaotic but I didn't see any troops on guard. Then someone called out to me from behind the crowd.

"Jenna!" I turned around.

Kingsleigh was calling me from the gate. He waved his hand at me and rushed over. He hugged me tightly.

"Where have you been? We were worried about you because we couldn't find you anywhere!" Kingsleigh asked worriedly.

"It's a long story. It's because Emma and I were attacked by hundreds of crows because of that ugly witch!" I grumbled.

"I'll explain later. I'm fine now, of course." I replied confidently.

"I thought about sending some people to look for you, but we decided against it. Emma also thought you were just lost. Then we decided to look for you if you hadn't returned by today." Kingsleigh put his arm around my shoulders and we walked towards the mansion.

"I get lost a long way. Very far!"

He's Alden's elder brother and my squad leader. Kingsleigh has always thought of me as his brother and so did he too. As an only child, I was happy to have a friend like him.

We were nearing the door of the mansion when Kingsleigh pulled me aside to talk for a moment.

"Apparently Francis Blake's words were true. The witches came and we fought with them. There weren't too many of them, so we managed to eliminate them all. It was some of their members who attacked you. The difference is that there were no crows."

"Huh...those damn birds! They're the ones who made me fall down the slope."

"And the violets..."

"We'd better not talk about that now."

I cut Kingsleigh off before he could continue. The witch with that ability had indeed risen. Either one of the remnants from the battle three years ago or another witch that had just appeared. The purplish glow I saw from Cornwall was a sign that they existed. But I didn't want to say that now.

"Where are the other friends?"

"They're fine. Emma got a few wounds after being attacked by a flock of crows. Luckily Alden moved quickly and managed to kill the witch."

We rushed to the infirmary, while Kingsleigh headed to the hall. Unusually, the infirmary was quite full with many hunters being treated. Including Marlon and Emma.

"Marlon!"

"Jenna! Where have you been?"

"It's a long story." I sat down and put down all my weapons. "Are your wounds bad?"

"There were many wounded among us during the hunt yesterday. Apparently the witches found out about our plan and they attacked back. Even my arm was cut by a witch's sword," Marlon showed me the wound on his left arm.

Meanwhile, Emma sat on the bed with a bandage on her arm. Her face looked reddish from the bruises.

"Emma!" I hugged her.

"Jenna!" her eyes lit up at my arrival. Excitement and worry seemed to envelop her.

"I was so worried about you! When I was attacked by those birds, Alden managed to kill the witch and save me. But you disappeared and we couldn't find you."

"I was running away and fell into a ravine. Um, I'm a little hurt, but I'm fine. "Where's Alden?".

"I don't know, he can't even eat and sleep properly because of thinking about you." Emma replied.

I rushed to find Alden and headed to our room. But there was no one there and the room looked messy. Then I remembered his favorite place, the attic. And sure enough, I found him alone there.

"Alden!"

He turned around, "Jenna!" He immediately hugged me and swung me around a few times. "Jenna, where have you been? I looked for you but I couldn't find you anywhere." Alden was so worried about me.

"I was fine. After Emma and I were attacked by hundreds of crows, I ran and fell into a ravine. A man saved me and I stayed at his house for the night."

"Who is he?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

"His name is Elgar, and his sister is Kathleen. They live in a village quite far across the forest. They treated my wounds, gave me food and a bed. I was treated very well even though we had never met before."

Alden let out a long breath and looked away from me. "You're fine now, but it's risky to go out with people you don't know."

"I know, but please don't tell anyone. Forget it!"

"Fine! Whatever happens, I'm glad you're back." Alden hugged and swung my body again.

"Stop it Alden." I said with a giggle. Suddenly I thought of father. "Does he know that I left?"

"No, he doesn't. He asked about you yesterday, but I told him that you were away with Emma, and his busy schedule made him believe me."

I felt relieved. father would have been very worried if he knew I wasn't coming home, and of course it would have made things worse. Looking for a missing person at night is like hunting a witch.

"Alright Alden, I want to go to my room."

"Jenna, what's the hurry?" Alden asked as if he couldn't let me go.

"I'm tired Alden, just want to rest a bit."