Episode 4 – Deep in the Woods

The caravans left our village the morning after the attack. And the forest was back to its dark, comforting silence. Those were some of the days I liked the most. Once all the tourists and soldiers left the village the forest would slowly go back to its regular routine. The birds and small animals that had fled from the hunting humans made their way back to our little valley and Mother and I would slowly get back to our daily lives as well. In the mornings she would teach me, and after lunch, we would experiment with spells and cooking. But this time, it was different.

Our cottage rested deep in the forest, about half a day’s walk above town. Astra chose a strategic place from where we could see not only the village but all the official roads that came in and out of town. We could also see most of the trails the not-so-official merchants, criminals and wanderers went through. It was a way to keep us safe from imminent danger, but it was also a great place to gather ingredients and fresh water since our cottage had a small pond that connected to the river. Clean water, a forest for safety and all the ingredients we could need for witchcraft – a witch’s dream home.

Astra woke me up the morning after the festival and told me to dress warmly, we were going even further into the forest. When I came down, Mother had already packed us a few days’ supply of provisions — we would not be back today. As we walked up the mountain not only the air grew colder and thinner, but the woods became deeper. The path was harder, my tiny feet had a hard time not sliding down rocks and old wood covered in moss. The trees were larger in scale and in quantity. The green was also becoming darker and deeper, and fewer birds or animals came to curiously look at us. And then we reached a rock wall.

“Come, Alana,” Astra said while cleaning the rock with her hands, revealing a spell written in the old language, carved in the wall. “You still have much to learn, but this you must learn right now. Can you read what it says?”

“It says…” It took me a while, the old language was not something I mastered – I was only 12.

“Nothing… That is not loved shall pass?”

“It looks like that, right? But when using the old language for spells, we need to remember that in witchcraft nothing refers only to material things, and love is something a witch can only truly feel for living beings.”

“So… No one who is not loved shall pass?”

And as I finished saying it the letters shined red and a crack opened in the dark mossy rock. As someone who grew up reading fantasy books in my past life, this was at the same time very cool and very underwhelming. Magic, in reality, was much more practical than fantastical. There was no secret door opening up and revealing a golden path, all we needed was a triangle-shaped crack tall and large enough for the taller of us to go through, so that’s what we got.

“Every coven used to have a cave, and there are many caves like this one lost and abandoned in different woods around the country. This one is the newest of them in age, as it was one I created when I first moved here.” Mother said while we made our way through the dark narrow path. The path kept getting damper and narrower and when we reached the other side Mother had to curve her back to slip through it. “Each cave have a say that will open it, and only witches have the power to open them.”

We finally arrived in an open space but I could see nothing until Astra whispered “Fire” and the place lighted up and whatever that space was, it was was quite the opposite of underwhelming. I faced a whole library of books, maps and other things pilled up in wooden bookcases resting over rugs, a fireplace, a wooden table with pairing chair, a leather couch and a freaking reclining chair. This place was much more comfortable than our little cottage in the woods. I ran to sit on the couch and my small butt had never felt so comfortable in my whole second life – It was amazing.

“Why is this cave so much nicer than our home?” – I asked with the unrestrained mind of a child. Mother laughed, the first time she did so since the whole fanfare in the town square yesterday. “I mean… Why can’t we have nice cushions back at home too?”
Astra snuggled me into a hug and covered me with kisses. “You’re too adorable, my dear. We can take some of the cushions back with us. I guess I just got used to living frugally in the woods.”

The wide room had a big fireplace in one of the corners. It was a semi-circle carved in the rock with a few logs piled up one another. It was magic fire, which meant there was no need for a chimney, so when Mother lightened it the warmth spread through the room without filling it with smoke. Though not as strong as actual fire, the magical fire could be adjusted to different places and requirements. This one smelled like pine burning, and I could feel a protective spell in it, but I wasn’t sure which one. The rug next to it had a darker tone near the edge – probably from the years of slowly burning – and there were also cushions on the floor. I was slightly offended by their existence.

Astra was piling up books and scrolls on top of a large wooden table, she got to it as soon as we arrived and was going up and down the wooden stairs in the bookcases, opening trunks and boxes.

“How can I help?” I asked while sitting on the recliner.

She stopped working and handed me a sandwich from one of the pouches we brought. “Eat this.” She said after having a bite of it herself. “There’s more in the pouch if you want. Food, I mean.”

“How come you never brought me here before?”

She took a deep breath filled with a mix of sadness and resignation.

“I hoped I could give you a few more years of liberty before you had to choose. But we no longer have that option, and you no longer have a choice.”

“You mean chose to become a Witch? I chose that the moment I saw you use magic for the first time. And I though the awakening meant I was already a witch…”

“You are, but this is a hard path, and yours will be harder then I’d like to… I’ll explain everything to you later tonight, I promise.” She then handed me a book. “Inside that trunk, next to the small cauldron. Fetch that blanket and snuggle up. We’ll be here for a while, so go through this book while you wait, I need to concentrate.”

I pushed the recliner closer to the fire and while I ate the sandwich I started reading “Culinary and Witchcraft”. I was not big on cooking, but loved witchcraft. It was a cooking book teaching how to cast spells while cooking, and a few things started to make sense about how good Mother’s cooking was. I kept reading until I fell asleep in the absolute comfort only a well-upholstered bed can provide. I wished we could live here forever.

The fire was everywhere. I wasn’t on fire but I could see other people burning. I cried but there was no sound coming out of my mouth – my throat was dry and hoarse, painful. I felt my finger tingle and they were burned.

I looked up, trying to figure out where I was and all I could see was a full moon, huge and bright.

It dripped on my forehead and right after it I was drawing in bright yellow water, until a dark hand grabbed mine and pulled me out of it – I woke up.

Astra was still piling up books, but they were now also on the floors. She had divided them through some sort of system and had a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other.

I sat down, sweaty and panting. She looked at me and asked,

“What did you dream of?”

I held my hand to my eyes and noticed I was crying. I had burned the tip of my index finger, but I was still on the recliner and there was no sight of fire anywhere.

“Mom… What just happened?” I asked while trying to fight the tears.

Astra pulled the chair from behind the wooden table and placed it next to me. She sat down and cleared my tears with her sleeve.

From the pouch on her waist, she pulled up two Everlasting Sleep leaves – a very rare kind of herb, very hard to find. She rolled the leaves around my burned finger, closed her eyes and blew a spell on it. A small cold light came out of the leaf that first frosted and then dissipated into the air.

“I’m sorry, my child. But you’re destiny has been written with ink and fire, and it will take more than just some spells to change it. I can’t do it alone, and neither can you. Tonight you understand our past so that you can change your future.”