Chapitre 18: Pups

My fingers sprawled on the grass while I raised my lamp to see beyond the dark. There had got to be a reptile's skin in here somewhere.

My eyes twinkled when a transparent plastic-like thing caught my attention. It was perched beside a trunk, hidden by the long leave of grass and mushrooms. And I was even more surprised to find a carcass of a dead bird with blood moss growing in blotches of red.

"Wow . . . I didn't expect to find you two so quickly." I was glad that nature was still kind to me. It was only thirty minutes, and I've got all the ingredients I needed. It was one of the many perks of being a white witch. Nature was helping us more than any other witches.

That was why I didn't want to take the easy route by killing for a spell or ingredients. Once you step on that side, there is no redeeming you. Sprites and mythical creatures would avoid you like you're a hag, out for their hearts. And nature would deny you ingredients resulting in you killing for materials to concoct potions and spells.

These witches mainly belong to the group of black witches, or we called them hags for short.

Not madam Bertud, she was not a witch. I just like to call her that because her personality was nasty even though she was a believer of the Church who preached being good in order to be in the loving grace of the Goddess Luminaire when they die.

I didn't judge her for that, though, since most humans were like that. Only a few truly do follow the Church's teachings. Even most priests and bishops indulged in their desires.

I went to my feet and cross-checked my lists and ingredients. When everything was complete, I picked up my basket and went out of the forest into the dirt road.

Rustle . . .

My ears perked, and I skidded to stop. I heard voices near the road and hid behind a large tree trunk.

"Hurry up. We're already late."

"Wait your damn horses. Or do you want me to pee on the wagon?"

I frowned. What are humans doing traveling in the middle of the night? I thought and peeked at them.

There were at least five men, including the coach, and all of them were rippling with muscles and fat. From the looks of their ugly faces, they weren't vampires, and they lacked the godly physique of a werewolf.

Trinity hid and closed her eyes. They were definitely up to no good, else why risk traveling at night when vampires were at large? Not even traveling merchants who hired dozens of guards would dare try their luck in traversing the darkness.

Unless they're blood dealers or . . .

"Traffickers?" I assumed upon inspecting their large wagon. It could only contain vampires or werewolves since they were traversing in human soil.

They would probably going to sell them to a noble household. Though they were dangerous creatures, they were beautiful, and some had fetishes over them.

I shrugged. Not my problem.

I'd just have to wait until they were out of sight and go back home. I was going to take a short nap when one of them spoke.

"Hey! That brat is escaping again!"

My attention was piqued when a little boy with pink hair was captured and slapped to the floor. But even with his little built, he bared his teeth and growled.

"Brat! How many times must I tell you to be a good pup?"

"Be careful. We don't want too many bruises on his skin. It'll lower the price."

"Then chain him up properly! Damn rascal!"

Pup? I thought. It must be a young werewolf then. Too bad that pups his age couldn't manifest their wolves until the age of fourteen. The boy looked like ten years old.

Augh . . . my head spun for a second when a memory invaded my head.

-- "Why is your face look like ice?"

"It's my face."

"Don't you know how to smile?"

"It's my face."

"Must be a defect then. Don't worry! I will concoct potions to cure you!"

". . . it's my face." --

I held my head and gasped when it pounded hard, and my momentary blunder cost me my hidden position.

"Who are you?"

My breath hitched at my throat over the face of a bulky man zooming closer to me.

He frowned and grabbed me by the shoulder, dragging me out from the forest into the open dirt path.

"I found a rat."

The others looked at me from head to toe, and their faces sour. "An ugly rat at that."

I held back my own retort. Aren't they scared that I was a vampire or a werewolf, at least? But that was impossible based on my ugly appearance.

"Hmmm . . . what are you doing out so late, girly?" another asked with a gaze full of lust. He apparently didn't care that I was covered in warts and pimples as long as I was a woman.

I pretended to cower and lowered my face. "I was gathering herbs in the forest for breakfast later."

A man tossed his brow upward. "In the middle of the night?"

When suspicions crossed their faces, that was when I chanted a spell. Nothing complicated, just a short spell to make them dream for seconds so I could run into the village.

But before I could open my mouth, someone landed in front of me and the next thing I knew the man holding me from behind lost his head.

I blinked, and the fight was over. The towering men were now lying on the floors with their limbs torn from their bodies.

The massacre of five men was so silent and fast, and I knew just one being who could do it . . .

The man threw the head in his hand, and under the glow of the two moons, our eyes locked.

His tall physique told of lean muscles under his cloak. His face was hidden behind a mask, and only his slit irises encased in dilated silver eyes were shown . . . so beautiful and majestic . . . but also feral and deadly.

"A werewolf . . ."

----

A/N

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