章節 5: Chapter 5
Elvira stomped towards her clueless sister, Leona. That idiot wouldn't even notice an army until an arrow pierced her body.
"Leona!" Elvira yelled and pulled her out of the crowd by her arm. They got some confused looks. Elvira passed a friendly smile their way. "Nothing to look here. Just a trivial dispute between two sisters," said Elvira. It was enough for the people to continue dancing.
Leona jumped excitedly and hugged her firmly. "Elvira, I am so glad to see you! Have you found Serena yet?"
Elvira pushed her away, hit her on the head, and pulled her ears.
"Ouch, ouch. What did I do to deserve this now?" Leona protested in pain.
All Elvira wanted to do was beat the crap out of her sister for putting both their lives in danger. It was not the first time Leona had done something like that. Elvira could, however, yell obscenities at her. Too many eyes were watching them, and many could hear them talk.
"Not here," said Elvira. She took her sister to the nearest vacant alley in the town.
"I told you not to come here, you dimwit!" Elvira wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, but it came out more like a hushed mumble.
Leona scrunched up her face. "What? Speak louder. I couldn't even hear you."
"You're a dimwit!" Elvira spoke again. Her volume was loud enough to hear that time, "I told you not to follow me, and you came here anyway! How did you get here before me? Did you use a fast travel spell straight to the town?"
Leona looked guilty as hell. "Uh, uh. No one even saw me! I made sure of that."
Elvira gnashed her teeth. "You mean no one saw you magically appear here out of thin air?"
"I landed in a bush near this town, and yes, no one saw me because they were busy with the festival. "Leona pouted. "And for your information, I just got here ten minutes ago."
Elvira folded her arms. "How could you have known where to land precisely in a town you have never seen? You at least need a mental image to make a precise landing in teleportation magic. Every kid in our coven knows that, and you think this would elude me!"
Leona sighed in defeat. "I apologize. I know I should've been more careful. Now that I am here, we can look for Serena together."
Elvira's nostrils flared up, and her hands clenched into fists. Her sister took a few steps back in fear. "You have put us both in danger, especially yourself!" Elvira yelled.
"Now that is a bit too extreme." Leona rolled her eyes. "I know I was wrong to land so close to the town, but what do we need to fear now? Spirits are our friends, Elvira. Are you asking me to fear humans now? What can they do to us?"
"We need to fear our enemies, the wizards..." began Elvira.
"What wizards?" Leona cut her off, "No one has seen one in decades and not even in centuries except you, Elvira. Your past encounter with the wizards has made you so fearful that you're just uttering nonsense now. You couldn't even speak in an audible voice in an empty valley. Do you realize how insane..."
"Leona!" Elvira covered her mouth with her hand. "I ran into real wizards just now in the forest. I don't know how many are there. I saw only four. They are here to capture the spirits of the forest. Charlotte's life is already in peril, and we can only pray she makes it out alive. If they found you, I don't know how to save you."
Leona froze in place. Her eyes bulged out, and a gagged scream escaped her mouth.
"I won't let anything happen to you. From now on, please listen and obey," said Elvira.
Leona pushed Elvira's hand away. "I don't want to die, Elvira. How are we going to get out of here?"
"I don't know yet," said Elvira, looking around. "We don't know this area at all. Charlotte did, but who knows where she is? I hope they don't find her. The wizards said they might spend the night somewhere near the forest. They shall be gone by tomorrow morning."
"Who said that?" asked Leona raising an eyebrow. "You talked to them? No one has ever talked to them without a fight. Were they unable to sense your witchly energy like the ones that attacked you decades ago?"
Elvira bombarded Leona with details about her recent encounter with the wizards, which shocked her sister.
"Woah, I can't believe an actual wizard escorted you to this town! You must have been so frightened, poor Elvira," said Leona. "It sounds like they are nice to humans, but not all of them because that blonde wizard seems like an angry douche."
"I was and am glad it's over," said Elvira. "Now we need an escape plan. We still don't know how many of them are out there. Some spirits could be trapped nearby, waiting for a chance to escape. They must have men all over the area to catch the escapees. So, I think our best chance is to lie low in this town until sunrise. It's our best shot. We have nothing on us to perform witchcraft, and we're too weak magically to do another teleportation spell so soon."
"Sure," said Leona.
"I have some gold," said Elvira. She pulled out some coins from her satchel bag. "It'll be enough to get us lodging for the night. I'll do some digging to find out more about the wizards. Just promise me you won't leave the room?"
Leona swore to stay inside at all costs. They then paid for accommodation in the town's smaller tavern. Elvira went downstairs, leaving her sister in the rented room. She was hoping to learn something from the innkeeper about the wizards. Any man would tell a beauty like her anything if she used her charms. Luckily, the innkeeper looked like a delightful young man who had given them a pleasant room for a cheap price.
To her dismay, she saw a middle-aged woman behind the innkeeper's desk, probably the mother of the young man they had met before.
Elvira ordered a mug of ale in disappointment. "An act of a clueless traveler might work," Elvira thought.
"Here you go," said the woman, handing her a foaming mug of ale. The inn was luckily not busy, probably because most of them were out celebrating on the streets.
"What are the people of this town celebrating, Mrs..?" asked Elvira with an innocent smile.
"Mrs. Harris. You must be a stranger to this town for not knowing that," said the unbothered woman.
"Yes, my sister and I were just passing through and needed a place to rest for the night," said Elvira.
"These people are celebrating because the Devil's Groove is finally getting rid of its demons. The wizards are here to catch all those good-for-nothing devil's spawn, "answered Mrs. Harris, pouring ale into another mug.
Elvira couldn't understand why the humans couldn't let the spirits live in the forests peacefully. Where else were the spirits supposed to live? Underwater or in the sky? Humans were everywhere, and they felt entitled to the lands more than any other species.
"I don't understand. People could have stopped traveling through the forest, "said Elvira.
"Most of them did, but these devils became night visitors. It was impossible to set foot out without running into a ghastly-looking creature after sunset. Even if someone's eyes could bear their frightful looks, they would chase after the brave ones, sometimes clawing and scratching them. And for the ignorant fools who took the forest path, we later found most of them as corpses in that cursed land."
Elvira was speechless. She couldn't believe that the spirits would kill for fun. Surely Charlotte must be unaware of those killings. In that case, the spirits deserved to be evicted by force.
Even though the witches of her coven had killed and sacrificed for power in the past, Elvira had never taken a life, not even in witchcraft. Since she believed their selfish nature brought doom to their race, she had nothing against doing magic for humans that included anything else.
Despite all that, she was still against taking an innocent's life. Her mother said she was too soft for their world and needed a harsher heart to survive as a witch.
"Why are the wizards helping them?" asked Elvira.
"I don't know," said the woman, "You could ask them."
Elvira accidentally sprayed the drink in her mouth onto the floor. "How? Are they spending the night here?"
"No," said Mrs. Harris, "We tried, but they have already chosen a much better place to stay on the other side of the forest."
Elvira sighed in relief and shook the woman's hand. "Thank you, Mrs. Harris, for telling me everything."
After nightfall, Leona insisted on joining in the festivities. As it wasn't dangerous anymore because the wizards were spending the night in another town, according to the innkeeper's wife, Elvira gave in to her request.
When Elvira stepped outside, the beauty of the nighttime festivities left her in awe. Luminaries and candles lit up the place as bright as day. She looked up and saw people releasing skylanterns into the air. The light of the shimmering gold lanterns increased the beauty of the starry night sky.
For a moment, she forgot all her worries. She advanced hand in hand with her sister and saw an entire buffet laid out by the townspeople. People were eating and drinking to their hearts. She shared a glance with Leona, who was already smiling heartily.
They took a seat beside some people at the table. There were also jesters and street performers entertaining people on the streets. It was delightful, and it spread joy on each person's face.
Grand Enchantress never allowed such loud festivals. Their celebrations were rare, small, and inside their own respective homes.
As they ate and enjoyed the performances, all their worries melted away. Elvira noticed a crowd in some distance. She got up to inquire and asked someone what all the hustle was about.
"Few wizards have come here to enjoy the festival with us," answered the man.
Elvira and Leona looked at each other, dumbfounded by what they had just heard. "Leona, run. I'll come to you when it is safe," Elvira whispered, and Leona ran for her life.
After Leona was out of sight, Elvira pushed herself through the crowd to see the faces of the wizards who were there to partake in the town's festival. She saw an unfamiliar man on one horse, and right behind him, she saw another horse whose rider was the wizard, Wivior.
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