Act IX

by Alexander Gordon

  Everyone fell silent from those words as the wraith giggled and hopped about on her knees in excitement. Slowly all eyes turned to Alyssa who was staring at Cindy with surprise.

  “Alyssa?” she carefully asked. “That’s the witch you’re looking for?”

  “Uh huh!”

  “Alyssa… the Wildfire Witch, by chance?” Kroanette slowly added.

  “That’s her.”

  “Why would you want to go after that witch?” Falla cautiously said. “She uses fire with her magic. You do know that, right?”

  “I know that,” Cindy worried as she lowered her head. “But mom said she can’t create fire out of nothing. As long as there’s no fire around her I can catch her. It’s really dangerous, and I’m kind of scared too, but I have to do it. I have to make my mom proud by doing this.”

  “Do you think the Alyssa she’s looking for is our Alyssa?” Luna wondered with a curious eye on the witch.

  “Luna!” Falla shouted at her, with the group seeing Cindy locking her eyes onto Alyssa from hearing that. The witch took a few steps back as Cindy stood up and peered closely at her.

  “Why would you say that?” Kroanette demanded.

  “I was just curious,” Luna defended with a nervous smile. “I mean our Alyssa is Alyssa the Wildfire Witch, so I was wondering if there’s another Alyssa the Wildfire Witch out there somewhere or if our Alyssa is the only Alyssa the Wildfire Witch. Maybe there’s more than one Alyssa the Wildfire Witch.”

  “Stop saying her name!” Specca shouted at her as Alyssa tensed up from seeing the sand wraith staring intently at her.

  “Wait,” Cindy carefully said. “You’re Alyssa? The Wildfire Witch?”

  “She’s Alyssa the Wildfire Witch,” Luna answered pointing to her, with the group looking at her in disbelief while she had a curious expression on her face. “But is there another Alyssa the Wildfire Witch out there too?”

  “Luna, shut up already!” Falla barked out as she clamped her hands over her sister’s mouth.

  “Oh my gosh,” Cindy gasped with surprise. “Is that true?”

  Alyssa took another step back while Triska got ready to draw her blade out again, everyone keeping a close eye on Cindy as she remained still and quiet for a moment before she turned to Luna with despair.

  “Is that true? There’s more than one Alyssa the Wildfire Witch out here?”

  Silence filled the area as the group stared at the wraith with blank expressions, her worried eyes going from one person to the next before back to Alyssa who remained on guard from her.

  “Oh no, if there is more than one, how can I know if this Alyssa is the right one? I thought there was only one Alyssa the Wildfire Witch out here, not two. Or maybe there’s not two, maybe there’s three! Or even worse, five!”

  “What about four?” Pip asked holding up a hand.

  “Don’t say that, it couldn’t possibly get any worse if there were four of them out here!”

  “But five is more than four,” Specca commented. “And you mentioned that already.”

  “Five is more than four?” Cindy cried out in shock. “Oh my gosh, this is really horrible! I did say five just now! Oh no, what am I going to do?”

  “Is she being serious?” Clover dryly asked.

  “I believe she is,” Kroanette mused with a raised eyebrow.

  “This is just the worst,” Cindy sobbed as she dropped to her knees. “Now what do I do? How can I know if this is the right Alyssa to take with me? If I bring the wrong Alyssa with me I’ll be in big trouble. Mom, I need your help! I’m so confused!”

  Alyssa blinked then dropped her defensive stance as she watched the crying wraith in stunned silence. After a while she shook her head then looked around at seeing the group also watching Cindy curiously.

  “Seriously, what is wrong with her?”

  “She’s… not that bright,” Triska reasoned with a shrug.

  “She’s a baby,” Daniel realized in awe.

  “I don’t believe calling her names like that is very nice,” Doku mentioned to him with concern.

  “No, I mean, she’s a youngling sand wraith,” Daniel said pointing to Cindy.

  “Bullshit,” Clover scoffed. “Her chest and hips don’t say youngling at all.”

  “I think Daniel is correct,” Specca agreed. “The number of victims she has is very low, almost like she just recently started devouring others. And the way she talks and acts, it’s just like a young child would.”

  “Look at her fucking boobs,” Clover snapped as she pointed to the sobbing wraith. “That is not a child.”

  “Sand wraiths don’t have little babies when they give birth,” Specca retorted. “They split into two, with the daughter being a little smaller than the mother until they eat more in life. She very well could be a baby still, despite her appearance.”

  “Again, look at those fucking breasts,” Clover snarled with obvious ire towards Cindy’s chest. “That is not a little child that just came into this world. No fucking way.”

  “Alyssa’s older than any of us,” Triska mentioned with a glance to the towel-clad elf. “And she looks like she’s the youngest. You can’t judge a monster by their appearance alone, Clover.”

  Daniel walked over and knelt down beside Cindy, gently resting a hand on her shoulder as she was sobbing in her despair. Turning her teary eyes onto him he took a careful gaze into them, the innocent and confused look they had affirming his suspicions about her.

  “Cindy, how old are you?”

  She slowly held up her hands with six fingers extended out.

  “You’re six years old?” he asked in amazement.

  “No,” she said shaking her head. “I’m six weeks old.”

  “Bull-fucking-shit!” Clover shouted out. “Like hell those boobs were grown in six weeks! God fucking dammit, are you shitting me?”

  “You’re really insecure about your bust size, aren’t you?” Falla mentioned with a glance to the elf.

  “That is just not fair!”

  Daniel tried to tune out Clover’s shouted obscenities and rants about Cindy’s bust size being larger than her own, something that was difficult as the elf was clearly pissed off and had a louder voice because of it, then gently wiped the tears from Cindy’s face once again.

  “Cindy, may I ask who hired you and your mother to look for Alyssa?”

  “A mean witch,” Cindy answered with a frown. “She’s not nice at all. I don’t like her.”

  “What’s her name?” Alyssa asked stepping closer. “Who’s looking for m- I mean, who’s looking for Alyssa?”

  “Ember,” Cindy told her, with the group jumping from that. “Her name is Ember.”

  “The Hellfire Witch?” Triska questioned with a sympathetic look at Alyssa. The witch lowered her head and closed her eyes as Cindy nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah, that’s her,” Cindy said looking down with concern. “She’s really mean too. But she’s offering my mom and me lots of gold if we bring Alyssa to her alive. It’ll be nice once we finish this job, I don’t want to see her anymore. She’s scary.”

  “You won’t see her anymore,” Alyssa promised her. “Don’t worry, she won’t scare you ever again.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Cindy… I’m Alyssa the Wildfire Witch,” Alyssa admitted with a saddened look at the wraith.

  “I know that. But I don’t know if you’re the right Alyssa the Wildfire Witch. There might be more Alyssa the Wildfire Witches out there, remember?”

  “No there aren’t. I’m the only one.”

  “You are?” Cindy asked in wonder. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Ember was my daughter. I’m the one and only Alyssa the Wildfire Witch in all of Eden.”

  Cindy gasped then quickly grabbed Alyssa and stood up, holding the witch high above the ground with a bright smile on her face. Everyone tensed up as the wraith held Alyssa up in her arms, with the witch only showing a saddened look at Cindy while not trying to esc
ape her hold in the least.

  “Hooray! If you’re the only one that means I found the right one! This is amazing! I did it, mom! I found Alyssa!”

  “Yeah, good for you,” Alyssa sighed. “But you can’t take me to Ember now, Cindy.”

  “What do you mean?” Cindy asked with a curious smile. “Yes I can. I have you right now, and I’m never letting you go, no matter what tries to stop me.”

  “You don’t say,” Triska dryly commented while rolling her eyes, hand still ready to draw her sword that the wraith apparently forgot she had.

  “Cindy, she’s telling the truth,” Daniel agreed with a remorseful frown. “You can’t take Alyssa to Ember anymore.”

  “But why not?” she asked with confusion. “I have Alyssa right here. Why can’t I take her to Ember now?”

  “Because she’s dead,” Alyssa sorrowfully told her.

  Cindy blinked and just stared at the witch for a long while, a gentle breeze blowing by making the only sound as the wraith appeared to be struggling with realizing what that meant.

  “Dead?”

  “She came looking for Alyssa herself,” Triska explained. “And she died in doing so. This sword I have was hers.”

  “Wait, that’s Ember’s sword?” Cindy questioned with a puzzled look at the blade. “I know she had a scary sword of fire too, but I didn’t know that was hers.”

  “Yes. She broke my sword, so I kept this as a replacement. She’s dead and gone, Cindy.”

  Cindy paused for a moment then looked at Alyssa with a curious expression, with the witch and everyone else watching as the wraith again remained still and silent for a long time as she obviously tried to put these simple pieces together.

  “But… if she’s dead then how can I take you to her?”

  “You can’t,” Alyssa said shaking her head.

  Again there was a long pause as Cindy’s empty gaze remained locked on the witch. After it finally sunk in nearly a minute later a worried frown came across her face.

  “But then… if I can’t take you to her, how are we going to get our gold?”

  “You’re not getting your gold,” Clover groaned with annoyance. “Don’t you get it? Your employer is dead; nobody’s paying you anything for Alyssa now.”

  The blank look in Cindy’s eyes made it difficult to tell whether she was seeing the full picture or not, and the long silence that accompanied it making everyone wonder just how slow this sand wraith really was. After it appeared to have finally connected in her mind she looked over to Daniel with a nervous frown then to Clover before back to the witch in her hands.

  “But… if Ember is dead… and I have nobody to take you to… then… what do I do now?”

  “For starters you can put me down,” Alyssa answered with a shrug.

  Cindy sniffled and whimpered as her eyes watered up, the group seeing her struggling to hold in her sobs for a moment before she broke down crying. She dropped to her knees yet still kept Alyssa held up off the ground, her cries echoing out around the area as she wailed in despair.

  “No! It’s not fair! I finally found you after walking all over! I tried so hard to do good, I really did! Now I let my mom down! Waaaaaaaaaaaah!”

  “This is the same monster that tried to kill you earlier?” Falla asked Specca.

  “Yes, it is,” Specca unsurely answered.

  “Now what do I do?” Cindy sobbed while Alyssa was at this point attempting to touch down at the ground with her feet. “I can’t take Alyssa anywhere now, we’re not going to get any gold! This is horrible! Well, actually, I am glad Ember’s gone, she was really mean, but still. This is just awful! Mom, what do I do now? Help me!”

  “Could you let me down while you have your little breakdown?” Alyssa asked while trying to set foot on the ground.

  Instead of complying with that request Cindy hugged the witch close while sobbing uncontrollably, pressing Alyssa’s face deep into her bosom with arms flailing around and muffled shouts coming from the wraith’s chest.

  “This sucks! Everything is horrible now! Well, I guess Ember being gone isn’t horrible, that’s a good thing, but still. We’re not going to get any money and I don’t know what to do with Alyssa anymore!”

  “Could you set her down? Please?” Kroanette plainly asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “I don’t think she can breathe like that,” Luna worried as the group saw Alyssa batting her hands against the wraith’s chest and face, doing nothing to stop the sobbing girl in the least from holding the witch firmly in place.

  Cindy sniffled and turned her sights to Daniel with tears running down her cheeks, her arms pressing Alyssa against her chest as if cuddling a teddy bear.

  “Can I please eat you all now?” Cindy whimpered. “Please? If I don’t do that mom will be very upset with me.”

  “No, I’m sorry,” Daniel answered with a weak smile. “But none of us are going to be food for you today. Now, could you please let Alyssa go? You don’t need her anymore.”

  “But I have to eat you all,” Cindy whined with teary eyes down at Alyssa. Her chest began to shift into sand with the witch pushing further into it, her muffled screams of terror being lost as Cindy started to pull the small monster into herself.

  “Alyssa!” Specca screamed out.

  “Don’t you dare!” Triska ordered as she yanked out her sword, the metallic ring and crimson flash of the blade catching everyone’s attention including Cindy who stared at the cambion in terror.

  “Let her go this instant!” Kroanette demanded.

  “Don’t eat her!” Pip whined shaking her head.

  “But… I have to…” Cindy sniveled as Triska marched up to her. Raising her sword up the sand wraith shut her eyes and screamed in fright, arms still holding Alyssa close while the witch was glancing up at the sword that had fire swirling off its heated edge.

  “Let her GO!” Triska shouted out.

  “Cindy, please!” Daniel begged as he stepped closer. “Don’t hurt her. Let Alyssa go, right now.”

  “If you try to eat her you’ll be sorry,” Luna warned.

  Cindy cried in sorrow before looking down to Alyssa, the witch screaming something into her sandy chest while trying to shake her head.

  “I have to, otherwise… I… um… but…”

  Hesitating for a moment Cindy shut her eyes and raised her head with a whine, taking a few slow breaths before she let Alyssa go. The witch dropped onto her rear gasping and coughing as she wiped sand off her face, herself and everyone else watching as Cindy sobbed and shook her head.

  “I’m sorry, mom,” she sadly said as if to herself. “I failed you. I can’t bring Alyssa to Ember anymore, I can’t even eat them. They’re being mean to me with fire, and I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry, mom. I’m a… I’m a…”

  Taking a few deep breaths she then screamed and curled into a ball on the ground.

  “I’m a bad girl! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

  “The poor dear,” Doku empathized.

  “She really is just an infant,” Specca curiously said.

  Alyssa coughed and stumbled back to her feet before looking at Triska in disbelief.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” she cried out.

  “What? Me?” Triska asked puzzled.

  “Were you seriously going to swing your sword at her just now? I was stuck inside of her, remember? You would have killed me too!”

  “I wasn’t going to hit you,” Triska snapped back. “I was only going to hit her, I wouldn’t have touched you. Besides, I was trying to save you, this sword is the only reason she didn’t eat you or Specca.”

  “What do you mean you weren’t going to hit me?” Alyssa yelled back. “I saw you swinging that sword around before, you nearly killed all of us and we were standing behind you then! Like bloody hell you would have been able to hack at this wraith without killing me in the process!”

  “Shut up! I saved you from being eaten alive by her! Show some goddamned gratitude!”

 
; “Stop,” Daniel called out. The girls saw him shaking his head while he was watching Cindy with concern. Everyone looked down and saw the wraith now trembling while holding hands over her ears and keeping her eyes shut tight.

  “You’re scaring her out of her wits,” Daniel said walking over and kneeling down next to Cindy. “Please stop shouting near her like this.”

  “She tried to eat me just now!” Alyssa whined.

  “Stop shouting, Alyssa,” Doku scolded as she came closer and knelt down next to the wraith. “Both of you are scaring her. Can’t you see that?”

  “Put your sword away, Triska,” Daniel requested. “She’s not going to be eating any of us today. Don’t frighten her with it right now. I won’t be able to reason with her at all if she’s afraid of us like this.”

  Triska groaned in annoyance before reluctantly sheathing her blade again.

  “Fine. But I’m serious, if she tries to eat anyone else again I’m not going to go easy on her.”

  Daniel nodded while gently resting his hand on Cindy’s shoulder. The wraith slowly peeked at him with one eye while shaking in fear, seeing him smiling kindly down at her while the other girls watched the wraith carefully.

  “Please don’t try to eat us, okay? In return Triska won’t draw her sword again. Deal?”

  “But… I-”

  “Are you hungry?”

  Cindy sniffled then slowly nodded as she sat up, watching Daniel with timid eyes while wiping her tears away.

  “How about we get you something to eat, something other than us,” Daniel suggested. “I can see you’re upset about a lot of things right now, and being hungry can’t be making that any easier for you. If you be nice to us, we’ll be nice to you, and offer you some food. How does that sound?”

  Cindy slowly looked around at the girls then back to Daniel with a confused expression on her face.

  “But you are food,” she said curiously. “Does this mean I can eat you?”