by Drew Hayes
“I can all but promise you have never tasted this before; the recipe comes from across the Endless Sea. It is not the flavor in the pouch that I offer you, however. For our novelty, we offer the taste of freedom. There is but one catch, my friend. Do not close the door until we have begun to walk away. This is all I have of our powder right now. I won’t chance giving you too little to see the job finished, but we need to be safely out of range. Will you do that for us?”
“I will. And thank you, strangers. I have little faith that this will work, but I am grateful that you showed me the kindness to try.”
There was nothing left to say, so Frank motioned for the others to follow and they began to hurry away from the oven. Moving at a brisk but careful pace, they’d put it well behind them when an explosion tore through the forest with the force of a giant’s roar. Scarlett dove for cover, which was in fact a wise reaction, while the others merely paused so Frank could look back to the clearing where the oven had been.
“It worked. The oven is in more pieces than I can count, so unless that wizard who made it was a living avatar of magic itself, the enchantment is certainly broken.” Lifting his pale hands up, Frank pressed his palms and fingers against one another and lowered his head. It was a stance they’d seen him take many times, though they never quite understood why. “If there are any gods in this land, please look after what soul that creature had. None of us chose what we are made as, and it did all it could to lead a life fulfilling its purpose.”
“What’s he doing?” Scarlett asked.
“He’s praying,” Jack said. “It’s a thing people do across the Endless Sea. Although I don’t know why he bothers, since he doesn’t even believe in their version of the Narrative, things they call gods.”
“No, I don’t. Not in my land.” Frank parted his hands and lowered them back to his side. “But here, in these kingdoms, anything seems to be possible. So why not take a few seconds to try, just in case?”
Smoke was rising from the remains of the oven, acrid stuff that blew through the trees and hastened their departure. With one guardian bested, it stood to reason there were more on the way. Best to get through as quickly as they could, lest anyone else reach the witch first.
* * *
“Force me to the ground, or let my horns skewer your flesh.” What had once been a talking cow begging to be milked was now a hulking bull, larger than a natural creature would grow. The horns it spoke of were massive things; they looked as if they’d part a limb from one’s body rather than just putting a hole in it. Curiously, while blood soaked the ground, there wasn’t a single bit of flesh to be seen. That absence made more sense when one paid attention to the ring of red around the bull’s mouth, as well as the bits stuck in its teeth.
Scarlett stepped forward, drawing her blade. “This will be a battle, but if we work together we can drive this monster to the dirt.” She turned, expecting the others to back her up, only to find Jack and Frank walking over to the edge of the clearing where they’d met the creature while Marie did some light stretching. “Or you could all leave me to do it on my own, I suppose.”
“Don’t worry, I can handle this one,” Marie said, patting Scarlett on the shoulder. “You go sit with the boys and enjoy the show.”
Scarlett still looked uncertain, looking Marie over several times before turning to Jack, who was patting a tree stump nearby for her to sit on. “Are you sure about that? The opponent is quite large.”
“I’ll be fine. But you don’t want to be around here when we get going. I can’t promise one of us won’t end up running into you.” Marie took a deep breath and faced the bull as Scarlett walked over to Jack and Frank. “Just to the ground? Do you need to be pinned or on your back or anything? Because I don’t want you getting knocked over and then pretending there were more rules.”
“I…no. Just to the ground. That was the witch’s order.” The bull seemed confused, which was fair. Marie had traveled and fought too much to be considered slender, yet she was hardly an imposing figure, which made it all the more curious that she seemed so confident of victory.
“Well, then, nothing else to do but get properly ready.” As she spoke, her eyes turned yellow, and that was only the beginning. From behind, Scarlett let out a gasp as Marie’s body swelled, fur and thick muscles replacing her tender flesh. She grew by several feet, upward as well as outward, until Marie the human was nowhere to be seen. In her place was a massive beast with its eyes trained squarely on the bull.
Behind them, in a voice purposely loud enough to be heard, she could make out Jack talking to Scarlett. “See, I told you that yours was only bigger for the moment.”
That was the last bit of chatter before the bull charged, intent on goring Marie now that she presented a much larger target. Once, when she was in her kingdom hiding her curse, the bull might have been a true opponent for her. Matching strength for strength would have come down to a struggle, for both were huge and powerful. Sadly for the bull, traveling with Jack and Frank had taught her early on that strength was meaningless if one didn’t know how to wield it properly. She’d been forced to learn quickly if she wanted to survive the sort of trouble they got into.
As the bull bolted forward, Marie stepped nimbly to the side, putting herself out of harm’s way from the horns. Without pause, she dug her feet into the ground and pushed off, slamming her shoulder into the bull’s hind before it could fully pass her. Immediately the bull scrambled, trying to regain its footing and balance, but she didn’t give it time. Marie plowed into the bull again, this time catching it in the shoulder. Between the force of the blow and being already off-kilter, the bull went tumbling down, slamming to the dirt with a thud that blew away nearby leaves.
“I am…bested. You may pass.”
From the edge of the clearing came a polite smattering of applause, Jack and Frank clapping for her while Scarlett stared with an expression of naked shock. Finally, just as Marie finished turning back, Scarlett managed to find her voice once more. “That was incredible. You’ve been given a true gift.”
“No, it’s a gift when you have full control over it,” Marie corrected Scarlett, her eyes still slightly yellow from the shift. “Mine likes to try to come out at inopportune times, that’s what makes it a curse. A handy curse though, I will give you that.”
“And your clothes? They merged into your flesh, is that part of this curse as well?”
“That was just good shopping,” Jack said. “Had to find someone willing to enchant them, and it cost a fair bit, but they made the point that it would cost less in the long run than buying Marie a new wardrobe every time she transformed. Now let’s get going, I’m not sure we want to be here when that fellow gets up.”
Scarlett looked to the bull, who was eyeing Marie warily while shooting the rest of them looks of fury. Letting out a whistle so Peter knew it was time to move, Scarlett followed the others as they plunged deeper into the forest.
* * *
“I think we can safely assume that these defenses are new. There’s no way a bunch of farmers made it this far into the woods against magical guardians.” Jack was eyeing the apple tree, its cursed bark warped into something like a face howling in pain. “The witch must have put them in after the first batch of fools showed up, trying to take her gold.”
“To pass me, you must dine upon my poisoned fruit, or snatch one of the leaves from my branches.” The tree seemed a little miffed that no one had addressed it directly, the twisted face taking on a slight tinge of frustration. “But my branches are quick, sharp, and thorny. You will not find the leaves to be easy pickings.”
Without bothering to debate, or even ask, who should handle this task, Jack shrugged off his coat and wordlessly handed it to Frank. Stretching his arms and legs for a few seconds, Jack walked up closer to the tree’s trunk. To get there he had to pass heaps of apples that were too deep of a red to be healthy, knocking a few aside with his boot. As soon as he was within fifteen feet of the tree, the firs
t of the branches shot toward him, the tip on a perfect trajectory with his heart. It was fast, but two of Jack’s nicknames didn’t involve the words “nimble” and “quick” without merit.
He easily sidestepped the first attack, scanning the branch for leaves before moving in closer. More branches came, some from the front while others tried to swipe him from the side. None of them so much as clipped his clothing, as Jack dodged through them with little apparent effort. They all knew that part was for show. Putting on a display like this one was tough, even for someone like Jack, but he never liked to let on that anything was difficult. That would have detracted from his image.
After a full minute of dodging branch after branch, Jack finally struck back. His hand whipped out as a limb swung at him, plucking a single green leaf from its hard surface. Instantly the attacks ended, branches going limp as they rose back up to their proper place.
“You have passed my test and are free to proceed.”
“Thanks, I figured that out.” Jack paused, studying the leaf and the tree. “Should we set this on fire before we go?”
“What?” No one had known for certain that a tree could sound panicked, but they all got confirmation in that moment. “I already told you that you passed!”
“True, however you’re obviously under a terrible curse. Wouldn’t it be more humane to put you out of your misery while we’ve got the chance?” Jack asked.
The tree shook, its mighty limbs swaying as though there was a massive breeze running through the forest. “Defeating the witch will end her curse. I rather like being an enchanted tree, thank you very much, and I’ll be glad to go back to normal when this is done.”
Jack took his coat back from Frank, slipping it over his shoulders. “This one isn’t as eager to die as the stove.”
“The stove was pulled from its place and purpose long before being cursed,” Frank reminded him. “This is a tree in a forest. Safe to say its purpose is still well intact.”
“Guess that’s fine then. Was just an offer.” Jack’s gaze lingered on the tree for a moment longer, as if he were still debating setting it ablaze, before calling to Marie and Scarlett. “That’s the last cursed guardian we know of. From here on it’s either the witch or surprises, so everyone stay ready.”
Marie’s eyes glowed a faint yellow; she was on the verge of transforming already, while Scarlett let out a series of sharp whistles and received a howl in response. “Peter and I are ready.”
No one else said anything for a time, because words held little point. They didn’t know for sure what waited next down the path, but there was a very good chance it would be a witch. If that were the case, silence was their greatest ally. Witches were hard enough to fight as it was; the last thing they needed was to lose the element of surprise.
* * *
The screams started the moment their group stepped into view. Men and women, though by far more of the former than the latter, all strung up in giant cages fashioned from branches and woven into the trees. None of them looked well; the best of the lot simply seemed malnourished, while some showed signs of having passed through the trials the hard way. Sick complexions and missing limbs told the story better than words ever would. A few in the cages were already dead, no surprise given the poison and blood loss they had suffered to make it this far. Those who were will still alive were rowdy though, and as soon as they spotted potential help they began calling and yelling, begging to be freed from their prisons.
“Idiots,” Scarlett hissed under her breath. “If they’d stayed silent, we’d have caught the witch off-guard. It’s not like we could free them until she’s dead anyway; those cages are clearly formed from magic.”
“They’re scared and desperate, reaching out to the one source of hope they’ve found. It’s understandable, if a bit inconvenient,” Frank said.
Ahead of them, Jack began to pick up his pace. “With surprise gone, our best chance now is speed. We have to get to the witch before she casts wards or spells to protect herself.” That was all he lingered to say before taking off like a shot.
The other followed, all of them quick but none quite able to match Jack’s raw speed. Well, perhaps save for Scarlett. Despite starting behind Jack, she wasn’t letting the gap between them lengthen. If anything, Marie though she might actually be gaining a bit of ground on Jack, although it was hard to tell while bolting through the woods. Even more impressive, Scarlett was whistling as she ran, passing along some kind of code to Peter and getting more howls in response.
Reaching the cabin took little time. Jack didn’t even bother to slow down, he merely used his momentum to kick down the door. Waiting inside was a short woman wearing a dark shawl and stirring a cauldron with a long, thick, wooden branch. As Jack arrived she watched with an expression of detachment, nodding her greeting.
“Oh, lovely, more supplies. And these are in good shape, too. You just wait there like a good boy, I’m afraid you’ll find the floor enchanted so you can’t move even if you wanted to. Once I’m done preparing this, I’ll tend to you.”
Just as she finished, the others piled in behind Jack, finding their movement slowed until they came to a stop. With one exception, that was. Frank, able to deduce the situation from seeing his friends stuck in place, capitalized on his brief window to surprise the witch. He bolted toward her, so fast that she barely had time to look shocked, before jamming one of his daggers into her spinal column and flipping her up, over, and into her own boiling cauldron.
The witch fell in with a hearty splash and suddenly the others found their feet willing to move again.
“How did you do that?” Scarlett asked. “Are you a wizard, walking around with wards of your own?”
“Nothing so grand. She wove her spell to stop any living creature who entered her home. I did not technically qualify.”
“Places everyone.” Jack was watching the cauldron as it boiled, the bubbles growing more and more violent by the second. “We all know witches don’t go down that easy.”
The explosion of briny green liquid that burst from the cauldron proved Jack’s point well, spraying all over the cabin as the witch tore herself out of the massive pot’s depths. Reaching around to her back, she yanked out Frank’s blade, the metal growing hot and warping in her grip. When she dropped it, the knife was no longer recognizable as the deadly instrument it had once been. They waited as she emerged, fully aware that she was expecting and braced for an attack. Better to strike when she went on the offensive and her attention was split. Trying to rush a prepared witch was one of the fastest ways to achieve a painful death.
“A living corpse. I thought those tales all died out ages ago.” The witch was glaring at Frank, not without good reason, as she spit a hearty amount of green liquid onto the floor.
“I come from a land with tales all its own.” Frank had produced another of his blades, one in each hand, as he watched the witch for any signs of movement.
She was going slowly, carefully measuring her opponents, aware of the standoff that would end the moment she attacked. “My, my, what a strange lot comes breaking into my home. A corpse, a woman with a fairy curse, some trollop in a red cloak, and…”
Her eyes went wide as she took a good, careful, magical look at Jack for the first time. “Boy…where is your cricket?”
“And that’s enough of that I think. Marie, flank!” Jack charged forward, trusting his teammate would be there. His blade left its sheath in a blur, whipping around to take the witch’s head from her shoulders. Marie was already half-shifted and barreling down on the witch from the other side. It should have been enough to break their enemy’s will; unfortunately, witches were made of sturdier stuff.
With a flick of her hand, the massive stirring branch landed in the witch’s fingers. She swung it around as if it had no weight at all, deflecting Jack’s blow before twirling it back to sink the other end deep into Marie’s gut, somehow pushing her back despite the size difference between them. Now that it wasn’t subm
erged in a cauldron, they could see runes lighting up along the wooden surface, revealing the magic sealed within.
“I thought only wizards used staffs,” Jack said. He danced away from a blow aimed at his head, studying the witch carefully as he searched for an opening.
“Times change, as your friend over there proves well.” She jabbed at him with one end of her staff, moving faster than the tree branches had by a wide margin. Jack found himself losing ground, getting pushed back toward the wall where he’d be pinned down. Despite this, his endless smile only grew wider. In making the first move and drawing the witch’s attention, he’d given the others an opening.
Moments later, Scarlett leapt forward and jammed her sword into the witch’s side. Frank was close behind, slicing into her back again, doing as much damage as he could to her spine. The witch let out a howl of pain and spun around them, keeping an eye on Jack all the while. Sadly, for her, that split her attention in too many directions and she didn’t notice the fully transformed Marie get back to her feet. Marie pounced without hesitation, driving the witch to the ground as she tried to chew the head from her shoulders, hat and all.
To her credit, this witch wasn’t done yet. Staff still in hand, she let out a few whispered words and tapped the edge of it onto the floor. Instantly, the entire building began to shake violently, throwing everyone off their feet as well as everything not nailed down to the floor. Bottles full of potions and ingredients shattered, creating a stinking miasma that forced everyone to hold their breath. In the confusion, the witch slipped out from Marie’s grasp, barreling toward the door.
She made it just past the threshold and paused to look back at them, still shaking as the house seemed to be breaking apart at the foundation. “I’ll get you all for this. If it takes me a hundred years you, and your children, and your children’s children will pay for—”
