by Taki Drake
Only Dascha seem to not regard the statement as anything special. Sauntering over to where Bolormaa stood, the small black cat affectionately rubbed her head against the woman’s leg, commenting loudly enough for Zhanna to also hear, << Well done, oh wise and wondrous seer of the plain. Now, how about if you get your tired backside and your granddaughter’s into the house and get some sleep. >>
A short laugh escaped Zhanna’s control, and she transitioned it into motion as she stood up. Nodding her head in respect to her guests, Zhanna said, “Noma and you others, as my grandmother has said, you are welcome, and we will protect you as best we can. Tomorrow, we will together create a plan to deal with the evil ones.”
As the two women and the Familiar made their way into the house, they could hear soft murmuring and rustling in the underbrush as the Hidden Folk prepared their own resting areas.
<< <> >>
Once the door was closed, Zhanna all but collapsed on the kitchen chair by the table. “Baba, what on earth am I going to do? I have never heard of creatures like they were talking about.”
Bolormaa continued to move serenely around the kitchen making both of them a hot, bedtime drink. Pausing in her movements around the kitchen to lay a gentle and comforting hand on her granddaughter’s shoulder, the older woman said, “I believe it is best if you sleep on it, dear. I am truly confident that you will wake up in the morning with at least some sketch of a plan.”
With that, Zhanna had to be content. The combination of the warm, comforting drink and the stress of the day dragged her down into exhaustion. Chivied into her bedroom by an increasingly irritated cat, Zhanna collapsed on the bed and was instantly asleep. She never knew when her grandmother stopped by the door and whispered, “I have seen, and you will do well my little one.”
Dascha stood next to her sleeping Witch and watched the empty doorway for a few minutes. She appeared to be observing something intently, but a random watcher would not have noticed anything else in the room. After a moment, Dascha nodded her head decisively as if in answer, before getting back to important business. After all, it wouldn’t do for Dascha to let her Witch come down with a cold, now would it?
With no one to see her, Dascha could show just how much she loved this spunky, frustrating, human that was her Witch. Claws extended determinedly, the small black cat set about pulling the blanket up over her partner. It might be the last day for a while that Zhanna could sleep warmly. Dascha was determined to provide all the comfort that she could.
<< <> >>
It was one of those days that are so bright and crisp that the very air seems to bite. There wasn’t any reason to be depressed or disappointed, but the temperature, light breeze, and other aspects of the world, in general, pushed a feeling of “Hurry… Hurry… Hurry” as a background cadence from the moment that Zhanna opened her eyes.
Shivering slightly in the cool temperature as she threw her blankets back, the young Witch set about quickly getting dressed. Unconsciously, she reached for traveling garb, utilitarian and warm in its layers. Braiding her hair tightly and rapidly enough to draw moisture from the corner of her eyes, Zhanna was ready to go long before Dascha stretched her way out of the warmth of the cocooning blankets.
<< Come on, Dascha. We have things we have to do today, and I’d like to be on the road by late mid-day. >>
<< Sounds like your sleep was productive. So, what is the plan? >>
<< I will tell both you and Baba at the same time, so hurry up! I can smell breakfast. >>
Zhanna set off through the hallway and into the kitchen, unsurprised to find that her grandmother had already made the meal and was waiting at the table for her.
“Good morning, Baba. Thank you for this beautiful breakfast.”
“You are welcome, Zhanna. I thought perhaps it would be good to give you a warm meal because I knew that you wouldn’t be dawdling today.”
Dascha sauntered into the room and over to her own food bowl. It had been filled and was waiting for the Familiar, piled with fresh food. << Seers. They think they know everything. >>
Bolormaa’s gurgle of laughter was all the answer the Familiar got.
There were a few minutes of absolute quiet as everyone applied themselves to eating. With a full stomach and holding a warm cup of tea in her hand, Zhanna looked at her grandmother and said, “I know what I need to do, Baba. Although at first, I was worried about how to manage the journey, what it really came down to was the need for journey money.
“I don’t have much cash and know you don’t either, but in the middle of the night, I had a dream about Blagogarsk. I brought back many things from Blagogarsk and was told that they were valuable. My mentors told me that I could sell them as I chose. That should help with any financing we need.”
“I had forgotten all about those, dear. That’s an excellent solution but other than getting some money from the sale of these items, it doesn’t seem like much of a plan.”
“I agree.” Zhanna stood up and began to pace around the small kitchen, talking out loud as she walked. “I think we go to one of the larger villages and I can sell some of the things that we got out of the city. We should be able to hire or buy better transport to get us to where we need to go. Once we get there, the immediate priority is to try to find the group of Hidden Folk that got left behind.”
“Who is the ‘we’ in this plan?”
“Stefan and Mikhail will join me, I hope. They’ve been training me, and they know that the Hidden Folk are real. They also know more about combat than I do, and if we are truly fighting something as frightening as the wee ones tell us, then we need all the firepower we can get.”
Dascha chose that moment to jump up onto Zhanna’s shoulder, digging her claws in slightly to draw attention.
“Ouch!”
The Familiar’s voice said in a sarcastic tone, << More doing, less talking! >>
Obedient to the admonishment of her Familiar and her own sense of urgency, Zhanna kissed her grandmother on the cheek in thanks and headed out to tell the little ones about her plan. Somehow, she was not surprised to see Mikhail and Stefan waiting for her. What did surprise her was the fact that they were both dressed in traveling clothes. Their trail packs sat beside them, fully secured. The young Witch walked over to stand calmly in front of them, placed her hands on her hips and asked, “Anything I should know?”
“We expected that you would want company and knew that we could be useful,” answered Stefan. Mikhail nodded his head in wordless agreement.
Zhanna was unable to keep her face straight and unresponsive as a sense of relief washed over her. Allowing a grin to creep up onto her face, the young Witch said, “I’m glad you’re here. Thank you for showing up, even though I’m not too sure who told you.”
Stefan grinned at her, chortling a little bit as he responded, “Now that would be telling. And I wouldn’t want to burn my informant.”
“I will figure it out someday and then you and whoever that person is will be in trouble!”
As Zhanna continued to walk past Stefan toward the denser foliage of the edge of the forest, she heard both men laughing behind her. Her mood elevated and her steps lighter, Zhanna headed over to conduct a council of war. She had enough items to finance their trip, and her mind was calmer, focused on what needed to be done instead of obsessing about how inexperienced she was.
She had made a promise and was going to keep it. There was no question of that in her mind, no attempt to find a reason to avoid what was coming. Focused, the young Witch gathered her group and planned.
Chapter 3 – Plans and Logistics
The council of war had gone very well, and their strange group of Hidden Folk, mercenaries, and young Witch was working well together. With occasional snarky comments from her Familiar, Zhanna soon had everyone packed up and ready to go. Almost without conscious decision, the underlying organization and control of their group movement had come to reside on Stefan’s broad shoulders. He had a natural way of command and ev
eryone, including Dascha, responded well to it.
Mikhail was quieter but exuded some strange attraction for the Hidden Folk. Every time Zhanna turned around, there were three or four of them clustered around him, sometimes holding on to his pants leg or riding on his shoulder. He didn’t scare them, and that was an essential factor. In fact, Zhanna was almost brought to tears by the sight of a tiny female gravely holding her even smaller baby out for the big mercenary to touch.
The look on Mikhail’s face was priceless. Tenderness was displayed on his face for everyone to see, but trepidation and a tinge of embarrassment colored his face red and caused his hands to tremble. It was too special of a moment to tease him about, and even Dascha kept silent.
Holding one finger out that was thicker than the child’s head, Mikhail very carefully touched the little one’s body in a gentle, affectionate stroke. His face was full of wonder, and the rigidly-controlled lines of his cheeks and jaw relaxed as his eyes brightened.
It was too much. Zhanna had to turn away. This was the man that had been forced to go to war for other people every day of his adult life. A man that had that much kindness and tenderness should not be doomed to focus on killing and destruction. Deep in her heart, the young Witch vowed that somehow, he would have a choice.
Zhanna was reluctant to try to convert the items from Blagogarsk to cash in the village. Intuitively, she knew that taking items this valuable and trying to sell them to any of the village merchants would only lead to trouble. The mercenaries had agreed with her, and together they had made the decision to go to a larger town in the opposite direction from Kalisov, the village that she had visited before.
That village had been very unwelcoming, and after the running battle that ensued when Zhanna had tried to leave, she didn’t think she would be welcome to come back. So, they decided to go in the other direction for their funding. Both of the mercenaries had contacts in the town of Brasilov that they thought would help them out. However, Stefan warned the young Witch that they would probably have to pay for that help.
Zhanna hadn’t expected anyone to help them for free and just hoped that what she had that she was willing to sell would provide them enough money. It bothered her that she had no idea on how much the items in her pack were worth. Asking too little would be just as bad as asking too much.
This is where the doubts that hid in the dark corners of her mind came out to berate her. Knowing her lack of experience and her relative youth, Zhanna couldn’t help thinking that someone else, almost anyone else, might be a better leader.
<< Snap out of it, girl! You knew that the price of power was responsibility. Straighten up and do the best you can, >> commented Dascha acerbically.
<< I just worry, Dascha. What if my judgment isn’t good? What if I screw something up? >>
<< As long as you keep learning from your mistakes and that means surviving them, you’ll keep getting better. No one can ask for anything more. Just remember, everyone has to start somewhere. >>
One last kiss for her grandmother, an admonishment to take care of herself, and Zhanna was ready to leave. Knowing they had to pass through the village to catch the road in the direction that they needed to travel, Zhanna was unsure of how the small ones would escape scrutiny. She looked around, realizing that she couldn’t see any of them and wondered what they were doing.
<< Don’t be sillier than you have to be, girl. Stefan got everything organized. All of us are carting some of them in concealed places. That way we can move faster, and they don’t risk exposure or getting pounced on by a passing hawk. >>
<< Well, if anyone should know about the dangers getting pounced on by low flying birds, that would be you, Dascha. >>
<
<< Welcome to my world, Kitty Cat. As a wise feline once told me, suck it up! >>
<< <> >>
As they passed through her home village of Yarorbash, Zhanna was surprised to be hailed by one of the more reserved teachers from the lone school, a woman named Yana. They had not spoken since the traumatic battle in which Zhanna had bested the blood Mage, Krava. The last that Zhanna had seen Yana the teacher had been doing her best to protect the remaining school children as the young Witch had been dragged out of the room.
In the time since then, it had been almost as if Yana was avoiding Zhanna when she came into town. With all the training she had been doing, Zhanna had not been a frequent visitor to the village, but when she had, Yana was noticeable by her absence.
There was no sign of discomfort in the determined woman that planted herself in front of Zhanna as the young Witch walked over to where Stefan and Mikhail were waiting. The older woman met Zhanna’s eyes squarely and demanded, “What have you been up to? I have not seen you in the village, and no one seems to have interacted with you for quite a while. Have you been gone?”
Zhanna was taken aback. She could hear the intense need to know behind the older woman’s questions, but the manner which they were delivered was aggressive, almost hostile. Unsure of what had provoked that attitude, Zhanna responded as calmly as she could, “I have been studying and training. I found a mentor who gave me some books to read and I’ve been practicing those spells. Also, since I’m obviously not much of a fighter, Stefan and Mikhail have been running me through drills.”
“That doesn’t explain why you have not been in town. Have you grown too good for us?”
“That is a ridiculous statement. If you must know, they’ve been training me so hard that I have problems even walking home. Some nights, I have to crawl into my bed. So, I don’t have the energy to walk the extra few miles to get to the village to visit with people. Plus which, nobody here has ever wanted to be my good friend.”
The tension in Yana’s body disappeared, leaving an anguished teacher behind. Responding to the emotional change, Zhanna moved forward to close the gap between the two of them. Laying her hand on Yana’s forearm, the young Witch asked, “What is it, Yana? Is there a problem that I can help you with?”
Raising anguished eyes to search deeply into the younger woman’s face, at first, the teacher didn’t appear to be willing to speak. Suddenly, as if a dam broke, words tumbled out in a jumble, flooding the air with concealed pain, and resonating deep within the younger woman, tugging on all of the doubts that resided within her.
“I see them every night in my dreams, in my nightmares. The ones that I couldn’t save. I had to make a choice because I’m not that strong. I had to pick which ones might live and which would undoubtedly die.
“I could hear them being killed, you know. The pleas, the sobs, the animal sounds of pain. I wasn’t strong enough. All I could do in a vain attempt to save them was to sacrifice the chances of the few little ones that I could protect.”
Tears were running unchecked down the older woman’s face, and her shoulders shook with swallowed sobs. Moving automatically to shield Yana from the view of others, Zhanna comforted the crying woman as best she could.
“There was no way you could have done anything but thrown away your own life and that of the little ones. He was evil. We all turned a blind eye to the signs of his corruption for years. Krava had grown in power and could easily have beguiled or overpowered most of us. You did the only thing that you could have done that had any chance of a result other than total annihilation.”
“Why does that not make me feel better? Why do I hear the pleas, the sobbing, every night? My classrooms echo with emptiness, haunted by the missing voices of my students and my colleagues. The children that are here walk-in shadows of fear. Most of them will never recover.”
Her own pain showing in her voice, Zhanna replied, “Some of them will. Those that decide that what they have survived can be used to make them stronger will choose a path forward. You can love them and encourage them, but they’ll have to make that decision for themselves.
”
The older woman raised her tear-drenched eyes once more to look deeply into Zhanna’s face. It felt like a massive wave of water had doused the young Witch, penetrating her to the core of her being and rinsing free some of her own guilt for not being stronger, faster, more observant. Whatever Yana had been searching for, she apparently found somewhere in that examination of the young woman’s expression. Giving herself a little shake and straightening up, the grieving woman was once more transformed into the respected teacher.
“I would appreciate it if when you come back from whatever trip you are going on that you could come by and sit and talk with my students. We have so few these days there we are teaching them all in one room. They get very anxious if they are separated, so our curriculum has changed. It might help all of us if you could talk to them about paths and choices. Moreover, perhaps you can talk to them about power because each one of them shows the same signs that you did as a child. The signs of ability that hasn’t wakened. Better they should learn about prices and choices now than for us to have to kill another of our own.”
Yana turned and marched determinedly off back to the school, leaving the stunned young Witch standing in the middle of the walkway.
Chapter 4 – More Plans
Zhanna and her party caught the regular shuttle that traveled the route among the small towns and villages in the area, going from Yarorbash to Brasilov, directly. Without thinking, the young Witch had made her way to the back of the bus immediately. That Stefan and Mikhail obviously approved of her strategy was evident by their nods of pleased surprise.
As if they had practiced it many times, the two mercenaries automatically took the seats directly in front of Zhanna, creating a protective barricade. Freed from unexpected encounters and allowed to think in peace, Zhanna could relax a little bit.
Settling herself in the full seat across the back, Zhanna laid her pack out and opened the main compartment. One by one, she drew out each of the items that she planned on selling to examine them individually again. The young Witch knew that it was critical that she determine how much to ask for the things, but was at a loss even where to start. Holding one of them in her hands, an elaborately decorated orb, she stared with unfocused eyes through the grimy windows as the bus got underway. Thoughts spun in her mind like a tornado of possibilities, throwing random cautions and outcomes out like debris, without rhyme or causation.
