Scowling and shaking herself from her fantasies, Sabrina turned her attention back to the book, but although she read on, she didn't find anything else in that particular volume that proved especially insightful.
Turning to the second book, A History of Witches in the Schwarzwald, Sabrina admired the gold-edged pages before studying the table of contents. While it seemed as if the book was intended to be a chronology, starting with the arrival of witches in the Black Forest and recording information about their lives in great detail, it was also interspersed with stories of a more fable-like nature.
There was one about a creature called the groBe Böse wolf, a monstrous wolf who roamed the Schwarzwald devouring witches, and Sabrina shuddered and quickly turned the page, not wanting to dwell on something that might give her nightmares.
She paused on a page that featured a beautifully-illustrated fox at the top...even though the vegetable dye ink had faded over the years since the book had been written, the fox's citrine-colored coat shone warm and yellow, like a bit of sunshine captured and pressed onto the page.
Sabrina had never heard this children's story before and while part of her felt silly reading what was clearly a bedtime tale, given that it wasn't directly related to her research, the Leiten Stone had directed her to this book, so surely there was no harm in reading something more for pleasure than education.
The Treasure Fox is one of the most elusive creatures in the Schwarzwald. Often known as a trickster or prankster, this clever creature can be found in the most unexpected places...dancing on top of a fallen log beneath a sunbeam, paddling around a moss-filled pond, diving deep beneath the water to admire the shiny fish, or relaxing in the boughs of oaks and elms, flowers tucked behind her ears, the tip of her luxurious tail twitching slightly in the breeze.
According to legend, you never know when you might encounter this creature, but when you do, chance has favored you, as the Treasure Fox is aptly named...she is famous for leaving piles of gold wherever she goes, coins clinking and dropping from her fur to form glittering piles of riches.
The Treasure Fox loves nothing more than to be chased, so she goes about loudly dropping coins in her wake, enticing people to come out and chase her. Unfortunately for whoever pursues her, the Treasure Fox cannot or will not be captured, and she will lead folks on a merry pursuit that very well may end in their exhaustion and her laughter.
Despite this, the Treasure Fox does not appear to be malicious, simply a capricious trickster, as most foxes are, and you will often hear her laughter as people snatch up coins and dart around the woods, trying to find her.
As a consolation for never being able to do more than catch a glimpse of her, however, the coins people collect chasing her do not seem to be magical in and of themselves and function just as any currency would.
They do not disappear after being picked up, and they carry a unique imprint...instead of the face of some distant ruler or government founder, they feature a fox prancing on her hind legs, fluffy tail swaying behind her as she dances to music only she can hear. These coins are exceptionally valuable, both for the gold they contain, as well as a collector's item.
So, if you find yourself in the Schwarzwald one day and hear the clinking of coins, followed by laughter, and catch a glimpse of a golden-colored fox, you've been lucky enough to encounter the Treasure Fox. If you listen closely, you might hear her singing:
Run, run, run
Or they'll put me in a box,
You can't catch me
For I'm the Treasure Fox!
Sabrina smiled and gently touched her fingertips to the words on the page. She didn't care about becoming rich through enchanted gold, and the story was most likely a tall-tale, but at the same time, given what she'd seen of the Schwarzwald, there was a least a chance such a fantastical creature existed. Was it possible the animals in the Black Forest had access to the Waldkonig's magic, or did they possess powers of their own?
YOU ARE READING
Affinity Witch
FantasyA light obscured often goes dark. Sabrina Verrun is a witch and the most gifted metallurgist her Hexen coven has seen in a century. Unfortunately, she has no interest in being a traditional metal-worker, repairing broken items and making trinkets to...
