The Dark Witch's Insignia

Chapter 27

<< FON CARLSON >>

It's not until the next day until Madame Rose speaks to Fon again. The carriage is draining with magick and they have no choice but to descend and refill. This time, the road is littered with falling leaves, but at least there are no corpses.

They alight close to a canopy of trees, its rustling sounds are like whispers surrounding them. If Fon closes her eyes, she can hear conversations between the components of nature, whose gaps are filled with birds chirping and insects buzzing. Fon smiles. It's like slowly revealing the mystery of a magick spell, piecing it all together, until it becomes familiar, like the smell of wood and soil.

"Did you know that the road we just passed is called Salem by the aberrants?" Madame Rose asks as she lays a blanket across the green grass. She always does this every time they sit to eat.

Fon shakes her head at the question. She had heard about Salem before, but didn't know how to recognize the place.

"My son told me about it the first time we passed through it. It is the location of a failed witch hunt. Instead of the real witches, they killed their own. Later on, it will be remembered as the only failed witch hunt," she continues, patting the blanket before sitting on it. "It's curious how the aberrants remember the failure instead of the huge number of successful witch hunts."

"Maybe because they want to remind themselves again? So they won't repeat the errors of the past?"

"Then why forget their successes? It should go hand in hand."

Fon shrugs her shoulders. She has no idea. It's Rissa who is interested in their behavior.

"Aren't you missing your stay on the Void?" Fon asks, her tone taunting. "Not feeling as eccentric as the aberrants now?"

Sooner than the words leave her mouth, Fon feels nervous. This is the mother of the only person who will give her a chance to become a Great Witch. She must not answer her like this. She must not fail anymore. This is her last chance to attain her dream.

"Sometimes I do," Madame Rose surprisingly answers.

Fon blinks at her confession, yet the conversation has ended already. Silence follows as they eat their food, and while the carriage takes magick from nature.

After eating, Lector tells her to prepare. He says they can practice while the carriage is only a quarter full of magick.

"Remember what I told you?" Lector asks. "Stop depending too much on your magick."

He tries to hit Fon in the face, but she evades, her eyes focused on his feet. The hits continue until he adds, "For this to work, you only need to use very minimal magick."

Lector hits her shoulders, and she grunts in pain. She glares at him. Since he started teaching her, she cannot land a hit on Lector. But that's only because she's not allowed to use her magick. Unfair training, Fon thinks.

Fon balls her fists and tries to hit him. He is avoiding her attacks so well. If she could use magick, she could have already erased the annoying smile on his face. And so she hits him again. When it fails, she uses her feet and swipes below him to steal his balance.

But Lector already knows what she is planning, so he successfully evades her trap. They continue for half an hour, with neither of them giving up to take a rest. Some of her attacks are getting into Lector now, but admittedly, Lector is still better than her in physical combat.

"Come now and be on our way," Madame Rose interrupts. However, both ignore her.

"Lector, stop playing with the young witch," Hector scolds.

Hearing that, Fon gets frustrated. She lets out her magick and uses the roots underneath Lector's feet, trapping him in one place.

"What is that?!" Madame Rose exclaims. "Are you using your magick, Fon?!"

However, no one can stop her now. Lector escapes the roots, but she lets out another burst of her aura–so much so that even the trees start to move. She continuously releases her magick until every plant helps her to conspire against Lector.

"Fon, stop using your magick," Hector scolds calmly. However, it is evident that there is an edge in his voice.

"Nearly there," she replies. After a couple more attempts, Lector trips on a branch that she controls.

"Fon, stop!" Madame Rose is screaming this time. "You are using too much magick!"

"Ah-uh, not even close," she responds. She encloses Lector in a web of roots and vines until he has nowhere to go. "Now's my chance," she says victoriously. She runs towards him, planning to give him a final blow.

"Ah, so that aura belongs to you," a voice says.

Abruptly, Fon stops and turns toward the voice. A little boy is overhead them, sitting on a tree branch, his feet dangling in the air.

"That's really beautiful," the little boy praises with a bright smile. "You are not very hard to find, are you?"

Something is amiss with the young boy. She loosens the vines around Lector as she tries to deduce what kind of creature the little boy is.

"Run away from him," Lector whispers as he moves closer to Fon. His eyes are also focused on the little boy.

"Don't look at me like that. I will do nothing bad," the boy promises. He easily jumps from the tree and adds, "At least, not yet."

Lector and Hector are in front of Fon in a split second, shielding her from the little boy.

"I heard your name is Fon," the little boy says, completely ignoring the two warriors in front of her. "Will you show me your aura again?" he asks as he continues to advance toward them.

"Don't you dare—" Hector starts, but he is thrown meters away from her in an instant.

"I am not talking to you," the boy says. "Learn some f*ucking manners!"

Fon looks around. It is too fast. She didn't even notice when the young boy activated his magick. After a while, she sees a slab of stone that seems to have erupted from the ground. Slowly, she watches it retract to the ground as if nothing happened.

She frowns. This skill... it's not something that she can do in a split second, especially when the little boy showed no indication of magick activation.

The young boy extends his hands to her and asks, "And so, Fon, will you come with me? We will have such a great time together."

"Will you make me a Great Witch?" she asks.

"That would be impossible," the young boy responds.

"Then my answer is no."

Suddenly, Fon pulls the little boy towards her and twists his arms. A shout of pain erupts from the little boy's lips, which makes her loosen her grip, hesitant and confused.

"Just kidding," the little boy says.

Then a slab of rock appears before her. She jumps back just in time.

"I thought I won't need any force to persuade you to come with me," he says, looking disappointed. "Too bad! Too bad!"

The boy stomps his feet as if in a tantrum, and dozens of rocks appear before him. He hurtles the stones toward Fon, but she evades them just as quickly.

He tries again. This time, massive, towering rocks appear around her, and she realizes he is trying to trap her in a cage, like what she was trying to do with Lector.

"You are too strong that no one can compare to you," the boy says. "Together with us, you will finally meet witches and wizards at your level. You won't feel alienated anymore."

Fon goes out of the circle before the rocks clamp against each other. But then she steps into another moving rock that raises her off the ground.

Fon activates her magick, and before she loses control of her balance, she turns the rock into sand. Falling, she materializes her broom and flies toward the boy.

"Who said that I am being alienated?!" she answers, her voice clear. "Stop getting ahead of yourself, little boy!"