Decemberland

Chapter 21: Champion

“Eavesdropping, are we?”

Nico’s face flashed thirty shades of red and her body trembled from several very intense emotions. His face stood an inch from hers. It was as if he did that on purpose.

“N-No!” she squeaked. “I-I mean, I just got here-!”

“Aw, so you came all the way up here just to see me? This is the second time now, you should really think about your method of approach. People might start saying things.” He winked at her and she reeled back into a defensive pose as if an arrow shot past her.

“Fine!” she shouted, “I heard everything! I know the both of you are lying to me! I told you, my gut is never wrong!”

Trust lifted his hands in the air in surrender. “You got me. It was my plan to shrink the valley and put it into a snow globe for my personal collection. Quickly now, capture me before I jump over the edge and escape into my flying fortress!”

Nico lowered her guard, sneering. “Your wit and sarcasm is at an all-time high today.”

“Why thank you.”

“That was sarcasm.”

“Darn.”

She leaned up against the side of the building and crossed her arms. “So you’re brothers?”

“Adopted brother’s,” Trust corrected, “We aren’t really related, but we’ve known eachother since we were kids. It’s kind of hard to explain, we thought it would just be easier not to tell people about it.”

“And Mother?”

“That’s what the townsfolk call the witch. Mother Abdullah. A witch that came all the way from the Desert Country to build a forest here over hundreds of years and live here. As the rumor goes at least. You never got her name?”

Nico huffed. “I was partial to keywords. I have selective hearing.”

“Elliot told me.”

She rolled her eyes. It sounded like a very specific rumor to her. Logically, it should have gotten contorted and twisted as it got passed through the grapevine over the decades like most gossip did. How much of this rumor was actually true? But a more important question began to overshadow that one.

“Why did you lie to me?”

“What? About the forest? It’s simple, I wanted to keep you out of it for as long as possible.”

“I could kick you, I swear!” Upon thinking about it for a second, she walked up to Trust and kicked him in the shin.”

“Ow.”

“Serves you right! What business do you have keeping me from possibly the most magical, powerful, awesome source of magic ever? I waited six months in this hell hole and almost got eaten by dozens of mutant wolf things!”

Trust snickered and put his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t want you involved because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

It took a moment to register in her head, but when it did all the blood came rushing back to her face.

“You’re a good friend, Nico. I want you to stay safe. The witch is more dangerous than you can even imagine.”

The words got stuck in Nico’s throat. “W-Well, I-I… uh…”

“If I were to be completely honest,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets, “I’m actually hunting for the witch myself. I have been for a long time.”

Nico’s eyes widened. “I should’ve guessed! It explains the footprints in the forest, at least. Elliot, too?”

Trust shook his head. “Elliot has a different set of priorities. He’s tried to stop me before on multiple occasions. I can never seem to find the witch as it is, though.”