The Fairy Self

Chapter 2

In the morning, I left the tavern with Swiftmane and began leading him west. I received a few strange looks from the crowd, who were clearly confused, as to why a young woman was out alone, why I wasn't riding the horse, but I continued on. Finally, I reached the border of the village, to a huge patch of grassland. I finally climbed onto Swiftmane and gently tugged at the reins. Swiftmane neighed and began jogging away while I pulled out the map and once more began crossing off areas as I passed the grassland. I eventually had rode to another town with tall walls and a grand gate. I got off Swiftmane, continuing to lead him west. I grabbed an windfallen apple from nearby, wiping it and giving it to Swiftmane, then entered a restaurant and sat down, waiting for the waiter to come over. My eyes drifted to outside the window. The countryside, even if it was small, was beautiful. The scenes of everyday life distracted me, with only the calm noises of the dining and chatting within the restaurant in the background. Scenes like these that I watched while patiently waiting, always filled me with hope, that I'd find my sisters no matter what.

"They say she's cruel and despicable, and she hides behind a pretty mask..." A loud voice travelled over, and I was startled out of my serene observance. I turned and glanced around.

"Shh!" a second voice replied. "Be careful, someone will hear us!"

"That's not what I've heard," another retorted in reply. "I've heard that her personality's as pretty as her appearance. Graceful, elegant and compassionate."

I peered over at their direction, finally locating their table. They had heavy packages on their backs and had heavy snow coats placed on their laps. They were probably explorers or adventurers then.

One man banged the table angrily with a heavy, meaty fist. The dinnerware shook and a glass of something purple spilled onto the table cloth, staining it with a red splatter.

"Impossible! Witches are never compassionate. You haven't heard of the witch general, Hand of a Thousand Deaths? With an example like that, what do you expect witches to be like? Killing without mercy, destroying entire villages..." Fervour rose in his stressed voice.

"Isn't the Crystal Glow Witch a defector? I thought she wanted to bring down the High Coven."

"She was also one of the High Witches in it. I tell you, she's probably a hypocrite! There are no good witches."

There was no knowing whether what they said was true, but if it was, which was possible considering their profession, it was best to leave as soon as possible, as witches and wizards were tricky, ruthless and unpredictable.

"Isn't she fighting the waves of undead in the town, though? That's the only reason this place hasn't been swarmed already."

"I've heard that she's controlling those undead, and that the undead are actually under her control, and it's all part of her plan to gain a better reputation," the second voice replied, excitement infecting his tone, hands swinging wildly about to articulate his speech. I couldn't see what there was to be excited about; the undead may not be cunning and clever like the Coven, but they were certainly dangerous as well, even despite their habit of using brute force over planning. Typically, spirits only returned if they had unfinished business in the living realm, and often that included vengeance and murder. No one knew when their decisions would suddenly change, when their targets would be swapped around. It sounded as if this village was busy dealing with a lot of trouble. The waiter scurried by to collect my order, and I stopped him.

"Excuse me, sir? Is it true that this town has had a...problem with the undead?"

The waiter leaned in confidentially and began speaking, eager and animated to share his bit of gossip. "No one really knows. They say that at night, people have heard banging on doors and smashing of windows, as well as low groans and mournful wails. It must mean that there are undead here. No one has actually seen any, though, and no one has been hurt, so the authorities haven't investigated into it. My cousin claimed that he saw a silhouette in the shape of a body through his window last night. It stumbled around, groaning and grunting for a while before vanishing. It's definitely the undead, there's no other possibility!"