Aveyond: Rhen's Quest

Chapter 14: The Wicked

"Guys, I remember I have stuff to do, so I'll meet up with you two later," said Rhen, leaving Lars and Elini to have their shopping. She managed to keep up with Griselda, who was walking away from the shop.

"Hey! I heard your conversation just now in the shop..." she stopped as she noticed the witch's upset face.

"Hmph! I prefer out-lander men. Warlocks are too vain!" replied the witch, without greeting her (Well, they were used to have that kind of behavior).

"I know a boat dealer up near Veldarah who's looking for a wife. Perhaps you're interested?" suggested Rhen.

"Is he handsome?" the witch raised her eyebrows.

"No, not really," Rhen shook her head.

"Perfect! I shall come with you and see him for yourself," spoke the witch with full of delight.

~~~

"So... this is the out-lander who's looking for a wife?" asked Griselda while giving an analytical look at Remlak.

"Yes, is he good enough for you?" asked the sword singer.

"He'll do," mused the witch. "What's your name, northerner?"

"Remlak, m'lady," bowed the boat dealer politely.

"Ha! He has manners!" exclaimed Griselda. "I'll have to do something about that!"

Seeing that the witch has started a monologue on her future life, Rhen shook her head with a sigh and decided to ask about the boat dealer's opinion so far,  "So, what do you think, Remlak? Isn't she great?"

"She's horrid! What a woman!" was all he said, eyes gleaming in love.

Rhen chuckled and assumed that he had found "the one". She left the two of them shortly after without interrupting their bonding time and headed back to Witchwood, where Lars and Elini were waiting.

~~~

As soon as they met up, Rhen suggested that they should train since they had their battle days ago so it was time to sharpen their skills. They took on some bats and some weird-looking slime monsters near the outskirts of town. Rhen was trying to hone her Meadow Deer, Lars was entertaining himself with his newly-bought-and-learnt Decompose Spell, while Elini was enjoying herself whipping around her brand new Wyrm Whip. After an hour or so, they reached the vampires' territory --- Ghed'ahre.

At the outskirt of the village, they came across a gingerbread house that looked like the one in the children's fable "Hansel and Gretel". They quietly let themselves in after curiousity got the better of them and saw a witch who was busy preparing some kind of stew in the kitchen corner. At the other side, a mini-sized jail was seen and inside were two tiny black bats. Sitting at a dark corner was an adorable girl who looked like she was around the age of 10, her cotton-candy-pink hair was let down till her waist suits with her fancy pink dress, as if she was on her way to a ballroom dance. When the little girl, whose name was Dora, saw Rhen and the others she quickly got up and gripped the metal bars tightly.

"Oh please help me, please!" she begged for help.

"What happened?" asked Elini.

"The witch wants to bake me in her oven and turn me into a cookie!" she broke down into a whisper, the busy witch still oblivious to the trio being there as she was too busy tending to whatever she was doing.

"How can we help you escape?" offered Lars, who sympathised on the child's situation.

"Find my magical red slippers. They got me into this mess, but I'm sure they can also get me out of it."