Created:
2005-04-04 11:57:46
Three months into her training, Gwen was woken very early. When she opened her eyes she saw Hilta’s head coming up out of the trapdoor. There was something that always bothered Gwen about the looks of Hilta. It was the way she wasn’t as ugly as most witches or even old ladies. Hilta’s face was tough and with deep wrinkles. Her eyes where like holes in space but her features where still vaguely friendly.
Hilta had thought a long time about how she should look and decided that looking different would make her fit in better. People would think she was just to weak to change the way she looked – no self respecting witch would try to look nice. In truth Hilta could have changed her appearance in a flash but she knew the importance of a good mask.
Gwen carefully descended the ladder and went from the cluttered workshop to the kitchen. It was a small room which doubled up for cooking, dining and living. An old oak table sat in the middle. There where three doors, one led to the workshop, the other led to Hilta’s room and the last was the back door (it was used so often it may as well have been the front).
Gwen ladled porridge out of the cooking pot into her bowl and sat down to eat it. Hilta had disappeared into her own room and reappeared as Gwen finished.
“Today I have something special planed. We will be going to the town of Elmsford. They have a knucker that needs removing,” explained Hilta throwing the empty porridge bowls and spoons into the sink.
“How are we getting there?” asked Gwen standing up. A cloth sprang to life at a click from Hilta’s fingers and began to wash the bowls and spoons.
“Come outside with me.” Hilta led Gwen into the warm garden. The sun shone high above but a black rain cloud loomed in the distance. The large garden sloped steeply downwards. At the bottom was a large orchard full of apple trees covered in the reddest and juiciest of apples. No body ever stole fruit from Hiltas’ garden. All of the children in the village believed she would turn them into frogs if they tried. They weren’t too far of. Hilta preferred goats though. Much easier to do and sell better at the market.
Most of the garden near the house was taken up with herbs. They walked slowly down the path that led down to the orchard. Hilta stopped just before an arch. It was made up of a metal circle supported in a diamond of stone. Most of it was submerged but there was still enough to walk through. Gwen scrapped a little bit of the moss off of the runes covered the surface. They where unlike any she had studied, except for the most ancient from the oldest manuscripts. Runes like these were used in the third and fourth dynasty. They where in the seventh at the moment but it could change at any moment. The dynasties were determined by change. Who knew what might happen?
From where she stood Gwen could see nine standing stones at about nine yards from the centrepiece. On either side there was a small candleholder. Hilta clicked her fingers and the candles burst into flame. A crystal embedded into the top of the triangle changed from grey to red. Hilta reached up and touched it. The gem turned blue and the metal ring began to spin. Slowly three bronze claws began to wind in and shut then they opened. No longer could Hilta’s garden be seen but instead a rippling silver wall. It looked like the surface of a pond. And just visible on the other side was Elmsford. Hilta walked through so Gwen followed her. The silver stuff encased her and seemed to flow down inside her. Suddenly she could see everything. Past, Present and Future. And then it left her she grabbed at the thoughts but her mind was like a sieve and the thoughts where grains of sand. And then the opposite feeling, it was like her own thoughts were being sucked out with them. Gwen panicked; she was drowning in the thickening liquid! Then with a deep breath she felt her mouth uncovered again. Gwen lay getting her breath in the centre of a village square. Hilta helped her up.
“What happened?”
“You just became part of the Argentums entity. Give me your hand.” Hilta held Gwen’s hand in own, holding it tightly at the wrist. In one sudden motion she pulled a hatpin from her hair and brought it down through Gwen’s hand and out again. Gwen screamed in pain.
“Shut up, you stupid girl,” shouted Hilta, “You're being very silly about this. Think before making a fool of your self.” Gwen looked at her hand and saw an extraordinary sight. Instead of the gory mess she had expected, the hatpin hadn’t even left a scratch. Hilta thrust the pin through Gwen’s hand again. She winced. The flesh moved from the place the pin would have hit like the way waves lapped at the seashore. And as Hilta pulled it out her flesh began to return.
“How did you do that?” asked Gwen looking at both sides of her hand.
“This is a reflected self image from the entity; your body is being looked after well. They are merely learning from your thoughts.” Gwen wasn’t sure she wanted something looking at her thoughts and who she liked.
“Don’t worry they only look at facts, they have no interest in who you fancy.” Hilta patted her hand and gave a smile but there was something in the old woman’s eye that suggested she hadn’t just looked at Gwen’s face.
Gwen looked round. The village was deserted. In the very centre of the square was a small well. Green vapour rose from the top.
“Where is everyone?”
“They have found some where safe from the knucker’s venom.”
“But won’t we be poisoned?”
“Of course not, we don’t have bodies.” Hilta walked up to one of the wagons. She pulled out a long pole with a loop of wire on one end. “Good of Groggier to lend me her gear.”
Hilta cautiously approached the well. A deep echoing call resonated up from the inside of the hole. Slowly the creature slivered up. Its head moved from side to side like a snake. Then came its long legs that came out of its body like a lizards. The body was covered in red scales that glistened in the morning sun. It curled round the well several times and climbed onto the roof. The knucker paused for a moment, flapping its stubby vestigial wings. Its head slowly swinging from side to side until it fixed its eyes on an old woman standing in full view with no cover.
It lunged at Hilta. At the last moment she stepped to the side and let it sail past. It turned and in one fluid motion the snake like knucker had curled round Hilta’s body, constricting her. The old woman winked at Gwen and exploded into a thousand globules of silver oil. Gwen gave a startled gasp. The knucker had collapsed into a heap of coils. It cocked its head at the sound of Gwen's astonishment. The creature looked round and began to crawl towards her. A loop of wire slipped over the knucker’s head and pulled it to the ground. “Quick, Gwen, open the crate in the back of Groggier’s cart!” Gwen ran to the wagon and opened the large cadge. Gently Hilta pushed the knucker in and bolted the door shut.
“We must travel into the wood and release it.” Gwen sat next to Hilta on the front of the wagon.
Gwen looked at the empty space in front of the wagon. “Wait here.” Hilta got of the cart and stood in the marketplace. From the recesses of her dress Hilta pulled a piece of chalk. Around the well she drew a nonagon and spat on each of the nine corners. She then drew a half circle on one of the edges. She stood on the semi-circle and began the summoning. The entire plaza seemed to glow red. Suddenly one spot burst into fire. The flames seemed to run away from the nonagon but where caught in a vortex of wind. The whirlwind threw it into the centre. The flames changed to a pillar of smoke. The gas changed between many horrifying images until choosing that of a demon. Horns poked out of her long fiery red hair and out of her back came a tail with a great flame burning from the end. She gave a small smile tried to look cool and in control. The demon leant on the side of the well.
“WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME?” it inquired in a casual kind of way.
“I have summoned you to pull my cart,” replied Hilta sternly.
The demon examined her nails while thinking of something cocky to say.
“I AM A POWERFUL DEMON. WHY SHOULD I PULL YOUR CART?” The demon gave a laugh and stretched out in the most disrespectful way she could.
“Because I am a powerful witch.” The clouds that had been so far where now above them. Hilta raised her hands and stared up at the sky, she let out a scream. A bolt of lightning earthed itself on the near by church and rain began to fall. The sky had become so dark that the only source of light was the demon. It ran for cover, only to find she was caught in the nonagon.
“STOP, I BEG YOU. YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND.” The fire demon cowered as drops of rain fell and sizzled on its skin. The rain stopped and the sun reappeared. The demon mutated into a fiery steed and allowed its self to be tied up to the cart.
They began to leave the town. “Demon. Where did the knucker come from?”
“PLEASE, CALL ME ARDOR. A WIZARD LED THE DRAGON HERE. SAID HE WAS GOING TO GET HER THIS TIME.”
“Who?”
“SOME OLD LADY. SHE LIVES IN THE INN AT THE MOMENT.”
“Take us there.” The wagon turned and went back into the centre of the town. Ardor led them to a small pub called ‘the red lion’.
Hilta dismounted and walked up to the door. She was about to knock when she saw a long thin beam move. Slowly Hilta stepped back. Then she stopped and thought. She was no longer human, what harm could come to a lady made of fluid? Hilta walked straight up to the door. The serpent leapt at her and went straight through. Hilta continued to walk straight through the door. Gwen followed her. She took a deep breath and walked towards the door with her eyes shut. The door stopped her. She leant on it and tried to think. Gwen slipped and fell straight through. Although it was solid oak, Gwen had just fallen through to the other side. An alarm could be heard going of through out the building. The bar and tables where being used as desks. Several startled women looked up at Gwen. “Hi, which way did Hilta go?” the lady blinked a few times and pointed towards the staircase. Gwen raced up the stairs following Hilta. A witch stepped put in front of them. “Hilta!” the witch kneeled and apologised.
“What are you hiding?” Hilta’s voice had become a growl.
“We brought Aunt Dora here to be safe,” said the witch trying to avoid Hiltas’ gaze
“You understand there was an assassination attempt.” She said it as a fact not a question.
“Yes, that is why she is back at the castle.”
“Be sure to keep the security more secret. If we are to win this war we must keep the wizards on their pointed toes. Come Gwen.” Hilta left the building. They mounted the cart and made for the forest.
“Hilta?” asked Gwen, “Who is Dora?”
“Aunt Dora is one of the many witches. Although we have no leaders she is one of the most influential. Most witches will take a command from her with out question.”
They followed the muddy path to the edge of the wood.
