Naya the witch hunter

In an ocean of trees all towering into the clouds, an expanse of forest covering a vast amount of land, an Elven woman slowly pushed her way through the endless trees, her eyes focused and ears perked to listen intently to the surroundings. The longer she walked, the more her eyebrows furrowed in anger. She recalled the information she had been given, "Miss Elf, if you head toward the center of the forest, you'll see an eyesore of a tower stickin' out like a sore thumb among the trees; ya can't miss it. The evil witch lives there." That's what the human man told Naya back at the village. Yet, she had been walking through this forest for hours and had not seen any signs of the so-called tower or anything else for that matter. She found herself tempted to head back to that village to teach the human a lesson for lying to her. Shouldn't he be grateful for an Elf taking their time to assist him? The longer she spent wandering the dreary fores it more she felt her frustration mount. Regardless of the outcome, I will have a talk with that human. Still, the silence of the forest as not even a gust of wind blew past reminds her that this wasn't her home and that she was in an unfamiliar land. It's been a year since Naya was banished from Aleria, the Elven island. She was supposed to be killing witches, a task she thought would be simple, but she underestimated just how difficult it was to actually find them. She spent the first half of the year aimlessly wandering, attempting to find witches herself. However, she only managed to kill one during that time, a Dwarven witch she caught off guard. In the months following that successful hunt, she found nothing and only recently realized she couldn't keep avoiding population centers, no matter how much she disliked the mortal races. So she dealt with the annoying stares of the other races as she tried her best to maintain Elven etiquette and gain information and rumors about witches. Even then, information was scarce, and she had only just received this piece of news from a human man who evidently had lied to her. Mother was right, you can't trust the mortal races. She couldn't fathom why he would have lied, perhaps to get her out of the village. I'll find out soon; nobody makes a fool of me. Suddenly, her ears twitched. She heard a noise, a low growl followed by a brief whimpering. That was enough for her, and she smiled in satisfaction as she took off toward the noise. Finally, something in this dull place! She couldn't contain her excitement. Her speed would leave anyone in shock as she flashed through the forest in a blur. She reached a small clearing in the trees just seconds after detecting the noise. What greeted her brought a slight amount of relief. A wolf clad in pitch black fur blended into the night, with bright crimson red eyes staring directly at her. Though she didn't know what animal the wolf was consuming, she knew what the wolf was. The wolf growled at her, and the thought of a mindless beast attempting to threaten her made her feel funny. Such a thing wouldn't happen in Aleria. She didn't want to give it any chance; she tilted and launched forward, leaving a cloud of dust and dirt behind her as she instantly reached the wolf. She spun her body, delivering a powerful, quick kick to its skull. Her ears twitched as she picked up the disgusting sound of bone snapping, confirming her instant kill. She smiled gleefully, the confirmation of her own strength easing her mood. The Aleria beasts are way more formidable than this thing. Although remembering that ruined her mood again, her heart sinks as she recalls her banishment. She shook her head to clear the negative thoughts bubbling in her mind. Her focus went to the wolf corpse; it had already started dissolving into a black, mist-like substance. Her eyes widened, and she snapped her arm forward with an open palm to touch the black mist. Arcana. Her assumption was correct; the wolf was a summoned beast. A purple glow comes from her stretched palm as purple lines form from her fingertips and grow until they reach her wrist. The mist, the blackened Arcana, stops dissipating and flows into her purple lines. This was how Naya could fight the witches; she could absorb Wild Arcana used in spells and instead convert it into her own energy. The downside was that she couldn't generate or gather her own Arcana to refine into Refined Arcana herself. When the wolf's corpse dissipated completely, a small surge of power filled Naya's body. Her eyes glowed purple, and more bright purple lines formed on her other hand, stopping at her wrist. She held her hands up, a confident smile forming at the sight. The Arcana improved her senses, allowing her to hear and see far better. She looked around at the ground and saw the small prints of the summoned wolf. Found you. She felt the Arcana slowly dissipate within her; another downside to her ability was that she couldn't keep any Arcana. If she absorbed anything, she'd better use it soon. That spurred her into action, and she ran in the direction of the prints, her attention on her senses to detect anything else. She knew that if the witch was using a summoned beast and only a single one, she couldn't be too strong yet. Although her knowledge of witches was lacking, her knowledge of magic wasn't. Her Elven teachers were thorough. Summoned creatures were only useful as sentries, and even then, they were often easily discovered. Of course, stronger summons can exist, but the maintenance and effort needed to control something only marginally stronger than the summoner was wasteful. Maybe the cowardly mortal races need it. Finally, she reaches another clearing in the forest, one filled with vibrant green grass and flowers of all colors. The sight takes Naya's breath away, reminding her of Aleria and her mother's garden. The image is ruined when she looked at the dull wooden house in the middle of the clearing, with skulls of many different species surrounding it. However, the sight broke her from her stupor, and she closely watched the home while silently walking toward it. When she reached the door, she paused and focused intently on her hearing. Got you. She heard light footsteps tapping against the wood, clearly in no rush. The steps stopped on the right side of the home. Despite having her summoned beast killed, the witch evidently didn't know Naya was there. Odd. The witch should have felt the connection shatter and yet she showed no signs of panic. Naya didn't care; she would kill the witch regardless.