dark witch

Chapter6

At 8 a.m., a four-wheeled carriage, bathed in the morning glow, slowly moved towards the edge of the forest under the watchful eyes of the three Mond men. Haine, leaning on the rear window of the carriage, bid farewell to her father and brothers: "Go back inside, we will return soon."

"Safe travels," Mond thought, filled with reluctance and worry, yet he dared not show too much, to avoid upsetting their mother inside the house.

Seated on opposite sides of the carriage, both dressed in fine clothes, Morlin and Xya were not in good spirits either. Both bore a look of endurance as they gazed at the ugly crow perched stupidly on the long, low table, their eyes full of disdain. Despite their scornful looks, the crow remained foolishly still.

The two old horses pulled the carriage to the forest's edge where there was no path, but they did not stop. Continuing straight, they seemed to crash into the thick trees, and as Haine, who was clinging to the window, suddenly lost sight of the castle, the carriage was now on a small path in the forest.

She glanced at the grass and trees on both sides of the path, closed the window, turned around, and sat down, her mood deflated from leaving home.

Morlin withdrew his gaze from the crow and looked towards the dispirited little one: "It's fine that you brought this thing, but why inside the carriage?" The entire carriage seemed filled with an unpleasant smell of bird droppings.

"It came out with me, so naturally, it goes wherever I go," Haine replied, petting the crow and then taking out some corn from the treasure box beside her: "I've never seen you before, are you new here?" She offered a kernel of corn to the crow's beak.

The crow looked at the corn for a long time before reluctantly opening its mouth.

Xya, looking at the crow, wondered if it had just woken up: "Haine, did you pull it out of a nest?"

"Of course not," she retorted, feeling slandered: "Do I seem like the type to force birds? It seized this opportunity to come out with me on its own," she observed the crow seriously, noting it had no distinguishing features besides its stupidity, "through its own efforts."

"Ugly Black?" Xya chuckled, poking the crow's wing gently, which immediately moved aside, its feathers bristled, and it stared at Xya with its beady eyes, making a threatening cooing sound.

"You've offended it; it has its dignity too," Haine reminded.

Morlin frowned, a hint of suspicion in his brown eyes, but Xya found it amusing: "Haine, would you let Auntie play with it for a few days?"

"That... might not be a good idea," Haine replied, grabbing the crow, which now resembled a fighting rooster, to her side and smiling foolishly at her aunt before threatening softly: "Behave yourself, or I'll make you follow behind the carriage."

Interestingly, this crow was unique; until yesterday, all the crows she had summoned had sleek, shiny feathers, as the vast West Sea Forest lacked neither insects nor berries. But yesterday, a "refugee" crow appeared, its feathers neither glossy nor intact, looking as though it had been chewed by a dog, indicating it might have come from outside the West Sea Forest.

This morning, as soon as she opened her window, the crow landed on her windowsill, seemingly waiting for her, surprising Haine.

The crow's bristled feathers slowly settled down, and it stopped cooing, returning to its previous dumb appearance.

Xya, finding the crow even more interesting, offered a gold coin: "Haine, how about I exchange it with you for a gold coin?" She felt an unusual sensation when her finger touched it, a feeling that peaked in that instant.

Haine's grip loosened slightly, her eyes uncontrollably drawn to the gold coin, torn: "Auntie, do you only want a crow? I can bring you a whole flock from the West Sea Forest, smarter and more agile than Ugly Black," she offered.

Just as she finished speaking, Haine gasped as the crow pecked her hand hard, lifting a small piece of skin. She was now truly keen to get rid of it.

"I don't want others, just..."

"Let the crow stay with you," Morlin suddenly spoke, cutting off Xya's words after a long silence: "If it wants to leave one day, don't stop it."

"Big sister..."

Morlin looked at Xya with a cold voice: "Do you have any objections?"

How could Xya not have objections? Yet, facing her sister's stern look, she shrugged: "No."

Auntie might not have objections, but Haine did, seeing theopportunity for money fly away, she promptly dropped her reserve and said, "Let this one stay with me, I'll find you a plump and healthy one. It won't cost more, still just one gold coin."

The carriage then returned to silence. Morlin, choosing not to engage in the transaction, closed his eyes to rest. Meanwhile, Xya quietly pocketed the gold coin and began to look around as if searching for something, murmuring, "Where are we now? I wonder if we can get out of the forest before it gets dark."

Hope seemed lost for Haine as she looked down at the crow with a blank stare, seriously saying, "Ugly Black, you owe me a gold coin."

As the sun rose in the east when they entered the forest, it was setting in the west by the time they left. The two old horses, having filled their bellies with tender grass, finally picked up the pace, trotting along. The three passengers in the carriage did not rush them, and after about an hour, seemingly satisfied, the horses began to run more briskly.

Outside the West Sea Forest lay a green plain, with night approaching. In the distance, wisps of smoke could be seen from homes where the Roan people, having finished their day's work, were preparing to return home for safety's sake if it got any later.

"Polina," called a young blond woman, stepping out of the kitchen with a freshly baked loaf of dark coarse bread, "It's time to eat."

"Mum, look," a girl with two braided pigtails, wearing a gray hemp dress, pointed at the fast-moving carriage from the forest, "That's coming out of the West Sea Forest."

The blond woman's expression tightened, and she quickly pulled the girl inside, "It's getting dark; time for dinner and rest," she said, placing the bread on the table and handing the girl a small piece, "Start with this; I'll go lock the kitchen door."

The girl, holding the dark coarse bread dearly, obediently replied, "Okay," as the scent of wheat tantalized her senses. Watching the young woman leave, a hint of regret flashed in her blue-gray eyes.

She shouldn't have mentioned the West Sea Forest, which might remind her mother of past fabrications, tales she spun to convince her they could communicate with the god Apollo and move away. Now, her mother almost believed she had such powers. Why would she need them if they lived by the West Sea Forest?

Taking a small bite of the bread, Polina sighed. Misunderstandings aside, those tales were meant to save their lives. In a month, the ancestral founder, Austin Corell, would resurrect near Anastasia City, turning their former village into his feast.

In the book, her mother hadn't survived.

Yes, the world she lived in was actually a book—a story of mortal and vampire love, thankfully not as the protagonist. She chose to bring her mother to live outside the West Sea Forest because of Haine Desi.

Haine Desi, the most powerful dark witch in the history of the Mar continent. No, not just a dark witch, but the most formidable witch. Unlike the Roan-born protagonist, Loxi Peni Mulan, Haine Desi identified more with humans, one of the few strong figures who treated Roan people as equals, likely due to her father's influence.intricate hidden weapons. Beneath the castle in the West Sea Forest lies a secret chamber, storing nearly ten thousand dark weapons crafted by Desi witches through the ages. According to grandmother, the truly powerful artifacts are buried in the ancient tombs of Desi witches, among which the most intimidating is the West Sea Desi's Serpent Staff of Dark Magic.

"Alright," Xiya rubbed Haiyin's head, "Once we're back in the West Sea Forest, I'll give you a Night Box for storing your needles."

"Thank you, Auntie."

A gasp echoes from the temple atop the Althas Mountains in Arlos God Mountain, "What did you say? The resurrection failed?"

A woman with white hair touching the ground, dressed in a white robe, leans over a silver mirror, her silver eyes full of frustration, questioning the witch in the mirror dressed in Indian attire, "Why did it fail? Where is the ancestor witch?"

"I don't know why it failed. The soul of the ancestor witch has fallen into a deep slumber within Austin Corel's body," the witch strokes her aged face, "There's a secret within Austin Corel's body we're unaware of. We must uncover this secret; otherwise, the ancestor witch will never awaken."