Come Back Witch

Vinces stood still; he knew by her tone it wasn't a threat, it reminded him of an old doctor telling somebody their diagnosis.

He felt like he should fall into a panic or doubt her, but instead his curiosity got the better of him.

"Mind telling me why?" Vinces asked, his hands weakly shaking. He readied himself for any answer he could think of but still was surprised.

"It's because of me," the witch answered. "It would be too long to explain now," she said as he pointed towards the tower in the distance. ''We should talk there.''

Vinces opened his mouth to ask her something, but before he could, she once again disappeared with a snap.

Standing once again alone in the forest, everything seemed much more dangerous now, he still didn't know exactly what would kill him and he wasn't trying to die before he could.

He only slowly continued his way towards the tower, his excitement of his new strength having disappeared. Each step was taken carefully, but he just didn't seem to be able to concentrate.

His thoughts drifting between many things, at first he thought about his brother, but then his mind slowly drifted to what happened this day. Until he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

David, he had forgotten about David in all his problems; he felt like he should turn around and run back, back to where they last met, but knew it would be hopeless. He didn't even know exactly where he was, so how could he find somebody else?

He has to get to the witches' tower. He shouldn't worry about some mysterious words from a witch about his death, instead he should try to survive.

And after that he might be able to help his friends. Continuing to walk, his pace was slow at least for his new ability but steady.

The path ahead of him seemed to dim down to only about a meter in size, he thought about changing the route but decided against it. It felt like the right way and he got used to trusting his guts.

A small butterfly flew in front of him, then landed on his shoulder. With his new sense he could notice him, but the feeling was very different than the one of the witch.

Unlike Lysandra, the butterfly barely registered in his strange new sense. Just a tiny flicker, like a candle compared to a wildfire.

Without noticing it, his hand had moved towards the butterfly, trying to touch it. But it leaped from his shoulder before he could, flying away.

Confused at his own behavior, normally he would've tried to touch something completely unknown to him, but his mind seemed to be just too calm to complain about anything.

He just hoped it wasn't the calm before the storm. Focusing once again on the path, the tower was now considerably closer, only a few more minutes away.

On his way many things caught his attention; a small swarm of birds flew around the trees as if they were watching him.

Taken from NovelFire, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Also, it seemed like the forest itself was constructed to lead to this. The treelines on the side only allowed him to continue forward without climbing as the color from the flowers below him started to change from a formerly colorful mix into a simple white way of small flowers.

After a bit more time he finally reached it, the entrance was still intact, so he decided to use it, entering it. The first floor seemed to be a reception area with four sofas in a circle from different time periods.

One sofa looked as though it had come from a modern furniture store. Another belonged in a Renaissance manor.

As a history student, he was more than interested in their past and how they got here but tried to resist his explorer instinct.

The wooden table in the middle of the sofas seemed to be made around the 1800s, but its condition was perfect as if it were produced yesterday.

Standing in the middle of the room, he decided to pick the modern sofa to sit down on, not wanting to damage any antique.

The witch still hasn't shown up. Vinces didn't know if he should continue exploring the tower or wait for her. Turning his head in amazement, everything in the room seemed to be like it was stolen out of time.

The walls were plastered with paintings of nature, not a single portrait, which confused him.

After a few more seconds, he could hear the clattering of porcelain behind him. Before turning around, he already knew it was the witch, he was holding two teacups.

She walked through the room, elegant as ever, only stopping shortly once at the table, putting down the tea and then sitting down across from him.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting." The witch spoke first, her voice calm, as she pointed towards the tea. "I don't know which kind you like, so I prepared some chamomile tea."

Vinces stared at the tea with his usual suspicion, not daring to drink it. After inspecting the tea and finding nothing, his head turned once again towards the witch. "I want answers."

"The answer will come soon, but first I need to know how much you exactly know about this world." She drank a sip of her tea, not a bit of hurry in her voice.

Vinces couldn't stand her relaxed tone but still decided to answer. "What do you want to know? History? Geographics? Physics?" His voice became more annoyed with each question he asked.

The witch once again sipped at her tea, only shaking her head. ''I'm not talking about those things, I'm asking about the monsters and magic you saw today.''

"I don't know anything, except some of them remind me of a fairy tale book. So now you answer me: why will I die? He tried to remain calm, but he wasn't here for small talk instead he wanted information.

Lysandra once more shook her head, this time seemingly disappointed. "To win a game, you first need to understand its rules." She stood up, moving her hand towards the teacup, which now seemed to move on its own, flying up to her hand.

Vinces stared at her in disbelief, he knew she had some kind of magical abilities, but even then, they shocked him each time. "To win a game, you first need to understand its rules?" He repeated her sentence, trying to find sense in it.

"What game and what rules are you talking about?" as he jumped up, wanting answers.

"You noticed the monsters and magical abilities you saw today, right?" Seeing his agreeing nod, she continued.

"You probably also noticed your increase in strength and endurance after some kind of weird dream you had today." She stared at him waiting for an answer.

"Yes, I felt like I was reliving a part of my life and now I seem so much different." His annoyance disappeared; now he was interested in what the witch had to tell him.

"That means you cleared an instance, the first, to be exact. Only people who survive an encounter with a dream phenomenon can enter the First Instance and become of the rising rank." With the movement of her hand, the tea left its cup, forming into a silhouette of a goblin and glass plane.

"The goblin and mirror? Are those dream phenomena?" Vinces voice was filled with curiosity as he tried to touch the tea goblin.

"Yes, creatures created from the dreams of humans and summoned by the world as an exchange for energy.'' The witch flicked her hand, letting the tea disappear before Vinces could touch it.

Sitting down annoyed, Vinces spoke up. ''What do I have to do with them?''

"For any evil there is good, in other words, the trial is a process to make you help clean the world from its creation. After surviving the First Instance the world recognizes you as important, allowing you to ask for its power, for a price, of course. Just like I did with the tea.''

Listening carefully to her explanation, dots slowly seemed to connect in his head. It made sense, if he wanted to ask something from the world, he had to pay for it, but if he did something for it in return, he gained something.

"But this still doesn't explain why I am about to die." He wanted to know more about the world, but his survival was more important.

The witch didn't answer him directly instead she stared at the ground.

"Like I said, everything has a price and survival is the most expensive one."

Vinces wanted to ask her about the mysterious sentence, but the witch continued before he could.

"I tried to clear the Fifth Instance but failed miserably. Normally death would've been my punishment, but I was able to instead only destroy my physical body.''

Vinces continued to stare at her, still not seeing the connection towards him.

''Even then it destroyed my ascension, pushing me down towards the ascended rank.''

Ascension? Ascended rank? Vinces didn't know what they meant or what really happened.

"And what does that have to do with me?" His question stopped her monologue.

After a few seconds of thinking.

The witch spoke once more.

''In exchange for my survival, I sacrificed you.''