Come Back Witch

Vinces stared at her shocked face, the cold metal drawing blood.

As the fluid ran down his throat, they remained in a standstill. Vinces already had decided what he wanted and he was going to force the witch to answer him.

Lysandra opened her mouth and closed it again; she seemed to be thinking about something, but Vinces had no idea about what.

For him there was an easy solution, she just had to agree to talk and the situation would deescalate, but she seemed to be unwilling.

Pushing the sharp metal once close, she finally spoke. ''Ok, ok, let's talk," while raising her arms as if she would surrender.

Vinces watched every move carefully, looking for any signs of magic or reason to be worried, but finding none, he slowly lowered the broken spoon.

"Why don't you bind yourself to somebody else?" He asked, his voice still razor sharp.

Lysandra shook her head, destroying Vinces hope. "I would have to get close to the person and I can't really leave this place anymore." Her genuine sadness was much more crushing than any lie.

"Is there anyone else you might be able to bind to? What about the elder you told me about?" trying one last attempt of freeing himself of this situation.

"The elder would've been a possibility; at his elevated rank, he could hold me into existence for a while, but I just can't reach him. He wasn't where he should've been, nor does any long-range communication seem to work," Lysandra answered honestly, there was no reason for her to lie to him, or at least that's what Vinces hoped.

"Then what do we do, just wait to die?" He yelled at her, his voice filled with panic.

She once again shook her head, answering quietly. "If they are fast enough, they could get help for us." But even then her voice wasn't convincing, instead it seemed like she had already given up hope.

But Vinces couldn't. "What if they aren't?" He already knew the answer but needed her conformation.

"We will die here and they will too after my barrier breaks." She didn't seem to be able to look at him, but Vinces couldn't set all his hope on everyone else.

He wasn't like her; if there was a problem, he should face it alone. Only then could he be sure there wasn't a different way.

''I will go and help them.'' His voice was stoic, not a flicker of hesitation, but Lysandra didn't seem to enjoy his answer.

She lowered her arms, walking closer to him. ''You can't!" she spoke, her voice just as stoic as his. ''I can't protect you out there and if you were to die, everyone will have to face the consequences. And I won't risk the lives of everyone just for a single arrogant person.''

Vinces didn't mind her insult, instead it only seemed to fuel his determination. As he took a step towards her, now standing only roughly half a meter away.

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He stared into her green eyes and only after a moment of searching he found it, her hesitation, her fear. Only now realizing the woman claiming to be so mighty and wise was only around his age.

Standing in front of him was just another person fearing the unknown and not ready to sacrifice what she loved. Instead, she would rather let the whole apple tree rot than cut away a single rotten fruit.

Vinces wasn't different, he himself was scared. He didn't want to die or let anyone else die. But he couldn't run away from a problem again, not after everything, he must continue walking for Matthew, for his friends.

The memories of his brother's death seem to be just as fresh as ever and the promise towards David was still standing, he even wanted to save this mysterious witch, which seemed to be at fault for his death.

"I won't die. And I will make sure everyone gets through this.'' His eyes seemed to gleam with something different, not courage or knowledge. Instead, it was simple determination.

Lysandra simply continued to stand still, only letting out a sigh after a few seconds. "How are you going to survive out there? You have no idea what's waiting for you," she asked one last time, her voice having lost its resistance.

Vinces held up his hand, speaking in his mind. "Oh world, lend me your power just this once.'' Even after everything that happened today, he didn't expect anything to happen.

Standing in a dark void, Vinces stared at his body as if he were only a spectator.

Meanwhile, his body seemed to notice his gaze turning towards him.

''You asked for me.'' His body's voice rang out, being exactly the same as his but somehow still different.

"Who are you?" He asked his body, which seemed to react confused.

I'm you! Or maybe I'm the world or a combination of both. Who truly knows?'' Hearing his own laughter would have sent a shiver down his spine if he had a body.

"I asked for your power, can you give it to me?" Vinces was unsure how to act in this situation, it felt different from the first instance. It seemed much more like he truly was here instead of it being just played in his head.

His body wandered around the dark space, not answering him directly. Each step created no sound as if it were walking on clouds.

"Everything has a price, the question is simply, are you willing to pay it?" It asked Vinces, not even sparing him a gaze.

"A price? What price?'' He asked, but his double only seemed to move away more and more.

"That entirely depends on what you ask for." The answer only strengthens Vinces suspicion that whatever was standing in front of him won't tell him the answer no matter what.

Instead, he tried a different approach: "Let's do a deal. You grant me your power and in exchange I will take the punishment for it.'' Just as he finished Its laughter echoed once again.

"That's what I wanted to hear," snapping once Vince returned to his body, still remaining in the dark space. Meanwhile, standing in front of him was now a completely white, human-like figure, holding his hand out.

Vinces accepted the hand as the world slowly seemed to become undone.

"Pleasure doing business," the white figure said, snapping once more and disappearing.

Vinces instead couldn't concentrate on the fact of his disappearance, because just after the snap his body began to hurt.

Staring down at his body, he seemed to be on fire as an unimaginable pain surged through his body, forcing him to his knees. He wanted to scream, but his lungs felt like they were burning too, he couldn't move, not even think.

Only after the world around him finally shattered did he return to reality, hurriedly staring at his own body for any burns; he couldn't find any and the pain slowly seemed to disperse. Only one thing was different: a small single light ball was flying just above his hand, slowly shrinking down.

Lysandra's eyes turned big as she watched the small light disappear, finally having given up on trying to convince him.

"I won't allow you to leave alone, I will follow you. I might not be of great help at the moment, but my knowledge is unbeatable." Her tone didn't allow any objections from Vinces.

He simply stared at her, a small smile finally reaching his lips. ''Then let's not let the others wait.''

As both headed towards the exit.

Sitting in a dark cave was a hooded figure, its form humanlike, carving some wood. The only light source was a small campfire in the middle of the room.

The person seemed to be disappointed by his carved creation, grabbing it with one hand and throwing it behind him.

The wood clattered onto the ground, coming to a halt just a few meters away. Next to it were laying many more of them. Small wooden puppets, each and every one of them, looked uncanny and had something broken. Arms missing, bodies split in two, everything.

He continued to carve until footsteps just outside the cave could be heard. Entering the cave was a tall black-haired young man, Lers Cloves, but his body moved unnaturally, taking too wide steps, his hands not following the rest of the body.

Whatever it was, it started to slowly kneel in front of the hooded figure as it opened its hand, showing something it had collected.

The broken and blood-smeared student ID of Lers, the mysterious man, swiped his hand as the copy of Lers started to turn into a wooden puppet once more.

Staring at the ID on the ground, he slowly picked it up, inspecting it carefully.

An old man's voice echoed through the cave, "It seems like we got another one." His malicious laughter was filled with joy.

Simultaneously, he threw the ID into the burning fire, letting the aluminum melt.

Grabbing directly into the flames, he picked up a nearly burnt wooden piece.

"It seems your time is running out, Witch. Don't die too fast; I still want the honor of killing you myself.''