Come Back Witch

Staring at the faces of his friends and the old man, Vinces mind began to spin. Where was he? What had happened?

Out of reflex, he nearly had pushed the old man bending over to him, staring in his face; his head hurt so much, it felt like he was falling asleep for small moments and then waking up over and over again.

But before he could even ask one thing, Ami shook him for no reason he could think of ''Vinces are you fine? Talk to us." There was a slight undertone of panic in her voice, which felt unsettling to him.

''Do I look like I'm fine?'' He answered sarcastically while trying to lift his head but just letting it fall back to the ground. It felt like he had lost control of his own body.

"Stay down for a bit, kid," David the elderly man said with his grumpy tone, but there was something in it that didn't quite sound like his usual grumpiness.

Letting out a sigh, Vinces closed his eyes, concentrating on his sixth sense. He wasn't going to trust anyone again so easily, but to his satisfaction, only 3 small white lights were around him, not a taint of darkness in them.

Finally relaxing, he just wanted to go back to opening his eyes as a small white light seemingly appeared at his feet. It felt familiar but just so much weaker; opening his eyes, she had returned.

Standing at his feet now too was Lysandra, her platinum hair stood still in the wind, she looked pale even more than usual. Her student uniform had disappeared; instead, she was wearing a simple, plain lavender-colored dress.

The others seemed to have noticed his stare as Finley turned his head away from him to look in the same direction, his expression unchanged, as if there was nothing there to see.

''Is something wrong, Vinces?'' Ami asked now too, looking for something in the air.

He wanted to answer them truthfully, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Lysandra moved her finger towards her lips, signaling him to stay quiet. Instead he let out a sigh, ''My headache is killing me.''

Instantly forcing the conversation back to his well-being. As their confusion slowly disintegrated, only David still seemed to be stuck looking for something wrong.

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''Don't worry, we will get you to the village soon for help, try to not move too much,'' Finley spoke, his words nearly falling out of his mouth.

Vinces would've let out a laugh if he could, but the pain paralyzed him from doing so. Instead, he simply nodded towards his companions in agreement.

David seemed to understand him instantly, rising to his feet and helping Vinces up. Standing on his feet again, the world began to spin, nearly sending him right back to the ground.

But David's powerful hold didn't let him. ''I can't walk..." Vinces spoke quietly; his voice was weak. No matter how much he tried, he already went past his limit today.

David continued to stay quiet, helping him onto his shoulders, he had already anticipated that they too had reached the next rank because of their lights, but David's new power only confirmed his prediction.

Slowly continuing their way, all of their conversations were short-lived; nobody felt like talking or even moving, but they had to get to the village.

''Where is the rest of our class?'' Vinces asked, his voice easy, trying to start a conversation, but the reaction of his friends told him a lot, Finley nearly stumbled over a branch, and Ami seemed to avoid his gaze.

David spoke, even though Vinces would've never predicted him to be the one to answer. ''We split up for now, hopefully we will all regroup at the village.'' His voice was hiding something that Vinces couldn't decipher.

Something was wrong, but Vinces didn't want to bother his friends with something they didn't want to tell him. Instead, he stared at Lysandra, hoping she could tell him anything.

It was hard to communicate with her without being able to talk, but the mighty witch seemed to understand his wish. ''A student called Lers had been found dead... the same person you fought a mimic off.'' Her voice was filled with genuine sorrow and hesitation.

The words hit him like an earthquake, sending his already spinning head just deeper into pain. He felt like he could cry or scream, but his body did neither. He had already known that the advancement to the next grade had improved his mental capacity, but this just felt wrong, barely even human.

He had been lost in thought until David suddenly stopped in his tracks. Being forced back to reality, Vinces felt mad, but his emotions couldn't stay that way for long.

Instead, he finally saw the reason David had stopped, in front of them was a strange wall, looking like a water bubble.

''The last barrier of the witch.'' Ami spoke, finally letting go of Finley's shoulder and taking a step forward. ''No evil can enter it as long as the witch exists.'' She added, her voice filled with happiness and excitement.

''How do we get through then?'' David asked, his voice annoyed, probably by the inconvenience ahead, but instead of answering, Ami just walked right towards it.

And after a second, which felt like an eternity, she was just able to walk through it without any problem. ''Everyone that the witch calls an ally will be able to pass, the rest would be burned alive until they die an agonizing death.''

Vinces shuddered at the thought of burning alive again but was also happy that this time it would be his enemies standing in the blazing flame of death.

But Lysandra added an unsettling detail. "That's how it used to be, but something was wrong; I felt someone had entered it not too long ago and was able to escape its agonizing death. I also have lost the ability to edit the barrier in any way.''

Vinces barely listened to her information; his head was still killing him and a lecture wasn't what he needed right now.

Finley entered just behind Ami and after roughly a minute of waiting, David too finally moved inside.

Everyone seemed to have let out a sigh of relief, finally being in a safe space and not having to worry about danger at any moment.

But their relief didn't last long.

Something stood beside the road.

At first, Vinces thought it was a signpost.

As they drew closer, his stomach tightened.

It wasn't a sign.

It was a spear.

The same kind he had used to kill the mimic.

A human head rested on its tip.

Another spear stood behind it.

Then another.

And another.

They stretched into the distance as far as he could see.

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Act 1: Escape Fumi Forest