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<blockquote data-quote="Rodrigo Istalindir" data-source="post: 1887111" data-attributes="member: 2810"><p><strong>Round 3.2 - Rodrigo Istalindir - Witchy Woman</strong></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Witchy Woman</strong></p><p></p><p>“Ruined! We’re ruined,” moaned the innkeeper. “We’ll never be able to recover from this.” </p><p></p><p> Johann Small surveyed the damage wreaked by the spring flood. The winter had been unusually harsh. Whole houses had been buried under snowy drifts, and the villagers had prayed and made offerings to Scandiaca in hopes of an early spring. </p><p></p><p>The weather mirrored the goddess’ fickle nature; the bitter winds stopping as if someone had slammed shut a door in the sky. In the blink of an eye, the spring sun melted the blankets of snow and the river overflowed its banks. To add insult to injury, sunshine had turned to shadow, and storm clouds threatened to finish what the thaw had started. </p><p></p><p>The farmers in the outlying areas would survive, Johann knew, and the fertile soil left behind by the receding waters would benefit them in the years to come. Even the craftsmen and other townsfolk would get by. But he depended on the excess coin and comity they provided, and both would be in short supply for quite some time.</p><p></p><p>With a resigned sigh, Johann directed his daughters to begin gathering what goods that could be salvaged, and he began shoveling muck from the floor. With any luck, he thought, the water hadn’t breached the casks, and he could a least get good and drunk when night fell. (Picture 2)</p><p></p><p>Hours later, Johann still struggled. His daughters had ventured to the river to try and wash the linens, leaving him alone to grouse aloud while he worked.</p><p></p><p>“Hail, fellow. Have you a room?” </p><p></p><p>The voice, though friendly, badly startled the innkeeper, and he nearly fell face-first into the mud before regaining his composure.</p><p></p><p>“Are you daft or just blind?” Johann inquired, not even turning to face the interloper. “Or do you desire to slumber amongst the frogs and worms?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, you do seem to have quite the mess on your hands, don’t you? But for once I have coin to spare, good sir, and having spent the last week sleeping in the rain, even such accommodations as this look welcome.”</p><p></p><p>At the mention of coin, Johann stood, knees creaking, and faced his new customer.</p><p></p><p>“Coin, you say? That would be welcome, I tell you true. I’ve not much to offer, but you’re welcome to bed down in the attic with me and my kin. I’ll not charge you full price, of course.” </p><p></p><p>“Cozy, I’m sure. By kin, I assume you mean your daughters? I saw them by the river and they sent me hither.”</p><p></p><p>“Aye, they are my daughters, but I warn ya….”</p><p></p><p>“You’ve nothing to fear, my good man, nothing at all,” the newcomer laughed. “I’ve been the subject of a tale or two already. I’ve no desire to personify the butt of so many jokes.”</p><p></p><p>“The attic will be just fine, and I’ll be on my best behavior, I swear.”</p><p></p><p>“Well then, you’ve got yourself a place to stay.” Johann wiped his muddy hand on his shirt and shoved it forward. “Johann Small, innkeeper.”</p><p></p><p>The stranger took his hand and shook it firmly. “Kylo Krumboldt, good sir, at your service.”</p><p></p><p>“What brings you here, Mister Krumboldt? Surely you didn’t come to enjoy our fine mud baths?”</p><p></p><p>“No, though your mud is quite lovely. And please, call me Kylo.”</p><p></p><p> “I am a merchant by trade, though recent misunderstandings in the south have left me without wares. I thought that perhaps these northern climes would renew my fortunes as the spring renewed the land.”</p><p></p><p> “Ach, just as well you’ve no merchandise. You’d have lost a wagon in the floods for sure, and maybe your life along with it.”</p><p></p><p> “You are probably right, Johann. And I feel churlish for bemoaning the loss of some trinkets while you townsfolk are suffering such a disaster.”</p><p></p><p> “We’ve survived worse, I suppose, though I’d be hard-pressed to remember when. Still, no one lost their life, and for that we can be thankful. Why don’t you settle yourself upstairs, Kylo, and I’ll join you in a moment. It’s about time for a wee bit o’ beer, don’t you think?”</p><p></p><p> Kylo laughed, clapped Johann on the shoulder, and headed into the tavern and up the stairs, feet squelching in the mud.</p><p></p><p>*</p><p></p><p> An hour later, as the sun neared the horizon, Jenne Small and her younger sister Jule approached the inn pulling a small cart laden with dried and folded clothes and bedding. From outside, they heard boisterous laughter, some recognizable as their father’s. Grabbing armfuls of laundry, they hurried inside.</p><p></p><p> Reaching the top of the narrow stairway leading to the attic, they entered to find Kylo and their father sitting on the floor, a small cask of ale between them. Both men held large flagons, and waved them drunkenly as they told jokes that made the girls’ ears turn red.</p><p></p><p> “Hey, Kylo, I’d like you to meet my daughters. The one on the left is Jule, and th’ other one ish Jenne.” Johann slurred.</p><p></p><p> The two daughters exchanged an exasperated glance.</p><p></p><p> “Tis the other way around, sir. I’m Jenne, and she’s Jule.” Jenne corrected her father. “And we met Mister Krumboldt this afternoon.”</p><p></p><p> Oblivious, Kylo struggled to his feet. While his capacity for alcohol was prodigious, he’d met his match in the innkeeper.</p><p></p><p> “Kylo Krumbolt, at your service. Such fine lasses you are. I can see you’re the apple of your father’s eye.” Grasping Jenne’s hand with his right and Jule’s with his left, he kissed each in turn. Laundry tumbled to the floor.</p><p></p><p> The sisters looked at each other again, and stifled their laughter.</p><p></p><p> “Please to meet you, Mister Krumboldt, ” the girls said formally, and then burst into giggles.</p><p></p><p> Kylo staggered back to where had been sitting and tumbled awkwardly to the ground. He picked up his flagon and picked up his tale where he’d left off.</p><p></p><p> The girls gathered the fallen laundry and folded it before stacking it atop and old chest.</p><p></p><p> “We’re going down to the pantry, father. Hopefully the food on the higher shelves is still dry.”</p><p></p><p>*</p><p></p><p> Jenne and Jule returned an hour later, hoping the small cask had been drained and that the men had either regained their senses or lost consciousness.</p><p></p><p> It seemed the former, as the bawdy tales had ceased and the two men sat quietly talking in the corner. They had dragged a table and four chairs from the main room, and sat across from each other.</p><p></p><p> The girls pulled chairs up to the table, and placed bread and cheese scavenged from the pantry in the center.</p><p></p><p> “Please, Kylo, you’ve got to try. We’ve nothing to lose. If those clouds let loose, we’re done for. The whole town will wash away.”</p><p></p><p> “I don’t know. If this Scandiaca is as crafty as you say, I’m not sure bargaining with her is wise.”</p><p></p><p> “But you are a man of the world. If half of what you’ve told me of your adventures is true, you’re the only one around that can match wits with her and win us a change in the weather.”</p><p></p><p> Kylo was torn. On the one hand, fleecing the gullible was more than a habit with him, it was his calling. But his luck had nearly run out in the south, and the memory of awakening to see an angry crowd pointing sharp things at him had made him cautious. And he was starting to like the innkeeper.</p><p></p><p> “Okay, Johann, okay. I tell you what. I’ll seek out this Scandiaca, and try to persuade her to make the rains go away. If I succeed, I’ll take your gold and say ‘thank you’. If I fail, and it rains within the week, I’ll charge you nothing and offer my apologies.”</p><p></p><p> That was as fair as he’d ever been, Kylo thought. He wander out into the wilds, wait a day for this mythical goddess to show, and then come back. Betting on the weather was no more risky than most of the wagers he’d made in his life, and if the rain held off for a week, he could claim his reward with a clean conscience.</p><p></p><p> “Deal.” Johann grabbed Kylo’s hand and shook it.</p><p></p><p> “Now, if you’ll excuse me for a bit, I’ve got to get rid of that ale,” said Johann, and he made his way down the stairs.</p><p></p><p> “Are you really going to bargain with the Weather Witch?” Jule asked in awe. “No one has ever seen her and returned to tell about it.”</p><p></p><p> “If they’ve never returned, how do you know what really happened to them?” Kylo asked, amused. “Maybe they just fell in the river and were washed away, or something equally mundane.”</p><p></p><p> Jule looked up at her older sister.</p><p></p><p> “You said so, Jenne. You said she punished those that had the nerve to trespass in her abode by cracking their bones and eating the marrow. And when I was growing up you told me she snuck into town at night and stole little girls who didn’t do their chores!”</p><p></p><p> “I made up the part about stealing little girls. But the rest is true, I swear.”</p><p></p><p> Kylo smiled. </p><p></p><p> “Don’t believe everything you hear, whether it’s from some old hag with the evil eye or an older sister who’s trying to trick someone into doing all the chores.”</p><p></p><p> “What about traveling scoundrels with silver tongues?” Jenne asked.</p><p></p><p> “Especially them.”</p><p></p><p>*</p><p></p><p> The following morning, Kylo set out from town. He followed the surging river upstream, keeping well clear of its unstable banks. Johann had told him that Scandiaca was rumored to live in a cave in the small mountains a half a day’s walk distant.</p><p></p><p> The soggy ground made for slow going, and dusk was not far off by the time he reached the mountains. Looking around for a place to camp for the night, he spied a bird high overhead, circling lazily in the dying light.</p><p></p><p> Kylo spotted a small depression, a grotto ringed by broken rocks and sheltered from the wind. Broken tree limbs were scattered about, but they were too wet for a fire. He managed to scrounge some scraggly underbrush that looked like it would suffice, and set to making camp.</p><p></p><p>*</p><p></p><p> The night sky was overcast, and there was no stars visibly, and only a faint glow where the moon hung behind curtains of clouds. It was quiet, too, save for the low crackling of the fire.</p><p></p><p> Kylo lay in against one of the smoother rocks, his cloak wrapped around him for warmth. It wasn’t as nice as the attic at the inn, he thought, but at least it wasn’t raining, and he slowly drifted off to sleep.</p><p></p><p> “Who!”</p><p></p><p> The cry jerked Kylo from his slumber, and he looked around groggily, trying to spot the caller.</p><p></p><p> “Who!” Again the cry sounded.</p><p></p><p> Across the rocky bowl, a beautiful white owl sat upon a scrawny tree growing out of the barren ground.</p><p></p><p> “Who!” A third time.</p><p></p><p> Kylo stood mute, watching the creature. With a sudden flurry, it launched itself from its perch Flapping furiously, it stopped midair several feet away and changed. Where the bird had been an instant before stood a woman. </p><p></p><p>She was shrouded in a cloak covered with white feathers, and a fur-lined hood nearly obscured her face. Coal-black eyes stared unblinking at him, and Kylo shivered as a wave of bitter cold swept over the clearing. (Picture 4)</p><p></p><p>“Who dares disturb my aerie?” Her voice was deep and resonant.</p><p></p><p>“My name is Jamis” Kylo responded. Despite his fear, his natural survival instincts told him that giving her his real name would be a bad idea.</p><p></p><p>“First you disturb my home, then you lie to me?” she hissed. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t turn you into a mouse and eat you!”</p><p></p><p>“My deepest apologies. Twas a reflex, nothing more. Names have power, and one shouldn’t use them out lightly. I am known as Kylo.”</p><p></p><p>“Do you know my name, foolish one?”</p><p></p><p>“I have heard the villagers call you Scandiaca.” Kylo ventured.</p><p></p><p>“I am known by that name. Others as well. Winter Witch. Lady Owl. But Scandiaca will do.”</p><p></p><p>“Again, my apologies, Scandiaca. I did not mean to intrude on your home. I was seeking a place to sleep for the night, nothing more.”</p><p></p><p>“Why do you come here, to these mountains?”</p><p></p><p>“The townsfolk sent me here to beg a boon from you. They are fearful that the rains will come and wash away their livelihood. They would ask that you work your magic and keep the storms at bay.”</p><p></p><p>“And what do they offer me in exchange? What price will they pay for my forbearance?” </p><p></p><p>“I’m sure they will give you anything you ask, anything that is within their power to give. “</p><p></p><p>“Very well. I demand a child. No more than a year old. The meat is most tender when they are young.”</p><p></p><p>A horrified gasp echoed across the rocks, and Kylo’s head whipped around at the sound.</p><p></p><p>“Spies! You brought sneaky spies!” Scandiaca shrieked.</p><p></p><p>Kylo glimpsed a Jule atop her sister’s shoulders, peering over the rocks.</p><p></p><p>Lightning flashed and smoke billowed, and when it cleared, the girls were nowhere to be seen.</p><p></p><p>Sick to his stomach, Kylo ran to where they had been hiding. Instead of two young girls, he saw two green turtles, one atop the other. (Picture 3)</p><p></p><p>“What have you done?” He turned back and shouted at Scandiaca. “They were just children.” </p><p></p><p>“Be grateful they were too old to eat, else they’d be mice instead of turtles.” Scandiaca scowled. “But turtles do make such a nice sound when you drop them on the rocks.”</p><p></p><p>“No, please, don’t. Turn them back, please. I promise you, they just wanted to meet you. They meant no harm.”</p><p></p><p>“So you ask another boon? You wish to barter for the children’s safe return?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes. Yes, I do. What will you ask to return the children to the way they were, and let them return home safely?”</p><p></p><p>“Hmm. Let me see. Food is nice, but I can get my own food.”</p><p></p><p>“How about these? Do you fancy emeralds?” Kylo asked, pulling a small puch from his shirt and dumping two small gemstones into his hand.</p><p></p><p>“Pretty, yes, they are pretty. But not my color, I think.”</p><p></p><p>“I know.” Scandiaca said. “I want you, Kylo.”</p><p></p><p>“Aren’t I too old and tough to eat?” Kylo stammered.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t mean to eat you, Kylo. Oh no. I mean to bed you. It can be so cold and lonely on my mountain, and you are fair to look upon.”</p><p></p><p>“What?”</p><p></p><p>“That is my demand, mortal. Your body for theirs.”</p><p></p><p> Kylo felt trapped. He couldn’t let the sisters spend the rest of their lives living in pond. </p><p></p><p> “Very well. My body for theirs. And for the town, as well. But for the night only.”</p><p></p><p> “Done.” Scandiaca shouted triumphantly. She gestured, and again the flash of light and cloud of smoke sprung forth. Jule and Jenne stood upright and human once more.</p><p></p><p> “Run, children, run like the wind.” Kylo shouted, and the girls fled the clearing.</p><p></p><p> “And now, Kylo, you pay for their freedom.”</p><p></p><p> “First, the rain. Make the storms go away.”</p><p></p><p> “Very well. Follow me, Kylo, and I’ll satisfy you before you satisfy me,” she leered.</p><p></p><p> The witch disappeared behind a rock, and at first Kylo suspected more trickery. Instead, he found a cleverly concealed tunnel. He entered, and followed it down a few dozen feet before it opened into a large cave. </p><p></p><p> The witch’s home was rather well appointed, for a hole in the ground. Fur rugs covered the ground in layers, and chimes and totems hung from the ceiling. Lichens glowed from cracks in the wall, softly illuminating the refuge.</p><p></p><p> The witch hovered over something, and Kylo moved closer for a better look. In her lap sat a plate, upon which sat four brightly colored objects, red, yellow, green, and orange. (Picture 5)</p><p></p><p> Vegetables, or maybe fruits, Kylo thought, although he’d not seen their like before. Not surprising, given that he felt vegetables were a waste of time when there was meat to be eaten.</p><p></p><p> The witch’s hands passed over the vegetabes, and she muttered incantations in a strange tongue. For several minutes this continued, until finally she looked up and grinned at Kylo. </p><p></p><p> “Take these with you in the morning, and when you get to the village, scrape the seeds from them and plant them at the four points of the compass around the town. </p><p></p><p>“Red, for blood, to the north. Yellow, for the rising sun, to the east. Green, for the plants, to the south, and the orange to the west, for the setting sun.”</p><p></p><p> “And then what?” Kylo asked.</p><p></p><p> “And then nothing. So long as the plants that spring forth thrive, the worst of the weather will pass the town by. This I promise.”</p><p></p><p> Scandiaca smiled at Kylo again, and he suddenly knew how the mouse felt just before it was devoured by the swooping owl.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>*</p><p></p><p> Dawn crept up the slope of the mountains, and Kylo stirred. Moving quietly, he gathered his clothing and crept from the cave. The morning was cold, but still he didn’t stop to dress until he was well away from the cave. He nearly cried out in pain as his shirt scraped against the deep furrows the witch’s talons had gouged in his back, and he wondered, not for the first time, why she couldn’t have changed those meathooks the way she shapeshifted everything else.</p><p></p><p> “The hag’s gone mad with power,” he muttered. “Pathetic old crone has to threaten children to get a man to even look at her.”</p><p></p><p> Scandiaca peered over the edge of her aerie, her owl eyes nearly blind now that the sun had risen. Her hearing, however, remained as keen as ever.</p><p></p><p> “Crone, am I? Hag? You are a pig, Kylo, like all men, and so shall others see you.”</p><p></p><p>*</p><p></p><p>Kylo staggered back into town, and headed for the inn. He was worried about the girls, and he hoped that no matter how crazy the old woman was, that she at least was true to her word.</p><p></p><p>“Johann? Are you here? Are your girls safe?” he called as he climbed the steps.</p><p></p><p>Entering the attic, he could see the two girls sound asleep, huddled together under several blankets. They must have been exhausted, he thought, especially if they ran all the way home. </p><p></p><p>He was about to go back downstair and look for Johann when he saw Jule open her eyes. They widened to the size of saucers, and the girl screamed.</p><p></p><p>Her shouts awakened Jenne, and she too shrieked when she saw Kylo.</p><p></p><p>“Help, father, there is a beast upon us,” she shouted.</p><p></p><p>“Jenne, it’s me, it’s Kylo.”</p><p></p><p>The girl stopped yelling long enough to take a long hard look at him. Her eyes darted to his clothes, then back to his face.</p><p></p><p>“Kylo? What did the witch do to you?”</p><p></p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p></p><p>Scrambling to her feet, Jenne ran to the table and grabbed the serving platter. She raised it in front of Kylo’s face.</p><p></p><p>Staring back at him was porcine face, flared snout and all. Only the eyes remained recognizably human.</p><p></p><p>“Oh my god, that bitch!” he shouted. “Look what she’s done to me.”</p><p></p><p>Outside, he heard people shouting and doors slamming.</p><p></p><p>“Kylo! Show your face.” came a voice tinged with laughter. </p><p></p><p>“The witch. What more does she want from me?” he moaned.</p><p></p><p> “I’ve come for the wards, Kylo. I’m breaking our bargain, you vile pig. And when I’m done with you, it will be the children’s turn.”</p><p></p><p> Rummaging through his belongings, Kylo grabbed the only thing he could think of that might have a chance of stopping the witch. Firearms were rare, and he doubted anyone this far from a large city had ever seen one.</p><p></p><p> Rushing downstairs and out into the open, he saw the witch twenty yards away. In the other direction a number of townsfolk cowered, unable or unwilling to stand up to Scandiaca. More peered from around corners or behind cracked doors.</p><p></p><p> “We had a deal, witch, and I kept it. Leave these people be.”</p><p></p><p> “Fool. Do you think I am bound by any agreement with such as you? Does the hunter bargain with its prey? I treated you with kindness, and you mocked me. And now you will know what it is like to be humiliated.”</p><p></p><p> The witch’s talons began weaving a pattern in the air, and a sphere of brilliant white coalesced around them. Kylo felt the temperature drop as well, and he hurriedly loaded the finicky firearm. </p><p></p><p> Scandiaca shrieked, and Kylo looked up just in time to see the orb that the witch had summoned streaking towards his head. Without thinking, he raised his pistol and fired just as the missile struck him dead on. (Picture 1)</p><p></p><p>*</p><p></p><p> He opened his eyes, but was blind, and something sticky covered his face. Blood, he thought, I’m covered with my own blood. But at least I’m alive. His ears were ringing from the gunshot, but he thought he heard laughter, too.</p><p></p><p> He lifted his hands and tried to clear his vision. He found his face covered with a frothy mixture that felt nothing like blood, and as he scooped it away from his eyes, he saw that it was white, not red.</p><p></p><p> He sat up and looked around. A few feet ahead of him, Jule and Jenne were laughing hysterically, and a dozen or so other, Johann included, were laughing as well. He noticed Jenne was holding the sack of vegetables. Of the witch, there was no sign.</p><p></p><p> Kylo held up his hand and looked closely at the mess enveloping it. He sniffed it, and stuck out his tongue and licked his fingers.</p><p></p><p> Lemon meringue, he thought. Not bad.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rodrigo Istalindir, post: 1887111, member: 2810"] [b]Round 3.2 - Rodrigo Istalindir - Witchy Woman[/b] [center][b]Witchy Woman[/b][/center] “Ruined! We’re ruined,” moaned the innkeeper. “We’ll never be able to recover from this.” Johann Small surveyed the damage wreaked by the spring flood. The winter had been unusually harsh. Whole houses had been buried under snowy drifts, and the villagers had prayed and made offerings to Scandiaca in hopes of an early spring. The weather mirrored the goddess’ fickle nature; the bitter winds stopping as if someone had slammed shut a door in the sky. In the blink of an eye, the spring sun melted the blankets of snow and the river overflowed its banks. To add insult to injury, sunshine had turned to shadow, and storm clouds threatened to finish what the thaw had started. The farmers in the outlying areas would survive, Johann knew, and the fertile soil left behind by the receding waters would benefit them in the years to come. Even the craftsmen and other townsfolk would get by. But he depended on the excess coin and comity they provided, and both would be in short supply for quite some time. With a resigned sigh, Johann directed his daughters to begin gathering what goods that could be salvaged, and he began shoveling muck from the floor. With any luck, he thought, the water hadn’t breached the casks, and he could a least get good and drunk when night fell. (Picture 2) Hours later, Johann still struggled. His daughters had ventured to the river to try and wash the linens, leaving him alone to grouse aloud while he worked. “Hail, fellow. Have you a room?” The voice, though friendly, badly startled the innkeeper, and he nearly fell face-first into the mud before regaining his composure. “Are you daft or just blind?” Johann inquired, not even turning to face the interloper. “Or do you desire to slumber amongst the frogs and worms?” “Yes, you do seem to have quite the mess on your hands, don’t you? But for once I have coin to spare, good sir, and having spent the last week sleeping in the rain, even such accommodations as this look welcome.” At the mention of coin, Johann stood, knees creaking, and faced his new customer. “Coin, you say? That would be welcome, I tell you true. I’ve not much to offer, but you’re welcome to bed down in the attic with me and my kin. I’ll not charge you full price, of course.” “Cozy, I’m sure. By kin, I assume you mean your daughters? I saw them by the river and they sent me hither.” “Aye, they are my daughters, but I warn ya….” “You’ve nothing to fear, my good man, nothing at all,” the newcomer laughed. “I’ve been the subject of a tale or two already. I’ve no desire to personify the butt of so many jokes.” “The attic will be just fine, and I’ll be on my best behavior, I swear.” “Well then, you’ve got yourself a place to stay.” Johann wiped his muddy hand on his shirt and shoved it forward. “Johann Small, innkeeper.” The stranger took his hand and shook it firmly. “Kylo Krumboldt, good sir, at your service.” “What brings you here, Mister Krumboldt? Surely you didn’t come to enjoy our fine mud baths?” “No, though your mud is quite lovely. And please, call me Kylo.” “I am a merchant by trade, though recent misunderstandings in the south have left me without wares. I thought that perhaps these northern climes would renew my fortunes as the spring renewed the land.” “Ach, just as well you’ve no merchandise. You’d have lost a wagon in the floods for sure, and maybe your life along with it.” “You are probably right, Johann. And I feel churlish for bemoaning the loss of some trinkets while you townsfolk are suffering such a disaster.” “We’ve survived worse, I suppose, though I’d be hard-pressed to remember when. Still, no one lost their life, and for that we can be thankful. Why don’t you settle yourself upstairs, Kylo, and I’ll join you in a moment. It’s about time for a wee bit o’ beer, don’t you think?” Kylo laughed, clapped Johann on the shoulder, and headed into the tavern and up the stairs, feet squelching in the mud. * An hour later, as the sun neared the horizon, Jenne Small and her younger sister Jule approached the inn pulling a small cart laden with dried and folded clothes and bedding. From outside, they heard boisterous laughter, some recognizable as their father’s. Grabbing armfuls of laundry, they hurried inside. Reaching the top of the narrow stairway leading to the attic, they entered to find Kylo and their father sitting on the floor, a small cask of ale between them. Both men held large flagons, and waved them drunkenly as they told jokes that made the girls’ ears turn red. “Hey, Kylo, I’d like you to meet my daughters. The one on the left is Jule, and th’ other one ish Jenne.” Johann slurred. The two daughters exchanged an exasperated glance. “Tis the other way around, sir. I’m Jenne, and she’s Jule.” Jenne corrected her father. “And we met Mister Krumboldt this afternoon.” Oblivious, Kylo struggled to his feet. While his capacity for alcohol was prodigious, he’d met his match in the innkeeper. “Kylo Krumbolt, at your service. Such fine lasses you are. I can see you’re the apple of your father’s eye.” Grasping Jenne’s hand with his right and Jule’s with his left, he kissed each in turn. Laundry tumbled to the floor. The sisters looked at each other again, and stifled their laughter. “Please to meet you, Mister Krumboldt, ” the girls said formally, and then burst into giggles. Kylo staggered back to where had been sitting and tumbled awkwardly to the ground. He picked up his flagon and picked up his tale where he’d left off. The girls gathered the fallen laundry and folded it before stacking it atop and old chest. “We’re going down to the pantry, father. Hopefully the food on the higher shelves is still dry.” * Jenne and Jule returned an hour later, hoping the small cask had been drained and that the men had either regained their senses or lost consciousness. It seemed the former, as the bawdy tales had ceased and the two men sat quietly talking in the corner. They had dragged a table and four chairs from the main room, and sat across from each other. The girls pulled chairs up to the table, and placed bread and cheese scavenged from the pantry in the center. “Please, Kylo, you’ve got to try. We’ve nothing to lose. If those clouds let loose, we’re done for. The whole town will wash away.” “I don’t know. If this Scandiaca is as crafty as you say, I’m not sure bargaining with her is wise.” “But you are a man of the world. If half of what you’ve told me of your adventures is true, you’re the only one around that can match wits with her and win us a change in the weather.” Kylo was torn. On the one hand, fleecing the gullible was more than a habit with him, it was his calling. But his luck had nearly run out in the south, and the memory of awakening to see an angry crowd pointing sharp things at him had made him cautious. And he was starting to like the innkeeper. “Okay, Johann, okay. I tell you what. I’ll seek out this Scandiaca, and try to persuade her to make the rains go away. If I succeed, I’ll take your gold and say ‘thank you’. If I fail, and it rains within the week, I’ll charge you nothing and offer my apologies.” That was as fair as he’d ever been, Kylo thought. He wander out into the wilds, wait a day for this mythical goddess to show, and then come back. Betting on the weather was no more risky than most of the wagers he’d made in his life, and if the rain held off for a week, he could claim his reward with a clean conscience. “Deal.” Johann grabbed Kylo’s hand and shook it. “Now, if you’ll excuse me for a bit, I’ve got to get rid of that ale,” said Johann, and he made his way down the stairs. “Are you really going to bargain with the Weather Witch?” Jule asked in awe. “No one has ever seen her and returned to tell about it.” “If they’ve never returned, how do you know what really happened to them?” Kylo asked, amused. “Maybe they just fell in the river and were washed away, or something equally mundane.” Jule looked up at her older sister. “You said so, Jenne. You said she punished those that had the nerve to trespass in her abode by cracking their bones and eating the marrow. And when I was growing up you told me she snuck into town at night and stole little girls who didn’t do their chores!” “I made up the part about stealing little girls. But the rest is true, I swear.” Kylo smiled. “Don’t believe everything you hear, whether it’s from some old hag with the evil eye or an older sister who’s trying to trick someone into doing all the chores.” “What about traveling scoundrels with silver tongues?” Jenne asked. “Especially them.” * The following morning, Kylo set out from town. He followed the surging river upstream, keeping well clear of its unstable banks. Johann had told him that Scandiaca was rumored to live in a cave in the small mountains a half a day’s walk distant. The soggy ground made for slow going, and dusk was not far off by the time he reached the mountains. Looking around for a place to camp for the night, he spied a bird high overhead, circling lazily in the dying light. Kylo spotted a small depression, a grotto ringed by broken rocks and sheltered from the wind. Broken tree limbs were scattered about, but they were too wet for a fire. He managed to scrounge some scraggly underbrush that looked like it would suffice, and set to making camp. * The night sky was overcast, and there was no stars visibly, and only a faint glow where the moon hung behind curtains of clouds. It was quiet, too, save for the low crackling of the fire. Kylo lay in against one of the smoother rocks, his cloak wrapped around him for warmth. It wasn’t as nice as the attic at the inn, he thought, but at least it wasn’t raining, and he slowly drifted off to sleep. “Who!” The cry jerked Kylo from his slumber, and he looked around groggily, trying to spot the caller. “Who!” Again the cry sounded. Across the rocky bowl, a beautiful white owl sat upon a scrawny tree growing out of the barren ground. “Who!” A third time. Kylo stood mute, watching the creature. With a sudden flurry, it launched itself from its perch Flapping furiously, it stopped midair several feet away and changed. Where the bird had been an instant before stood a woman. She was shrouded in a cloak covered with white feathers, and a fur-lined hood nearly obscured her face. Coal-black eyes stared unblinking at him, and Kylo shivered as a wave of bitter cold swept over the clearing. (Picture 4) “Who dares disturb my aerie?” Her voice was deep and resonant. “My name is Jamis” Kylo responded. Despite his fear, his natural survival instincts told him that giving her his real name would be a bad idea. “First you disturb my home, then you lie to me?” she hissed. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t turn you into a mouse and eat you!” “My deepest apologies. Twas a reflex, nothing more. Names have power, and one shouldn’t use them out lightly. I am known as Kylo.” “Do you know my name, foolish one?” “I have heard the villagers call you Scandiaca.” Kylo ventured. “I am known by that name. Others as well. Winter Witch. Lady Owl. But Scandiaca will do.” “Again, my apologies, Scandiaca. I did not mean to intrude on your home. I was seeking a place to sleep for the night, nothing more.” “Why do you come here, to these mountains?” “The townsfolk sent me here to beg a boon from you. They are fearful that the rains will come and wash away their livelihood. They would ask that you work your magic and keep the storms at bay.” “And what do they offer me in exchange? What price will they pay for my forbearance?” “I’m sure they will give you anything you ask, anything that is within their power to give. “ “Very well. I demand a child. No more than a year old. The meat is most tender when they are young.” A horrified gasp echoed across the rocks, and Kylo’s head whipped around at the sound. “Spies! You brought sneaky spies!” Scandiaca shrieked. Kylo glimpsed a Jule atop her sister’s shoulders, peering over the rocks. Lightning flashed and smoke billowed, and when it cleared, the girls were nowhere to be seen. Sick to his stomach, Kylo ran to where they had been hiding. Instead of two young girls, he saw two green turtles, one atop the other. (Picture 3) “What have you done?” He turned back and shouted at Scandiaca. “They were just children.” “Be grateful they were too old to eat, else they’d be mice instead of turtles.” Scandiaca scowled. “But turtles do make such a nice sound when you drop them on the rocks.” “No, please, don’t. Turn them back, please. I promise you, they just wanted to meet you. They meant no harm.” “So you ask another boon? You wish to barter for the children’s safe return?” “Yes. Yes, I do. What will you ask to return the children to the way they were, and let them return home safely?” “Hmm. Let me see. Food is nice, but I can get my own food.” “How about these? Do you fancy emeralds?” Kylo asked, pulling a small puch from his shirt and dumping two small gemstones into his hand. “Pretty, yes, they are pretty. But not my color, I think.” “I know.” Scandiaca said. “I want you, Kylo.” “Aren’t I too old and tough to eat?” Kylo stammered. “I don’t mean to eat you, Kylo. Oh no. I mean to bed you. It can be so cold and lonely on my mountain, and you are fair to look upon.” “What?” “That is my demand, mortal. Your body for theirs.” Kylo felt trapped. He couldn’t let the sisters spend the rest of their lives living in pond. “Very well. My body for theirs. And for the town, as well. But for the night only.” “Done.” Scandiaca shouted triumphantly. She gestured, and again the flash of light and cloud of smoke sprung forth. Jule and Jenne stood upright and human once more. “Run, children, run like the wind.” Kylo shouted, and the girls fled the clearing. “And now, Kylo, you pay for their freedom.” “First, the rain. Make the storms go away.” “Very well. Follow me, Kylo, and I’ll satisfy you before you satisfy me,” she leered. The witch disappeared behind a rock, and at first Kylo suspected more trickery. Instead, he found a cleverly concealed tunnel. He entered, and followed it down a few dozen feet before it opened into a large cave. The witch’s home was rather well appointed, for a hole in the ground. Fur rugs covered the ground in layers, and chimes and totems hung from the ceiling. Lichens glowed from cracks in the wall, softly illuminating the refuge. The witch hovered over something, and Kylo moved closer for a better look. In her lap sat a plate, upon which sat four brightly colored objects, red, yellow, green, and orange. (Picture 5) Vegetables, or maybe fruits, Kylo thought, although he’d not seen their like before. Not surprising, given that he felt vegetables were a waste of time when there was meat to be eaten. The witch’s hands passed over the vegetabes, and she muttered incantations in a strange tongue. For several minutes this continued, until finally she looked up and grinned at Kylo. “Take these with you in the morning, and when you get to the village, scrape the seeds from them and plant them at the four points of the compass around the town. “Red, for blood, to the north. Yellow, for the rising sun, to the east. Green, for the plants, to the south, and the orange to the west, for the setting sun.” “And then what?” Kylo asked. “And then nothing. So long as the plants that spring forth thrive, the worst of the weather will pass the town by. This I promise.” Scandiaca smiled at Kylo again, and he suddenly knew how the mouse felt just before it was devoured by the swooping owl. * Dawn crept up the slope of the mountains, and Kylo stirred. Moving quietly, he gathered his clothing and crept from the cave. The morning was cold, but still he didn’t stop to dress until he was well away from the cave. He nearly cried out in pain as his shirt scraped against the deep furrows the witch’s talons had gouged in his back, and he wondered, not for the first time, why she couldn’t have changed those meathooks the way she shapeshifted everything else. “The hag’s gone mad with power,” he muttered. “Pathetic old crone has to threaten children to get a man to even look at her.” Scandiaca peered over the edge of her aerie, her owl eyes nearly blind now that the sun had risen. Her hearing, however, remained as keen as ever. “Crone, am I? Hag? You are a pig, Kylo, like all men, and so shall others see you.” * Kylo staggered back into town, and headed for the inn. He was worried about the girls, and he hoped that no matter how crazy the old woman was, that she at least was true to her word. “Johann? Are you here? Are your girls safe?” he called as he climbed the steps. Entering the attic, he could see the two girls sound asleep, huddled together under several blankets. They must have been exhausted, he thought, especially if they ran all the way home. He was about to go back downstair and look for Johann when he saw Jule open her eyes. They widened to the size of saucers, and the girl screamed. Her shouts awakened Jenne, and she too shrieked when she saw Kylo. “Help, father, there is a beast upon us,” she shouted. “Jenne, it’s me, it’s Kylo.” The girl stopped yelling long enough to take a long hard look at him. Her eyes darted to his clothes, then back to his face. “Kylo? What did the witch do to you?” “What do you mean?” Scrambling to her feet, Jenne ran to the table and grabbed the serving platter. She raised it in front of Kylo’s face. Staring back at him was porcine face, flared snout and all. Only the eyes remained recognizably human. “Oh my god, that bitch!” he shouted. “Look what she’s done to me.” Outside, he heard people shouting and doors slamming. “Kylo! Show your face.” came a voice tinged with laughter. “The witch. What more does she want from me?” he moaned. “I’ve come for the wards, Kylo. I’m breaking our bargain, you vile pig. And when I’m done with you, it will be the children’s turn.” Rummaging through his belongings, Kylo grabbed the only thing he could think of that might have a chance of stopping the witch. Firearms were rare, and he doubted anyone this far from a large city had ever seen one. Rushing downstairs and out into the open, he saw the witch twenty yards away. In the other direction a number of townsfolk cowered, unable or unwilling to stand up to Scandiaca. More peered from around corners or behind cracked doors. “We had a deal, witch, and I kept it. Leave these people be.” “Fool. Do you think I am bound by any agreement with such as you? Does the hunter bargain with its prey? I treated you with kindness, and you mocked me. And now you will know what it is like to be humiliated.” The witch’s talons began weaving a pattern in the air, and a sphere of brilliant white coalesced around them. Kylo felt the temperature drop as well, and he hurriedly loaded the finicky firearm. Scandiaca shrieked, and Kylo looked up just in time to see the orb that the witch had summoned streaking towards his head. Without thinking, he raised his pistol and fired just as the missile struck him dead on. (Picture 1) * He opened his eyes, but was blind, and something sticky covered his face. Blood, he thought, I’m covered with my own blood. But at least I’m alive. His ears were ringing from the gunshot, but he thought he heard laughter, too. He lifted his hands and tried to clear his vision. He found his face covered with a frothy mixture that felt nothing like blood, and as he scooped it away from his eyes, he saw that it was white, not red. He sat up and looked around. A few feet ahead of him, Jule and Jenne were laughing hysterically, and a dozen or so other, Johann included, were laughing as well. He noticed Jenne was holding the sack of vegetables. Of the witch, there was no sign. Kylo held up his hand and looked closely at the mess enveloping it. He sniffed it, and stuck out his tongue and licked his fingers. Lemon meringue, he thought. Not bad. [/QUOTE]
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