IV Lost For a While

I spent the evening with Elgar and Kathleen playing in the snow outside. One of the things I've rarely done before. But it was a lot of fun. The moon was shining brightly despite it being winter. Its rays bounced off the surface of the almost frozen pond. It was so quiet, but I knew that when the moon was shining brightly like this, it was the perfect time for witches to perform rituals.

Then I felt something strange. There was a purplish glow among the clouds in the sky. If I wasn't wrong, it was the result of the witches' activities. The light was also visible on the surface of the pond. I couldn't keep Elgar and Kathleen outside. But I wasn't sure about bringing them inside without a good reason. They probably wouldn't believe a word I said. Suddenly Kathleen throws snow at me.

"Jenna! I see you keep looking at the pond. Are you bored?" Kathleen asked, holding a chunk of snow.

I was speechless for a few moments. "Kathleen, Elgar, I think we should go inside. We can't stay outside all the time."

"What's wrong Jenna?" asked Elgar who had been busy making a snowman.

"I'm a witch hunter, and I know what they do. Right now, they're performing a ritual. You can see it in the purplish light between the clouds." I replied, pointing to the sky. "We can't be outside, it's too dangerous!"

Kathleen and Elgar agreed with me to go back inside. Afterwards Kathleen escorted me to the guest room reserved for me.

"We trust you. It's bedtime Jenna, and this is your room. Make yourself at home, goodnight!"

"Good night Kathleen."

Kathleen walked away. I lay down on the soft and warm bed. I didn't realize it had been almost a full day here. I was so worried about Emma, we were swarmed by hundreds of birds and I just left her. As for Alden, Kingsleigh, and Marlon, they're probably worried about me right now. But I can't do anything but wait for the night to pass. Elgar and Kathleen were very kind to me and I couldn't just leave.

I opened the window and looked back at the purplish tinge in the sky. Apparently the witches hadn't finished their ritual. I suspected that this had something to do with the two witches reported by Francis, if my guess was correct, then we were really in a dangerous situation.

Then I felt so tired and fell asleep. In my not-so-restful sleep I dreamt of meeting Alden. Lost in the middle of the forest and not knowing the way, I saw Alden passing in front of me. I called out to him and he turned his head, but he didn't say a word, instead he went back to walking, ignoring me.

I chased after him and kept calling out to him, but he didn't care at all. Then we entered a foggy area and he suddenly vanished. Just then I woke up and got out of bed. I quickly tidied up my arrows and picked up the rifle I had hung on the wall. I wanted to leave at this moment, but there was a knock on the door. When I opened the door, Elgar was standing outside.

"You're not asleep yet Jenna?" he looked around. "What did you pack your gun for?"

"Um..." I paused for a moment to formulate a sentence, occasionally looking at his very calm face with his shining eyes. For a moment I intended to be evasive, but somehow I just went ahead and told him the truth.

"I have to go now Elgar, I have a lot of things to do. I'm sure my family is worried about me."

"No! Of course I won't let you leave now. It's still the middle of the night Jenna, it's very dangerous out there. You'd better be more patient and wait for morning. I promise I'll let you go." Elgar tried to convince me.

"But I can't stay here for long. I have to find Emma!" I insisted.

"Never mind Jenna, your friend must have been helped by others. You said you had several friends, right?"

Elgar looked at me sharply and his pupils seemed to dilate. I avoided his gaze and nodded. He had a point too, it was possible that Alden and the others had found Emma, it was more likely because she didn't run away. While I was already too far away from the original place.

"Alright Elgar, you're right. I was helpless against your words from the start!" I said under my breath, as Elgar laughed.

"My words are hard to resist." He looked quite confident. "If you want, I can accompany you out. I mean around this house."

"Okay."

Elgar took me to the attic and brought two cups of hot tea. The air in the attic was cold, chilling me to the bone and making me shiver. I quickly drank my tea and strangely enough two sips were enough to keep me warm. It even warmed my palms that had been cold for days.

"This drink is amazing! What did you make it with? Not even the tea made by the best chefs in York is like this." I asked curiously.

"It's a hereditary recipe made from plants and a bit of sincerity."

"Sincerity?" I chuckled at that. "Well, if one is happy then the maker's positive energy will flow into the dishes they make.

We laughed together. Elgar always looked calm and elegant. But I had no idea that he had a pretty good sense of humor.

"I'm happy to be able to spend time alone with you. And I want to get to know you better. All I know about you is that you're a witch hunter." Elgar smiled and looked at me.

"Um...I often enjoy the full moon with my best friend. We lay in the grass and drink hot chocolate."

"Your best friend?"

"Alden. One of those friends I told you about. He's my teammate with his brother, Kingsleigh. Also Emma and Marlon." I felt like telling him some things about me.

"Alright. I come from a clan of witch hunters called Glaze. I got lost while on a hunting mission. A witch had sent hundreds of crows to gang up on Emma and me. We could do nothing but run, but unfortunately I fell and fainted. My foot tripped over the base of a tree and I hurt my hand when I fell." I said at length.

"Glaze?" Elgar was surprised to hear that.

"Yes, they're my family. Why, do you know us?"

"No, it's okay. I mean, I've heard of them as great witch hunters."

"Our team was assigned to search for two suspected witches. After a while, we didn't find anything. We split up, but I myself went somewhere." I sighed, "I'm worried that Chaz would mobilize troops to look for me, even though I'm fine."

"Chaz Egerton?" said Elgar, as if he had known the man before.

"Yes, you know him?"

"Of course I do. Kathleen and I are your fans! Even though our village is deep in the forest, we know what's going on out there. And witch hunters, I always thought you guys were great heroes!"

I laughed at that, like I wasn't as great as she thought. "What if you joined us?" I asked.

"What? That's not possible! We're just people who live in the interior of the forest and only study medicine. If I join, it will only cause you trouble."

"The real you is not as bad as you think Elgar!"

"But I enjoy my life as a healer and a commoner more.

*** 

Elgar kept his promise. The next morning I was getting ready to go home and he gave me a silver cup with beautiful engravings.

"Why did you give it to me? It's very beautiful and it might be very valuable to you." I was amazed at the cup. It was so beautiful.

"Of course it's precious and you deserve to have it. Accept it Jenna, consider it a memento from me." He smiled at me.

I hesitated for a moment. The silver chalice was shaped like a goblet with the diameter of the mouth and the wide base was about ten centimeters. There were beautiful engravings and some precious stones on the walls. I thought this thing was too precious to give to me.

"I can't accept it. Just keep it, someday if you need money, you can sell it."

"We'll never sell it." the look on Elgar's face changed very quickly as if he didn't like what I said.

"Come on Jenna, just accept it. My father was a blacksmith. He had a lot of stuff like this including some of the arrows you see on the wall." he said as he pointed to the room where they kept the arrows. Her face was as calm as before.

"Alright, thank you. I'll consider it a gift from a friend."

I smiled as I put the cup into the drawstring pouch Elgar had given me and hung it around my waist. I used my long coat to cover it.

Then Kathleen came out of the room, but her expression looked different from yesterday. She sat in front of me and smoothed her hair.

"So you're going home?" she asked in a flat voice.

"Right." Before I could continue my sentence, he cut me off. "To Glaze?"

"Yes. Glaze is my home. Do you want to come with me? Just to have a look around."

Kathleen looked at me sharply. "No, of course not." She laughed as if it was a joke. Her expression changed so quickly like Elgar.

"Alright I'm off. Thank you, you're very kind."

"Take care Jenna." said Elgar.

I started walking away from Cornwall village. Elgar chased me slightly as I walked towards the village gate.

"Jenna! Don't sell it...!" Elgar's voice echoed through the trees. I turned my head then nodded and smiled at him. He returned me with a smile that was as warm as the first time he saw me. We were only together for one day, but I will never forget it.