Path To Divinity

Chapter 8.1: The Witch's Den

Tied to mortality is the everlasting feeling of fear. That feeling which binds one's stomach into knots; the dreadful emotion which almost inevitably brings along misery, chaos and in certain cases, destruction even. None of us are free from dread itself, as though it had always been something unwanted, it is also something stable, something we can unwillingly count upon. True fear is not the kind which merely makes us jump in shock, but the one that forever grasps our hearts and doesn't let go, not until it siphoned all the might from us, leaving us open to the nefarious presence behind our fear.

Though some might claim to overcome our temporary frights, one is never truly free from fear. Some form of it will always find its way into the lives of mortals...if not in the face of a monster, then perhaps the fear of loss, or on that case even, the fear of being alone against the world.

There it was again. The sound of little, but forceful steps, steadily echoing in what seemed to be just his imagination. He knew that couldn't have been the case though. His mind had never blocked his senses this much before, not even after awakening from a bad slumber. It only took a couple of moments for all of it to come back though and because of it, he almost wished he could simply retreat into the safety of his psyche, far away from the harmful truth; the one he so didn't want to accept.

Eventually though, he was left without choices, especially when even the tiniest fragments of his memory were finally rekindled by the light of consciousness. He had been lost, he was found, he was alive, he was...Salian. That final, revitalizing push to consciousness finally did the trick, his eyes opening wide. He remembered it all now. His childhood, his friends, the caves, the Marshes, his outing into another realm of existence, everything.

"...that...had to be something really strong..." he muttered to himself, simply glad to just hear his own voice again. It seemed like such a long time since he'd last had some real thoughts in his head, since he'd been...

"-kidnapped!"

The thought struck him with an almost unexpected power, immediately filling him with various feelings, though very few of them were actually positive at this moment.

First thing first, he tried to reawaken his senses as well, gently trying to get his unresponsive body to work under his bidding once more. That only brought mediocre results though, as while he could feel strength returning to his body bit by bit, he could also sense that this would not be as easy as he expected.

After a bit of glancing around, he finally concluded that he wouldn't be going anywhere, at least for the moment. From what he could see, he was in some kind of cellar and a pretty old one at that, judging by the sight of the rather moldy wood. Yet, the most alarming thing was still his own predicament, as he had no idea what to do yet.

Although the very realization of that fact was bothersome, that didn't stop the boy from attempting to move, regardless the apparent obstruction. He tugged at his body, only to realize that while he didn't seem to be held back by anything, he still could barely even move an inch. Before the slightest bit of panic could have struck him though, his fears were left to rot as his body seemed to break free from whatever unseen force kept them under its hold.

Slowly, but surely, he had blood travel back into his arms and legs, until he decided it was time to take a hasty leave. Whoever had caught him, Salian had quite the doubts that it did that just as an elaborate prank. The moment he was to take on the initiative though, he came across the most peculiar obstacle...in the form of a wall, right before him. Perhaps the only problem with that was the fact that he could see right through it!

"Ah, took you long enough to wake up!" an old voice grumped up, a little too close to him for comfort.

The face that appeared with it was more than enough to make Salian cry out in fear and retreat slightly, only to find the same invisible barrier behind him as well, not giving him too much ground. Only after the initial fright did he actually observe whatever creature this was. It seemed just around Rayman's height, hunched over and thoroughly worn from what Salian could only guess, hundreds of years. Despite the scratchy, slightly eerie voice it had, the tone also informed him that whoever this was, it was a she.

Apart from the voice though, he wasn't sure he would have guessed it otherwise. With her ragged clothes, which resembled old food-sacks a lot more than actual clothing, a stained cauldron resting on top of her messy hair and an altogether quite worn frame, he might have guessed otherwise. Her face wasn't much better, with so many wrinkles he couldn't even begin to count them, along with a toad-like mouth, that made her look like the epitome of the expression, 'freak of nature'. Salian suspected she must have been very old, though that still didn't explain much to him, since didn't wear out most creatures this badly.

"What do you want from me?" he snapped quickly, perhaps a bit too hastily even, with his position.

"Know your place you pitiful child!" the old woman growled, not really taking his tone lightly. Salian quickly noted that she seemed to be easily angered. "Lets just say I require a rather unique favor from you..." she mused, her tone suddenly turning somewhat softer, though the boy could see through the act.

"If it were anything half-decent, you wouldn't have attacked me and my friend." he retorted, scowling at her. He raised his hands, but could only touch around the surface of the wall that separated him from the outside world.

"Heh, for a fairy from the Glade, you have common sense in you, boy...that most unusual." she mused, grinning a bit, in a way that sent chills down Salian's spine just from how creepy it was.

"I'll ask again: what do you want from me?" he repeated, feeling slightly offended by her words. "Whatever you want, I definitely don't have it. I don't have anything." That however, sounded more true than he wished it to be.

"Quite the contrary young fairy." she chuckled slightly, enjoying to watch him in the dark of her intentions. "You have perhaps even more of it than you imagine!"

Trying his luck slightly, he raised a fist and hit the wall, only for his hand to nearly break. The punch however, finally made him realized just what this wall was. He remembered such a hit from long ago and to his luck, he still hadn't forgotten that tiny bit of experience.

"...glass?" he found himself muttering, his eyes widening slightly. The fact that he couldn't simply shatter it, combined with the sight of the old woman and some ominous words from a friend, all fit together. Realization followed it shortly as well, just in time as she started grinning. "...you're..."

The old woman adjusted the cauldron on her head, looking the young boy in the eyes. She knew he had good ideas of who she was by now, thus she felt it was time to properly introduce herself. "Bégoniax...Witch of the Bog."
*     *     *
"You think he'll be alright?"

The fairy skipped onto a more stable looking rock formation, hoping this would stand her weight. The stones couldn't be trusted her, as many of them were almost like a trap. She learned it the hard way and was already muddy to her waist by now.

"Sssssam's pretty tough, even if he doesn't show it. He'll be alright." Rayman mused, sending out his fist once again. The moment it caught a strong enough branch, he used it to fling himself over, landing quite ahead of his fairy friend. "I'm more worried about Sal right now..."

Despite what many thought about the swampy parts of the world, they were indeed, rather simple to navigate through, as long as they knew what to be cautious of. While he knew the Marshes quite well, the same couldn't exactly be said for Ly. Nevertheless, she did try her best to follow him, even if that meant crossing through a long lake of mud, at this time.

"I really hope she hadn't done anything to him." she sighed, quickly catching up with the limbless. She might have had less elaborate methods of mobility, but was perhaps even more nimble than the famed hero himself. Despite some arguments, legs really did help her project more strength into jumps for instance, than him.

"Believe me, I hope for the same." Rayman remarked, helping her regain her balance after her final jump towards solid ground. Together, they headed continued towards the witch's nest to retrieve their lost friend.

"You...think Sssssam was right?" Ly asked suddenly. "...about her, that is..."

The limbless could quite well understand her concern about what they've heard. Fairies had always been regarded highly amongst other species, mostly for the fact that they were Polokus' emissaries. As such, they were the closest to the fabled creator, out of every creature. The thought of one of them turning out the way Sssssam had described, was almost unimaginable.

“Does it really matter at all?” Rayman called back, making her flinch from her thoughts.

If she hadn't seen the current look in his face already, she would have been terrified of it. It wasn't the usual warm and friendly expression, but much more of cold fury. She didn't need anyone to tell her to know that he was angered beyond words. One of his friends had just lived through some rather unsettling events and life still didn't intend to be kind to him. It was no wonder he got so worked up over it.

Although she understood his frustration, she still couldn't share it with him though. It was far from her people's nature to feel this way, even in worst-case scenarios. That's not to say they were always calm and collected, but they were highly unlikely to feel hatred or to continuously harbor ill will against anyone. Being Polokus' emissaries, they had an instinctive respect towards every living creature. At least, they were supposed to...

She liked to blame it on her age, as she was nowhere near considered adult by her species. With life-expectancy of near eight centuries, she was still almost an infant next to her sisters. Perhaps that was the reason why she felt so different from them. They were all so tranquil and calm, unlike her, who could never stay in one place for long. She knew she had picked up this trait mostly from Rayman and Salian, both of whom practically spent their whole lives trying to satiate their wanderlusts.

Although it was a slow process, they seemed to have infected her over time as well. First she was reluctant, the teachings of her sisters ringing in her ears constantly. Then she discovered the fun of living out every day to the fullest. In all honesty, she felt much happier living according their initially unwanted influence-

“Ly...?”

The sudden call made her flinch yet again. Not only did she space out for a moment, but even her initial thoughts were sidetracked in the end. The slightly stoned feeling in her thigh also informed her that she hadn't been paying attention to her pace. Healing aside, it still stung a bit every now and then.

“I'm okay...was just thinking of something...” she mumbled, walking past the limbless, slightly red from the embarrassment.

He gazed after her for just a few seconds, before a faint smile appeared on his face. In every situation, there were moments like these that could relieve his nerve a bit. It wasn't much really, more of a simple confirmation that he still had a reason to stand up for. A proof that he really did have all these friends.
*     *     *
“You do know he'll get here, eventually?”

The old witch turned back for a few moments, though not paying too much attention to the indignant boy. She rather seemed to just discard whatever he said, in favor of concentrating. She had since placed her cauldron-cap on the ground, lit a fire under it and proceeded to brew up perhaps the strangest mixture he'd ever seen.

He angrily slammed at the surface of his mirror prison once more before beginning to calm down somewhat. The moment that happened though, gloomy thoughts began to circle around him again. Up until now it seemed adrenalin kept him from thinking much of his current station and perhaps even less of the loss he had endured. Sssssam might have been right about the need of him letting go of what happened, but that was much easier said than done.

It wasn't only his mother's death that haunted him. For once, it was something much more complex, or perhaps even just brutally simple. His childhood suddenly rose in comparison to the last few days he'd endured, starting from that fateful little entourage into Clearleaf Forest. Something kept bothering him deep inside; thoughts and accusations that he had no right to make, yet couldn't help but bring up. A question he didn't have the right to ask, yet still had done so anyway.

“What are you, if you don't even help those in need?” he hissed, his hand clenching from futile anger.

“He can't hear you...” Bégoniax suddenly spoke up. Salian flinched, averting his gaze towards the elderly creature. This was perhaps the first time she actually replied to anything he'd said.

The soup-ladle stopped stirring the mixture, in time as the old woman hung her head. If Salian hadn't known better, he would have thought of her being nothing more than just a fragile elder. Given what he knew already about the witch though, he just couldn't trust even her current stance.

“He never could...” she continued, as if he wasn't there at all. The boy could hear it from her tone that she seemed to be getting upset, for some unknown reason. As the brew suddenly started to change color rapidly, fear began to grow in him. “You can ask him a thousand times, but he'll never listen...” she hissed, both of her arms shaking. “He doesn't care...he never did...”

He suddenly let out a sharp cry, just as Bégoniax suddenly turned towards him once again. Sure, she was threatening already, but it seemed she'd promptly transformed in just a few moments. She seemed even more weak than before, but at the same time immensely terrifying. He could have sworn she had just escaped from the Cave of Bad Dreams. The worst were her eyes; normally just gleaming with hatred or apathy, now only one thing was visible in them. Madness...pure insanity, the kind he knew would haunt his dreams for a while.

Contrary to his best hopes, the witch just continue to approach him, rambling on incomprehensibly. Salian would have gladly continued backing away from her, but had no space top do so. The insanity only seemed to grow in the witch as he could faintly see her hands twitching occasionally for no reason, as well as her almost foaming. She raised her bony arms, as if reaching right to grab him. For once, the boy really hoped the mirror had the same properties on the other side as well.

“Trust him and you condemn yourself to...a slow and painful death...” she whispered, her eyelashes twitching slightly. “All is right...all is fine...all is-” she paused for a moment her head falling back slightly as she suddenly started wailing. “Carve your own or you shall head along  the road of the damned. Gone the old and let a new ascend!” she screamed at the top of her voice.

As abruptly as it began, it all ended right after. She took a few deep breaths, her body seeming to return under her control. The glowing madness in her darkened eyes seemed to retreat for now, recouping in the back of her mind. Salian could hear himself panting all of a sudden, his legs shaking madly. He hadn't realized up till now, but he was completely terrified all along this highly unsettling scene.

“Looks like it'll be ready soon...” Bégoniax said, glancing into the cauldron to check on her mysterious mixture. Its color had softened again, as if reacting to its maker's emotions. “Lately it's been much easier to channel my magic through this art.” she explained, as if he had deliberately asked for it. “And for my next one, I'll definitely need all the help I can get.” she chuckled.

Salian wasn't really in the mood for jokes though, still trying to collect himself from the scene that had just occurred a few moments ago. He had to get out of here somehow, there were no doubts now...the longer he was here, the bigger the risk that she might simply snap altogether.

“You do know the entire Fairy Council will hunt you down, if you hurt me...” he said, though not holding high hopes to this kind of reasoning. As to his expectations, Bégoniax merely laughed at his pathetic threat.

“They can search the entire Marshes, for all I care.” she mused simply. “If I want to, I can make you disappear so they would never have any chance of finding you.”

“What's your goal with all this, anyway?” he asked, having never gotten a straight answer to that. “My inherent powers are still dormant and I know no well-kept secret of the Council.” he listed all possible ideas he could come up with. The best idea he could come up with was that she somehow wanted to steal his magic away, but it would have been no use at this point. Despite being as old as Ly was, his own abilities hadn't surfaced yet at all.

Bégoniax merely turned to him again, slowly approaching his prison. “True...you have no real value, as of now.” she concluded. “You're loud, obnoxious and an annoyance in every way possible. Still, you do have one thing I can put to good use.” she stopped just before his mirror prison, hanging her head for a moment, before picking it up with a sudden move that startled the boy.

“Your blood!” she shrieked, her eyes once again containing that powerful insanity that had given him the creeps before. “That's all I need! A fairy full of life and spirit, so vigorous it almost makes me cringe to think of myself!” she said, a wicked, spiteful grin forming on her wrinkled face.

“It'll help me...reborn, rejuvenate, rekindle the flame of my life!” she continued, chuckling madly to herself, as the boy finally caught on as to what she wanted from him so much. Nothing material, but something much deeper and meaningful to him...his very life-force. That was what she needed so badly. She just continued to laugh to herself, before calming down again finally, returning to her work.

“Not much longer now...” she purred, stirring up the mixture again.

With just enough space for that, Salian slumped on his knees, blunt terror haunting him. This old witch was truly a lot more dangerous than Mister Dark himself, with her madness. Chills ran down his spine as he raised his arms, hugging himself a slightly...anything to relieve the tension resting upon his mind.

Someone...

The witch threw in some more mostly unidentifiable things, eventually causing the entire mixture to transition into a shade of gold. Regardless the color, Salian couldn't feel the least bit relieved of it. Every moment just propelled the inevitable towards him; the promise of losing all his strength to Bégoniax. There was no escape for him and by the looks of it, no help either.

“Perfect!” she exclaimed suddenly, forcibly tearing his attention away from brooding upon the situation. “Now all that is left...” she dipped a small vial into the still bubbling mixture, careful not to let too much of the liquid touch her skin though.

Salian felt the hair stand up on his back as she turned to face him, the wicked grin on her face eliminating all hope in him that his situation would turn out for the better yet. This was it...no escape, no help, no way to evade the impending call of destiny. Bégoniax didn't come any closer, but began reciting an incantation; the sheer tone of her voice hurting his ears a bit. The liquid inside the vial began to glow brightly, along with the old witch's hand.

Suddenly, it hit him. The boy cried out in pure agony, his hands grasping his own chest. He felt as though someone was trying to promptly tear out his heart, bringing along an impossible amount of pain. His throat quickly started to ache from the screaming, his eyes slowly rolling back as he more and more lost grip of his consciousness.

This is it...it's over...

And then-

Nothing.

Salian inhaled heavily, sweat dripping down from his forehead from the pain he'd endured. He was still on his knees inside the mirror prison, but apart from that, nothing seemed to have changed. He was still alive. He felt no change at all, except for breathing somewhat harder.

“...why?” Bégoniax spoke up all of a sudden, startling him. Of course, she was still here as well. “I had it perfectly!” she screamed, spinning around and throwing the vial at the wall. The glass exploded, the steamy liquid downright charring the wall slightly. Without even looking into her eyes, the boy already knew she had snapped once again. “The web, moss, crystal shards, blood...all were perfect!!” she shrieked, nearly tearing out locks of her messy hair.

She immediately seemed to calm down though, as something came to her mind. “Could it be?” she muttered to herself, trotting over to Salian's prison again. Much to his disgust, she leaned as close as possible, narrowing her bug-eyes at him for several second. Even before leaning back, he could see she seemed to start chuckling for some inexplicable reason. “Oh, the grand tragicomedy of it all!” she laughed loudly. It sounded more insane than decent though. “He did it...the cowardly bastard actually did it!”

Salian didn't get a single word of her rambling, but it seemed she knew was she was talking about. He couldn't bring himself to ask what she was talking about though, as he found her just too erratic to speak to.

“Now I understand...” she stated to herself, grinning as if she had found the ultimate truth. “It all comes together...the end and the new beginning...death and rebirth...” Salian couldn't honestly decide at this point whether she had any tiny shred of sanity left. “You...” she mused, turning to face the boy again. “You poor little child, you have no idea what he's got in store for you.”

“I always thought it was just some...elaborate trick, a mere lie like so many.” she continued, still not making much sense to the boy, though intriguing him somewhat. She knew something, though he wasn't sure he'd be able to piece it together. “The other won't have to wait for long now...soon, it'll begin. Poor fool...” she chuckled again, only to gaze into his eyes again. “You must be so lonely...” she remarked. “I almost feel sorry for you...”

Salian felt tempted to shake his head, as for just a single second, he could swear he had seen something in her look he hadn't before. An emotion he thought she couldn't feel at all. Instead of making him feel better though, it just confused him even more, as it didn't have any basis to which he could truly relate to...compassion.