Chapter Text
“Mom”
“please.. no, no, no”
Whimpers rang out in their shared tent. The condensed air was warm as the season was summer. Alba had collected ingredients for potions when they were marching, mostly herbs, flowers, and feathers or other leftovers from animals, making the tent smell pleasant.
Furthermore, they both slept on hay-filled sacks with animal-skin duvets. These were perfect conditions for a good night’s sleep.
Sounds of thrashing, accompanied by an exceptionally pitiful noise, were what would finally force Maria to wake up. She had been clinging onto sleep for dear life, but the other broke the spell sleep has on one, making her dreams seem fake and limbs restless with awareness.
Sitting up, breathing slowly and wiping hair out of her face, she mentally took the spark of frustration and extinguished it before it would blaze over and end up in manslaughter. Turning to her left, looking down at her tent mate’s sleeping form, Alba was doing something odd with her fingers, making small rhythmic tapping motions with a pleading expression.
“Mom… please..”
Maria squeezed her nose, mumbling to herself, “Calling out for her mother like a child… should have stayed behind,” turning around so she could face the tent’s walls. Checking the time by looking through the small cracks at the bottom of the tent’s wall, no light was escaping though. So it was before sunrise, Maria concluded.
Maria knew she wouldn’t be falling asleep again anytime soon, and especially not with Alba insisting on being so loud. Putting her head in her hands, resting on her bouncing knees, she felt her body being heavy and tired but her mind restless.
“I can’t believe I have to babysit her. I’m no wet nurse, gods damn it,” Maria mumbled into her hands. Alba was a light sleeper, so a few taps and she would wake. Unfortunately, she was also a fast sleeper, which meant that some nights Maria had to wake her repeatedly.
Maria reached over to Alba, who was lying on her back, shoving her shoulder hard enough to make her slosh from side to side. The other girl woke up nearly instantly but just took the harsh treatment, just lay there motionless. The only sign that she was alive and awake was her staring at her from the corner of her eye, and of course her heavy breathing.
“You’re being loud.”
Maria took her hand off the other, waiting for her to respond. But Alba just turned her gaze down. It got eerily quiet in the tent. Maria could hear herself swallow with how silent it got. The other quiet as a mouse now, satisfied, Maria went to lay back down, stopping only moments before her head could finally rest on her pillow as the other started to wheeze in a breath.
Just then noticing the other had held her breath, Maria sat up so fast she felt a little dizzy. Looking over at the younger girl, she felt her chest tightening with every sound of the other struggling to breathe normally.
“Gods! Loud like talking in your sleep now!” Maria waved her hands.
“So-sorry,” Alba panted out, finally sitting up, making it easier for Maria to see her expression. Not that there was much to see, as she just had this somewhat pensive look. One hand was white-knuckling, gripping her earthy green top, so soaked with sweat it nearly looked brown. The other started to run over her hair, still not managing to control her breathing. In fact, it seemed to get worse.
Maria felt a pang-like sensation in her chest, the same feeling as someone brushing over bruised skin, moving over to assist the younger girl, sitting on her mattress. Placing one hand on her back, she felt her jump under it before settling back down.
“Breathe in and hold it. You have enough air, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”
Alba was wheezing in the air and trying to hold it, but kept exhaling too fast, muttering something to herself. Maria could make out some words, “I’m sorry.. I tried.. I really did—” Seeing how the other did not improve, the position was uncomfortable. Maria removed her hand from the sweaty back. This wasn’t working, she thought to herself.
Lying down, but she kept talking to the other, she started repeating the coven’s mantras, like the housewitchlets would for the newcomers.
“There are no masters here, no enemies, only sisters, there are no masters—” repeating it till the words and time blurred for her, not really knowing when the other finally started to breathe evenly or if she herself fell asleep before it could happen.
Maria woke to sunlight tickling the right side of her face. She stretched until it gave a little pop in her shoulder. She wasn’t as tired as she thought she was going to be.
While dressing, she looked over to Alba’s side. Her bed was made, and she had already left. Exiting the tent and walking into the food court, she greeted her fellow witches, some calling after her, saying how lazy she was for sleeping in. It was meant as light teasing, but it did get on her nerves a bit.
Going to the cooking area to prepare her breakfast, she went to the boxes filled with labeled rations. As she searched for hers, not finding it anywhere, she feared there had been a mistake and that she would have to go without a proper meal, coupled with not getting a full night’s sleep. Just as she was losing hope, she felt a tug on her sleeve.
Turning around, she came face to face with Alba, who in one hand held a bowl with what looked like a soup dish. It had her rations in it and some of the herbs Alba liked to collect. She moved to hand the bowl over to Maria.
“For me?”
She pushed the bowl closer and turned to leave as soon as it had been handed over. Maria scoffed to herself. “That girl really didn’t enjoy using her words.”
Maria went over to her friend Tove’s table, the company most welcome, as she had missed talking to her.
The soup was surprisingly good. Overall, a surprisingly pleasant start to the day. It put her in such a good mood she had nearly forgotten all the drama from last night, until a friend of Tove’s, and not a friend of hers, decided to bring her up.
“Sitting alone again,” said Katya, pity in her voice.
“Who? Oh, Alba, right.” Tove turned to Maria. “You share sleeping quarters with her, right, Maria?”
All three were now observing the young girl, who was wildly shoving food into her face, eating like the combination of stale bread, earthy potatoes, or whatever veggies had been in her ration pack was the cream of the crop of culinary experiences. “Do you think they never fed her before?” asked Katya. She turned down, her face sad as she rested it on one hand. Maria rolled her eyes. Katya was from the east, where the slave trade was weakest, which made her infuriating whenever the topic came up. “Well, if you want working slaves, you need to feed them once in a while,” was the dry response from Maria as she brought her spoon to her mouth to resume eating.
Katya played a little with her food, then pursed her lips before looking up at Maria. “Did you guys know that poor Alba had to be bought, not freed, by force?”
Tove bent forward, whispering, “The covenheads allowed that?”
Katya smiled, also leaning forward. “It is said it had been an afterthought of a secret diplomatic mission in the North of all places! And the most scandalous part is that she had to agree to join the sisterhood before they would liberate her!” Katya had been talking with her hands, one of them holding her drink. It sloshed around enough to spill some on the table.
“Must have been intense,” mused Tove.
Maria’s soup started to taste bland as they talked, putting it down hard, getting the attention of the others. “Who was in charge of that mission? I don’t see any of the covenheads doing something like that. It would go against everything we stand for. Furthermore, it’s not a secret meeting if even you know about it.” Standing up, Maria collected dishes to wash, narrowing her eyes at Katya. “How do you think Alina would feel if she heard you talk that way about her fellow covenheads?”
Katya’s eyes widened. “I-I, it’s just something I heard,” and Tove mumbled her thanks as Maria took her plate.
“Of course it was,” Maria mumbled as she walked away. She caught a glimpse of Alba’s small frame before she headed towards the direction of the forest surrounding the camp. Maria frowned. She was pretty sure the other didn’t have a scouting shift, as she was much too green to be sent on those.
Shrugging it off, Maria went on with her day, spending it taking care of the horses and donkeys, grooming them and checking them for injuries or harmful insects. It was relaxing work. She even considered taking a leisurely stroll with her favorite of the bunch, but was invited to play cards with some of the other witchlets.
Their mission had a lot of downtime. The goal was to liberate slaves from a little lord’s farm, but they had to wait, as they had gotten a tip that the lord would soon go out to travel to a relative’s house in the north side of Dårjordia, meaning fewer people home, fewer guards…
It made sense. It had been frustrating at times, especially as it prolonged the time she had to share a tent with Alba. Thankfully, she didn’t have to spend much time with her in the day hours, as the other was moving all over camp, running around like a tiny hurricane, helping with any task her small grubby hands could get on.
Maria would normally see her multiple times a day, but today there had been no sign of Alba since morning, and when the sun set and supper came and passed, Maria started to feel curious about what she was up to—not enough to really do anything about it yet, but as it got later and later, bonfires being put out and witchlets heading back to their own respite tents, then that curiosity turned to worry. Sure, having a loud tentmate was awful, but being alone because you lost them is infinitely worse.
Especially if they were young. Their dead eyes would haunt her longer than anyone else’s, which compelled her to actually go off searching for the young witchlet, a decision she was already kicking herself mentally for.
“I’m really too soft,” thought Maria.
The last Alba had been seen, the girl was heading east of camp, in the direction of the forest. It was a dense pinewood, set up close to camp by design, as it was very hard to sneak through it unnoticed; the leaves and branches would alert the girls keeping watch. It also obscured them.
Half an hour later, she was in the dark forest surrounding the place, only having a simple light orb spell and her sturdy boots making the woods manageable to traverse. Sounds of owls and other wildlife gave ambience. She hoped Alba wasn’t too deep in the forest, but no such luck.
“She’s really making my life harder. She should know better than to go ahead and disappear like that. All the respect in the world for Alina, but sometimes I wish she was stricter with who gets to join her missions,” Maria looked down.
Stepping hard on a branch and cracking it, a high-pitched noise came from the left. Looking around hopefully but just seeing a squirrel running off, Maria shivered. For a second there, she thought it had been Alba making the sound.
She had hesitated to resort to this, afraid she would disturb Alina. Maria placed a naked hand on the back of a tree, trying to direct her magic into its life force, using its energy to channel her coven’s mind link and locate Alba.
Flashes of intense heat, then biting cold, and the sound of rushing water—Alba’s sensations. Extreme heat to cold indicated magic was involved; she was endangered and had to use volatile magic. It had been strong, judging by the intensity.
Maria mentally went over the forest’s geography. There was a stream to the southeast of the forest. No longer carefully trotting around the forest but now running and jumping over roots, the forest became a blur of greens and crunches.
The mental image of Alba being crushed by fists or slashed by a sword flashed through her mind, big blank eyes and small limbs laying limp. She cursed her vivid imagination and prayed it was just that, and not her coven link showing she was too late.
She nearly tripped over a tree stump but managed to balance herself against a middle-sized boulder. Stopping for a minute to catch her breath and orient herself, she strained to hear over her breathing and heartbeat. Then she heard incantations being shouted.
“Singi!”
Running after the sound, she finally found the girl. She was standing among the rocks surrounding the small river, her clothes covered in frost and ash. The foliage around her was a mix of burned and frozen, and parts of the lake had iced over.
In one moment, Maria blinked; the next, she was shaking the girl’s shoulders and scolding her, her body trembling with anger.
“What do you think you were doing?!” she yelled. “I looked all over for you! I thought you were in danger, but you were just playing around in the river all day?”
Alba took the rough treatment in stride, not objecting, Maria gritted her teeth.
“Answer me! I know you can speak. So explain!” Maria stopped shaking her and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“I… I was trying something out.”
“And you couldn’t do that closer to camp, or tell anyone before you left?”
“I didn’t know that I would have to,” Alba said, looking off to the side contemplatively, as if it had never occurred to her.
Maria ran a hand over her hair, breathing deeply in. “You’re part of a group now, a community. That means you communicate. What were you even trying to do?”
Alba looked up briefly at her, then down, a small smile on her face. “I’m changing a spell. I have this theory: if you slow down the hand movement compared to the spoken part, it creates more friction in the mana’s wavelength, producing a hotter flame. But it seemed too dangerous to practice near camp… it’s a fire spell,” she said.
This was the longest she had spoken to Maria, and of course it was about magic. It was clearly the only thing that allowed her to form more than one sentence.
“You didn’t want to burn anything down. I guess it’s not a bad idea to do it near a river,” Maria sighed. “But when we’re on a mission, it’s not the time for experiments. Even now, during downtime, we should be ready. If you go off experimenting with dangerous spells and get hurt, you become a liability… that’s dangerous for all of us.” Maria was happy to see Alba nodding a little along; she seemed to be taking in what she was saying.
Crunch. A branch cracked under a boot.
“Did you figure it out? Did you produce a hotter flame?”
Alina appeared from the clearing, a small smile on her face.
Seeing the shock on Maria’s face, she explained, “Katya saw you leave and got worried, sweet girl, right.”
Alba ignored that and just answered the first question. “It does!” burst out Alba. “It’s why I stayed out so late. I was so close, and, and I did it!” Her face had turned a bit red in her eagerness.
“Then show us.” Alina waved her hand in a well-practiced motion, and some stone stools came forth a few meters away from where Alba was standing, one for herself and one for Maria.
“Magic so seamless. One day I will also reach that,” thought Maria, sitting down.
Alba took the stance for the Fire spell. When performing magic with low control over your own mana, one had to use their whole body, as directing the energy is a very complicated task. Done wrong, it could escape and burst out of your limbs.
“Singi!” yelled Alba, with clear pronunciation.
Both arms spread to either side, her legs wide apart, the right straight and the left bent, hips angled to the left, chest lifted. Slowly shifting the weight to do the opposite position, only the difference was both arms facing the right. Then she bent down, and in an explosive movement to the left, fired a blue flame.
The flame was so hot it gave them the sensation of sitting too close to a fire for a long time, dizzying them. The ground Alba stood on had turned hard and frozen.
She looked like a child on winter solstice eve, having gotten the exact present she wished for. And she was right to be pleased; Maria had never heard or seen a blue flame outside of potion-making.
Alba’s nose was bleeding, a clear sign of magic fatigue, but with her wide smile, she clearly hadn’t felt it yet.
“Do it again,” Alina ordered.
Maria began to rise to interject but then remembered herself, choosing to sit down again, though with a pit in her stomach.
“Singi!”
She went through all the steps, yielding the same result, but her face was red, nose dripping blood like a faucet. She was panting like a dog and had trouble keeping herself from hunching.
Alina crossed her legs and rested her chin on one of her hands.
“Again.”
“She can’t! Look at her!” Maria couldn’t stand by. Why was everyone being so impractical?
“She wasted both of our time. Let her show us it was not for naught,” answered Alina, her hint of a smile never leaving her face.
This made Alba square her shoulders.
“I’m not a waste of time!” She resumed the stance, her arms and legs shaking while performing.
“Singi!”
You could pinpoint where the magic leaked out before it exploded. Her muscles in her quads bubbled up and then popped. She gasped in pain, nearly falling to her knees.
Maria stood to assist her but was stopped by Alina’s hand gripping her forearm. Her face was intense as she looked at the scene. Sitting down again, as she could not overpower Alina even in her dreams, her mouth tasting acidic.
Alba resumed the movement, grunting and gasping in pain, forehead veins popping, teeth grinding so hard Maria feared she would break them. But at last, a smaller but still blue flame was produced.
A soft surprised noise escaped Alina. The look in her eyes reminded Maria of a predator. She had never seen anyone as captivated by magic as Alina was at that moment.
The triumph was short-lived, though, as Alba collapsed and pulsed on the ground.
“Why can’t I move… ah?” It was clear she was trying not to sound as afraid as she was.
Maria jumped to help her. This time Alina let her. She kneeled down to Alba’s level.
“It’s mana fatigue. It makes your body prioritize generating mana over all else.” She stroked her forehead, bringing out a handkerchief to wipe the blood.
“Just breathe,” stuffing the other’s nose to stop the bleeding. “It will pass when you have enough to not be completely empty. You’re going to be okay.”
Alba thanked her with her eyes.
Alina walked over and bent down to the young girl with a soft expression, looking Maria in the eye.
“Don’t worry, Maria. I will treat her. Go back to camp.”
Maria hesitated a minute too long. Alina tightened her expression.
“I can carry her. She’s my tent mate and junior.” Maria squared her shoulders.
Alina placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, then let it drop.
“No need. I don’t mind taking care of her. Besides, I’m curious to learn more about my young talented witchlet here.”
Alba stared at her like she couldn’t believe what she just heard.
Now holding the awestruck witchlet in her arms, Alina started chanting, “Erinev i mumod munmos.” A ring appeared around them, and they both teleported away. The teleportation spell normally takes only one person to where they slept last, but Alina was just that powerful.
The spell also meant they were specifically going to her quarters. Alba would be alone with Alina, unable to move…
What was she thinking? Just like Katya, doubting the coven for no reason. Alina was a good person, wise, strong, and had saved countless witchlets, herself included. She might push one and have little patience for inadequacies, but she was just passionate.
Maria began the long walk home, sighing to herself as it occurred to her that she again was going to miss a full night’s rest, which would become a normal occurrence as the months went by, both her and Alba serving the coven under Alina’s leadership.