Chapter 18

Maisha sat in the dim lighting of her room, carefully documenting the contents of her latest dream. As she had seen years ago, the untouchable witch Yama Uba had come to Cyewen. And she had come for Maisha.

Yama Uba walked like the undead, her expression slack and her shoulders slightly hunched. Her bare feet sank several inches into the earth with each step and her breath whistled like an eerie wind. Locks of lightning-white hair floated behind her in a gravity-defying manner and her tattered clothes drifted smoothly around her body as if made from the clouds themselves. She looked empty, like a selfless husk. But her dull gaze still locked unwaveringly onto Maisha, her eyes grey and rheumy.

Though Maisha could clearly see Yama Uba herself, the space around her appeared distorted, warped. Plants and foliage quivered and wilted as she walked by and the sky above the island blackened. Even in Maisha’s dream, Yama Uba felt heavy. And the closer she stepped towards Maisha, the harder it was for Maisha to move.

Maisha turned to run, but her legs felt like lead rods and her body felt like it was sinking into the ground. And even as Maisha’s movements slowed, Yama Uba continued forward unwaveringly. Until eventually, the ancient witch stood so close that Maisha could feel the woman’s icy breath on her neck.

The weight of Yama Uba’s presence forced Maisha to her knees. Maisha closed her eyes and fought against the pressure threatening to crush her as she knelt in the mud. If she were religious, perhaps she would have prayed.

Maisha relived the dream as she scribbled down every detail. Up until this point, it had been exactly the same as the one she had seen all those years ago. But this time, as Yama Uba reached a wrinkled and spindly hand out to crush her, someone new appeared. A young woman in her teens rushed out of the shadows, snatching at Yama Uba’s hand and flinging the ancient witch into the air. Black eyes as dark as the night sky locked onto Maisha’s gaze for a moment before snapping back to Yama Uba. Her snowy white hair billowed in the wind, eerily similar to that of the witch trying to kill Maisha.

Though Yama Uba had not been thrown very hard or very far, the ancient witch dented the earth when she hit the ground. She had easily landed on her feet, and not a second passed before she began advancing towards Maisha again. Her steps were slow, but they were unwavering. And now, Maisha could not move.

The young witch maneuvered herself in front of Maisha, and as her hands twisted into a series of seals. The shadows around them began to writhe. Creatures began to emerge, almost liquid in their movements. Some of them took on almost familiar shapes; a half-formed fox emerged to her left, its head and body recognizable, but its legs and tail an abstract mess, and a frog with its legs on its back materialized further ahead. The creatures attacked, and as they did, the little teen witch drew a sword and leapt at Yama Uba.

Yama Uba dragged her gaze away from Maisha to glance at the young witch. Then she moved.

It took the ancient witch mere seconds to destroy all of the young girl’s shadow creatures, and even less time to gouge out her throat. Bright scarlet washed down the girl’s neck and clothes, seeping into her white hair and dribbling out her mouth. She took a labored step towards Maisha before crumpling to the ground, mud smearing her face. The light in her eyes began to fade, like stars winking out in the night sky, leaving an emptiness behind.

Maisha lifted her eyes from Xisa’s lifeless body and watched Yama Uba resume to her lumbering walk. When she attacked, Yama Uba had moved faster than Maisha’s eyes could track. Now her heavy footsteps returned to a painfully slow cadence. Maisha watched the ancient witch steadily approach her, and waited for death.

*

“Where have you been?!” Songbai scolded when Maisha emerged from her room. “Didn’t you tell the girls to be up early for some sort of special lessons?! Well they’re up but it's nearly noon! I had planned to run some errands in Wucheng with Baigu but instead I’m stuck here looking after them because it seems every time we take our eyes off them, something goes wrong!”

Though a springtime chill filled the house, Songbai snapped her fan open and began waving it leisurely, her expression sour.

“Ah…” Maisha sighed, remembering that she had indeed promised such things, “I suppose I must have lost track of time…”

Songbai snapped her gaze to Maisha, no doubt about to continue her admonishments.

“Lost track of time?! You-”

Maisha curiously glanced at Songbai when her fellow witch abruptly stopped talking. Before Maisha could react, Songbai snatched her wrist and pulled her forward such that the two witches were mere inches away from each other. The faint scent of crushed pine needles tickled Maisha’s nose.

“What’s wrong with you?”

At first, Maisha thought she was still talking about waking up late, and let out a resigned sigh.

“Haah Songbai, were your errands in Wucheng really that important? Why are you-”

Tak!

Songbai snapped her fan shut.

“I don’t care about that,” she interrupted in a quiet voice, looking down at Maisha with a serious expression, “Why do you look like you’re about to pass out?”

Maisha’s eyes widened. Though their only point of contact was where Songbai’s hand held Maisha’s wrist, Maisha could feel the woman’s body heat leaking through her clothes, a stark contrast to the chill in the hut. Songbai stooped to lean her face in closer to Maisha’s, her eyes scanning her fellow witch’s complexion.

“Well?”

Maisha took a step back and cleared her throat.

“Ahem, well… I didn’t sleep very well last night. I must still be tired,” she responded with a shrug, gently removing her wrist from Songbai’s grasp. Songbai dropped her hand to her side with a frown and straightened up.

“Tch, never tells me anything…” she mumbled under her breath.

“Well whatever,” the grumpy witch continued as she turned to look out the window at the girls, “If you need more sleep, I can look after the girls for today.”

Maisha raised her brows in surprise, but the expression quickly melted into a wry smile.

“Oh? Weren’t you making a fuss just a moment ago?” Maisha teased. “It’s fine, I wouldn’t want to disappoint the girls. They both seemed quite excited when I told them I’d demonstrate a bit of botanical magic today. You and Baigu should go ahead and run your errands,” Maisha assured her as she headed towards the door. With her back turned as it was, she couldn’t see Songbai’s expression darken at her words.

When a firm hand landed on her shoulder, Maisha paused.

“Maisha.”

Maisha cocked her head and cast a questioning glance at the woman beside her.

“You don’t have to tell me what it is. But you’re tired. Teach them another day.”

“Ahaha! Songbai, are you really that concerned about me?” Maisha laughed, shaking Songbai’s hand off her shoulder as she did so. “At any rate, I’m well and capable enough to keep the girls’ powers in check. So don’t worry about us and go do whatever it is you need to do.”

Songbai dropped her hand and frowned, but said nothing else. Maisha swallowed her annoyance as she walked outside and into the garden- did she really seem so weak? She had to do better. She had to work harder. She needed to seem weak only when she wanted to seem weak. She needed to seem strong only when she wanted to seem strong. She had lived for over 100 years and still she couldn’t master something so simple…

Maisha looked down when she felt something tugging at the hem of her blouse. Xisa’s large black eyes stared up at her, twinkling with a joyful liveliness and expectation. Maisha sucked in a breath as the blood-soaked and lifeless face from her vision overlapped with that of this cute kid. She snapped her gaze away from Xisa as if stung.

“What’s wrong?” Songbai’s cold voice asked again, making Maisha jump. She hadn’t realized the woman had followed her outside.

“Nothing,” Maisha snapped, unable to keep the irritation out of her voice. “Aren’t you supposed to be running errands?”

“They were not important,” Songbai replied with a shrug.

Since when was this witch so annoying? Maisha thought as she tried to get a hold of her emotions. Annoyance, guilt, worry… but most of all, a frustration with herself. If she didn’t get a hold of herself soon, she could risk her plans falling apart. Why should she feel guilty about this little brat? Xisa would have died long before now if it hadn’t been for her. This child should be grateful for the handful of extra years Maisha had granted her. It was only fair for her to give her life for Maisha’s own later on. This was the purpose for which Maisha had brought them under her wing. This was the only reason Xisa was still alive today.

Maisha glanced back down at the weapon that would one day save her life. Sunlight filtered through the canopy above, dappling patches of shadow across Xisa’s skin and reflecting in her black eyes like stars. Those large and twinkling eyes stared up at her. Maisha swallowed hard.

… Even after I overcome the danger of Yama Uba, surely there will be more perils awaiting me. Naturally it would be best if I kept such a valuable weapon by my side. I have time to figure out how to save my own hide without Xisa getting herself killed… That’s right, Maisha! The future is not absolute! Saving my life is the goal, and of course the best way to achieve such a thing would be to defeat Yama Uba altogether. Xisa and Morg could even work together to defeat her while protecting each other. Or if worse comes to worse, rather than Xisa, Morg could be the one to-

“Maisha!!” Morg cried out upon seeing her mentor. “You’re going to show us some plant magic today, right?! I’ve been looking forward to it all morning! What are you gonna show us?! Are you gonna make the plants come alive and start running around? Or are you gonna make them grow as tall as the sky? Or maybe you’ll make plants that bear magical fruits?!”

“Haa, what are you talking about you silly child,” Maisha laughed with a softening expression. “Maybe a more powerful witch than myself could make some of those things happen, but the technique I’ll be showing you today is a much more subtle one,” the elder witch continued as they walked into the garden. Songbai followed behind Maisha and the girls, gently waving her fan. Little shoots of green had sprouted out of the ground here and there, but they walked along a little pathway that avoided them.

No, I shouldn’t make any hasty decisions about Morg either. Maisha thought before stopping in front of her patch of sprouting carrots. I need to learn about the creatures she has brought to life. If what the girls say is really true and Morg’s reflection has become an entity separate from Morg, then the woman in my vision may not be Morg herself…

Taking a deep breath, Maisha gestured to the garden patch before her and smiled at the young girls, alternating between English and Mandarin as she spoke.

“Botanical magic is about patience. If we use too much mana too ambitiously, the plants will grow large and grow quickly, but they will die even faster. However, if we supplement the ecosystem with little sips of our mana…”

Maisha squatted before a drooping sprout peeking through the dirt and touched her fingertips to the soil. The sprout perked up, the color of its stalk deepening to a slightly richer green.

“Over time, a garden will flourish.” Maisha continued, standing back up and gesturing to the garden spread out in front of the house. “It may not seem as impressive as ‘making plants run around’ or have them ‘grow as tall as the sky,’” Maisha said with a grinning wink at Morg, “but with this technique, plants can grow in places they usually wouldn’t be able to.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As she spoke, Maisha meandered around her garden, crouching here and there to infuse the soil with her mana.

“Gardens can withstand years of drought, aquatic plants can grow on land, and the nutrients and minerals of the soil aren’t as easily depleted. It is a magic that supplements the environment for the sake of longevity.”

Maisha peeked at the girls’ expressions. Morg looked mildly interested, though not nearly as excited as she had been earlier. Xisa, on the other hand, stared at Maisha with rapt attention.

“This sort of magic takes years of practice to master. However,” Maisha smiled playfully, “I happen to know a spell that can help you guide your mana to achieve something similar. Would you like to try it?”

“Yes!” Morg cried in immediate response. A moment later, Xisa nodded in thoughtful agreement. Maisha smiled.

“First let’s ah… step away from my garden. We can do experiments on the clovers and whatnot over here,” Maisha said, leading the girls a ways away from the house.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Songbai asked with a frown, “Isn’t this pretty advanced magic?”

“Relax! The spell I’ve prepared is one I’ve come up with myself,” Maisha said with a sly smile, “It’s a simple and harmless spell.”

Songbai sighed.

After they were acceptably far, Maisha put her hands on her hips.

“Alright then, focus on the plant you want to grow and repeat after me!”

Morg and Xisa nodded with determination.

“Bú jánì na dì na!”

“Bu janee…. Na deena!!” Morg practically screamed.

“Bu jani na dee na…” Xisa muttered determinedly.

Nothing happened.

Maisha spoke quickly before the girls could get too discouraged.

“Well that is to be expected, spoken spells take some getting used to. Be intentional with your mana. Remember, try and feel the mana within your veins and bend it to your will. Focus on your goal and how you can manipulate your mana to make it do what you want it to. The spell is a guide- but ultimately your magic is up to you!”

Morg frowned, feeling that she had been tricked somehow. What had seemed like an exciting game had suddenly turned into another tedious exercise. Xisa, on the other hand, did not hesitate to mutter the spell once again.

“Booo… Bujanee na de na! Bu jani… na di nah! Bu…”

Maisha smiled and leaned against a tree as she watched the girls. They were making progress with their skills. Slowly but surely.

“This spell of yours…”

Maisha’s eyes slid from the girls to the tall witch suddenly standing beside her. Songbai tapped her chin thoughtfully with her folding fan.

“Is it a language similar to Swahili?”

Maisha beamed at the question.

“Indeed, I constructed it from Proto-Bantu, the possible mother language to Swahili!” the elder witch declared with pride. “Though of course, current knowledge of the Proto-Bantu language is far from complete. The spell is somewhat sloppily constructed, but I’ve tested it dozens of times… It gets the job done well enough.”

“…And what is that job?”

“Oh, it just lets a plant grow a little. Nothing too spectacular, they’ll even probably wilt after only a day or so. But I thought it might be a fun exercise for the girls. A break from their usual tasks at least.”

“…”

As Songbai sank into a pensive silence, Maisha’s thoughts somehow moved to her childhood. Maisha was born in the southern regions of the Swahili Coast. Unlike the cold and dreary days passed in Cyewen, the early years of her life were passed in a sunbasked warmth. Her memories of her family were foggy, but positive. By the age of seven, however, she found herself on her own. And not long after that, Baba Yaga had scooped her up and taken her under her wing…

Maisha snuck a peek at Songbai. Her fellow witch gazed silently at the girls as they continued trying to cast the spell. She stood as straight as a bamboo stalk, her expression calm and thoughtful. The hem of her long green dress fluttered softly in the breeze, as did her straight black hair, even pulled neatly back as it was.

When she’s not so grumpy, Songbai is actually quite… quite…

Quite what?

“Then Songbai, do you speak Swahili as well?”

Songbai started at the question, as if she had just been found guilty of something.

“Yes, well, I had some business… that required it.”

“Oh? What business was that?” Maisha asked curiously.

A red flush spread its way up Songbai’s cheeks, making Maisha stare at her in a state of mild confusion.

“Tch! Questions! So many questions! As if you answer even half the questions I ask you! My business isn’t any of your business, is it?!”

Maisha suddenly felt like she was in trouble again.

“A-And anyways, botanical magic?! Are you sure this spell isn't too advanced for the girls? It's not like it's a race, we have time, don’t we?! No need to push them too much!”

The sudden change of topic did not escape Maisha, but the elder witch still cast a glance at the girls. If she had only taken in the two of them out of the goodness of her heart, they indeed would have all the time in the world. But she had taken them in for one reason and one reason only; to save her own skin. Besides, the spell wasn’t as advanced as Songbai seemed to believe.

Although, maybe I should try and teach them more advanced spells now. The sooner they get a hold on their mana, the better. My vision may imply that Yama Uba won’t come to Cyewen until the girls are in their teens- if she comes at all- but the future is fickle. I can all too easily see a reality where that untouchable witch comes before I’m ready. Especially if I let the wrong thing slip…

Though maybe teaching them too much is a double edged sword? If it’s not Morg’s reflection who kills me in the future after all, but the real Morg… if I teach her too much now, I may not be able to stop her later. If I teach her too much now… it's possible no one would be able to stop her later. I wouldn’t be able to run. I wouldn’t be able to hide. I wouldn’t be able to escape. If I’m not careful, all she needs is the desire to kill me and my life will be over in a blink.

And even if it is her reflection out to get me, I have no idea how the dynamics of such a thing would even work…

As Maisha’s mind turned to the topic of Morg’s reflection, she recalled the conversation she had with the girls a couple of months ago;

“Now what, exactly, is going on with you two?!”

“…I think what Songbai is trying to say is that we’re here to listen. Trust us. If you have problems, trust that we’re here and we will help you.”

“D-don’t look at me, I’m as confused as you guys! Ask Xisa!”

“Xiaoha?”

“...”

“Well we know it’s something about the harp… were you playing the harp again, Morg?”

“W-well… nooo?”

“...”

“...”

“Okay, I may have… snuck out a couple of times… to play it…”

“What?”

“What?!”

“Pl-please don’t be angry! Nothing bad happened! Xisa just caught me playing once and I just thought she didn’t like that I was disobeying you and that she was trying to keep me out of trouble and I didn’t think she would be this upset about it!!”

“Xiaoha, did you see something when Morg was playing her harp? She’s already confessed to having snuck out, you don’t need to cover for her if that’s what you were doing.”

“Oh…”

Maisha stifled a sigh as she recalled the delicate process of coaxing information out of the dark-eyed child, all while tediously switching between English and Mandarin. Not to mention Morg interrupting at every other word.

“Maisha, what’d you say to her? What’s she saying??”

“Quiet! Let other people talk and we’ll fill you in later!”

“Ow! …always hitting me with your fan…”

“Xiaoha…? Can you tell us a little more?”

“W-well… I think maybe playing her harp… I mean, h-her reflection… um……”

“Reflection? Alright, what's going on with your reflection, hm?!”

“Oww! Shtop puwwing on my scheek so I can tew yew…”

“Tch.”

“Well… ahaha s-so… when I was younger… my reflection started acting kinda funny…”

“Funny how…?”

“U-um it doesn’t always reflect what I do and it makes faces at people and shows me weird images and it always makes fun of me and… and I hate it and please don’t kick me out…”

“Kick you out?! Why would we kick you out?! What put that thought into your head, silly girl, come here.”

“Song Laoshi…”

“And Xiaoha noticed your reflection was like this?”

“Yeah…”

“...but what does this have to do with the harp…?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“!”

“Xiaoha, were you under the impression that Morg’s harp playing brought her reflection to life?”

“...”

“What’s she saying? Song Laoshi, what did Maisha say? What’s Xisa nodding about?”

“Apparently you brought your reflection to life with your music.”

“!”

“Xiaoha… what made you think this…?”

“T-the… I think the scarecrow m-moved…”

“Scarecrow? Morg, what scarecrow?”

“Ahem w-well… on the nights that I snuck out…”

Maisha heaved a sigh, her head throbbing at the recollections. She let her anxious fingers scrape at the bark of the tree she leaned against. She knew the girls’ powers were out of control, but she never would have imagined it to this extent.

Has anyone even animated their reflection before, accidentally or otherwise?! What if her reflection shares all of Morg’s abilities with her?! Truly that… how can I even stop that???

Maisha sucked in a deep breath.

No, I shouldn’t speculate like this, I need concrete facts. I need to do more research. Maybe I can find something in LingXing? Eventually I can buy a small mirror for the house and try and learn experimentally. Investigating the nature of Morg’s harp music may not be a bad idea either. How exactly did she manage to bring something to life with magic? How much raw mana was required? Is there something about that harp in particular? Or could she play any harp and produce the same results? What about other instruments? And aside from the reflection and possibly that scarecrow Xisa mentioned, could she have brought to life other objects as well?

No, no, no, Maisha, you’re getting ahead of yourself again! Before anything else, confirming that these things were actually ‘brought to life’ takes priority. It's entirely possible that something else is going on. Illusion magic or even dream magic! Something the girls don’t realize they’re casting on themselves or… could someone be targeting them? I need to confirm the exact nature of-

“-sha! Maisha! Hellooooo, anyone home up there?!”

Maisha jolted out of her musings as Songbai began relentlessly knocking her fan against Maisha’s forehead. Surprised, Maisha tried stepping back, only to be blocked by the tree behind her.

“What, you were so distracted that you don’t even respond to me after calling your name so many times!?” Songbai questioned when she noticed Maisha’s surprise. “What’s going on with you today?”

“Ah, I must still be tired…” Maisha repeated her excuse from earlier that day, feeling too flustered to come up with a better one. Songbai’s expression hardened at Maisha’s words. She straightened her back and crossed her arms, the folding fan in her hand snapping shut.

“You… You know I’m on your side. If something’s going on…” Songbai mumbled.

Maisha’s eyes widened at her fellow witch’s unexpected words. What an idea. For a moment, she let herself imagine it. What would Songbai think of her upon learning that she had only adopted these two cute girls for her own benefit? That one day the skeletons in her closet would resurface and her past actions would cause the untouchable witch Yama Uba to hunt her down? That she planned on pitting these two children she pretended to love against a mad witch whose power was akin to that of a tsunami? And that if she could save her own life at the cost of the lives of these two kids… she would not hesitate to do so. In fact, for a long time, she had hoped for such an outcome.

“Ha…” Maisha muttered a mirthless laugh. Things she hadn’t even told Henry- how could she tell them to this witch?

“Nothing’s going on,” Maisha responded bluntly. “But even if there was… you said it yourself, Songbai; ‘my business isn’t any of your business.’”

Songbai’s cutting expression crumpled for an instant before hardening into a glare.

“You-!”

After glaring at Maisha a moment longer, Songbai let out a long sigh.

“Ah, nevermind.”

Maisha glanced at Songbai as her fellow witch gently opened her fan and began fanning herself again. After a moment of silence passed between the two, Songbai opened her mouth again.

“Perhaps I can help the girls in their practice. Growth magic like this isn’t so far from transformation magic after all.”

Maisha watched Songbai easily step through the undergrowth surrounding them and make her way towards the girls. That sense of irritation began creeping up her chest again.

Why would I tell you something I haven’t even told Henry…?

“Haaaa…” Maisha sighed as she leaned heavily against the tree behind her. Watching Songbai diligently teaching the girls, Maisha let herself sink down into the dirt. Perhaps she had used too much mana the night before, but every muscle in her body felt heavy with fatigue. After drowsily watching the girls practicing their new spell over and over again, without even realizing it, Maisha eventually closed her eyes.