Twenty Two: The Witches

The birds of light flew through the cavern under my touch. I could reveal seven of them before the old ones began to fade away. Small birds, all in the same pose and no bigger than my thumb.

Nassir tried to detect them before I uncovered them, but he couldn't. Puko was now content to sit in Schula's arms and offered no new help. Now it was up to me, and the birds.

We had to watch our footing, but the cave opened up surprisingly wide after the first few moments of walking. But while the cave was spacious, it was dark and eerie. Things slithered at the edge of my hearing. Water dripped, and other things splashed and crawled and clicked their way around. I couldn't decide if I'd rather be able to see, or if I should be happy in the little vision my elven eyes gave me down here.

It was a blessing that the birds kept leading us along, because once we were into the wider parts of the cave, tunnels and chutes opened up everywhere. It would have been a labyrinth without guidance, and as I looked down the wrong paths I had a pretty bad feeling about what waited for lost travelers there.

The scarf I had used to keep the sun off of my head in the sands was now tied around my bag strap at one end. Schula and Nassir held onto it. I didn't think we'd be separated just from the darkness, but the feeling of something in the air was strong. If magics were afoot, we had a physical attachment keeping us from straying into an illusion. I faced the Mist walker once, and none of us was so keen to fall for a similar trick again.

The night had just begun when Puko spurred us into action, but by now it must be nearly sunrise. I kept placing my palms on the rocky walls, and they kept revealing more birds. They had all been the same, and I almost didn't notice when they began to change. Thankfully, someone else did.

"Is that one bigger?" Schula asked.

I looked behind me at the last bird I had revealed, then the one before it.

"It is," I said. "I wonder why."

"Try the next one," she suggested.

I placed my hand ahead where the next bird would be, and sure enough it was bigger than the first ones but no larger then the last and biggest bird. I uncovered two more. All the same new size.

"What do you suppose it means?" Schula asked.

"I hope it means we're getting closer," Nassir said. "We have been walking all night after all. If my sleep schedule wasn't out of order before, it certainly is now."

We kept going, and this time I was paying close attention to the sizes of the birds. After a bit they grew another size. A bit after that they grew again. I was starting to get excited when a tug at the scarf on my bag had me stop.

"W-"

"Shh." Schula tapped her ear. I could just make out the motion in the dark, but I under stood. She wanted me to listen.

I tilted my head and waited. The eerie slithers and scrapes of the life in the cave were no longer quite so frighting, and I was able to look past them. Or listen, I suppose.

Laughter. So faint even I could barely catch it. How Schula did was a mystery. I sucked in a breath and turned to my friends.

"Now what?" I said, barely audibly.

"It could be the witches," Nassir said. "Let's go on."

We kept going, a little more cautious of our noise now, but we kept going. The birds got bigger one last time, and we began to see light bouncing in the cave. The familiar moving flicker of yellow flame.

More sounds came to me when I stopped to listen for them. I could now easily hear conversation, though not clearly enough to decipher with all the echoing of the walls. There were people, fires, dishes, spinning wheels, animals, creaking wood, and shuffling straw.

Life. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was walking into Silver Lake again. The sounds of a small village with it's bustling and busy work.

"Caw!"

My heart thundered behind my bones as I whirled around to Schula's arms where Puko had just called out. Schula's eyes were wide as she looked from me to the raven in her arms.

"Caw!"

"Maybe he wants to go," Nassir said.

Schula opened her grip, and sure enough Puko took off. If our presence had gone undetected before now, it was no longer the case. We hurried after him as safely as we could on the cave floor. It took little time for us to see more flame on the walls, hear more sounds. And finally we rounded a bend which revealed mounted torches. I nearly tumbled forward when my feet halted at the sight.

Pre-dawn light was aglow, setting the valley on fire. And a valley it was. This cave, and a great many other caves from the look of it, spilled into a valley with steep cliffs. There was no apparent way in or out except for the labyrinth of limestone, and if you didn't have the birds to guide you there was no way to find it.

Houses of wood and thatched with reeds were constructed haphazardly across the view. There were pins for animals, fire pits, and tools like looms and grindstones outside many buildings. Enough grass grew down here to feed some livestock and small gardens were tucked between buildings wherever they would fit.

A few people were milling about. Morning chores were being done, animals being fed, breakfast being cooked. My lips parted in surprise as I focused on the people. All women. All in black and bones and feathers and furs. All witches.

"There's a whole village of witches here," I whispered.

"Do you see any that you know?" Schula asked.

I scanned the few faces I could see clear enough to judge, and shook my head. "No, but she has to be here. She has to have made it."

"I'm sure she did, Wren." Nassir placed a hand on my shoulder and I put my own on top of it. "But we won't know if we don't continue."

Cool fingers brushed my cheek. "Maybe Puko is flying to her now. We should go."

"Yes," I breathed and we started forward again. With each step I took, my feet carried me with anticipation and excitement to the life outside the caves. I bit my lip hard enough to give it a small cut, but I ignored it as the wind brushed my face.

I burst from the mouth of the cave and into the light. Down a small dirt path ahead was the village, and the closest witch. Her back was turned to us as she washed a load of freshly clipped wool in a tiny babbling spring. She was younger than Mila but still older than me by many years.

My throat tightened, and I couldn't stop myself from calling out in joy. "Ho! Witch!"

She turned with a shock in her eyes before something like realization took over.

"Well I'll be the Mother's wash-maid. I sense two things on you I haven't felt in..." The witch stood, dumping her wet wool in a nearby basket and brushing off her wet black skirts.

I reached her quickly and behind me Schula and Nassir gave us some space. I was a little nervous and a little relieved when her dress and mannerisms were so much like the other witches I'd met. A stranger, yet somehow familiar as most witches had been for me. It was a small piece of home before my eyes.

"I'm looking for Mila from the northern mountains above the sands," I said. "Do you know her?"

The witch shook her head. "There are a great many witches gathered here, young one. I do not know the one you speak of, but I'm sure someone here does."

My shoulders sank a bit but I held my chin up and tried again. "Did you see a great black bird fly thorough here just moments ago?"

Realization dawned and she gave me a warm smile this time, tucking a bit of flyaway hair behind her ear. "That I did see, but I barely paid him mind. There are others like him that roam this valley and they tend to do as they please."

I gave a breathy laugh. "Yes, that sounds right. Do you know where he went? He may find my friend Mila before we do."

The witch pointed down the hill into the belly of the valley. "Straight down the path as though he was on a quest. Be ready to be stopped, you three are an unusual sight in this place, but not an unwelcome one. The fae will be cause for caution, but with you they should be fine."

I looked behind me. They were still unglamoured, but I think the witches would have known regardless. I understood the complicated relationship with the witches and the Wyldes, but I wondered what I had to do with making it better. Schula and Nassir began walking to close the gap between us.

"Thank you, ma'am. I had better chase after him," I said.

She laughed and waved me off, turning back to her wool.

With no words spoken between us, Schula and Nassir headed down the hill with me. The dirt path carried us in a crooked trail as it wound around wells and houses and trees. I felt light as air as we swept by everything, and I finally spotted a fat black dot in the center of the valley.

We turned heads, many heads. Witches popped out of their windows and doors. They moved from our path as we descended the valley. The ones that didn't look puzzled seemed cautious to see us. A very few of them seemed pleased.

The center of the valley was ahead. The huts sat lazily around it with plenty of room for gardens and things in between. A cobbled courtyard with a large well and many benches was the centerpiece of the sprawling village. A black raven flew to someone at the center of it all.

"Caw!" Puko echoed softly up to us from a shoulder I wasn't sure I'd see again. She sat on a bench by the well, but she stood to receive Puko, and her eyes met mine with a smile.

"Mila," I choked out. I could feel my eyes welling with tears but I didn't do anything about them. Instead I ran. I ran and ran as hard and fast as my elven feet would take me. I left Nassir and Schula to trail behind me as I flew down to her.

Puko cawed and flapped to safety as I was coming up to the old woman.

"Mila!" I cried as I wrapped my arms around her. Her bony frame embraced me back, still with all the strength I remember from her. I cried into her shoulder, wetting the black feathered collar of her dress.

"Shh, do not cry, child. You are safe here." Mila's soft tones just made me cry harder.

"Wren," Mila scolded with the rare use of my name. "Stop your tears, child. There is nothing here to cry over."

I laughed softly and pulled back from her to wipe my eyes. "Sorry, Mila. I just missed you."

She smiled, her wrinkled face bursting into a thousand lines as she let out a small laugh of her own. "Come, child. There is much to say between us and not nearly enough day to say all of it."

I nodded and sighed into her shoulder. After our long journey through the sands, I was finally in a place that reminded me of home.