Hospitality

I’m cold. Cracks from a burning fire can be heard in the distance. My heart beats fast. I feel like I’m in the dark woods around a Druid hamlet, even if I can’t see anything but the full moon shining in the sky. My hand feels wet. Is this… blood? I fall to my knees. There is a bleeding person lying in front of me -- “...Nox?” -- The person raises their bloody hand and places it on my cheek. “Mel…” -- Tears start coming out of my eyes. “Wake up!” -- ...what?

I open my eyes to see Anri, Porin’s daughter on top of me. “Why are you crying?” -- This dream… it’s not the first time I’ve had it. I dry the tears on my face and sit on the bed. Anri has this really worried expression stuck to her child face. I pat her on the head.

“Are you okay, sis? I’m sorry to wake you up, you seemed to be having a bad dream”

“Heh, I’m okay, sorry to worry you. Bad dreams happen to all of us”

“Hehe, true” -- She smiles brightfully -- “Mommy left you clothes to change, if you want to” -- Wah, she’s so cute! -- “Also, we’re gonna eat breakfast soon, you should join us!”

I press her cheek -- “Okay, I’ll join you as soon as I’m done changing” -- She makes a sour face as she rubs her cheek and nods.

I walk to the side of my bed, in front of a roughly shaped mirror. I really like my druid clothes. They’re so tight and comfortable. A light green sleeveless shirt that doesn’t cover my skinny tummy, showing the black tattoos that are all over my arms and torso, and my dirty white bulky pants that go as far as my shin with stylish holes in the sides of my thighs. I turn around to see if the tattoos in my thighs can be seen through the holes. I think they’re more like… open stitches? Or knots. Instead of holes. Something like that.

I pick up the clothes Porin left me and realize they’re actually pretty cool too. There’s a black long sleeved tight shirt with a big cleavage with strings on it. Oh, and there’s a metallic ring at the end of the sleeves, binding them to my middle finger. Really sweet. It’s even cooler because the cleavage doesn’t look sexy due to my tiny chest. Then there’s these deep blue long robes. Apparently there are no pants, so I’m staying with my bulky ones. I’m not wearing the robes, though, too boring. There’s also a black leather belt. Long strips come out of it, reaching all the way to the ground. I take one last look at the mirror. Damn, girl, so sweet. I like the contrast between the black top and my pale skin. Plus, the pink hair looks really awesome with all of it.

I head out of the room into the kitchen where I find Porin cooking in a round fireplace that’s in the center of the room while Anri is playing with Hydromancy in some holes in the ground. “Mel! You’re up! And you look wonderfully pretty!” -- Aww, Anri is so cute! -- “Oh, hey there, Melina. I’m sorry Anri woke you up” -- Porin says in a low, kind of sad voice. “Nah, it’s ok, I was about to get up anyway” -- I feel like she’s been through a lot.

“The soup will be ready soon” -- Porin smiles weakly -- “I spoke to KaJa last night, he told me you should meet him in the central hut to discuss your training when you woke up” -- The look in her eyes… it feels so hollow. “Hey, Porin, are you okay?” -- She smiles weakly once again -- “It looks like you have pretty sharp druid senses, huh?”

“Wait, you know about druidic magic?”

Porin giggles -- “Yeah, I do”

“...how? From what I’ve seen, nobody knows about magic varieties. Do you know about others too?”

“Yes… I was once a traveller, just like you. I’ve experienced this world’s ignorance first hand” -- The look in her face darkens as she seems to recall some pretty bad stuff.

“I’m sorry, we don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to” -- She giggles again -- “It’s always gonna be weird to be read by druids like this. Don’t worry about me, I’m good”

I really don’t want to make her feel bad, but it would help me a lot to know more about the world… -- “Well… is it ok if I ask you a bit more about magic, then? You seem to know a lot” -- She smiles while looking at the soup -- “You have a long day ahead of you, Pinky. But I’d love to tell you all about it later” -- I nod as Porin fills a bowl with soup and offers it to me -- “Here, eat this” -- I sit in a cushion that’s near the center of the round room and Anri jumps in the cushion next to me as Porin heads to the exit -- “Mamma, aren’t you gonna eat?” -- A sad look could be seen on Anri’s face as her mother turned to face us -- “I’m sorry, baby girl, mommy has a lot to do today” -- Porin then looks at me and smiles weakly -- “Feel free to come and go as you please, Pinky”

As soon as I’m finished with the bowl of soup I get up and pat Anri in the head shortly before walking towards the door -- “Is it ok to leave you alone here, kid?” -- Anri smiles forcibly -- “Yeah, I’m usually here by myself” -- My heart felt really heavy with that scene. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to be alone, she’s just a child. Sigh… -- “I promise to play lots and lots with you when I get back, okay?” -- She nods -- “Come back soon, okay sis?” -- I smile back at her and wave shortly before turning to the exit.

I push aside the cloth that serves as the hut’s door and inhale the salty air outside. It’s pretty different from what I’m used to, I’ve never been in the seaside for this long. As I walk to the main hut, I notice how boring this architecture can get. Is this even considered architecture? I wonder what’s the definition for that word. For the world’s greatest witch, I sure lack some basic knowledge. Heh, it’s not like I--

I swiftly roll forward to dodge a torrent of water that came from the left side. I turn around looking for the attacker, but no one could be seen. I did sense life force, though… where the hell are they?! I stick my left hand into my pocket to grab a few Crown of Thorns seeds while I rubbed my right hand against my thigh -- “Ignis!” -- My hand burst into flames, burning the end of my sleeve. I throw the seeds upward and quickly thrust my right palm towards an approaching life force that could be felt but not seen. An impact could be felt as someone was hit by my burning palm and quickly distanced itself from me. “Vitae Incitare” -- I quietly murmur to myself, making the seeds from earlier grow to their mature stage in three different locations around me. Two life forces can be felt nearby. One of them is the one that I damaged, still smoldering in the distance. The other one is older and is probably the one that sent the water torrent from earlier, since it came from that direction. Why are they invisible, though? Is that Luxmancy? Hard to tell… but if Porin knows about other varieties, other people in the tribe probably do too.

A boisterous deep laugh could be heard from the hydromancer that attacked me first as some sort of thin mist could be seen dissipating around him, apparently that was the cause of his invisibility. “She’s just as good as you expected, isn’t she?” -- The thin voice could be heard from the agile person that was hit by my flames earlier as the same mist dissipated around her too, revealing a short, skinny girl in clothings that covered everything except her eyes and the left side of her mask that was burnt. I wonder who did that? Heh. “Even better” -- I turn to face the deep voiced man that was really muscular and had a scar over his closed right eye. He flexed his right arm, pointing at himself with his thumb -- “Yo! My name is Dorai and I will be your Hydromancy tutor, little girl” -- Well… he has some personality, at least. “And I’m Nelissa! Welcome to the seaside, Pinky the druid!”

I abruptly shove my right hand to the side, extinguishing the flames on it. “Hiya, I’m Melina Cupio” -- I turn my attention to Dorai for a brief moment and he looks back at me with this ‘ouch’ face. Hold o--

Before I had any time to act, Nelissa’s fist was inches away from my belly, all that could be done was to slightly soften the blow by throwing my body backwards. I heard a giggle moments before being sent flying, flipping mid air to land on my feet. I thought the test was over, this b***h… With my left hand on my belly, I touch the ground with my right hand -- “Overgrowth!” -- The three Crown of Thorns plants shuddered shortly before suddenly flourishing into menacing huge plants with long thorny vines and giant blood red flowers coming out of them. I giggle -- “So you like surprises, huh?!” -- The fully covered girl locked her determination filled gaze on me and dashed. Inhuman strength and speed… she’s probably an antemancer. Quite cute. I pointed my right hand towards her and clenched my fist -- “Vinea Tenaci!” -- Ordering the vines on the surface to wrap themselves around her as I touched the ground with both of my hands -- “Vinea Ascensio!” -- Countless vines rose from the earth in front of me, forming a thorny wall that was instantly bored by Nelissa’s now bloodied fist.

A cry of pain could be heard as the clothes on her arm melted along with her skin due to the poisonous sap that came from the vines. She stumbled backwards into the vines that followed her as they gripped themselves around her limbs. Blood could be seen dripping from the thorns. The vines that rose from the ground grouped together in the shape of a spike pointing towards Nelissa’s body that was held midair by the vines. “Vinea… Volubilis… Ictus” -- The spike spiraled as it swiftly advanced towards the now horrified girl. “Pristine Bestowal!” -- What the... suddenly, the deafening sound of multiple vines being torn apart could be heard, followed by poisonous sap raining from the sky. In the blink of an eye, every vine in the area was in pieces, either falling or already lifeless on the ground. As I was about to jump away to analyze the situation, I could already feel her fists punching me from multiple directions towards the sky. How did she get free? And how can she move so fast? The expressionless girl stared straight into my eyes for a brief moment in mid air, it’s as if she’s not herself anymore... She clenched her fist so hard that thick veins could be seen on her entire burnt arm. Before I could even see her next move, Nelissa’s fist was buried deep in my tummy. I desperately try to gasp for air, but it’s as if there is none. A huge blast sound could be heard as I felt the ground breaking underneath me, crushing my back.

Author's Note

This is the first chapter that I actually loved. The chapter is nearing its end, finally! <3