Caroline and the Witch

Caroline reached out and eased the needle-leaf limb down, clearing her vision and allowing her to see the trail below her. The hard-packed dirt road was bent in a u-shape in front of her. It came from a village on the right before looping in front of her and disappearing deeper into the wild forest.

Caroline was confident that she had chosen her ambush site well. The bend would expose her target to her advance, and the curves would keep any unfriendly eyes from witnessing her attack. It was unlikely that there would be anyone else on the trail, especially with her on the loose. Still, Caroline preferred to be cautious, and she wouldn’t want anyone else to get involved.

She wasn’t sure what the target had done to cause her employer’s wrath. She wasn’t hired to ask questions though. She put it out of her mind as the crunch of gravel alerted her to the approach of someone along the road.

Caroline tensed, easing her knife out of its sheath. Her long fingers grasped the worn leather handle comfortably. The blade came free, exposing the long curved blade stamped with her family’s sigil, a horse. She kept the blade close to her shirt to keep the blade from reflecting any light to alert the passerby.

She held her breath as a young woman came around the corner. She must be my target. She matches the description perfectly. Caroline studied her closely. The lack of information given her, other than a physical description, was about to be remedied.

The girl was tall, nearly as tall as most men. Her long raven hair hung down near her butt, only loosely held by a single red ribbon that Caroline could barely see near her shoulder. Her simple woolen dress was dyed green. Along her slim waist was a wide leather belt that was closed by a silver-worked buckle set with a large emerald. The belt held several small pouches that were easily accessible and a sheath that held a short sword. Perhaps she was a burglar?

Caroline yearned to study her victim longer, but if she delayed any longer her window of opportunity would be gone. She had to move now.

Throwing herself forward, she darted from cover and charged the ten feet that separated them. The woman caught the motion at the corner of her eye and threw herself forward with a curse, hand darting for her belt.

The dodge saved her life, as Caroline’s blade cut through the air where she had been. Caroline felt like cursing, she had missed! Sliding to a stop, she turned back on her prey, lunging forward desperately.

The other girl threw dust in her face. Caroline blinked at the sudden pain. Idiot! And double idiot! She couldn’t see; the dust had blinded her for a few crucial seconds. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision.

“Mordescue althos, meldoth!” the words were spoken in a sing-song fashion, sounding odd to Caroline’s ears.

Caroline was astonished when her body froze around her. It was like she was wearing a statue for skin, she couldn’t twitch an eyelid or finger. The realization hit her then. Her opponent was a sorceress! Caroline wanted to curse; why hadn’t they told her! She wasn’t prepared to face a magic user!

The sound of crunching feet alerted her to the approach of the sorceress. Caroline waited, wishing she could blink the dust out of her eyes. Right now, all she could make out was a teary blur standing in front of her.

“I wonder who we have here? A highwayman, waylaying innocent travelers?” The voice asked. There wasn’t a trace of fear in the voice, just a curiosity. It was obvious she felt in total control of the situation; which, Caroline realized ruefully, was true. With her frozen and unable to move, she was utterly at the other woman’s mercy.

“Oh, how silly of me.” The voice said dryly. “My dust has blinded you. Well, you’re unable to harm me now, so… Malcodost” Caroline sighed inwardly with relief as her vision instantly cleared.

The witch smiled at her as she lowered her hands. Her dress showed several brown stains from where she had fallen on the ground. She followed Caroline’s gaze and grimaced. “This was my favorite dress.” She looked up into Caroline’s horrified eyes and smiled. “I will be making you pay for that.”

She shook her head slightly. “But I’m getting ahead of myself. I suspect that you aren’t a normal highwayman are you?” She paused slightly to allow Caroline to say something. “Well, why don’t you speak?”

Caroline looked beseechingly at her captor. She wanted to answer her, but the spell wouldn’t allow her too.

The woman suddenly laughed, and Caroline began to breathe again. “Of course. I am so sorry. Of course you can’t speak! Well, I can fix that. Hang on a second.” She laughed at her own joke. A moment later Caroline’s jaws loosened.

Working her mouth slightly to get the ache out of her jaws, she hesitantly tried to speak. Th-“ she coughed. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The witch looked her over. “Well, aren’t you going to tell me who you are?”

“My name is Caroline, mistress.” Caroline tried to make her speech as humble as possible.

“Jenevive.” The witch smiled. “My name is Jenevive.”

“Yes, Mistress Jenevive.” Caroline said carefully. She did not want to anger the woman any more, less she leave her standing in the road for eternity.

“Well, that’s better. Now tell me, who hired you?

“Mistress Jenevive?” Caroline tried to sound slightly confused, as if she wasn’t sure what was being asked. “I’m just a thief from Acherton. That’s all, I swear. I only wanted to take your sword and gold.” She tried to reign in her babbling, she didn’t want to overstep herself and give something away.

The witch shook her head, clearly not believing it. “Your clothing is too fine for a thief; unless you have done extremely well for yourself and in that case you would not be here in the forest. Your bearing is all wrong for a thief, or a highwayman, and then there is this.” She reached down to the ground and held up Caroline’s blade. “This weapon is dipped in Marrow-Root, designed specifically to counter-act my magic.”

Caroline stared at her blade in surprise. She had been given the poison by her employer who told her it would help make the kill quicker. She had been deceived, and like a fool had walked in on it. Assuming she survived this, she would have words with her employer about setting her up like this.

“I see that you are surprised. So, it was clear that you were used by someone to kill me. Was it that fool Perchon? Or maybe that conniving little witch in Boldagar? Speak up.” She added impatiently.

Caroline could feel the sweat rolling down her face. Her honor required her to be silent and not give up her client, but her very life was on the line here. She made her choice. “I’m sorry mistress. I am but a simple thief.” Caroline let the lie slip through her teeth. She was dead now, and she knew it. She braced herself for the end.

A smile played at the lips of the witch as she stared at her. “Well.” she said more to herself. “It seems this one has some true honor. It would be a pity to simply kill you.” She mused. Caroline felt a surge of hope, followed by caution. A lot could be done without killing her, and Caroline feared the witch would exact some horrible revenge.

The woman toyed with the knife, running her thumb over the horse seal. She brightened. “I know exactly what to do with you!” She clapped like a child who had been handed her first doll.

“You will become my mount, and take me wherever I wish to go. If you serve me well, I will return you to your normal state and release you from my service.” She said seriously. “Refuse my offer and I will hand you over to the Watch in Mandrogar and let you hang for highway robbery.”

Caroline licked her lips. She had no doubt the witch would do as she said, and she feared the dark dungeons of Mandrogar. It was said that those who walked out of them to be hanged did so with expressions of relief, for death meant that they would not go back. There was really no choice at all.

“I accept.” Caroline whispered. She slumped in defeat.

“Excellent!” the witch said happily. She stuck the knife in her belt and pulled out an ash wand. She began chanting in a magic tongue; that not-quite-right speech that echoed oddly through the air when uttered. In moments Caroline felt a gathering of tension in the air.

Caroline watched wide-eyed as green light flowed around the witch, nearly obstructing her view. Seconds later the ground beneath her frozen form began to glow. If she hadn’t been trapped, she would have run and never stopped, oath be hanged!

There was no pain; simply a feeling of being stretched, like taffy pulled between two children. Her form altered before her, her legs becoming thin and tall, her rump expanding to become a horse’s backside complete with swishing tail. The ground became further away, and bushes and trees seemed to become slightly shorter, as if she had swung up…she grimaced and completed the thought. As if she had swung up on horseback. She realized she had been changed into one of the centaur people.

The witch finished the spell and grinned at her. Caroline resisted the urge to throttle her. She hadn’t liked having her body messed with one bit! She opened her mouth to flay the woman, and stopped. She had made the deal to spare her life. She would live with the terms agreed upon.

“Where to, Mistress?” she tried to make her voice pleasant as she could. Jenevive produced a saddle with a wave of her hand as she told her.

“Now, now, Caroline. No need to sulk. We are going to Hammstad to fetch some more Fenwort leaf.”

As the saddle was placed on her back and tightened, Caroline stood perfectly still, suffering the indignity with as much grace as she could muster. After a couple of adjustments to the straps, the girl quickly mounted.

“Oh, that reminds me.” She held the dagger in her hand as she reached out. Caroline felt her jaw drop. What in the name of the Gods―?

Jenevive giggled at her expression. “Oh, Caroline. I think we both know that you aren’t going to try to kill me now. I’m your only hope of becoming human again. Besides, you might need to defend me in case we are beset by any more dangerous highwaymen.” Her eyes were alight with mischief at those words. Caroline shuddered. Whatever highwayman they came across, she doubted that it would be her blade they would fear. She took the knife and replaced it in its sheath. She breathed silent thanks that her belt and shirt had survived her transformation, although her pants had been shredded. The only thing that survived of them was the tattered waistband. Together they set off along the road towards their new adventure.