Raska Tales: The Risen Witch

Holding back more tears, Haru lifted her head and with one look she halted Sally's piercing gaze. Her adoptive mother pursed her lips and arched her brow as she did when something of concern came to her for study. From within his hiding spot in the rafters above, Xerivan himself waited with an eagerness for the answer; his own curiosity for what was calling upon him.

"Let's pack our things," she finally sighed, looking away. "It'll take a fortnight to walk there."

...................

It took another two days for the preparations to be made. Loading packs, readying tools and weapons, smoking and drying out meats and other foodstuffs for the road, ensuring the smithy would be looked after. On the third morning they set out at dawn for the west, taking their girl for the first time beyond the valley of their town and out into the mountains of a land they called Astiko. Hector explained it a country within the region which spanned three great mountain valleys, each so large it would take a nearly eight days to cross the smallest valley on foot. Connected by mountain passes and tunnels, these three valleys formed one of Astiko's largest nations: the Giran Empire.

The real revolution starts here...

The words echoed through Xerivan's thoughts as he trailed in behind Haru and her family.

What revolution?

He stayed close to his daughter, listening to the conversations as they happened. But from both Haru's family and the people they met when they made it to the main road, there was no mention of a revolution. Or even a war. Perhaps it was because of the isolation of their path, or maybe that they and the locals did not bother themselves with such affairs. Maybe both. But for it to be so insignificant that it does not even warrant a mention from anyone after seven years?

For what purpose did my family die?

The question lingered in his head as he broke away from the trail and moved into the woods. Hunger pangs were irritating his insides and with everything on his mind, he was thankful for the distraction. He didn't stray so far as to be out of earshot of Haru and her parents but he made sure to be out of sight. Should something happen while he was on the hunt he could still be there in an instant.

The initial search of the area for an adequate meal turned up empty. Xerivan started roaming ahead, reaching out a little farther in hopes of catching an animal before Hector and Sally's conversation drove them off. It was a move that quickly paid off as he found a wild boar wandering a little too close to the trail, unaware of the black wisp that descended from the branches above it.

Hunger sated for the moment, the Demon continued wandering ahead through the forest canopy. He snaked his way among the branches in hopes of finding a feathered snack until a chuckle caught his attention. Turning his eyes to the ground he spotted two men resting in the bushes. They spoke lowly as they ran whet stones over their short swords, obviously sharing a good story as one of them stifled a laugh.

Why are you hiding yourselves? Xerivan questioned.

A bush crackled behind them and the pair turned as a third stumbled into their hiding place. Neither man gave the newcomer any acknowledgment beyond a simple greeting. They were more focused on storing their whetstones than conversing while their friend caught his breath.

For what reason was he running?

"We got travelers!" he managed to gasp, causing the other two to nod and stand up with weapons at the ready.

"Alrighty, time to make some money. How do they look? Wealthy? Have food on 'em?"

The gasping man nodded, "Man and wife it looks, big man and a pretty woman. Packs are full, an' they got a little girl with them. A knee-biter still."

"Great, we can threaten the brat if they get brave."

Xerivan's eyes narrowed as clawed arms reached out from his wispy form and took hold of the branch below him. His shape condensed roughly into a quadruped beast reminiscent of a wolf, only with more terrifying features. Eagle talons replaced the canine paws and a feline tail sporting a bone-blade at its tip grew instead of a bushy tail. When the transformation was finished, the Demon prowled out onto a tree branch over the highwaymen and leaped upon them in silence before they could hatch a plan.

He tore into the bandit closest to him, sinking his teeth into his neck until he heard the bone snap while a slew of terrified profanities erupted beside him. Tearing out his victim's throat for good measure, Xerivan turned to the other two men who were already scrambling over each other to escape. With a low growl the Demon dropped the flesh from his mouth and took a step toward them, his bladed tail splitting down the middle to form two. He took only one step forward before the two men managed to get solid footing and bolt away from him. One sprinted off into the woods, the other one headed toward the trail.

Growling with frustration, Xerivan took off toward the man running for the trail. He leapt up onto the side of a tree and pounced forward to the next tree, then the next. In just three more bounds he was lined up with his target, and on the fourth bound he met his mark. He tackled the man down into a thistle patch with all four talons sinking into his back. Before the man could let out a scream, Xerivan's lashed his tails around his prey's throat and started dragging him back into the woods. Though the man fought and kicked, his mortal strength couldn't match the Demon's power.

When they had returned to where the first body lay, Xerivan turned to face his capture. He made one last check to ensure he was far enough off the path, that he was out of sight of anyone he didn't wish to witness what was to come next. When that was assured, he changed his shape again, this time into something large enough to devour the men that threatened his child.

..................

It was the eve of the thirteenth day when they came into the forest town of Elksin. The scant piece of civilization was a half-day's walk off any well-traveled road and boasted only a single street lined with little better than a few houses, a trading post, a smith, an inn, and a church. There was a token guard house and a town hall, but few other buildings Xerivan saw proved to be of any real importance.

Haru, however, had a giddiness to her that neither the General, nor her parents had seen in a month. From the moment she entered the town she was rambling on about how her first sweet had come from the trade post, how they would gather on the holy days to listen to the priest and the scripture at the church. She told of how her father had helped defend the town when a wild animal was loose or how her mother would help heal the sick when a disease broke out.

With each new tale that came forth, the doubt remaining in Sally about the girl's memories faded away, and her curiosity of this old life and rebirth grew.

They stayed at the inn that night and come daybreak, Haru led them into the woods down a path that had seen years of disuse. Overgrown bushes blocked the way in places, grass higher than Sally's waist and Haru's head impeded navigation more than a few times, and missing landmarks along what was supposed to be the way had delayed them constantly. But sure enough, before the sun had set that day, their path came to a clearing in the woods. Where a burned out husk of a house remained with its brick walls standing strong.

Upon stepping out from the treeline to approach this piece of the past, however, Haru stopped dead in her tracks. A terrible cold permeated her chest the moment she approached this place. Her belly churned inside her and threatened to empty its contents. Through her magic she could sense the darkness looming about her old home and it instantly terrified her. The next moment, she recognized this essence that poisoned the air, for it was of a kind that she had tasted once before.

Death.

It lingered in this place as the cat would outside the mouse hole. It kept the plant life from overtaking the ruins and swallowing both the clearing and what little evidence remained of that night. Further proof lay in what immediately surrounded the house as nothing either grew or rotted away. Even the burned and yellowed grass still remained along with the broken pieces of glass from the shattered windows.

Taking deep breaths to gather strength, Haru pressed forward to the front porch, now partially collapsed and charred like the brick walls. When she came to where the front door once hung and stared into the wreckage, every moment of that night all came rushing back loud and clear. From the moment her father emerged from the storm with that man on his back, to when she said her last good bye. It played through her head like it happened yesterday.

Stepping inside she saw the armor of the man that tried to grab her, still in the same place it was when its occupant died. Just as it was unmoved, so were the other three skeletons lying here in the ash. One step at a time, Haru approached what remained of her mother, father and her. When the remains were at her feet, she knelt down and wiped her eyes. At some point before her papa succumbed to the flames, he had pulled her mother's body in close to him, holding onto both her and Haru as he waited for his own end.

Breathing deeply to hold down her sob, Haru placed a hand on her father's chest, and uttered her words under her breath. Tears traced her cheek as she then looked to her mother's bones and said her peace.

When she finished, her attention was briefly drawn to her own skeleton, specifically to her hands where she noticed something odd. Fingers on her right hand were missing, and there was a chain necklace left in the ash that looked like it had been ripped off.

My medallion... she thought. From Papa. It's gone.

"Haru?"

She turned around to see her parents standing in the doorway. A deep scowl was set on Hector's face, while Sally held a hand over her mouth as she witnessed the inside of the house. Haru's eyes followed her Dad's gaze to the armored skeleton in the corner and gave a slight, momentary grin.

"He was one of the men that raided our home. He grabbed me, tried to shackle me."

An abrupt flame ignited in her hands that had both her parents jump in response. "I set him ablaze with my magic. Tried to save my sister from the man that grabbed her."

She extinguished her hands and turned back to the skeletons behind her.

"I was shot with an arrow before I could get to her. My father had been stabbed, my mother had also been shot. And in the end, the men took my sister and left the rest of us to die."

"My poor girl," Sally murmured, closing the distance between them and hugging her daughter.

A quick, darting movement caught both her and Haru's attention, and together they turned to face the smoky wisp that poured out from the fireplace. Moving like ink in water it flowed out and spread onto the skeleton that still laid beside the hearth. Much to everyone's surprise, the smoke twisted about, shaping itself into a canine shape half the height of the girl before turning into something much more solid. With glowing red eyes, it stared at the humans in the middle of the room with its head cocked curiously to the side and sitting down on its hindquarters.

"Hector?" Sally called in a low voice.

He stepped forward and squared his shoulders, putting on his most fearsome pose as he kept himself between his family and whatever this creature was. The ghostly hound gave a short whine, lowering its head to him before it exploded into a cloud of black smoke and darted past him. A shriek escaped Haru as the creature reformed at her feet, only now it took the shape of a small bird, staring curiously at her as Hector spun around to face it.

"Dad? What is that?" Haru asked, clinging to Sally.

"I... don't know," Hector answered as this bird took a small step back, its tiny eyes fixed upon the child.

This staring contest dragged out for a few silent moments before the girl suddenly frowned and shook her head. Another flash, another vision, another bewilderment pulsed through her skull. Without warning she let go of her mother, Hector readying himself to move in an instant as his daughter nervously stepped forward and crouched down to inspect the creature. The living Shadow stared at her with its tiny eyes, and she offered her hand. Without hesitating it stepped into her palm and there it sat down with ruffled feathers; its red eyes locking with her black before slipping shut to seemingly go to sleep.

"I think... I think it's a Shadow Shifter," Sally muttered, drawing Hector and Haru's attention.

"What kind of creature is that?" her husband asked while their daughter drew it in close and held it against her chest.

"A demon. One that I heard tales of years ago that claimed it could change shape," she started while leaning in for a closer look at the dark bird. "Shadow Shifters was the name given to them as they lived in the underground and could shift into any form they wished. But they were said to be extinct now."

"Were they harmful?" Haru wondered aloud.

"They were said to be vicious monsters that assumed a form it thought necessary to hunt its prey, but they were unheard of on the surface. They prowled the underground and never came to the light."

Looking toward the last glimpse of the sun sinking in the horizon beyond the trees, then back to what sat in her palm, Haru stared at the demon with intrigue until an idea came to her. "Perhaps it's a young Shifter? If their kind is dying away, it could be alone. Looking for a family, perhaps?"

As her parents pondered the suggestion, the bird dissolved into a black cloud and snaked its way to the girl's shoulder. There it resumed its avian shape while resting its feathered head against her cheek with a rather pleased look.

"I would have to guess you to be correct," Sally concluded with a hint of a grin.

........

"My papa held me in those last moments. I felt cold, then it was darkness. Like I had fallen asleep. And after... all I remember is when I was two, listening to your voice as you told the tale of the squire and the princess."

Haru looked across the camp fire to Hector, stroking the fur of her new friend as it huddled in her lap in a wolf-pup form. The flames crackled and cast sparks up toward the canopy of the trees partially covering a small clearing. On the opposite side of the fire, Sally lay with her head in her husband's lap, fighting to hold in her tears at the telling of her little girl's death night. All Hector could do was listen and frown at every detail.

"The man that spoke with the General," Hector started, eyes shifting to the fire. "The one that spoke of revolution, what did he look like?"

Haru shrugged, her shadowy companion's eyes opening and its face contorting into a hateful scowl. Its expression quickly settled when the girl hugged onto it and scratched its neck.

"Tall. Taller than anyone I ever saw. Blue and black metal armor. I didn't see his face very well. But when he ran out into the storm... I think someone called him... Doll-son. I think... Why?"

"If that's true, the I think I may know who attacked this place," her father admitted, making Haru's eyes go wide as the demon's ears perked up and its head turned to him.

"Who?" Sally asked, sitting up and looking to him as well.

"The country we're in is in the middle of a civil war," Hector started, looking directly at Haru. "One that began eight years ago. The King of this land was exiled after a coup by his brother, but he immediately set to work raising an army to retake his throne. To lead that army he had to find a new general as your father had done something to earn his ire before he disappeared. Brought in fresh from the country side, the old king recruited the man who he called General Jack Dawson. Said to be taller and stronger than any man around, he is known for his personal plate armor colored black and blue."

Sally's eyes widened as she realized who her husband spoke of, and she quickly glanced to her daughter. Wondering what thoughts were she was having behind her intense gaze.

"Even when the exiled king was assassinated seven years ago, Dawson was powerful and charismatic enough to pick up the mantle of leadership and continue the 'revolution' in his lord's honor. He is said to be a vicious fighter, a man who commands from the front. Your Papa is probably the only leader that could have bested him in battle, so it would make sense to remove him before he was in command again."

A frown arched down over Haru's brow. "But why take me and my sister?"

"Wouldn't want to leave you two abandoned would be my guess," Hector said, shifting his gaze back to the fire. "I don't understand why he would have had you killed though, after you were hit with shock powder."

"Maybe I was too dangerous," Haru guessed, looking to her hand and thinking of the flames she could summon. "I would have tried to kill them again. They just beat me to it."

"But somebody didn't care that they did," Hector retorted. "Maybe you were brought back to take vengeance. With your white hair and black eyes, we just need to give you leather armor and a tip-heavy blade and you would look just like the Lady of Death."

Those words made Haru freeze right up, her eyes blinking as more gears in her head turned.

"Maybe that's why," she agreed, looking to the demon in her lap. "To find my sister. Avenge my parents. And myself... You were an adventurer, right, Dad?"

"For many years," he answered.

"Could you teach me to fight? Survival and sword-play?"

"That is a conversation for another time," Sally suddenly interrupted, shaking her head at the thoughts of her girl going into battle. "If we are to lay your family's bones to rest tomorrow, and make our way back to town, we need to sleep."

"Alright," Haru said, laying down with the Shadow Shifter snuggling up beside her. "Good night, Mom, Dad."

................

The night passed quickly and soon the early light of dawn had Haru tightening her arms around the pup asleep against her.

Except it wasn't there.

Her eyes opened and she dazedly sat up to look about the makeshift camp. Her parents were asleep still, cuddling with each other next to the smoking ashes that were the campfire. The demon wasn't anywhere to be found.

Quiet as she could be, Haru peeled her blanket off, pulled on her boots, and got on her feet. With a quick scan of the area around her, she spotted movement back toward the ruins of her old home and immediately sighed in relief. Still trying for silence, she tiptoed away from her bed and toward whatever was moving about the ruins.

What she found had nearly brought her to tears.

The Demon had assumed the shape of a bear at least three times the size of any grown man, and was just now patting down the dirt of three fresh graves in front of the porch. When it finished, Haru watched as it dissolved into smoke and reformed as an extraordinarily large wolf. It did a quick circle around its spot then laid at the foot of the two smaller graves without noticing the girl behind it. There the demon rested its head at the feet of the dirt mounds and gave a mournful whine.

Fresh streams running from her eyes, Haru approached and sat down beside the creature, hugging it around its neck.

"Thank you."

It didn't respond. It just kept staring at where Haru's previous skeleton now rested.

"I think I'll call you Xerivan. After my Papa. Is that okay?"

The Demon lifted its head and looked to her with its red eyes focusing intently upon hers. With a huff that almost sounded like a chuckle, it leaned in and licked her cheek. Neither of them noticing as a flower suddenly grew from the ground where Leliat's flower bed once was. Ashes falling from fresh green leaves as the white rose began to bloom.