Raska Tales: The Risen Witch

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

Xerivan sat in a wolf form staring at the fireplace of his new family's home, red canine eyes locked on the empty hearth as invasive fingers picked at the fur on his back. A hair would be pulled from his body by Sally's hand for her study only for it to turn to smoke before she could begin any kind of examination. She would mutter some words, and the young girl would scribe them down into a book exactly as her adoptive mother had said them. All for a lesson the scholar wanted to teach the twelve-year old, and as per usual, Xerivan got to play the role of the test subject.

Why study a captured animal when the Demon can emulate its shape and behavior? Why borrow a horse for riding lessons when Xerivan can turn into one? For all the years the Shadow Shifter wanted to be a part of his daughter's life, even if his prior incarnation was unknown to her, he didn't imagine it like this.

"It's an odd form of psionics and dark energies that gives Shadow Shifters life," Sally explained as she ran a hand through Xerivan's fur.

"Like magic? I had always thought he was black smoke and magic," Haru responded.

"No, I had Keitun look at a bit of smoke from Xerivan that I managed to get into a jar, and it's actually turned out to be a fine dust. It's how he can go from shapeless to physical. The dust comes together and solidifies, which explains his grainy texture. As for the magic portion, Kei said he could sense the energy, but it wasn't quite magic. Not as you know it."

Haru frowned and looked to her hand holding her writing-lead. She let go of the tool and it twirled up into the air before dropping down into her grasp. "So it's a different type of magic. Which would be why I can't sense it in Xerivan."

"Exactly," Sally said with a nod. "This demon magic keeps him alive, and also drives the psionics that hold him together. Which would explain why the Thought-Eaters were the ones to supposedly make them extinct."

"Thought-Eaters?"

Sally nodded. "Psionic creatures that live underground. They were discovered three hundred years ago, during the same time dwarves reported that Shadow-Shifter attacks dropped off."

"Oh," Haru muttered, looking to Xerivan who still hadn't moved since this lesson began. "So we're never going underground."

"I wouldn't go down there even without the Thought-Eaters. Here on the surface, we have the sun and moon for light. Down there, we would need lanterns while the inhabitants do not. Creatures down there tear surfacers apart."

Blinking in surprise at her mother's clear warning, the witch nodded and started writing in her book. Scribing all the concepts and facts about Shadow-Shifters she knew just as her mother explained them to her. Only without mentioning Xerivan or his unique case among his kind. Should this kind of demon return from the edge of extinction to rise up against a kingdom in the future, hopefully a book on them would help people fight.

When Haru finished scribing what knowledge she and her mother had accumulated so far, she set the book aside and stretched out her arms. There was still one ability she and Xerivan discovered that Sally didn't know. They had enough practice with it now, and with the book nearly finished, the time to share seemed appropriate.

"Hey, Mom, I want to show you something."

Both Sally and Xerivan turned their heads toward her. "What do you want to show me?"

Haru looked to her Demon. "Me and Xerivan, we discovered a trick he can do. It's not easy on him, but he's been eating good the past week so he should be fine to try it again."

"What trick?"

The Demon's eyes narrowed on the girl, but she gave him a pleading look. He nearly sighed as he turned into smoke and pooled over the floor. He moved swiftly and surrounded Haru before expanding in size and consuming her within his cloud. A frown arched on Sally's brow before Xerivan flattened out into a puddle again, the girl gone.

"Haru?!" Sally cried.

Xerivan darted across the room as Sally dashed to where her daughter once sat. She spun around just as he began to swell up by the door to a human-sized cloud. Then right before her eyes, her daughter emerged from the Demon, completely unharmed. Xerivan, however, collapsed into a puddle and stayed motionless as Haru stood up and presented the book she was writing in to her petrified mother.

"We discovered that when Xerivan tried to eat a bird I was watching in the forest. He was hungry but she had a nest full of hatchlings. He did his wisp thing, but when I told him to let her go, he did."

Mouth hanging open, Sally looked at the book before her, half-expecting it to dissolve as she took it and flipped open the cover. When it remained intact, she looked to Haru, then to Xerivan who was starting to slip out under the door.

"That's amazing... you... he made you a part of him and then..."

Haru nodded, "It didn't feel like I turned into a wisp. I still felt whole but trapped inside a black fog. From what I can tell, Xerivan 'eats' me, moves, then spits me out. It's not uncomfortable at all for me, but Xerivan needs to actually eat something afterward. If he's hungry when he tries it, then it could probably be dangerous."

Looking to Haru's book again, Sally took on a contemplative look. Her brow furrowed, her mouth pursed, but then she spoke again.

"Xerivan probably would not be too happy, but I want to test this myself. See how capable this ability of his is, and maybe make it easier for him to do."

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

Sword at the ready, Haru squared off with a suit of armor that had a wooden shaft strapped to its hands in the center of a clearing far outside her village. The teenager gave her head a shake to both center her long, white ponytail on her back and clear her thoughts. Keeping her breathing calm and steady she glanced to her right where Hector stood pulling his graying hair back and wrapping a string around it to make it a short ponytail that ended mid-nape. Attention undivided, he gave a nod and she turned back to her armored foe while adjusting her footing.

Without a sound beyond the gravel shifting under her feet she leapt forward and stabbed with her blade. The armor reacted in an instant. The torso leaning away while the legs stepped back. Manipulated by unnatural means the armor flawlessly parried her strike then swung its stick at her ribs. There was an awful crack as the pine broke against the hardened leather that covered her chest and a painful cry that followed. One that scattered nearby birds as the teen fell to the ground in pain.

Wheezing out hollow coughs, she sucked in each lungful in anguish as black fog oozed from the joints of her adversary.

"You overextended yourself," Hector chided as Xerivan poured from the armor and darted over to retrieve a fresh stick from a pile.

"My Demon is a better swordsman than I thought," Haru huffed, rubbing her side and staggering back up to her feet.

"It is no fool," her guardian agreed as the Shifter fixed the replacement training rod to the gauntlet of its armor and repossessed the suit. "And it is certainly living up to its namesake."

"One more try," Haru grunted, standing and retaking her stance.

Xerivan's armor shifted a foot forward, holding its stick up and ready to fight. Keeping his distance, Hector crossed his arms and said, "Have at it."

Taking in a deep breath and wincing at her bruising ribs, Haru whipped her off-hand at the demon with her magic focusing in her palm. A blast of air rushed forth and knocked it off balance before she bounded forward and drove her sword up into the gut of the armored suit. The blade sunk in right to the hilt and she slammed her armored shoulder into its breast plate to knock the Demon right off its feet.

There was a crash of steel as the suit hit the ground and broke off into its parts. Xerivan emerged from the wreck and hovered before her, its eyes narrowing and a mouth-like shape on its head appearing to curl up into a grin, hinting of both amusement and approval. She smiled in return and then looked to Hector, who merely raised his eyebrows at her.

"Unexpected, but an assured kill," he said, Xerivan nodding in agreement.

"Nobody expects a swordsman to wield magic," Haru chuckled.

"Because swordplay takes an intense amount of concentration, as does magic," Hector said as he came over and knelt down to start organizing the pieces of his suit. "I've yet to meet an effective blade-mage. But if you learn to wield that sword better, you just might count."

"Thanks, Dad."

Shifting his gaze to Haru, Xerivan's eyes narrowed as he spread out his foggy tendrils, snatching the pieces of armor and drawing them together.

"What in the Gods-damned-?" Hector swore as the suit clattered and made an awful racket coming back together and rising to its feet.

Stumbling a moment as it gained its balance, the Demon fixed its posture and pointed its stick to Haru, flicking the tip upward in a motion for her to stand. Blinking in surprise she did so, and with the demon flourishing its weapon in a way to offer a challenge, she readied herself to go again. Grinning at the display, Hector stepped back to give the two room and watch the match.

With the needed space allotted, the demon hunched over and squared up to the witch. She did the same. A low rumble echoing through its armor, the demon raised its chin questioningly at the teen and waited. She gave it a nod in return.

There was only a brief pause before it bounded forth with a speed she had never seen from the Demon when it was in the suit.

It came in with a slash at her shoulder as she tried to get a blast of magic off. With no other option Haru went to block, only Xerivan changed the direction of his strike to send the stick down and hit the side of her thigh on the thickest part of her armor. This had Haru stumbling to pull her stricken leg back and the Demon General seized the advantage to bring his training rod around and knocked her other foot out from under her.

"Woah!" She yelped as her feet kicked up into the air, eyes up to the sky.

Once again she found herself losing her breath with the heavy thud of her body hitting dirt. Xerivan's armor stood over her, the hollow eye-slit of the helmet staring right at her wheezing face. She could have sworn she heard it chuckle as it knelt down and offered its hand. Though she frowned at first, she accepted the offer and tried to pull herself up.

She was barely off the ground before she gave a piercing scream from a sudden monstrous pain in her skull. Her grip on Xerivan's gauntlet released and she fell back down onto her back holding the sides of her head.

"Haru?!" Hector thundered, moving toward her.

In the same moment, the armored suit collapsed in a heap as the Demon bolted out of it. In a darting cloud of smoke it swirled about her body in a panic. When it couldn't recognize a wound, it bolted to Hector, consuming the man in his cloud and zipping back to their daughter to get him by her side that instant.

"What's wrong?!" Hector snapped as he emerged from Xerivan's fog, the creature itself hovering over his shoulder as he leaned over her.

"The flashes..." Haru hissed, tears erupting from her eyes.

Hector's shoulders instantly slumped at the mere mention. Swallowing a lump in his throat he hugged onto her and pulled her up to lean against him as she cried onto his chest.

"They will pass," he whispered, rocking her back and forth. "Just hold on. They will pass."

"Hurts..." she seethed, her nails digging into his back.

"Hold on," he said, not even flinching at the pain as she drew blood through his shirt.

Teeth gritted against what was tearing through her mind, she started concentrating her breath and controlling the cycles of her lungs. With everything she had she held fast against this agony until it went from the equivalent of a battle-axe splitting her skull to a spear jabbing the back of her head.

"Every month..." she growled, her fists clenching.

"Haru..." Hector whispered but she moved her hands to his chest and pushed him off. He kept his hands held out to her, still offering his embrace, only for her to shove his hands aside and stand on her own.

"Since the day I remembered, every month for ten years these flashes have tormented me to insanity!"

Hector looked up at her with tired, old eyes, trying to stop his eyes from leaking as she hunched over again and grabbed the sides of her head. Her knees shook and nearly buckled, yet this time she stayed upright.

"This pain plagues me, but gifts me," she grumbled, her voice not entirely sounding like her own as she clutched her hair and pulled on it as though to tear it out. "It gets worse every time but... The gift that comes in its wake proves just as grand..."

She released her silver hair and stood up straight, sucking in a breath to steady herself and wiping her damp face. "Whatever brought me back to life is doing this to me. I want to hate it and love it all at once as the pain and wisdom burns itself into this skull of mine! Forcing in the madness and then supplanting it with knowledge!"

"Haru," her guardian tried again, but she wouldn't have it.

"Xerivan, armor!" she ordered, pointing to the collapsed suit. "We're not done!"

The Demon paused a moment and stared at her with broad, red eyes. But then he bolted to the suit and pulled its pieces together around his smoky form. Joints squeaked from the beatings the suit had taken as he walked the armor a few steps back to open a gap between them. Then with a stick at the ready, his battle-stance prepared, he braced himself for whatever attack his daughter was planning.

She spun on her heel to face him and drew her sword to hold it at her side. There was a twitch in her eye and her breathing was labored, but something else was emanating from the girl. The Demon General doubted Hector's mortal eyes could see it but through his supernatural gaze... There was a powerful energy radiating off her body as the light did from a bonfire. Her feet moved into a proper stance, her shoulders shifted, and her face took on an intense expression that seemed ready to tear him apart.

"Begin," she growled.

That energy focused behind her and, faster than any mortal should, she bounded forward. The distance between herself and the demon closed in an instant with her sword swinging right for his neck. His reaction was just as fast to block her attack inches from his helmet. But there wasn't even a chance to breathe before he had to move again. Armor joints squealing he twisted his body to gain the momentum he needed to move his stick in time to stop Haru's follow-up slice.

With the opening provided, Xerivan struck out with his off hand, aiming for her breastplate. With agility he'd never witnessed from his daughter, she dodged to the side and came in for the stab. An attack he promptly deflected by striking the flat of her blade hard enough to snap his stick in half. This, along with her guard opening up from the successful counter was just the opening he needed to end this match.

Xerivan grabbed the wrist of her offhand and yanked her into his body. She couldn't even squeak out a yelp before her head slammed against his chest piece. It was a blow that made even Hector wince but it was not done without a portion of the Demon's smoky form coming out to cushion the blow. However, the effect was still the same as the witch stumbled back in a daze, and her opponent pressed the offensive.

Xerivan used his half stick as he would a dagger, striking at Haru's side only for her to bound back with one hand holding her head and the other training her sword upon him. This didn't stop him as he swung his half-stick upward to knock her blade away then stabbed at her chest. She proved quick to side-step, but he proved quicker to strike with his elbow.

Before that blow could connect, her offhand came up and slammed him with a wave of magic. When his senses came around he was flying back, his steel armor nearly flying apart when his back hit dirt. Not wasting a moment, he rolled to the side and bounced to his feet to face his daughter with his now-empty fists at the ready.

Blade low, she bolted forward and slashed upward. Xerivan sidestepped and came in with an open handed strike. With full force he slammed into her chest and knocked her clean off her feet. Her armor did little to absorb the blow as she twirled about and hit the ground in a heap with her sword planting itself in the earth beside her.

"Xerivan!" Hector snapped.

The Demon General paid him no mind as he poured out from his suit and took on his wolf form beside the groaning Haru. She opened her eyes to leer at him, a weak smile creeping on her defeated face.

"Earning your namesake, Xerivan?"

The wolf grinned, giving a cheerful woof before licking her cheek.

"Are you okay, Haru?" Hector asked as he came to crouch beside her. "That was... An impressive fight."

"Thanks, Dad. It hurts... But I'll live. I just want to sleep for a bit. A week, maybe."

He chuckled, "I wouldn't doubt it. Did the flashes show you those fighting tricks this time?"

"Yeah," she admitted, closing her eyes. "I felt like I could fight a legion. I was angry, hurting, wild. I guess it's good that Xerivan put me in my place before I got too cocky."

The Demon huffed.

"Yeah, I'm amazed at how good it is with a sword," Hector said, turning his gaze to the Shadow Shifter. "I think he's more than worthy of the name he carries. And I think I can trust him to help you spar for now on."

...

From a point in the trees, close enough to observe but distant enough to avoid the senses of the young witch, a man in black robes gave a sickly smile and soft chortle. Silent as could be, he took steps in retreat from the clearing the new witch used to do her training and wandered off into the woods. Looking to the green medallion in his hand, he drew in a breath of excitement and focused light-grey eyes upon the path ahead.

"And the Risen Witch will belong to me."

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

Dipping a rag in a bucket of cool water, Haru wrung out the excess and laid the soothing cloth across Sally's forehead. Her adoptive mother smiled in return, her hand coming up to hold her daughter's with what strength she had left. The young witch held her breath, worried if she would collapse right then in her bed. Doing her best to calm herself she let out her breath and prayed to any god that was listening to let her mother keep breathing for just a little longer. For as long as they could let her.

From the shadows Xerivan crept forth and placed a fresh piece of ice into the water pail. This was followed with several herbs that he had procured at Sally's request to fight off what slowly rotted her lungs from the inside out. When the mix was stirred, he retreated back to his corner and watched in silence.

"You look so scared, Haru," The aging scholar whispered.

Biting her lower lip, the teen nodded.

"Don't be," she said, firming her grip on her daughter's hand. "If Necela is done with me, and Moitri and Calia are calling me home, then don't let the last of my time with you be in angst."

"But I don't want your time to be over," Haru whispered, placing her free hand over her mother's. "I don't want to lose you. There's still so much I need to learn from you."

Sally chuckled and shook her head. "I'm nearly fifty-five, Haru. It would take me twenty years to teach you what I know and I've only had you for sixteen. All I can do now is tell you to go out into this world and explore its wonders for yourself. You shouldn't be anchored here any longer."

There was a hard lump in Haru's throat that wouldn't go down. Tears glistening in her eyes she looked to her lap and forced her body to just breathe. For what she knew this was going to be the last conversation she would have with her mother before she would be a wheezing mess waiting to die. The last chance to hear her voice.