Withering Witch

“Can we take a break again?” Moaned Tara. “My legs are killing me.”

“C’mon, Tara.” Laughed Emily. “We haven’t been walking that long.”

“We’ve been walking for ten hours!”

“Just a little bit more, okay? She should be around here.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t anymore.” Tara sat down near a dead tree. “Just, just five short minutes.”

“Fiiine.” Sighed Emily, as she said next to Tara.

“So, what do we know about the next hero?” Asked Desiderata.

“Not much, only that she’s some kind of witch who lives like a hermit.”

“How curious.” Spoke Talrach in surprise. “I actually knew someone like her in this forest. Any chance she’s -?”

In the blink of an eye, she ground near the dead tree gave in which revealed a hidden path underground. But due to the steep angle, Tara and Emily slid down.

“TARA! EMILY!”

Rolling and sliding for what felt like an eternity, the two eventually ended up in a dark burrow. From the only light source, which were multiple glowing worms, they saw a wooden rickety chair and two dozen of tomes. Its pages yellowed and musty, Tara noticed various notes written in the books.

“Who… is… intruding?” A voice rang from a dark corner of the room. Slowly, they saw a pair of hands emerge from the shadows, covered in soot.

Then, the arms. They where skinny and covered in black occult tattoos.

Following that, they saw two yellow eyes, and the slender body to follow suit. Her torso and legs were covered in even more tattoos and she wore a black loincloth, covering her a cups.

Finally, they discovered her long black hair, well hidden in the dark. As she staggered forward she spoke further.

“You two… shouldn’t be here…”

Sweat broke out of Tara’s back. “We’re terribly sorry, we’ll leave immediately!”

The woman took another step.

Her foot getting stuck underneath a root, collapsing rapidly to the floor. In her fall she grabbed the top shelf of her bookshelf, breaking it and the ones below it.

“Dammit, not again!” She moaned, as she collected herself…

And hit her head on the table.

“You, erm, you doing alright?” Asked Emily, not sure what to make of this mess.

“Yeah, just, give me a minute.” Standing upright, she continued while she rubbed the back of her head. “I’m rather used to this. But why are you two here, interrupting my nap?”

“We were looking for a witch in order to finally defeat Intectus.”

“Well, you can stop looking, because you found her.” She raised her hand to Tara. “Lucile Whitlock. But I’m also known as-“

“LUCY!” Shouted Talrach in joy, as she and Desiderata entered the burrow.

“T-Talrach?!” Lucile quickly ran a hand through her hair to tidy herself. “H-how’ve you been?”

“Great, but not as great without my bestie!”

“Wait, you two know each other?” Asked Emily in surprise.

“Yes, we grew up in the same village, and both left to study in the forest. I never knew a **** woman. Why, she always volunteered to keep watch whenever I’d bathe. Never got why she inspected me instead of the area around me though…”

“Y-yeah…” Lucile averted her gaze.

“Or how she always wanted to cuddle while we slept.”

“…” Lucile’s pale face turned bright red.

“And she was she told me that she loved me like seven times. Love you too, bestie.”

“Yeah, I love you… as a ‘friend’.” That last word was said with a tone that was as bitter as it was painful, and noticed by all but Talrach.

“It’s a shame your studies had to take you so far north.” Said Talrach regretfully.

“What do you study?” Asked Tara.

“Decay!” Said Lucile passionately. “Better put, I study it with magic. That way, I learn how to use it for my spells. I know how to make things decay, even armor. Even if I have to pay the price…”

“The… price…?” Asked Tara.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” Asked Lucile. “In order to use arcane magic and become a witch, you have to tattoo yourself. These tattoos can sometimes come with curses. And I am twice cursed.”

“And these curses are?”

“First, you must’ve noticed my bad luck just now. I constantly seem to suffer from the worst accidents. Secondly, my decay spells have a special effect on my body. Any type of clothing instantly disappears if I so much as touch it.”

“And your loincloth?”

“Made from a special plant which is immune to the curse. Unfortunately, it’s a plant that only grows once every four years. This loincloth are all the clothes I have.”

“That, erm, sucks.”

“But I gotta ask. You tattoo, what does it d-“

“No comment!” Yelled Tara.

As the five climbed back up, Tara was a bit surprised. “Huh, I expected another sibling of Clarisse.”

“Me too.” Added Emily. “There not being one here feels odd somehow. Better get to the next hero.”