A grey castle stood on top of a mountain rather like a statue on a bookshelf. It wasn't exactly that it did not belong or that it clashed with the scenery, but there was still a feeling of not being a natural part of this environment.
It was an old medieval castle, but a rather small one. It had two thick towers, one of them rising to nearly twice the height of the other one. The rectangular structure had turrets in every corner to further adorn the building, but other than that it was rather unremarkable; especially when one compared it to the Tower of London, which had coincidentally been built and finished in the exact same year.
Still, this was not just any boring old castle. For one thing, it was in the middle of a region locally known as Synkmetsä, and it was well known that the paths in the forest surrounding the structure were treacherous and full of creatures you should avoid. For another, you have to take a moment to consider that not a lot of castles from the 11th century survive to this day intact. Even if it was not an incredibly notorious prison for enemies of a royal family, this castle still had a colourful history of inhabitants through the centuries.
In fact, it had it's share of colourful tenants right now; even if nearly all of them were dressed in black.
In the Eastern wing, a woman looked forlornly out the window, absent-mindedly stroking the black cat on her lap. Her eyes were on the vast forest surrouding the castle, but she wasn't really looking at it. The faint sound of chanting came from the courtyard, and though she could barely hear the words, she knew the lyrics quite well.
"Eespäin, aina vain eespäin
Ylpeänä lennämme luudilla
Järkkymättöminä yllä puiden
Varjoina öisellä taivaalla!"
Even though her manner was rather deflated, her sharp appearances remained. Her cheekbones were rather pronounced, her nose small and angular and her lips rather straight and thin. She had very long, very thick black hair that came down to her waist, though now it was arranged rather sloppily on her shoulders to be out of the way.
"Päivääkään ei kulje ohitse
Tekemättä parastamme
Padat kuplien
Loitsumme innolla langettaen!"
She continued to stroke the cat and scratch behind her ears, hoping to elicit a purr.
"Noidat pelottomat, hätkähtämättömät
Läpi pimeiden ja synkkien öiden
Haamut, aaveet ja painajainen
Kavahtakaa hirviöt!"
But she knew it was hopeless. All throughout the night she had held this old cat, her faithful familiar, her constant companion since she was a school-girl; knowing that the feline would die soon.
"Innolla sekoitamme taikajuomamme
Kylki kyljessä työskennellen
Kun aikamme koulussa on ohi
Muistakaamme sitä ylpeydellä!
She had stopped purring not long after dawn, now the woman could not even feel her breathing. She knew it was over.
"Me olemme neitoja noitavoimin
Lentäessä näky aikamoinen
Olemme noitia nuoria, ylpeitä siitä
Oppien taitomme Noitakoulussa Hekotuksen!"
As if she had been waiting for the song to end to act, she got up and solemnly wrapped her dead cat in a cotton shawl she had put aside for the occasion.
She felt sad, but she didn't feel like crying. Maybe she had been waiting for this death so long it was hard to feel passionate about it anymore. Still, there was a sadness inside of her, almost like a depression and had settled on her heart during the night and would not leave.
As she prepared her cat for a proper burial, she casually looked at the calendar, which was tacked under a plaque that read "Neiti Hekotuksen Noitakoulu".
She started when she realized the night she had spent guarding her dying cat had been Walpurgis Night.
This could not be a coincidence. Things like these did not happen by coincidence.
Especially not to witches.
Jättika Vaikealuuta knew that her status quo would soon be destroyed.