INTRODUCTION
Wind blew calmly through the forest while brand new, green leaves danced along. The Ladoga shore southwest of the small town was just beginning a new day. It was one of the warmest seasons in Serdobol, where the few Karelians that lived there had waken up early enough to move along with their day's activities.
The little town was quiet and peaceful during spring and summer, but villagers knew that when autumn arrived, things would change significantly. This was for reasons like the cold winds that lead to an even colder winter, which meant that food would barely be enough. However, the villagers saved sufficient resources for this season. Others were sickness or boredom for the few children. But the scariest one was the young woman that came from the snowy mountains.
This woman was tall, thin and pale. She was always wearing dark colours and very long clothes. Her face was barely seen because it was always covered by her coat's cap. Some people who claimed had seen her said that she had a cruel and cold expression in her eyes. She had very long, orange, curly hair held on a braid. She walked slowly through the little town's streets. Nobody ever talked to her, they were afraid of her.
She seemed like any other young woman; the difference was that people knew that she was not. She was rather evil and cruel. She was a witch, and people called her Vaziliza.
The witch only came to the town on autumn and winter to buy stuff she needed, but if anyone dared to speak to her or went across her way, he or she could just be ignored coldly, injured or even killed.
The villagers had many times asked for help from the Karelian governor before, but the king's men had never been able to catch Vaziliza. She was a powerful, smart and fast witch. So, when the cold months arrived to Serdobol, villagers had to hide from her.
— At least she pays well when she buys at my store. —Mr. Katyuska said.
— Irrelevant! She is a threat for all of us! —a woman replied.
— She is right! —said Mr. Kozlov— This is unacceptable. She has to leave.
— But what can we do? The king's best knights have not been able to catch her, it is a shame. —Mr. Katyuska said.
Summer was slowly slipping away from the town, and the first leaves began falling from the tall trees. Villagers discussed about Vaziliza, they did not want to stand another long time hiding from her.
—Then we will! —shouted Mr. Shein, and he was supported by most of the crowd.
The small town had a main street called Sziv road, where many stores were located.
Mr. Katyuska was the charismatic owner of a grocery. He and his wife Valya lived happily in Serdobol. He had seen the witch sometimes before, most of the times she just bought spices, dried berries or some fish. He never spoke to her, he just did his work.
Mr. Kozlov was a lonely, bitter man. He was always saying that he was not afraid of Vaziliza; he even said something to her once while she observed her look for something at his ironmonger's.
"Planks are on the other side young lady."
The answer to this was a cold silence while the witch walked away.
"Pozhaluysta!" Mr. Kozlov though angrily to himself.
Mr. Shein was an old, violent man who only thought of how pleased he would be if he made out to hunt the witch or have her killed, but deep inside, he was also very afraid of her.
All of them and everybody else were very interested in finding out more about her.
But the witch's thoughts about the small town were completely different. It was irrelevant, but it was the closest place to get some resources she needed, at least on foot.
She hated humans, they were repulsive creatures for her, but she considered them as good preys.
The villagers had agreed, they would call the knights before the witch's arrival in order to surround and catch her.
Vaziliza arrived at the beginning of October as usual, she walked slowly though Sziv road, which was deserted. She got inside Mr. Kozlov's store, but nobody was there.
A sudden rush made the place tremble, and soon the witch was surrounded by armed men pointing her weapons at her. She did not even move while one of them tied her hands and feet with chains. Other men got close.
— Are you done? —she asked kindly— Because these are a little too tight.
There was no answer. The knight commanded her to walk.
— If you say so. —she replied with a smile.
Everything happened very fast. In an instant the other men saw the knight hit the floor hard. His own spear had pierced through his chest.
The men retrocede. The witch docked and took the bloody spear out while she said:
— This are dangerous toys for playing around, don't you think so?
The knights fired arrows at her. Arrows that pierced nothing but themselves.
Many bodies laid down death. Only two remained standing, and the witch was nowhere to be seen.
A sudden rush was heard and then nothing.
Vaziliza walked out calmly as she removed the chains and looked around. She then turned left and saw Mr. Kozlov hiding with his back against one of the walls.
— Spasibo! —she said kindly and walked away.
At the other side of the mountain, Joep waited for her.
— Did you had fun?
— Yes indeed, this place is sometimes entertaining. —the witch replied with a smile— Let's go back, I am starving.
Chapter One
The girl had turned twenty years old, and she had decided what she would do next.
She had always loved nature, she wished to learn from it deeply, but everyone thought she had really chosen an unusual place to do it, however, they supported her. Mademoiselle Austine Lange Bellew was leaving France and heading towards Russia.
She was offered to be driven there but she immediately refused.
— I am on my own now. —she said to herself as she walked.
Austine was a very pretty young girl. She was dedicated and loyal to everything she did and to her goals. She wished to be a useful human being.
Her eyes were light blue and a sparkle shined permanently on them. Her shape was delicate, soft skin, blushed cheeks, she was not very tall and her long, light ash blond, wavy hair laid over her shoulders.
She spoke fluent French and some of Italian, at least enough to have a conversation. But she hoped to learn some other languages while she was in Russia.
Her voyage was pretty long. She had to stay in different places in many cities and avoid getting lost.
New people she got to meet helped her gladly because they had considered her as a very charismatic and positive young girl.
Austine continued her way towards the East always hoping for the best.
Finally one day she found herself on Finnish soil, so close from her final stop! She crossed through the northern regions of Karelia towards Lake Ladoga. She had finally reached the country! And she was pretty exhausted.
She made a stop near a river and sat down by a tall tree's shade. The cool breeze forecasted warm spring would arrive in some weeks. She was glad; winters were really cold in there.
She closed her eyes and smiled as she thought about her future plans. New things to be seen, a different life, and different place…
A noise brought her back to reality. She looked at the woman who was standing in front at the other side of the river. She was wearing long, black clothes and carried a haversack on her left shoulder.
Austine stood up, smiled and waved at her.
— Hallo! —she said— I have just arrived, do you know of some place…
The woman suddenly disappeared and appeared violently in front of her. Austine trembled.
— Excuse me, —the woman with black clothes said kindly— I was not able to hear you from the other side, continue please.
The girl was disconcerted, how had she crossed the river so fast?
— I… My name is… Austine. —she spoke nervously in French.
— Oh! Hallo Austine! It seemed to me that you have just arrived, haven't you? —the other woman replied in the same language without trouble.
— Yes, I am here to start a new life.
— That is interesting! And have you already a place to stay?
— Well, I was about to ask you that. Do you know of somewhere where I can stay the night?
— And why don't you stay in my house?
— Oh! Thank you very much…
— Acacia, my last name is Acacia.
— You are very kind madame.
— And you will do as a perfect servant for me.
— Excusez moi?
— Oh! Do not pay attention. Well Austine, welcome to Karelia, guess you are never getting out.
Austine was afraid now. She tried to escape from that strange woman, but everything turned black and misty.
The witch smiled pleased.
— Do you want me to take her to the house? —Joep asked as he came out from behind the trees.
— Yes. Leave her wherever you find space. She will not be able to escape anyway.
Joep obeyed. He carried the girl's unconscious body and moved away.
The witch did the same.
Austine opened her eyes, everything was very blurred. She tried to move but she could not. She looked around to the place where she was at now, a place she did not recognize.
— You should better save your energies. —a female voice said.
— Who are you?
— That is irrelevant, the only thing that you should know is that you are to serve to me. If you fail in anything or if I consider that you are useless, I will kill you. Have you understood?
Austine was horrified. How had this happened?
— But I…
A sudden force raised her and the girl found herself floating away from the floor. The witch approached to her and said with anger:
— Have you understood?
Austine saw clearly for the first time the fierce eyes of the woman that had seemed so common to her from far away. She was consumed by fear and just nodded.
She suddenly felt like falling and hit the floor.
— Good. —said the witch triumphantly— Your chores are simple, just keep this place tidy.
The witch immediately disappeared then, leaving Austine on the floor. She was not able to move for several minutes, she felt strong enough to get up later.
She thought about what had just happened. Was it really happening? Maybe she was just dreaming. Everything around her seemed pretty real however.
She approached to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She tried opening the windows, but it was in vain. She was definitely trapped somewhere she did not know and far away from anybody that could help her.
She had no choice but to do as the fierce witch said. She worked for many hours without rest and barely ate. She was not allowed to get out of the house or to speak to anybody else. Her every movement was controlled which made her live long and miserable days.
The witch was cold to her, she treated her like rubbish.
Phrases like "You stupid human!", "You do not deserve to live." and "You are lucky to live and serve for me!" were heard often.
Austine wished to escape more than anything else, but she was haunted by a spell that confined her to work for the witch.
Days were quite rainy and dark while her hopes slowly slipped away.
But the worst of being there was that she was sometimes occupied by the witch for testing her spells. Vaziliza laughed with pleasure as she played with her mind and watched her scream and writhe in pain.
— Stop! Please! I am dying!
— Hurry then!
But the witch never got to kill the girl. She always saved something for later.
Chapter Two
Vaziliza arrived from spending a week in the forest at daybreak once. She was tired and wished to eat something and rest.
Austine retrocede as the witch opened the door and looked at her. But there was something different on that look; she did not see anger at all. Soon she looked away and demanded her to bring her things inside.
— I am tired. Prepare the bed.
— Are you… eating any..?
— I did not demand you that! —the anger returned to her eyes— Go, prepare the bloody bed and keep quiet!
Austine moved fast towards the room. She accomplished the order and returned to the kitchen. But as she returned, Vaziliza appeared on her way.
— You are not done yet. Follow me quickly.
The girl obeyed and followed the witch to the room.
— Undress me.
Austine doubted.
— What the heck are you waiting for stupid human? Don't you know how to do it?
— Yes indeed, madame, it is just that I…
— Useless, stupid girl! —the witch shouted as she pushed Austine to a wall and began to rip all of her clothes violently.
— Idiot human! You should be extremely graceful to me for letting you live! You are so worthless and unimportant!
Her anger increased as she shouted. She finally pushed the girl aside and stopped to breathe.
Austine was hurt and barely dressed. Vaziliza returned to normality and said:
— Undress me.
The girl stood fast but carefully and started to take the witch's clothes off.
Vaziliza was a witch, but she had a strong human shape. Her skin was extremely pale and she had very long hair.
Austine understood that she had finished and walked away immediately.
For the next months, they got used to live in the same house and the girl understood that there was no escape, she would surely die there.
Sometimes Vaziliza would be absent for weeks and she remained alone.
One day she returned with her haversack full of different objects.
She approached to Austine and said as she gave her something:
— Here, try this on.
It was a nice white blouse, a long skirt and a light coat.
The girl looked surprised
— Thank… thank you, madame.
— Shut up and do as I say now.
Austine undressed right there and putted the clothes on.
— Take good care of them; this is all that you will have for a long while.
— You are very kind.
— Stupid human, stop saying that! Why do you always have to say that I am kind?
Austine remained silent.
— Answer my question!
— You have let me live.
Vaziliza's semblance blushed with anger. She approached to Austine.
— No! Please! Do not hurt me! I will be quiet…
— Shut up, I will decide that.
The witch opened her eyes wide and looked at the scared girl.
— There is something, —said Vaziliza as she took Austine's left arm— that is quite interesting. How can you irradiate such heat? This disconcerts me. How?
The girl felt Vaziliza's cold fingers touch her skin.
— This seasons are so cold, —she continued— but you seem not to feel it!
— Stop… I do not know what you are talking about.
Vaziliza retrocede slowly. She disappeared then.
Austine felt lonely as she had never felt for the next couple of days. She was living such a miserable life, all her plans were ruined, but she could not feel hate or anger. That was useless. She would die there! Lonely and miserable.
Chapter Three
It was a cold winter evening. Snow was falling outside as Austine cleaned the cupboards. The door suddenly opened and a freezing breeze sneaked inside behind Vaziliza's path.
She stopped dead when she saw the girl ordering the cupboards and stood there for a while.
A desperate expression suddenly appeared on her face.
— What are you doing? —the witch asked loudly.
— What you… asked me to do, madame.
— You stupid human, I just cannot help to… every time I… Ach! Bloody hell!
She suddenly rushed towards the girl and collided with her.
Austine was trapped. She was scared and breathed fast. She thought the witch would hurt her again, but she held her softly instead.
— How can you do this? Answer me!
— What madame? I am doing nothing…
— Ach!
The witch retrocede a bit
— You are, and I cannot help to avoid it!
It seemed to Austine for a while that Vaziliza would collapse, so she grabbed her round the waist.
— Madame!
The witch recovered her posture but not completely and looked the girl right in the eyes. The piercing look weakened Austine.
— Madame…
Her whole body turned weaker now, she felt like she would not hold the other for much longer, but she started to recover completely now. Her eyes were wide open, just like the last time, and then she closed them a bit again.
The girl could see that Vaziliza had no pupil, there was just deep, yellowy green in there, and on the outside her eyes were dark and small, but when she gave her that look, it was like something was holding her, pulling her strongly to the inside.
She stared at the witch for a while trying to comprehend it, and on the other side, Vaziliza was trying to do the same. Austine seemed to her as a different kind of human, she first thought that it might be because she was foreigner, she had met a lot of foreigner humans in her life however and none had caused her that reaction. Her second theory was that it might be about all the time Austine had spent until that day in that house. She was confined to work for her but, had the spell came out wrong? That was impossible! Incomprehensible! How? Why?
They were too close to each other and Vaziliza could feel that heat touching her skin. Her body was now controlled by something else. How dared her?
— Stop! —Austine said finally— This is… not right,
The witch remained silent. Little by little she returned to reality and moved back slowly.
Austine ran away towards her room, she collapsed onto the bed and cried as she had never done before. The excitement devastated her nerves and she fainted.
Vaziliza remained at the kitchen. Her eyes were dilated. She walked towards her room too.
Austine woke up late the next cold morning, her head ached hard.
But the memories were still there. She felt miserable and feared for her life also. She did not want to get out of there, so she remained inside her room until she was sure that there was nobody else but her in the house.
She came out and walked towards the witch's room, she was not there but still she felt like there was something wrong. A sudden splash sound was heard.
Austine entered the room silently, that sound seemed to come from behind a huge mirror. She looked behind, but there was nothing. Still, the sound could still be heard. Austine stepped next to the mirror and look. She could only see her reflection. She looked sad and upset, her skin had turned paler and her shape was thinner. She did not wish to remain looking but still she could hear that sound. Could it be coming from the mirror? She touched the cold surface lightly. To her surprise, it was not hard but kind of liquid instead, she could submerge her whole hand inside to feel only more space, and when she took it out, it was not wet at all.
She found this quite surprising and beautiful at the same time. The sensation of touching the silver liquid surface with her thin fingers even relaxed her. She wanted to know more, she wanted to know what was behind. She introduced even more and more, until she felt her body was not in the back room anymore.
The place she was now at was huge and dark, and a tremendous pool with dark blue water lay endlessly in front of her.
"The sound must have come from here." She thought.
Warm vapour rose from the water's surface, it was so peaceful and relaxing. Austine wished to get inside the warm liquid but she was not sure about where she was at or if it might simply be an illusion.
Her worries had suddenly gone away just like that, was it the time to leave?
The water began to move and the vapour curtain became even thicker. Austine could see nothing, but a sudden force pushed her from behind and she fell to the water. It was like falling into space, nothing touched her skin. She swam to the surface and breathed deeply. She had to get out now, but it was too late.
— I should kill you for what you have just dared to do. —a familiar voice said.
Vaziliza's shape could be sighed far away, and Austine could not move. The thin nude human figure moved through the water approaching slowly.
— But I cannot.
The image could now be seen clearly. But Austine was not afraid.
— Do then; anything is better than living like this. Go on, kill me! I have no wish to remain living. What are you waiting for?
— Have you not heard stupid? I cannot.
— Why? Am I not even worthy of being killed by you?
— Because I do not want to.
Austine trembled.
— What are you doing here? —the witch continued— I thought you would never come out of that room again. Get out of the water now, you are not supposed to be here.
— What the heck is wrong with you now!? Did you not hate me? You… you fooled me! You ruined my life!
— You must hate me.
— How could that help?
— Humans fill their inner emptiness with faith, regret, hate and many things all the time.
Austine was desperate and furious. She slapped the witch with all her strength. The other just remained impassive after this.
— This months, —she said then— I have only shown you the side of me that I show to most humans, but you have rejected all I have done unconsciously, harming me instead. And now I know, I am sure that… you are not human.
Austine's eyes opened wide.
— How can you say that? Of course I am!
— No, it just cannot be, I cannot accept that.
— Why?
— Because I have…
— Be quiet! Do not say anything else; I do not want to know. Just stay away from me and I will do the same. I will die alone in here anyway.
The girl got out from the pool and ran away towards the silver door.
— Austine! —shouted Vaziliza from behind, but she did not replied.
Chapter Four
The witch did not leave the house for the next two months nor tried to talk to the girl, but Austine started to crave as she carried out her chores. She just could not believe what Vaziliza had said about her not being human. What could she be then? It had no sense.
One day, Austine was staring at the forest from the open, upper window. The soft, cold wind lightly touched her face and blew her blond hair back. The afternoon was pretty cloudy but she had already got used to it and even enjoyed it. Being all by her own was peaceful.
A huge, black raven suddenly flew towards the window and stopped near the girl. She had never seen such a big raven so closely. It had dark, shiny eyes and very long feathers.
— Joep!
Austine heard the witch calling. She suddenly approached from below and saw her leaning on the window frame.
— Why is he with you? —Vaziliza asked.
— Who? There is no one here.
— Joep! —she called again.
The huge, black raven flew towards the witch and landed on her left shoulder. In an instant, the bird tuned to an enormous black beast with long wings.
— Pour l'amour de…
— I will be back soon. You must not get out of the house, have you understood?
Austine could not respond; she was terribly scared for the sudden appearance of that horrible beast. She closed the window and hasted to the inside as she saw the witch flying away on that thing.
She returned back at midnight. Austine was cooking dinner for herself.
— Dobroi nochi.
— Oh! You are back madame. Do you want me to prepare the bed?
— No. I want you to tell me about what you are cooking.
— Oh! Well, it is just a French dish…
— Let me try it.
Vaziliza snatched the plate and tasted what was on it.
— This is good.
— Merci…
— Follow me; I need you to do me a favour.
Austine said nothing and obeyed even when she was starving.
— Undress me; I have got to bath quickly.
The girl did as she was told to.
— Get inside through the mirror, hurry! —the witch commanded again. She was in haste.
Once inside, Vaziliza got inside the warm water and, to Austine's surprise, her pale skin had blood spots. This made her sick and not hungry anymore.
Vaziliza held her long, orange hair and commanded the girl to remove the blood. Austine rubbed the witch's shoulders softly with soap.
Her shape seemed so beautiful and strong, she was a beautiful woman indeed, and she wished she was as pretty as her sometimes. Austine tried to forget the fact that the witch might had just returned from killing someone.
— Are you hurt madame?
— Nyet.
The water colour changed gradually to red.
— My blood is darker and denser.
— Dieu! —the girl murmured.
— Does this make you sick?
— Well, it is just that I am not used to seeing so much blood.
— Then you better do.
There was a long silence as Austine finished to remove all the blood spots.
— Do you not believe me yet?
— Oh! Madame, please drop it.
— No. I want to know more about you nature, I want to know if…
— No, you are doing nothing of that. I am a human being as many in this world. That is not hard to see. I will not let you.
— You are not able to stop me. Human or not, you are inferior.
This kinds of phrases filled Austine's mind. She got used to be less, inferior and worthless. Her life was miserable, her life was ruined. She wished she had never come to that country, but there was nothing left to do now.
However, sometimes Vaziliza made interesting things, especially when it was about her spells; she focused completely when she worked them out and even asked the girl for help sometimes.
Little by little, Austine learnt Russian; this was because the witch forgot to speak to her in her own language some days. Most of the books and texts in the house were in Russian, and Austine liked to read a lot, so she started to take a look to them.
— Menya zavut... —she repeated once as she read from a book.
— What are you doing? —asked the witch when she realized about this.
— Oh! I am learning some words.
— Your pronunciation is terrible.
— Yes, Russian is a hard language to learn.
— That is not truth. Here, let me show you: Men-ya…
Austine tried several times until she managed to pronounce some phrases correctly.
— Practise will make it better.
— Thank you very much, madame.
And so the girl did, she read a lot of books everyday as she tried to comprehend them, however, this did not always entertain her enough and she fell onto depression some days.
Once, she was sitting on a little wooden chair with her face hidden behind her hands.
The witch soon entered the room and took out a broom from a small closet. She was suddenly floating as she sat on it.
— Do you want to give it a try? —she invited the girl.
— Well… I am not sure…
— Oh! It is not that difficult. You just have to sit down. Come here, I will show you.
Austine obeyed and sat down on the thin broomstick near the witch. It suddenly started to elevate. Austine was nervous.
— How does it feel?
— I do not know. This is quite strange for me; I had never done it before.
— Are you afraid of falling?
Vaziliza laughed maliciously. She pushed Austine and she fell to the floor easily.
— Why did you do that? —the girl angrily claimed.
But the witch was still laughing. Austine was so angry at her that she pulled her foot, making Vaziliza fall too. She blushed when she realized that she had fallen over the girl.
— Oh! But how dare you?
— I know, —replied Austine letting out a mischievous giggle— that was useless and now I was hurt for second time.
— Your body is weak, what could you expect?
— Ah! Madame…
The girl started to laugh.
— What is so damn funny?
But Austine did not reply, she just kept laughing and then said:
— Embrace me.
— Are you insane? What, No!
The girl sighed deeply as she embraced the witch. She was waiting for a reaction; hopefully the witch might kill her for this. But Vaziliza did not move at all, she just remained still as death.
— Have you been drinking, Austine?
— Oh! Do not be silly madame, why would I…
She did not have time to finish the phrase. Vaziliza kissed her mouth tenderly. Austine went motionless.
— Yes, you have.
Chapter Five
— Unacceptable, gentlemen! This is a disgrace for our people… and a shame for us. — the leader of the order said.
— A real big shame, but many of ours have died…
— We need to make our army stronger!
— Massive attacks have not worked however.
— Then we need more and more powerful weapons, we can ask our neighbours to cooperate…
— That would be unnecessary blood spilling.
— Sacrifices are always necessary, Dimitry.
— Gentlemen, please! Arkhip might be right, we need to finish with this problem and we need it now, and if that involves sacrificing something, then we are to take that risk. —the leader said loudly.
— But sir, it might not be a violence issue; maybe we are not being smart enough.
— Are you saying that our plans are not good enough?
— I am not, the results have…
— I do not care if they have not! I do not care if they are never to be! —shouted Arkhip as he hit the wooden table hard—she took away every single blood drop of Yevgeniy's veins… and I am not going to just stay here watching as she takes away everything that we have left!
— Your pain is understandable, good knight, but if we do want to avoid that, then we have to be patient and smarter than her.
— And how are you to make that? —the leader asked interested.
All the seven knights were interested on Dimitry's speech.
— We have fought this enemy a lot of times, and this has given me a chance to study her movements. She is too quick for us to reach, and our weapons seem like small toys to her, but I think that it is not about physically fighting, I rather think it is about sound.
— Sound? Explain yourself. —Arkhip demanded.
— Yes gentlemen, —continued Dimitry— our opponent is vulnerable to some kinds of sounds, I found out about this once when we were chasing her through the forest. She was coming towards me; I was waiting for her behind the trees. She suddenly stopped when she saw me, her fierce eyes penetrated me like the silver spear I was carrying in order to shoot her, but I could not. She played with my mind, I am sure about that, I could not even blink, and when I thought she was about to kill me, I let my silver weapon fall. It hit a huge rock that was just next to me, emitting a sharp sound that echoed through the trees. This disconcerted her because she stopped immediately then and I felt free of her control. I could see that her body looked even weaker, and I thought that was my chance to attack her, but she fled, I do not know exactly how. She was gone when I turned around.
There was a long silence in the room.
— And so Dimitry, —said the leader finally— what is your proposal?
— Mi proposal, gentlemen, is to enlarge our army indeed, but to place a part of our men around the forest in order to surround the witch. These soldiers will make specific noises while they approach and close the circle. She will be trapped, wherever she runs, the sounds will annoy and confuse her, and when the circle closes completely, she will be there, I assure you.
— Excellent! —shouted a knight as he stood up from his chair and applauded— Your plan is excellent, Dimitry!
— Disparaissez!
The memories were harming her mind quite a lot.
— Disparaissez!
She wished to go away and never come back.
— Disparaissez! Vous êtes une femme…
— That is untruth. Do not compare me with those creatures! —claimed the witch— I have tried to understand you, but it just has been almost impossible! I hate you; you have only been a problem to me!
Vaziliza stood up violently and turned around to leave. Austine was still on the floor with a bad headache.
— Laisse-moi sortir…
The witch suddenly turned around and shouted:
— No! You are confined to be here until the day that you die, and that will not ever change. You belong to me, and I do not care where you come from or where you are going, your only destiny is serving to me…
She stopped death; Austine stood up and said coldly:
— Oui, madame.
— Good. Now get out of my sight you revolting thing.
The witch turned around and left walking very fast, she knew she had more important things to do and had already lost a lot of time with the human. After that argue, she would surely pacify at least for as long as she went away.
Her left hand carried a long broom, and a malicious smile was now drawn on her face.
— You may need my help. —Joep said. He was standing outside.
— No, this is something I have to do alone. —Vaziliza replied without looking at him.
The huge, black beast walked away and disappeared between the dark, dense forest.
It seemed a pretty short time she had been walking across the when she found herself dodging trees and persecuted by more than thirty men. She moved faster and faster as the others were left behind, but a terrible pain made her stop suddenly. It was some kind of piercing sensation that came from far away. She rose and kept moving, but did not last long when that same sensation made her slow down. It was getting closer, and so were the knights. She had to think about what to do next quickly. Her head started to ache and she felt nausea. In the end, she was not able to move. It was the time to face those who wanted to capture her, and she was helpless. Vaziliza closed her eyes and waited on the floor for them to come.
Chapter six
Austine finished all of her chores early that day and she was tired. She head towards her room to read, but just could not find some book to choose, so she thought that she might need something new, and the only place where that could be found was in the witch's room.
"She may not mind if I take a book or two from her bookcases" she thought as she head towards Vaziliza's room.
The place was in perfect order. Austine carefully approached to the bookcase and started to search for something interesting. She took a couple of books and started to have a look at the thin pages with very small Russian symbols.
After a while, she got bored and looked for something else. Her reading continued for the rest of the evening, but she fell asleep in the end holding a black, little book. Vaziliza's bed was very comfortable and the feeling was pleasant.
She dreamt about her inside the endless pool, about her strong, beautiful shape, about how safe she had felt in the other side of the mirror and about her deep look.
She woke up late next morning and opened the long curtains to let the Sun rays in. She then headed towards the kitchen and almost had a heart attack when she saw the witch's huge, black beast standing outside the house from the window.
— She might get angry if she finds out that you touched her books. —the beast's deep voice said.
But the girl did not answer.
— Austine… Is that the way she calls you? —he said again.
This time the girl looked nervously at the creature.
— Yes. Austine is my name, but I am not always called like that by her.
— That is strange. Acacia would never call a human by its name.
Austine sighed and looked down.
— I know that. She has been acting different from the time I arrived here.
There was a long silence and the beast said then:
— You miss her, do you not?
— No! I am just… worried. —the girl said as she gave the creature a fast look, then she added— why were you with me the other day, and as… as a bird.
— I am a raven when Acacia does not need me, and I approached to you because I wanted to have a look at the creature that is disconcerting my mistress so much. She is really desperate for finding out more about you.
— Oh! No, I want her to stay away from me!
— I am afraid your wish will be difficult to please, you have captured her interest, and she will not stop until she gets what she wants.
The girl trembled a bit.
— Where did she go?
— That I can not tell you. She did not want you to know, but you should have nothing to worry about, she is very strong.
— And why did you not go with her?
— Because she did not want me to, but to take care of this place instead.
Austine looked nervously at him again.
— What are you supposed to be from her?
— Just a servant.
In that moment, the black beast turned to a young, tall, pale man dressed up with black, long clothes. He had blond hair and gray eyes. Austine remained still, wearing an amazement expression.
— Joep. That is the name she has given to me.
— This is just too much! —shouted the girl— How can you…
— It is just something that I can do. This shape is sometimes useful to my mistress.
Austine looked at the handsome appearance of the man that had just been a horrible creature before.
— Are you…
— Just a servant, I told you.
— Where is she?
— I cannot tell you.
— You must!
— No, she did not want us to interfere. Besides, I have told you not to worry about her.
— Merde! —said the girl angry— I cannot help to do!
Joep watched Austine with interest. Would it not be attractive to see Acacia's reaction when she found this human helping her out from the situation she was at now?
— I cannot tell you now; you must wait until the time is right. If we go and help her now, they will kill us too.
— They?
— The King's army, they are persecuting Acacia. They want to kill her.
— Mon Dieu!
Joep looked at the girl with interest again.
— You are such a strange human. My mistress has harmed you during a long time and still you want to help her out.
Austine looked down and thought about the dream she had had last night for a while. She walked away then.
Joep waited for five days to pass before telling the girl about Vaziliza's location. They finally agreed on what would be done:
The creature would take care of eliminating all the obstacles as Austine advance towards the dungeon where they had locked the witch, and when she had worked that out, he would take care of the rest.
Austine was quite scared when she rode on Joep's back.
Is this necessary?
— Walking there would take quite a long time. You better hold on tight to me, I will try to do my best.
The creature elevated as he flapped his strong wings. Austine's heart beat faster and faster.
Chapter seven
The beast moved fast as he left dozens of death and badly injured bodies behind, and as he tried to protect the girl.
Austine could not stop now to see what was happening around her, she had to focus on the objective.
After eliminating most of the soldiers, Joep suddenly stopped.
— Keep moving! You will have to go on your own right from here. When you get Acacia, run towards the ceiling, I will wait there.
Austine turned. Her eyes revealed her deep fear.
— Move and be sure you save my Eva! —the beast shouted as he turned around and disappeared.
Austine ran towards the dungeon and started to search desperately for the cell. One by one she looked through the small windows until she found her. Austine broke the padlock and opened the heavy door to find the young human shape staring at her with amazement.
— You… how? What are you doing here?
— Madame, you must come with me quickly.
The witch was still standing motionless, so Austine grabbed her left arm and started to run. Vaziliza just followed.
She did what Joep told her to, and head towards the stairs that led onto the ceiling. But a group of armed knights suddenly appeared in front of them. The girl frizzed, so the witch took control of the situation and killed each in an instant right in front of Austine's eyes. But they could not stop, so the girl took Vaziliza again and kept running until they reached the ceiling. Austine looked around but she could not see the creature anywhere.
— Is this it, mademoiselle? —the witch asked.
They were at hundreds of metres away from the ground, and behind them, dozens of men were coming. Austine had no choice; however, she hoped she understood what Joep wanted.
She grabbed the witch's left arm again and plunged into the void right in front of the soldiers' amazed expressions. They all waited for a while before approaching to the edge.
A sudden roar made them shudder as they saw a huge, black shadow, and then an enormous beast flying away, out of their reach.
Austine clasped herself to the witch's back; she did not want to see anything else. That had been enough. And Vaziliza just remained quiet, with her eyes wide opened.
Once at the house, the girl immediately got inside, but Vaziliza and Joep remained outside.
— What was your role in all of this? —asked the witch folding her arms and with her back to the beast— And why did you involve her?
— I found it interesting.
— Did you not know why I was there for?
— Yes.
— Did I not tell you not to interfere?
— Yes.
— Then why… —she said as she turned towards Joep, but stopped when she found him wearing his human shape and with a smile on his face.
— Are you still convinced about that girl not being a real human, mistress? If someone finds out that you are have feelings for her…
— I feel nothing for her. —the witch hasted to reply with anger.
— I am sorry, but that is untruth.
The witch smiled and let out malicious giggle.
— Joep, Joep… You really know me well. But you are right; I better forget everything I involve with that human if I do not want to get in trouble. —she paused for a while and the added with anger— She is nothing else but another on of them.
Vaziliza made a hell out of the next days for Austine. The girl did not expect her to be thankful, but at least to treat her better. This never happened anyhow, and so she returned to her miserable days.
A couple of months passed and the witch was so focused on bothering Austine, that she forgot about the knights and soon began to felt guilt for what she was doing. Deep inside, Vaziliza still knew there was something different about Austine and she wished to find out more about it.
Meanwhile, the army searched through the forest still looking for the hated witch.
Apologizing once came to her mind, but this just took to long to be decided.
— Nobody asked you to save me! Why the heck did you do anyway?
Austine could not help to reply:
— Nobody asked you to kiss me…
— How dare you! —shouted Vaziliza with fury— You were bloody drunk!
— How can you expect me to be happy in this situation? Besides, I thought that if I… That you might… —the girl's voice began to break.
Vaziliza watched Austine as she broke down into tears. Apologizing came again to her mind again, she trembled… And the idea turned suddenly to anger and rejection.
She rushed towards her and raised her chin. The girl's light, blue eyes were filled with tears. The witch blushed, but Austine ran away from her and she just remained inactive. Her body felt weak, and she had been feeling like this since she had arrived from the dungeons.
The day went on. The sky darkened soon but the girl had not returned to the house yet.
"She could not have gone very far." Vaziliza thought.
Her thoughts were still about apologizing, but commotion had taken over her, making her body even weaker. She did not realize about this, however, because she was quite focused inside her mind for a very long time.
She stopped perceiving the air, the sound, the light and the darkness.
A thundering sound brought her back suddenly, but she did not move. The house was surrounded, and she knew it. Her mind had been weak for too long and now it was too late. The knights had found the place.
Chapter eight
— Faster! Faster! I will not let her escape this time! —Arkhip shouted with fury.
Dozens of knights moved and hid behind the dense trees, all armed and prepared.
The witch stood up and walked toward the girl's room calmly. But she was not there.
"That dork, she better haste to hide somewhere." She thought.
The front door opened violently, letting some men inside. They searched everywhere. They broke and ended with everything, but they were not able to find Vaziliza.
The witch was now running in circles though the dark forest. She would normally be unperceivable, but this time was different. She ran close enough for the knights to see her and follow.
Arkhip was at the front, carrying a very long, iron spear.
— Do not bother yourself! I will reach you soon! —he shouted to her.
After they were far enough, the witch stopped and found herself surrounded again. She smiled pleased. Lake Ladoga could be seen from where they were standing. Its calmed waters flew slowly towards the east. The sky was completely dark, only the fire of dozens of torches illuminated the place.
— Well gentlemen, I believe this is supposed to be the end. Thank you for entertaining me for a while. —the witch said with happiness.
— You revolting thing! You better not waste your last energies. We are in charge now and this time you are not going anywhere but to hell! —Arkhip shouted with fury.
But the witch just replied with a derisive laugh.
— This is they way we always end, is it not? Let's do it fast, please.
Arkhip lifted his right arm which held the long spear and gave the order to attack. Four men ran towards her suddenly with no result. The witch dodged them easily, but did not kill them.
— Your men are still very young, knight. Return home.
— Well! Look at this. Are you saying you care about us you devil? —Arkhip replied.
Vaziliza frizzed suddenly. What had she just said? She started to loose balance, and the image of Austine came to her mind in a flash. Where was she? That girl, what had she done to her? She opened her eyes wide, but still was not able to see, nor hear, nor perceive anything. A silver light covered everything, and then a reddish one. And intense, dark red colour, maybe… blood. Was it? She perceived it. Its odour and the way it felt. It was blood indeed, but where? She was not able to see still. Was it hers? No… that was impossible. She rolled her left hand over her chest. Nothing, no wounds, no humidity… then whose? Her hearing returned slowly, and throughout all the noises around, she perceived a voice, a very low sound. Someone was breathing hardly. She opened her eyes wide again, and saw the blurred image of human figure laying death next to her. It was covered with blood. A woman… was it? A thin, young woman. It had to be; she had long hair and held something with her two hands on the middle of her body. And then she heard it again. That breathing sound. She was not death! The witch made a last effort to see clearly. The figure appeared in front of her little by little until Vaziliza recognized it and found Austine barely alive and with a spear that had pierced through her chest.
She stared at the girl with horror for a while and tears of fear rolled suddenly down her blushed cheeks. The witch removed them and looked at them on her pale hand. She saw the reflection of her eyes and found a tiny black spot in the middle of them. That was impossible! But she was neither unconscious nor dreaming. She was right there indeed, and that girl had placed herself in a horrible situation.
Guilt filled her inside, and fury replaced it then. She ran towards the crowd. Arms, legs and heads flew through the air. Her fury increased when she saw them running away. She docked and took one of the many spears on the floor and with a high jump and a fast rush everything went silent again.
Everything was over. Her clothes were covered with human blood, which made her felt repulsive.
Vaziliza ran back to where the girl's body laid. Joep was there too.
— Eva, end this now! —he said when he realized about the witch's presence.
Austine was almost unconscious but was able to listen to this.
Eva, she had heard Joep said that name before. Where? She tried to remember quickly until her memories stopped at the dungeon:
"Move and be sure you save my Eva!" He had said. Was that Vaziliza's real name? Eva? But what was the other way Joep called her? It was some strange name… Acacia.
The witch docked and looked at the huge wound. Austine still breathed but the witch knew it would not last, she had been lucky.
— Mad… madame.
There was no reply.
— Ple… ase.
— Stop it! You will die if you keep talking.
— I will die… anyway.
— You! Why? Nobody asked you to…
— I know, forgive… me.
Austine immediately noticed the tiny spot in the middle of the witch's eyes. That was the first time she had ever realized about the existence of a pupil in that deep look. Vaziliza rolled her pale hand over the girl's face to put her blond bangs aside, and she held it with the strength she had left.
— Do not let… me, die… alone.
Even when she was about to die, Austine's body still conserved that heat that disconcerted Vaziliza so much.
— I just cannot… I will not let you go. —The witch replied with her voice breaking. She held the girl's weak hand very tight.
A sudden pleasure embraced her body. She felt like floating through the air and nothing hurting her now. A bright light increased until it became a pure white colour that was everywhere. Austine took a deep breathe and forgot about everything.
The witch's body was weak now, she could barely move.
— Joep, —she said hardly— take us… back.