This is a second chapter, offering a glimpse of what is happening elsewhere on the Disc. It's short but intense, I hope:D
Enjoy and remember, reviews are highly appreciated!
Obscurity
The witch in front of the crystal* throne was cowering. It was only normal, she had all the reasons to.
"So you say Letice was just eaten by a wolf?" The tone was calm, the look was bearable, yet something in the demeanor, some puny detail that escaped even the most thorough scrutiny was cutting through the defenses of the witch in front like a glass shard through an unsuspecting eye. "And why, pray, were you not able to help her, having in mind that I sent you both on this task?" The 'pray' seemed to take on a far more serious meaning that normal in that situation and the cowering witch winced when she heard it.
* It certainly resembled crystal, but a keen eye, namely that of the dwarf glazier who built it, would notice the fine diamond shafts fluidly interwoven into the entirety of the throne, that, if set aside, could match the strongest cage ever known.
"I...I-I... tried, but for some reason my spell backaaahh... I mean something made it jump from the blasted wolf to Letice and... well... she just turned into a meat-chop! Then Death came and..."
"I see." A pause ensued, during which the half-concealed figure on the throne stared blankly away from the now kneeling witch in front of it. "I wonder," it continued quietly, "if you are familiar to the methods of witch-torturing." The witch shuddered and nodded. "As I recall," the figure continued impassively, "the most common one is burning the accused woman, be she witch or just a hated old, lonely woman, on a large pyre in the middle of the village or town square." Nod, nervous squeak. "I also recall that this was a fairly poor deterrent against true witches." Nod, shudder, fall on hands and knees. "Then I assume you will kindly pass by the torture chamber and ask the man there to take out the iron maiden and safely seal you in, least you cause any more... unfortunate incidents." Nod, tears quietly pouring, standing up as a puppet on strings, apparently swimming the way out of the mirror hall.
"Pathetic," the figure thought, slowly reaching out towards the golden goblet on the glass table next to the chair. The black velvet cloak slid aside one fraction of an inch to unveil a surely* human hand and the tiniest flicker of glassy sheen. The figure, whose voice was uncertainly familiar, but had a strange resonance as to be anything possible, drank thirstily a clear, viscous substance that glowed faintly yellow. "Refreshing, I might say, would you not agree, dear?" thought the figure out loud. The voice had a slight vibrato quality to it, as a fine crystal glass resonating when touched. "Yes, quite so, my lady!" it replied to itself. But the voice now seemed normal, if submissive. "I believe we shall have to find someone else to replace her. Deary me, who shall we use?" "I wish to be of service madam..." "Alas you can't, child, it is more than one could wish for, what you have already been doing, and I am thankful for that. No, no, a solution must be found, and..." A pause as short as a breath preceded a sigh, a kind one, as the whole tone of voice itself, like the soft voice a mother would use when having her patience put to the test by the curious little bugger trying to understand how the Disc spins at the age of five. "We shall have, I believe, to start all over again." "Yes, madam." "I shall have to summon them again."
*Limbs that look human can be found on many unhuman individuals, i.e. vampires, werewolves, undead, and other morphic-field challenged, or uncertainly living respectively. However, this one was definitely human.