Gauntlet

After being allowed to spend one more night in their lavish suites, San tried to enjoy the scented bubble bath as much as she could, knowing full well it would be a great deal of time before she would have another as nice as this.

The morning came much too quick as the guards opened the door without knocking, waking San. they allowed her to quickly get dressed before guiding her down the corridors till she was met with her friends already waiting for her by the dreadful cage on wheels that brought them all here.

The joy of seeing them all was evened out by the dread of the cart as the night she and Marko were captured was still vivid in her memory, as vivid as the dent that still ballooned out the side. The guard placed blindfolds on them all, binding their arms and legs as they had before, and ushered them into the cart. The witch luckily slept in San’s pocket, so when she was rushed out of bed this morning, she didn’t need to come up with an excuse to grab her.

Unblindfolded and still the size of a thumb Alizar sat patiently waiting as clearly with this highly illegal operation going on, they took the special precautions not to let anyone they set free know where the arena was.

As the gates locked behind them and the horse’s hooves started to clop, they didn’t realize they were in for quite the long journey. Being dragged halfway across the country as winter’s bite still found its way into their carriage.

As snowflakes drifted in through the bars, the group huddled together like hairless sheep trying to find warmth. Alizar had blasted herself up with a small gust of wind to the bars, cautiously poking her head out. Knowing now where they were and where they came from, the witch floated down, back to San’s pocket to find warmth as her plotting began.

But staying by San’s side wasn’t the easiest at this time, as the witch knew all too well, only taking half of the final antidote left them both in a horrible state, their skin was itchy, their muscles twitchy, and their flesh was drenched in their own sweat. As well as being incredibly riddled with muscle pain. San bore it all, for she knew the sacrifice was worth freeing the witch.

♮

 The cart slowed to a crawl, which couldn’t have pleased Marko more, he complained that he was holding onto what little of last night’s feast he had left in his stomach, as being blindfolded in the back of a bumpy horses cart had given him severe motion sickness.

They heard the metal of the barred door creak open and large forceful hands dragged them out, paying little mind to their safety. “You should have accepted his offer, you all fought courageously, and I’m sorry we have to do this,” a voice said as the sound of a whip cracked on a horses whinnying backside, the stiff wheels groaned under the crunching snow as they were left bound and blindfolded in the cold.

Alizar crawled out of San’s pocket, checking to see if the guards were out of sight before she chose to expand to her normal size, she then examined the state they were all in before making sure everyone knew who would be saving the day.

“Hear me now, you helpless tadpoles,”

“WHO IS THAT? PLEASE UNTIE ME I’M GOING TO PUKE!”

“Yes, yes in good time, my boy,” Alizar said before clearing her throat. “Let it be known I am only alive today because San risked her life to save me.”

“OH GOD, CAN’T THIS WAIT?”

Alizar slid off San’s blindfold so she could see how displeased the witch was that her monologue was continuously interrupted, growing her hand three times its normal size, just as she had shrunk her whole body, the witch slapped Marko’s impatient bottom.

“OHHH PLEASE!”

“Now, as I was saying… San saved me, I’ll save you all, not only as a gesture for my gratitude but also an apology, especially you, half-man,” she said, nodding to Tyson who was blindfolded but guessed she wasn’t commenting on Markos’ height.

Displeased that the speech she wrought over the day’s journey was ruined, she untied them all one by one, purposely leaving Marko for last.

“Oh, thank you, thank you so much,” the boy said, groveling at her feet, kissing her toes as a servant would their queen.

“That’s enough… for now,” Alizar said, kicking him off, “now be a good lad and find us some wood.”

Marko took off, slipping and sliding into the frozen tundra as the witch only chuckled, moving her hands over each other like she was holding a sphere, quickly speeding up her movements as a ball of flames grew between her fingers, San, Tyson, and Matilda were in awe at her might, and Alizar loved every moment of it.

Holding the fire with one of her hands, she snapped her middle and ring finger in her other the way she had to burst wind at them clearing a crater in the snow, digging back into the soil as the fire now had a safe home to rest in. Grateful, the three of them quickly rushed to thaw their bones by the fire.

Clapping her hands together as she continued to show off, she placed both palms down on the snow, she slowly lifted her hands from the earth as a thick frozen layer came with her. Half a meter thick all around, she raised the opening up, pulled it back and then down, forming what looked like a mud igloo, crawling inside, she then beckoned for the flame everyone was huddled around as it came to sit in the middle of her structure, clapping her hands once more, she raised small seats from the hardened earth so the five of them could sit and enjoy the fire, well… four, until Marko realized her fire was magic and burned without wood.

As their jaws finally stopped shaking, Tyson was the first to ask the witch, “Miss, if you don’t mind me asking, how the hell did Flint’s men capture you? You’re the most powerful being I’ve ever seen, surely a few men with pointy sticks couldn’t best you.”

Blushing, as flattery was clearly the way to this witch’s heart, she didn’t hesitate to share a story with the group, “it all started when…”

“Excuse me …? Are you guys in there?”

“Yes, Marko,” San snickered as a vean was bulging from the witch’s forehead.

Silence followed as Alizar thought she was safe to continue, “they must have been tracking me for a while, as they knew how to counter me, where I …”

KNOCK, KNOCK

“I’m really sorry but how do I get in?” Marko asked as suddenly the walls to the dome fell, and reformed two meters back, petrifying Marko in fearful amazement.

“Cool…” he said as he walked over to join the fire, with his arms full of snow-covered pinecones.

“Now, where was I?” Alizar asked, turning to Matilda.

Knowing she couldn’t respond, San quickly responded “They knew how to counter you.”

“Ah, yes, I know those who possess magic are far and few between, as I am often traveling myself. I set out as a young witch with the ambition to help people wherever I went, but one night, I heard the cries of a wounded animal, a small dog had been stuck in the mud and couldn’t get back up. So, like a fool, I didn’t use magic as I feared harming the beast, so instead went to lift him out by hand, but it was a trap, the dog wasn’t merely stuck in the mud, but a goo had been placed on its fur, binding its legs together, so of course when I touched it, my hands were bound.”

“You couldn’t use your magic,” San said, finishing her sentence.

“Precisely,” the witch nodded, “so, without hesitation as I was bound to the animal, the guards wasted no time, binding my legs and blindfolding me, pouring whatever was left of that goop over the backs of my hands to ensure they locked me in before poisoning me, then to shut the poor mut up they slit its throat while I was still stuck to it so he died In my arms as I was thrown into that carriage, much like the rest of you, I’d assume.

Silence again fell as no one wanted to make eye contact, thinking about the dead dog.

“Uhm, Alizar…?”

“Yes, San?”

“I don’t know if you remember my arm here,” San said, presenting the gauntlet to her under the light of the fire. “I know it’s an artifact, and I need magic to get it off… would you… possibly have any idea how to remove it?”

Taking the gauntlet in both her hands, Alizar twisted and turned the clenched fist as San had forced it shut so her arm wouldn’t get the smart idea of strangling the witch. Examining its intricate detail, Alizar ran her hand along its ever-expanding consumption of her body, stopping at her left elbow where the metal met her flesh, attempting to pry the metal off her skin but it was perfectly sealed.

“I’m afraid not, my dear,” Alizar said, unintentionally casting a grey cloud of despair over San. “The only being I can think of who would know died millennia ago, my master.”

Seeing how she had dashed San’s hopes, Alizar suggested “But, my master had one other pupil after I had finished training with him, maybe he knows more about the artifact.”

Brightening the young girl’s face, it was clear the witch’s lie had kept hope alive, at least a little longer.