Chapter 2: The Lake

Albert parked the horse right next to the witch's hut, got off, noticing it was dawn, and went inside. "Albert, I was starting to get worried the old man would leave you." Agnes said, as the boy sat down to eat. "Yeah, he left me, but I got a horse, it's just outside." Albert said between mouthfuls. "Don't talk with your mouth full of food, it's inappropriate." The witch said, and peeked through the blinds. Yup, there was most definitely a black furred horse there, but it did not have a saddle and reins.

Agnes turned to the boy, grinning, "Sounds like we got horse for dinner." Albert nearly choked on his food and stood up. "Horses are friends, not food!" The boy said, slamming his hands on the table. Agnes smirked, "I was only joking, little ginger. Why don't you finish eating, and then I can show you something?" She goes outside to interact with the young horse, leaving Albert alone in the hut.

There was silence, except for the sound of cutlery clinking against bowl and slurping. Part of the wall where Albert was sitting next to crashed down on the boy, startling him, the table, chair and food were next to go. Albert yelled out in panic as he attempted to lift the broken wall off him, but couldn't, it was crushing his legs and hips. "Albert! Hang on!" Agnes said, as she let go of the horse and ran up to Albert.

Grabbing the underside of the wall, "Here, push! One, two, three!" The witch helped Albert push, who was finally able to slide out from under, scrambling onto his feet. Agnes groaned, letting go off the wall, causing dust to rise up into the air. She staggered over to the boy, checking his body for wounds. Only his left leg looked a little funny, whatever was wrong with it could be fixed, Agnes could only heal others, but not herself. She casted a healing spell on the boy, who signed from relief, and relaxed his muscles.

The witch apologised, and went outside to assess the damage done to her hut, the first thing Agnes saw was that more than half the wall was done in by the young horse, the windows were shattered, glass was everywhere. The blinds ripped by the wooden rubble. Albert was sitting on the bed, grumpily pondering what in the world happened, poor child hadn't even eaten most of his meal, and was left hungry. She would have to get the old man to fix all the problem and get a meal at the town's tavern.

"So you tried to get on the horse, did you? That fella won't accept anybody other than Albert, Agnes. He doesn't like adults, and I don't know why." The old man said, standing next to the witch. "When did you get here?" The witch asked, mildly. "A few seconds ago, was bored and checked to see who needed their day brightening up." Old man McKenzie explained, grinning. "Albert! Come out here, I need to fix up this wall." The wizard said. Albert did not move, and just stared at the broken wall, into the void. The old man reached out his hand, and started tapping into the air, which in turn, startled the boy, feeling himself getting poked in the neck.

Albert jumped up, ran over the rubble and outside of the hut, only to attempt to angrily tackle the old man, who moved swiftly out of the way. The boy tripped over, but didn't land on his face, the old man ended up grabbed hold of his jacket, holding him steady. "Careful where you run, boy, you'll flatten your face." The wizard said, chuckling, and pulled Albert up, the witch shared none of his amusement. "Albert, please be careful." Agnes said, with a strange look in her eyes, and hugged him. The boy felt strange, not even his parents hugged him, only when he was younger, and more afraid of the dark.

Albert hadn't had much thought of mourning his parents, ever since quite a bit happened during the day, but he would mourn later, for he had a meal that was smashed to pieces to finish, and a witch to hunt. Albert turned to the old man, looking him in the eye with a scowl. "Nothing personal, kid. I'm merely an old man, and I needed rest, you have- had a horse, but it's gone and disappeared somewhere. Agnes?" The old man questioned.

"What? You want me to find the horse and feed Albert?" Agnes asked, looking at the boy. "Yes, I believe I know where it went. Albert, you're good with horses, aren't you?" The wizard asked. "No, but I'm decent at finding tracks." Albert said, and started scanning the ground for hoofprints. "I think I found something here, look at this." The boy said, pointing at muddled ground, a track of hoofprints leading further into the forest, the adults peered at the tracks.

"Albert and I can find the horse while you fix the house, old man." Agnes said, and turned around to walk in the direction of the hoofprints. "Albert, you coming?" The witch questioned. The boy shook his head. "I'm too hungry and tired to do anything, I can't do much without a proper meal." Albert said, and sighed. "Yes, it has been a long day." The old man looked at Agnes and smirked. "Why don't you carry him, Agnes? I'm certain you're strong enough to carry the kid, aren'tcha?"

"Yes, McKenzie, I'm strong enough to kick your ass." Agnes said sternly. The old man blinked, staring, and then coughed. "You only had the advantage when I was tired. Any other time and I was the one who did the ass kicking, young lady." He chuckled, he wasn't sure if she was being serious. Agnes sighed, walked over to Albert and picked him up under his knees and arms.

"I don't want to be picked up, not like this." The boy spoke, flailing about. Agnes grinned and placed Albert on the ground, who stood up. The witch crouched down, knees on the ground, her hands in position, "Hop on, Albert, let's go find this horse of yours." The kid mounted on her hands, and she hefted him up and went off in search of the horse.

Agnes noticed it was night-time, a full moon appearing in the clear sky, she had to hurry back by midnight or something uncontrollable would happen. Albert wasn't moving very much, she could feel his chest rise and fall slowly, the boy must've dozed off. The witch grimaced at the thought of turning into something else and harming the boy, surely it wouldn't come to that? The wizard knew of her condition but could not cure her or free her of the curse. Albert stirred, and sighed softly, Agnes could hear his breathing.

Agnes and her mother walked into the dark palace, of sin and worship, through a vast hall, and into a large room, full of roped cultists and naked men and women. The girl froze, her gaze affixed on the circular bloody circle with ancient and tribal markings. There in the middle hung an elderly man, and neighbour, Robert. His arms had been sliced open, blood pouring down his hands and dripping onto the ground, the front of his neck slashed. Agnes screamed.

The witch groaned, and her knees almost buckled. How many times has it been since she last had a flashback or nightmare? She tried to supress it, but couldn't, not even the old man could cure her selaphobia. Agnes shivered, causing the boy to stir again. She noticed the set of hoofprints she and Albert had been following for a while led to a large clearing with a small lake.

The horse was trotting around, frolicking in the water. The witch sigh out of relief, and walked over to where the horse was splashing around. Albert shifted about, signifying he was awake. Agnes set the boy down on the ground, allowing him to stretch his legs and arms, the witch whistled at the horse and reached out the hand. The horse ran full on into Agnes and knocked her over, almost stomping the life out of her.

Albert ran up and jumped on the horse, grabbing hold of the hair, and held on for dear life as it buckled about and neighed. "Steady." The boy muttered, the horse galloping at full speed into the lake, its hoofs kicking off in the water. "Come on, turn around!" Albert yelled, pulling the horse's hair to the left in order to steer it, which did nothing.

Vines reached up to the pair, grabbing hold of the horse's legs. The horse started to neigh and kick about in the water, and was pulled down into the lake. Albert screamed and started to swim back to shore, but was also pulled down into the lake, he could see the horse struggling about, bubbles blowing out of its mouth and nostrils, then suddenly exploding into a million particles of light, which dispersed. The boy looked on downwards, seeing a green egg shaped object, with translucent purple leaves.

There was a glow to the egg, which looked to contain a humanoid figure inside, almost as if it were watching Albert. Albert heard noise above and looked to see Agnes swimming towards him, her dagger in hand. She reached out to him, as did he, and grabbed hold. The witch slashed at the vines, causing them to let go of Albert. The both of them swam up out of the water, gasping for air, and finally reached the shore.