Always in a Cauldron, Never a Pot.

I woke to the cold November air.The leaves on the trees above me were a crisp yellow. They faded into the reds of the greater canopy, and the few interspersed patches of blue sky reminded me of summer days. I exhaled a long breath and it turned to white fog in front of me. I could see the sun high in the sky, a good three thumbs past the Lolan mountain range in the east. I overslept. The moss proved a softer bed than I was used to, and it cost me a few precious hours.

The hunt would be harder. I cursed under my breath and stood, rolling my shoulders to get the cricks out of my neck and back.

My sackcloth pants and shirt were dirty and stained, but that didn't matter. I didn't want to look like some refined nobleman, anyhow. The beggar style did me good.

I followed the sun south, casting a long shadow behind me. I remembered the basic layout of the woods. There were whispers in the last town about smoke coming from these parts, a place known for its disappearances. A place where three women vanished just two nights ago.

People didn't disappear on their own. Smoke meant fire, and fire meant life. Smoke once could be a traveler. Smoke for a weekend could be campers. Smoke for a month straight? Someone was living in the woods, and that someone was presumably kidnapping young women from the area around here.

I reached down to my hip and felt my dagger of Elustria, a weapon forged of silver. It could kill most beings of magic, should the need arise, but I didn't want to draw it and startle whatever was living here.

Most evil magicians or creatures in the wilds could smell silver from over a mile away.

I originally wanted to leave before dawn, to use the low morning light to ambush my target, but now I didn't have that luxury.

Not being able to use surprise, I could only resort to using my brain instead. A terrifying prospect if there ever was one.

-

I could smell smoke and bubbling fat on the wind. I followed the smell and started calling out, "Spot! Here boy!"

It wasn't a very complicated plan, mind you, but who would suspect some yokel beggar out looking for their lost dog? I certainly looked the part.

And I knew for a fact that a dog did disappear in these woods a few days ago. In fact, that's what I was probably smelling on the wind, if I had to reason a guess.

I didn't like the idea of eating dog, but it was better than eating humans… Unfortunately, I was pretty sure the creature I was pursuing ate both. Too many young women vanished in here. It was a classic recipe for immortality, sacrifice the blood of virgins to gain eternal youth and all that jive. It wasn't true, by the way. The vanished girls I was looking for definitely weren't virgins. Sacrificing and eating them would, at best, give the magician indigestion, not eternal youth. I swear, black magicians were getting worse and worse every year. In my heyday, a proper necromancer could level a country. Now most necromancers are old perverts sleeping in crypts or tombs, hardly bothering anyone. I tended to leave them alone, now. They were more trouble than they were worth.

Graverobbing was hardly a crime in my eyes. The victims of it probably didn't give a shit, anyways.

-

The glade thinned and the smell of smoke grew stronger. I called out louder, making my voice a bit obnoxious. "Here Spot! Here boy!"

Through the thickets I could see what looked to be a cottage ahead, old but sturdy in design. It looked like a hunter's home, a place to come to get away from the wife for a few days, drink some stouts, and fire your bow at any passing woodland creatures within 100 yards. Maybe accidentally put an arrow in your own foot.

I remember seeing someone do that, once. Drinking and Archery can be a dangerous, but hilarious, combination.

Outside the shack, standing over an open flame and stirring a large pot, was a woman. She looked to be in her early thirties, maybe late twenties, and she was gorgeous. Definitely an eight or a nine on my scale.

There was one unfortunate thing, though. She had horns. An immediate turn off, horns were. They implied a rather advanced level in dark magic, something that couldn't be gotten by sacrificing just a few fake virgins.

Well, there were actually two unfortunate things. Sticking out of the pot was a human hand, presumably connected to the rest of a human girl. It looked young. I hid my scowl as best I could.

"Why hello there," called the woman, her voice echoing with dark magic. I didn't want her to cast anything stronger, so I played to be under her spell. I offered her a disarming smile. It took all I had not to curse her out, then and there. Both verbally and magically. I swore off magic in the past, though. If i broke that vow…

"Hello there," I called out. "Miss, would have happened to see a labrador pass this way? His name is Spot and he had a black coat."

"Oh you poor thing, did you lose your doggie?" She asked while making a childish voice. "Why don't you come inside my cabin for a bit. I think I did see a doggie pass by here. We can talk over a nice bowl of stew!"

Her magic was incredible. If I wasn't resistant to such things, I've have probably been lead around by the nose. Thankfully, I was a cheater. I looked over her body from the corner of my eyes and I couldn't take my eyes off her chest. More specifically, I couldn't take my eyes off her heart. I could see it bulging underneath her skin, no doubt filled with black magic.

I needed to get closer to her, close enough that I could bury my dagger in her before she could sling off a spell. I nodded to her suggestion.

"That sounds wonderful," I replied. I started walking towards her door, my steps slow and measured.

Each step brought me closer to her and I felt my hands start to sweat. This was always the most dangerous part, and it was the easiest to fuck up. I couldn't let my nervousness show. A powerful caster, so much so that horns started to grow out of her head, was nothing to be trifled with. I needed to end this in one move.

If I bagged her, the Court of Eights would pay me very, very well.

And one more evil being would be gone from the world. Less kids would die… Yada yada yadda~ The important part was that I'd get a lot of cash. A looooooot of cash.

I had a crusade of my own to lead, you see, and I needed money. I needed a lot of money. I needed just so much money.

-

I passed within arms reach of the woman and stopped. I made a confused look appear on my face. If I must say, my acting was definitely top notch here. The witch moved closer to me and started to whisper.

"Come along, deary. Just come inside my home."

She assumed her magic was wearing off. It was a safe assumption, to be fair to her. Some humans had naturally higher tolerances for mental magics. Case in point, me.

I pulled my dagger and slammed my shoulder into her chest at the same time, tackling her and taking her to the ground. My aim was to knock the air from her lungs to keep spells off her lips. I think it worked because all I heard was coughing and weezing below me as I lifted my dagger up.

She regained her senses at the last moment and I saw my harsh silver reflected in her eyes. She cast magic, then. It was another charm, something far more powerful than the last one. Even I felt the pull of it.

Thankfully, it was only a pull.

I buried my dagger in her chest, striking her heart. Her magic screamed and a blue light erupted from the wound, shining up into the sky above. Several clouds vanished all at once, and the shockwave created concentric rings in the surrounding ones.

The damned souls she consumed were reflected in that light as the silver purified them, releasing them from the evil chains that threatened their very existence.

On the wind I heard a distant 'Thank you' echo.

I grinned and pulled my dagger free from the witch's chest. I stood up and kicked dirt over the fire. I didn't dare touch the cauldron with the body inside it, though. It would be bad luck to even go near that. Putting out the fire was the only mercy I could give that poor soul. I was a Hunter, not a saint. I could send a real Saint here, though, once I brought in that Witch's head.

I opened up the cottage and found it more like a butcher shop. I gagged once at the smell, and then I gagged a second time at all the body parts hanging from meat hooks.

Apparently, far more people were missing than had been reported. While that was expected because the witch had formed horns, it was still a hard sight to see in person. It was a good thing my stomach was made of tough stuff.

In the corner of the room, shivering in a cage, were two women. They were bound and gagged but they were awake. They saw me and started trying to yell through their gags, making funny noises. I had to suppress my smile. It wasn't right to smile and laugh in the middle of a horror house… Pfffft. It looked like they thought I was another victim brought in by the witch's magic and were trying to warn me, or something. Their genuine concern for their own lives warmed my cold dead heart a few degrees. It now sat at 3 degrees Kelvin.

"Relax," I said as I approached the cage. I held up my silver dagger, red blood still on the blade. "And rejoice my little Munchkins, for the witch is dead."

For what it's worth, I didn't find any dog bones in that Cottage.