32 Mad

Stepping into the lush forest, Ley wanted to continue the earlier conversation with Landon. The shifters traditionally follow a courtship phase where they stake a claim to the female. Hearing that coming from his mouth was a big enough deal that had Ley panicking however they had far more important things to do right now.  She just hoped Landon would be distracted enough to forget his ridiculous idea. 

They were still a bit far from their intended location however the car wouldn't be able to enter the narrow pathways as there was an increase of overgrown trees making it inaccessible unless on foot. The light was dimmer and there was no natural sound at all aside from the cracking twigs their feet stepped on, giving the place a disturbing air of mystery or in the case of humans, a silent warning that trespassers  were not welcome.

They trudged on at a quick steady pace as the both of them have the stamina to spare. It wasn't long until they reached a solitary wooden cabin in the middle of a clearing. As soon as they stepped in the area, she suddenly felt like she was trapped in the middle of a spider web. She saw no one but her neck kept getting a tingly feeling. The cabin looked as if it was empty and abandoned however her senses told her that someone's inside.

They glanced at each other for a second then strode towards the door. Landon knocked politely however in a split second something dropped down from the overhead in front of him and blasted fire like it was a blowtorch.

Landon was an inch away from the fire but he managed to dodge by ducking and Ley was a meter away from him so she was out of range. He was out of luck though since the moment he dodged, the mud-colored jars at the foot of the door toppled over suddenly and questionable liquid started to flow in his direction accompanied by a hissing sound as everything on its path melted haphazardly.

He jumped away from it and landed on the grass however the tiny wildflowers on his foot suddenly morphed into vicious man-eating flowers and judging from the rows of sharp teeth it had, they've got a mean bite. 

Landon glanced back at her with an amused smile and said, "We're definitely at the right place. Only an engraver's house would have this many clever traps designed."

Ley agreed with his point but it was all just tricks meant to play with them. She wondered how it would be when it was designed to kill instead. She had enough of waiting so she strode forward to the window beside the door and grabbed the real doorknob that was disguised as part of the window then yanked it open. 

Landon stopped jumping around then chuckled at her direction,"Convincing paint job."

There were traces of magic on the door so it wasn't just a matter of painting skills. Slight illusion magic was also used to augment the trick though a magick wouldn't be stumped by this.

"Done playing?" She called at him when he was stepping on the monster flowers like he was playing a game of whack-a-mole.

He crushed them one last time before heading to her, his eyes twinkled with amusement. She opened the door without checking if he followed or not.

It was dim inside with only one lamp illuminating the whole room. She whipped her head to the side when she sensed a small movement in the corner. An old woman was sitting hunched in the chair while reading. She didn't glance even once in Ley's direction as if they weren't present. Landon quietly stood next to Ley and stared in interest at what they presumed as Old Bertie.

"I do not do engraving commissions anymore," she stated in a dismissing tone without taking her eyes off her book.

"We're not here to ask you to do a commission," Landon started but was soon cut off.

"Get out then," she grumpily said while flipping a page.

"Were you the one who made this?" Landon asked, ignoring her words while placing the ocarina on top of the table.

Old Bertie looked at the ocarina for a moment, a flicker of recognition flitted past her eyes but it was gone immediately.

"Out of all the engravers out there, you went straight to me?" 

"We checked all of them. You're the only one left," Landon said.

Old Bertie finally abandoned her book and looked at him with a challenge, "Even the tattooist?"

"You know very well that the tattooist doesn't dabble with inanimate objects," Ley interjected which made Old Bertie uninterestedly glanced at her.

Goosebumps broke on her arms when her impassioned gaze became eerie in a second. It was as if she was staring at the very depths of Ley's soul. It was as if she recognized what Ley was. Her wild curly hair contrasted her pale aged face, emphasizing those mad eyes. It was only a few seconds but it alarmed Ley. Old Bertie's lazy disposition was gone in a blink and she looked as if the world was interesting again.

She had to know why Old Bertie was gazing at her like that. 

Her next words made Ley stiffened with nervousness for some reason, "I am in a really good mood now on account of finding something I thought I would never see again so I won't even bother trying to deny  that I made that artifact," she declared as if she was doing the both of them a favor.

"Why?" Landon intoned, his earlier interest was gone, replaced by the icy calm of a predator waiting to pounce on one wrong move.

Old Bertie picked up the ocarina and stared at it expressionlessly, "They wanted to have an artifact that can control everyone. I made it in a way that was flawed to delay them because it only works with the shifters."

"Why did you choose the shifters?" Ley questioned in an attempt to understand her logic.

"I would have thought the reason was obvious enough. Humans would just be defenseless and cannon fodder for them and I won't be involving my own race of course. Shifters have coexisted with magicks for centuries and that speaks a lot to their abilities," she explained impatiently as if they were idiots for not understanding.

She was mad. 

Mad enough to tell that she foisted the problem to a shifter directly. 

She looked at Landon, half-expecting him to fly into rage but he was calm instead, "You just delayed the inevitable."

"I might've but if I didn't accept they would have found someone else to do it either by coercion or satisfying whatever greed they have," she replied.

"It wouldn't be that easy to do what you did though," Ley pointed out. 

Using magic to manipulate others was forbidden. The technique was already lost and it was a whole other problem to engrave it to an object. It would've been easier to find a magick to do the manipulation however artifacts could be used even by non-magick races so it certainly has benefits.

You would know, wouldn't you?" Old Bertie sarcastically said however Ley knew that she was implying something else.

Ley didn't even hope that Landon would not notice since he already glanced at her in confusion however Ley could only wear an equally puzzled glance to throw him off.

"I had to be the one to do it so that I could make the artifact in a way that they would have a hard time modifying it to their true objective," Old Bertie uttered after a few moments of making Ley squirm.

"They wouldn't have left you alone just like that after completing the artifact," Landon remarked.

"I can never engrave again," she said flatly.

Her book flopped down and she raised her arms. The hands that Ley saw holding the book earlier were gone. It was all an illusion. Her hands were chopped off cleanly. All that was left were stumps where her hands used to be starting from her wrists.

Ley felt her stomach roiled at the sight, not because of disgust but from the thought of never engraving again. It was all she had that she could call her own. Her inability to shift at will or her barely present magic slowly grounded her self-esteem to dust. She dare not imagine what would happen if her engraving talent was taken away.

"Did they do something to prevent you from telling their identities?" Ley asked hesitantly.

"I cannot divulge anything unless I want to die from a curse. Get out now. I have no more wish to involve myself again with this matter," she stated, her tone frosty, while the ocarina flew away from the table and stopped in front of Landon.

They walked out from the cabin slowly. They certainly got answers but it's another dead end again. Ley was about to close the door when  Old Bertie spoke again.

"Monsters can only be beaten by monsters," she whispered with her gaze fixed on Ley, her eyes dim with pity and anticipation at the same time.