15 The Village of Ice and Snow (Part One)

-Charm's POV-

"So... do you think the villagers of Ziv wouldn't be afraid of us in case they'll know who we are?"

I decided to break into our brief moment of silence when I asked our new friend here, Aurora- you know that stubborn girl who's an ice magic wielder and who suddenly attacked us out of nowhere a while ago.

Later on she decided to introduce herself to us and happily announced that she is willing to be a part of our mission to revive the other springs of the supreme deities.

She suddenly looked at me once I got her attention.

"Ha? Uh, that.... I don't know." she says and suddenly barks a nervous laugh. I crossed my arms in front of her and narrowed my eyes.

"I think I know where this is coming from." I simply said, which then earned me a sheepish smile from this deity. Unconsciously I suddenly had the urge to smack my forehead with my right palm. And so I did.

Even Baal shamelessly shakes his head in disappointment.

So she even steals things from the villagers?! Oh, come on!

"Well, I guess we don't have a choice then but to conceal our identities and pretend to be ordinary beings." I said in a monotonous tone.

"No worries! Nobody knows what I look like, swear! The moment I get what I want, I can just simply disappear in an instant. I was once called as 'The Witch of the North Coast.' Pretty sleek title huh?" she said quite proudly, I must say, and with both of her eyebrows raised upwards.

Again, I was able to smack my forehead with my right palm and Baal shakes his head again in disappointment. Then we continued to walk towards our target village.

Well, thanks to this deity and to her ice magic powers, it seems that we will have more trouble convincing them that we are their friends, not foes.

After several minutes of hiking, we finally can see Ziv Village from where we are currently standing. Then there was this certain new problem that came into my mind.

"How can we hide Baal from the villagers? I'm sure they'll be overwhelmed with his presence. After all, there's no ordinary being that's walking with a talking tiger, right?" I suddenly raised the concern to my other companions.

I saw Aurora raised her right hand.

"I know a level 4 shape shifting side spell that could last for two days." she proudly says. I gasped in awe.

"Wow! Lucky for you! It's really hard for me to learn that side spell since Baal over here does not want to cooperate with me." I said and immediately looked at the guardian animal. "He's scared that I'll turn him into a frog."

Baal then shoots a dagger at me with his stares.

After several discussions, we then proceed to our plan of turning Baal into a more harmless-looking animal. We spotted a large ice glacier that's just perfect for our hideout.

"With the power of the deities bestowed upon me, I hereby turn you into a..." Aurora starts to chant the shape shifting ritual but suddenly pauses for a moment and thinks of an animal suited for Baal. Oh gosh, I hope she does not think of something absurd!

Her face lightened up and continued the spell...

"I hereby turn you into a... CAT!"

After several swings from her wand, a puff of smoke soon appeared and covered Baal's entire body. It didn't take that long before the smoke faded out and my eyes instantly sparkled the moment I saw Baal's new form.

"Meow"

Awww... what a cute little kitten!

"Hey! Why did I suddenly become a kitten!" I heard Baal complain about his tiny little cute voice. I want to pinch those cute chubby cheeks.

"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, swear!" Aurora said defensively. "Well, I guess my experience with the shape shifting spell is not that accurate yet. Ohohoho!"

Before Baal complains again and scratches Aurora here with his tiny cute paws, I scooped one arm to carry him. I can feel him struggling to get off me.

"Don't make it such a big deal Baal. Sooner or later you'll turn again to your original form." I encouraged the still disappointed tiger in my palm right now. He didn't utter a word to that.

We continued our hiking towards Ziv Village, and after several walks we finally reached the entrance of the said village. I even crossed my fingers and silently pleaded to the deities above that our covers will not be blown or it will be the end of our search for the temple.

As we entered Ziv Village, several houses made of stone were the ones that greeted us that I assume are homes of the villagers. I asked Baal here where to locate Deity Roku's temple, and I was alarmed by his answer.

"Ziv Village seems different now than before. I'm afraid I might have forgotten the way to the temple." he said. Mine and Aurora's eyes widened automatically upon hearing that.

And so it came to this point that I planned another way for us to locate the temple.

"So here's the plan..." I said while whispering to Aurora, who is my only comrade here. "We gather information from the villagers about the location of Deity Roku's temple, so that means we need to separate ways Aurora."

"Okay!" she agreed enthusiastically.

"Once done, we go back here to the entrance by sunset." These are my final words before me and Aurora parted ways.

With Trash resting on my right shoulder once more and Baal on my right palm, I decided to take the left route and started asking villagers about the temple's location.

To my disappointment though, after spending almost an hour of asking the villagers regarding the whereabouts of the temple, I wasn't able to get even a single clue from them. It's as if they don't even actually care about that anymore.

I can't believe it! If Jade's words back then were true, then these people from Ziv Village don't actually recall the good deeds that our ancestors had done to their kind, several decades or centuries ago before this whole Witch Hunt started. They don't value the importance of temples anymore.

I immediately got tired of all that walking I made since I arrived here. Good thing I spotted a vacant wooden bench which is slightly covered in snow. I brushed off the snow with my hands before resting my whole body there.

As I was silently observing villagers from here, the atmosphere around me suddenly went from being calm to being tense. The villagers who were once doing their thing outside of their houses became frantic and hurriedly went their way towards their homes.

"Warning! Citadel Soldiers are on their way now. Please go to your respective homes and do not go outside until they leave the village!"

An old, frail man shouts in the middle of the street in the intention to give warning to these villagers, caught up my attention.

Wait, what did he say? I can't believe that my path with these Citadel Soldiers will still cross even at this place!

"You!" I was startled to see the old man pointing his index finger at my direction while looking sternly at me which caused me to stand automatically.

"What are you doing here, sitting all alone? Go home already! It's not safe!" he warned and swung his arms to his right in a preaching manner. Maybe he assumes I'm a resident here as well.

"Uh, I don't have a home nor acquaintances here." I responded. The old man rubs the back of his head before looking at me again.

"Alright, you can stay at my house until the soldiers leave the village." he unwillingly says.

I don't actually want to stay in a stranger's place but I don't have any other choices either. I was startled as he grabs for my wrist and drags me towards his house in such a hurry. Well, I guess this is a good idea to stay away from these soldiers for the meantime.

As soon as we entered his house, he immediately let go of me and closed the door.

"May I ask what's going on around here?" I curiously asked.

"Huh? Didn't you know?" he asked back. I shook my head .

"Very well then. Perhaps you're an adventurer or something."

I noticed him grab for a wooden chair first and took a seat before he continued to speak.

"Today is the day where Citadel Soldiers are meeting our village chief to collect our tax we owe to the government. " Then his face shifts to a sad one "I understand that we need to pay our taxes, but I feel so sorry for our village."

"We are already struggling to survive ever since our fishing industry faced out due to lack of fishes in the sea for over several years now. So the only source of our income right now is from making and selling ice to different cities and towns."

Truth be told, I also noticed the lack of stores in this village. Everywhere I turn my head into, poverty is very visible from this place. And to think that they need to pay a certain amount of tax to the government? That's cruel!

I know that I shouldn't be meddling with mortals' problems and just focus on my main goal for now, but then I suddenly felt the urge to help these poor villagers of Ziv... to free them from bondage.

Speaking of which, from where I am currently standing, I saw five soldiers from Citadel who just came to pass by here through these small windows of this old man's house. As soon as they're already out of sight, I walked towards the old man.

"If it's okay with you, I'll be leaving my pet kitten and bunny in your care for now, I'll be going outside for a while then afterwards I'll pick them up." I pleaded. That surprised the old man.

After I placed Baal and Trash on top of his rectangular wooden table, I quickly headed towards the door without waiting for the old man's response.

I ran my way, searching for the village chief and it didn't take that long for me to look around since I immediately spotted those five soldiers standing in front of a short old man. I decided to hide first behind a stone house while I waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

There are only five of them. With the amount of magic skills I have, I'm sure I won't even break a sweat defeating them.

"What the hell is this? Is this all you've got?!" I heard one soldier shouted as he snatched a bag of coins from the chief.

"It didn't even reach half of what you should pay to the government!" that same soldier shouted as he scans what's inside that bag.

That jerk! My hands formed into a fist as I witnessed this unbearable scene before my eyes right now.

"I'm so sorry. That's all that we got for now. Our ice business isn't paying us that much." the chief responded while his eyes are glued on the ground.

"Oh yes, you'll be sorry for what you've done. Since you haven't paid the exact amount we needed, prepare yourselves as we send a battalion of our troops and wipe out your entire village!" the soldier threatened. The chief immediately looked up at him and tried to plead to spare their village.

Okay, that's it! I have enough! I can't stand to look at this helpless old man being threatened by these good for nothing soldiers!

"Is your government that poor for you to threaten a helpless little village such as this?" All eyes are now on me as soon as I decided to reveal myself to them.

"And who are you-- HEY I KNOW YOU!" I saw a hint of recognition in that jerk's eyes as he looked at me.

Of course it's natural for him to know me. After all, I'm that only witch who dares to conceal her identity and has the guts to attend to the palace ball.

"Y-you're that witch-"

"Yup, the one and only!" I immediately cut him off.

I instantly switched into my fighting stance and raised my hand upwards, which caused a ray of white light to emit from it. Soon enough, it formed into a tangible silver-carved wand which is now visible in my right hand.

"And I'll only say this once... Leave the village NOW!"