The Old Woman

When Haze finished eating, he got to his feet again.

"Let's go", He told Elena.

"You have to rest to let your ability develop", Elena protested. "I know you think it's something you can just power through but it's not. If you don't rest, your body will overload and you will collapse on the journey".

Haze reluctantly sat back down, laid his back on the tree and closed his eyes to sleep.

"What are you doing?", Elena asked him.

Haze opened one eye. "Trying to sleep"

"Like that?", She asked.

Haze nodded and closed his eye again. He was drifting slowly to sleep when Elena talked again, waking him up.

"I'm cold", She said suddenly.

Haze gritted his teeth together. "What do want me to do about it?"

"You failed to bring wood for the fire", She replied.

"I'm sorry", Haze replied through gritted teeth. "Now be quiet and let us sleep".

"I can't sleep without warmth", She said

"There's no fire, unfortunately", Haze replied.

"I'll have to use your body then", Elena said and Haze let out a heavy sigh.

He should have known that was what she driving at, the little perv.

"I don't think that would be possible, I want to sleep this way", He replied.

"Please, I'm really cold", She begged. "I think i'll freeze to death".

Haze sighed and went to sit in front of her. He wanted to lie down but she stopped him.

"It's my back that's cold", She purred.

Haze gritted his teeth like he wanted to say something but he controlled himself and stood up, he went behind her and laid down.

Elena snuggled closer to him till their bodies were basically sandwiched together. "Hmm that feels better already".

Haze wondered what on earth he'd done to deserve such terrible luck.

Haze's mind might have disliked being there but his body had a different reaction altogether.

Elena let out a low chuckle when she felt it.

"Someone's excited to be here", She purred.

"Shut up!", Haze snapped and willed himself to sleep.

The exhaustion of the day soon caught up to him and he fell into deep sleep.

When they woke up in the morning, Haze felt better and strong enough to walk, he also realized his sense of smell had grown stronger and he could perceive all kinds of scents now.

"This must be the wolf's superpower", He thought.

Elena was still asleep, somehow during the night she had crawled near him and rested her head on his shoulder.

He tapped her to wake her up.

When she woke, she looked at him with groggy eyes before she collected herself and saw that it was morning already.

"Good morning", She said and yawned.

"Good morning", He greeted back. "We need to start moving now".

"Right", She said and pecked him on the cheek before pulling away from him.

They walked through the forest in silence with relative ease, only stopping at sunset to eat some more.

They finished the last of their supplies and Haze knew their next meal would have to be hunted. He couldn't store the wolf he killed yesterday because there was no fire to heat it and prevent it from spoiling, Haze wondered if one could even eat monster meat.

"Elena", He called.

"Yes cousin?", She replied.

"Are monster meat edible?"

"Every living thing is edible", She replied matter-of-factly.

"And there are no side effects to eating them?", He asked.

"None that I know of", She replied.

"Alright then, let's hope another beast attacks us soon", Haze said.

However, they did not encounter any beast on their journey and by night, Haze was hungry.

"I think we need to hunt", Haze said as they walked.

Elena rubbed her growling stomach. "I second that".

"How are we going to hunt in this forest? I've never hunted before", Haze wondered aloud.

"Use your sense of smell idiot", The voice in his head told him.

So Haze began to sniff the air, looking for a scent, any scent that indicated a living being. He soon found one and started walking in the direction.

"Hey wait for me!", Elena called and jogged after him.

They didn't walk for too long when they stumbled across an old woman standing in the middle of the road, she had two full baskets and obviously couldn't carry them at once.

Haze sniffed again and sure enough, this was the scent his nose caught earlier.

"Hi there kids", The woman said with a trembling wave, she smiled and Haze could see there were gaps in teeth, some had obviously fallen off.

"What are you doing all alone here in the middle of the road this late?", He asked her.

"I've been moving these baskets", The woman said and smiled again. "But I got tired".

"How did you move two baskets at once by yourself?", Haze but Elena elbowed him in the rib.

"Be nice", She said and turned to the old woman.

"Sorry about that ma'am, maybe we could help you take them to your house".

The woman smiled. "That would be helpful, thank you".

Elena went to pick a basket and shot Haze a look that said 'better pick that basket now or else'.

Haze sighed and picked up the second basket.

They helped the woman carry the baskets till they got to her house. On the way, Haze kept grilling her about who she was and she told them all she could about each question.

She was a witch from a small village near the River Oynx, she ran away with her lover and came to settle in her current house, they lived together for sixty two years before he passed peacefully in his sleep.

Haze asked her if she knew the Queen of witches but her voice grew hard and she said she disliked her, apparently she was a rival witch coven and they were rivals once.

When they dropped the baskets, they wanted to leave but the woman begged them to stay for supper at least, she owed them that much.

Haze refused and wanted to leave so they could go hunt and continue their journey but Elena accepted.

The woman smiled and told them to follow her in.

"What are you doing?!", Haze whispered to Elena as they walked in.

"She's just a harmless old woman, what could go wrong?", Elena replied with a shrug.

"I've learnt not to trust people, few good people exist in this world", Haze replied.

"Then trust her food, and trust the beds we'll sleep on tonight", Elena snapped.

The woman told them to sit in the living room and dissapeared into the kitchen, the sound of pans and plates clanging together filled the house. She sang as she cooked for them, short catchy songs that emphasized her old yet beautiful voice.

Twenty minutes later she came out with three plates of broth and bread, she gave the two of them plates and sat with them. She regaled them with different stories of her life as they ate and Haze had to admit this was way better than whatever they would have eaten out there in the forest.

After the food they talked late into the night before the old woman began to feel sleepy, she told them she wanted to spend the night, which Elena graciously accepted.

The old woman directed them to a room and pointed to the single bed in the center of the room. They thanked her and she retired to her room.

Normally Haze would not sleep but for some reason, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Haze's eyes suddenly snapped open, his nose had picked up a weird scent in the room. He moved only his eyes so as to not draw attention to himself, he saw the intruder and it was the old woman, she crept towards Elena who was closest to the door. She glanced at Haze to see if he was still asleep and Haze quickly shut his eyes.

Satisfied, she raised her hand and Haze saw a dagger in it. Haze reached for his sword at the same time she brought her hand down to strike Elena.

Haze blocked her dagger with his sword.

"You old hag!" He shouted.

The old woman raised her hands in surrender.

Elena sat and looked at the event unfolding in front of her.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted". Haze said. "No one can be trusted".

"Why did you try to kill me?" Elena asked.

"Oh don't be so naive". The old woman said. Regardless of coven, all witches stick together. She smiled showing her teeth. "I know you plan to kill the Queen of witches and I tried to speed up the inevitable".

Haze pressed the sword against her neck. "What's inevitable?"

"Your death". She said with a vicious smile. She then stopped smiling. "How did you react so fast to my presence, you seemed be ready for me."

Haze nodded. "I don't trust anyone, especially a stranger I just met in the middle of the forest. It was all too convenient, you having two baskets that you couldn't carry, how come you were able to carry it to that point?" He asked.

"I felt it was a setup but we needed food so I played along." He continued. "Islept away from the door and made sure I slept on my back only so I'd be able to see the room from all angles, the I kept my hand on my sword throughout my sleep."

"I see, you're very smart at least." The woman said. "Well, if you're going to kill me this is the time for it, I'm tired of standing".

"I'll send the Queen of witches to meet you soon". Haze said and pushed the sword into her neck.

The old woman sputtered and coughed up blood, then she sagged down, she was dead.

[1 kill made]

[+2 status points]