Chapter 40

Elvira walked with Wivior hand in hand. Walking in front of them were the little girl and her mother. A dense forest and a circular lake glittering with the golden light of the setting sun were ahead. They had been walking for a while in silence.

She eyeballed the mother, who seemed too relaxed for someone about to lock her small child in a cage. Maybe it had become an everyday chore for her. 

Her focus shifted towards the little girl, skipping and singing merrily without a single worry in the world. The innocent child constantly tried to beat her mother's pace. Elvira couldn't help but wonder who had cursed the child. Was it because of another human's malicious intent? Or perhaps a witch or a warlock had taught her family a lesson?

"You look tensed," said Wivior, massaging her fingers. "Maybe this is too much for you. I wouldn't have asked you to come, but I wanted you to see. And I also wanted to spend more time with you before leaving."

"I am glad you asked me to come. I wanted to see this," said Elvira.

He brought her hand close to his mouth and planted a big, soft kiss on it. "We'll be there soon. I am here to protect you, so don't be scared."

She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. She couldn't get enough of him. Everything he did or said drew her towards him: his smell, handsome dimpled smile, intense gaze, the sweet words his perfect mouth uttered, and the fiery touch of his hands and lips. All of that caused indescribable emotions in her. It already felt like they were in a relationship, making being attracted to him no longer feel wrong. 

They reached the thick rainforest with tall evergreen trees. Elvira was a little surprised to see a clear dirt path in what seemed to be a densely packed forest. She concluded it to be a work of magic or some serious hard work from the humans.

The sun was close to setting, and the forest was even darker. Tall trees growing close together blocked most of the sun's natural light. The child's mother was carrying a lamp. Wivior helped to further illuminate their path by letting out some dazzling white energy from his other hand.

Elvira wondered how a human child was comfortable spending the night alone in such an eerie forest. The overhanging intertwined tree limbs that looked like skeletons in the dark were enough to scare a small child.

In the deep woods, the spirits dwelled, and witches conjured ominous spells. However, as a witch, she wasn't afraid of it. Her fear was getting ambushed by a mob of humans, who could tie her down, kill her by chopping her into small parts, and then dispose of her remains by burning them. That was a possibility, but her greatest fear had always been running into wizards.

With that thought, it felt uncomfortable to be holding the hand of a wizard. Her thoughts instantly jumped to her spirit friend, Charlotte. She was carrying Elvira's message to her uncle Eldritch. How would Charlotte react if she discovered Elvira's feelings for a wizard?

She let Wivior's hand go and folded her arms.

"What happened?" he asked, but she didn't know what to say.

"We're here," said the mother. "Would you help me out?"

"Of course," said Wivior.

Elvira was so lost in her head that she didn't even realize where they were. A small forest clearing was in front of her with something astounding. There was a towering metal cage with thick, closely packed rods. The unusual thing was its gigantic size. Its height was more than the tall forest trees, and its width was enough to fit an entire village. What kind of beast did the little girl transform into?

The woman stood there holding the lamp while Wivior opened the metal door, about the size of a regular human. The little girl walked inside, and her mother locked it shut with three different locks. Once she finished locking her up, she thanked Wivior and walked out of there with the lamp.

Wivior created a brilliant light source for them by gathering a ball of magical energy from his hands and releasing it into the air. It was glittering with an iridescent light and floated sluggishly over them. The forest trees looked magical and non-threatening in their rainbow light.

"Wow, that was amazing!" the girl jumped in joy. "How did you do that?"

"It's magic. I am a wizard, little one," said Wivior.

The child smiled. Her eyes followed the ball of energy everywhere. "Can I touch it?" 

"Of course." Wivior directed the floating ball of magical energy towards her. It squished through the space between the metal bars and stopped where she could reach it. The child attempted to catch it, but her hands just went through it.

"This is Abigail," said Wivior to Elvira. "She is seven years old and was cursed around a year and a half ago."

"Does she know about it?" asked Elvira.

Wivior took Elvira farther from the cage. "To some extent. She loses consciousness when she turns into a beast, so she has no recollection of it. Her mother instructed her to sleep in a locked cage for protection from witches."

"What's the actual story?" 

"Her father, a former prince, unknowingly had an affair with a witch. When he found out, he commanded that beast to get lost. However, she was infuriated and warned him she would destroy his life if he abandoned her. He was scared of people finding out, so he threw her out of his city," said Wivior.

"And?" 

"They don't know how the witch cursed his daughter. The very first time the daughter transformed into a horrendous beast, she ate her father alive. His father, the king, banished his widow and the cursed child from his lands after his son's loss, and so after traveling a lot, they came here for a cure."

Elvira felt sorry for them, but she wasn't shocked at all. She had seen so many witches and warlocks with fragile egos who liked to misuse their power. 

"That is awful!" Elvira looked at the innocent child, chasing the iridescent ball of energy in circles.

"I know. But what else can you expect from a witch? Elvira, I care about you, so please don't go near a witch or a warlock. They are the most sinister creatures on earth!" Wivior pleaded.

It felt like a knife went straight through her heart to see how badly he still thought about her kind. She needed to say something to change that!

"I know they can be. My father allowed a couple of witches in our home when I was a teenager. He had taken an interest in the dark arts to gain power and conquer more land. The leader of that group of witches was dreadful, like what you imagine them to be, and the others weren't any better. However, I found out that one of them was quite different."

"Different, how?" Wivior spoke skeptically.

"Uh, she told me she didn't like the witch's way and planned on quitting. She wasn't brutal at heart," Elvira spoke her truth.

Wivior's eyebrows shot up, showing utter disbelief. "Really? She could be lying to you."

"She meant it! I can almost guarantee that!" Elvira began. "One day, she came to me, saying she was running away to begin a new life free of sins. Then, she asked me if she was a monster because she doesn't hurt anyone anymore and has started helping others to compensate for her past sins?"

Elvira at least had all his attention, which was a good start. "I told her that monsters are made, not born. So, as long as she is on the right path, it doesn't matter who she is. What do you think? Was I right to say that?"

"Of course," said Wivior hesitantly. "As long as she wanted to do that, I don't think she deserved to be a monster. However, I am quite surprised that she wanted to change. That way, she could lose all of her family and friends. I wonder what made her change her mind?"

"I know the answer to that. She was never comfortable with the ways of her people. Then, meeting a nice man helped her change her perspective completely," Elvira responded cleverly.

"That is indeed one lucky man!" Wivior commented. "Did she tell you where she was going? I want to meet her."

"Uh, no, she didn't!" 

"You can't catch the magic!" Abigail, the little girl's utterly disappointed voice distracted them. "Can you two come here?"

"Sure." Wivior turned to Elvira before moving. "I would like to hear more about that witch. Maybe we would be able to track her down."

"Why? Why? What do you want to do to her? Capture her?" 

Wivior chuckled. "No! I want to learn about her. Maybe learning about witchcraft and magic might help the people of our world."

"Are you two coming?" shouted the girl.

"Yes!" Wivior took Elvira's hand and walked towards the cage.

The girl was sitting on the floor, uninterested in the sparkling ball. Wivior directed the magical ball of energy out of the cage, and it began floating in the air like before.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Abigail.

"Yes, of course. Ask as many as you like," said Wivior.

The girl's face lit up with excitement. "Really? Mother never allows many questions."

"Are unicorns real? Can you turn me into a mouse? And why do you suck this lady's face? I saw you doing that again outside our hut."

Wivior laughed. It was an awkward laugh mixed with amusement. "You'll understand it when you grow up."

The girl further bombarded him with more questions about magic, the world, and other peculiar stuff. Some of them were annoying, but he provided an answer to each one of them in a calm manner.

Elvira just watched him talk to her in silence. He was a good man, and she was glad she got to know his positive opinion about a witch ready to change through her silly made-up story.

There was hope in their relationship, after all. They could finally be together if she slowly revealed to him that she was the witch in love with him and ready to change. Wait, did she say love? She didn't know for sure if it was love that she felt for him, but she was indeed ready to change for him.

"It's so sad that you can't fly. Can you make me fly?" asked Abigail.

"I can lift you off the ground, but it wouldn't be too high, and you require your mother's permission for that," Wivior said.

"She'll never say yes..." The girl fell to the ground in the middle of speaking. Her body began trembling badly while her eyes were still closed.

"It's happening," said Wivior.

Her skin turned black, and her body began to expand. Within a few seconds, she was triple her size. Her clothes tore into pieces. Thick scales grew on her body, and big sharp spikes emerged from her spine. Her once cute face was gone. Elvira wasn't even sure what creature she was looking at.

"Let's go," said Wivior. He took her hand and began to walk away, but she wouldn't move a muscle as she couldn't take her eyes off it. The girl was growing by the second.

A ferocious roar came out of the girl's mouth. It was so powerful that it made the trees tremble, and they had to cover their ears. 

"We need to leave now! You shouldn't see this. It's going to get worse!" said Wivior.

"I want to see what she'll become!" Elvira insisted.

Wivior grabbed her waist, and the last thing she saw was a pair of gigantic golden eyes burning like balls of fire looking directly at her before they teleported out of there and landed in front of their hut.