Never Cross a Witch
"Damn, something's gone wrong!" Grayson glanced over his shoulder, lifted Elyra above his head to sit on his neck, and hurriedly strode out of the cave toward Morven and Seraphine.
By the time he found them, they were crouching beside Katheren, who sat on the ground in agony, not far from a bisected venomous snake. Her calf bore the marks of a snakebite, oozing blood.
"Elyra!" Seraphine exclaimed, relieved, opening her arms for the little girl. Elyra placed her hands on Grayson's head, stood up on his shoulders, and leaped into Seraphine's embrace. The guardian enveloped the little one in her arms and tenderly kissed her delicate cheeks.
"What happened?" Taking advantage of Elyra's jump to Seraphine, Grayson squatted next to Morven, who was treating Katheren's wound, and asked what had transpired.
"We were untying Katheren when a venomous snake dropped from the cave ceiling and bit her calf," Morven explained, tearing open her trouser leg to reveal the bleeding punctures surrounded by purpling flesh.
"We need to tie off her leg!" Grayson tore his robe into strips, binding the area above the wound tightly, then reassured Katheren, "Don't be scared, sweetheart. You'll be fine. We need to squeeze out the venom, which might sting a bit. Just bear with it."
Katheren nodded weakly, biting down on a piece of cloth Grayson handed her. Grayson nodded to Morven, who pinched and pressed around the bite, forcing out the toxic blood. Katheren's body shook violently in pain, her consciousness teetering on the brink.
"Flush the wound!" Grayson instructed Seraphine, who directed a stream of water from her fingertips over the bite, washing away the blackened venom.
Elyra, observing Katheren's painful expression, tiptoed to her side and gently wiped the sweat from her brow. She twirled her hands, casting a mesmerizing purple glow over Katheren's face, which eased her expression into peaceful repose.
"What are you doing, little one?" Grayson turned at the sight and reached out to stop Elyra, who quickly stepped back, retracting her hand.
Katheren's face was now serene, as if asleep, her head lolling to one side.
"It's just a little hypnosis!" Elyra said innocently, pouting at the trio. Grayson, Morven, and Seraphine exchanged a look and smiled. "Good girl," they said in unison.
The hypnotized Katheren was spared the pain as they finished tending to her wound. Yet, for Grayson and his companions, the matter was far from simple. They couldn't completely neutralize the venom, and a proper antidote was needed to save Katheren's leg.
"We'll leave this place and look for a cure along the way!"
Grayson lifted Katheren onto Morven's back, while Elyra, now a little owl, perched on Grayson's shoulder. They left the serpent den hastily, with Seraphine covering their retreat.
Outside, the battle between the snowmen and serpent-men raged on, the ground littered with bodies and blood. Cautiously circumventing the fray, they progressed swiftly towards the valley's exit. But as they neared, a thunderous battle cry erupted ahead.
"Why would snowmen and serpent-men be fighting out here?"
Grayson scanned the battlefield at the mouth of the valley, finding it odd that snowmen would traverse the serpent den to reach them.
"Perhaps other snowmen tribes have come from another direction to aid them!"
Overwhelmed by the cacophony, Morven eyed the chaotic scene, "We need to get past this. Once their fight is over, we'll be in trouble."
Searching for another path and finding none, Grayson noted the valley's lower elevation and was struck with an idea.
"Seraphine, I believe the power of the sea god can clear a path for us!"
Understanding his intent, Seraphine stepped forward. Her sea-blue eyes focused on the valley's battlefield as she transformed into a mermaid, perched atop a surging wave.
With her staff glowing brilliantly, a protective water film enveloped Grayson and Morven. Seraphine's chant, a resonant symphony of tidal forces, summoned a colossal wave that swept through the valley entrance.
Standing atop the roaring surge, Seraphine, flanked by Grayson and Morven, directed the unstoppable tidal force. It crashed through the valley, engulfing the embattled snowmen and serpent-men.
Caught off guard, they were swept from the valley, tumbling over the snowy plains until the wave dissipated into the vast, white expanse.
As they descended from the wave's crest, the trio looked back at the cleared valley, now a scene of devastation, stripped of snow and revealing the rare sight of brown earth.
"It reminds me of a proverb," Grayson said with a cryptic smile. "Never steal peas from a witch's garden, no matter how sweet or sour her disposition."
"I'm the sweet little witch that only steals peas from others' gardens!" the owl hooted, flapping its wings by Grayson's ear. He chuckled silently and set off toward the plains with his sword on his back.
Morven and Seraphine, amused by the owl's chatter, glanced at Katheren, still under Seraphine's spell. After adjusting the bindings to maintain blood flow, they resumed their journey.
For over an hour, they trekked across the snow-covered wasteland without finding any herbs to counteract the venom. Beneath the thick snow lay only cold, hard ground, devoid of any vegetation.
"This doesn't bode well," Grayson said, returning to Morven's side and examining Katheren's wound, which showed no signs of improvement.
"We should attempt to contact the knightly order. Duglas mentioned they'd monitor us through gargoyles. We should entrust Katheren to them so Andros can have her sent to the Mage Tower. The grand magicians will surely have a way to save her," Seraphine suggested, backed by Morven's agreement.
Grayson, skeptical, looked up at the clear sky. "Even if we wanted to, where are those damned gargoyles? Where are we supposed to find them?"
Just then, Elyra, who had been digging playfully in the snow, suddenly took flight with a panic-stricken cry of "Monsters!" She darted behind Grayson for cover.
The three adults turned to see a creature radiating blue energy rising from a puff of white smoke, its presence alone commanding attention.