What the Witch Knew

For a few hours I sat in the kitchen rocking the baby by myself. Every once and awhile Svanhildr would come out to grab a jar or herbs from her shelves before going back to Lariss. One time I did open my mouth to ask how it was going, but her glare kept me quiet. Another time she handed me a bunch of herbs and told me to eat them, all they did was taste extremely bitter.

The entire time I had to keep myself from humming the Song. I tried to hum other songs, even a few of my favorites from Earth, but it was so insidious that every tune changed to the Song. Not only did I want Svanhildr to finish so that I'd know that Lariss would be okay, I also wanted her to remove it from my head as well.

Sometime after midnight she joined me in the kitchen.

"She's going to live." Svanhildr said.

"Was there another possibility?" Lariss didn't seem that bad.

"I guess I should clarify that she'll remain herself. There'll be some memory loss related to the time you two spent in the woods, but she'll remain herself. Those who had heard the Song years ago lost who they were and became…."

"A mound of flesh?" She nodded.

"Things like this would have been good to know before we went to the source of the problem." I said.

"Those of us that remained thought it better if the knowledge that the Song even existed died with us. It was curiosity that brought it into existence to begin with." She said.

"Is that how Tirigianald found the Song, curiosity?" I asked.

"Why don't you tell me everything that happened and I'll fill you in where I can? There is some knowledge that should be forgotten." She said.

"I don't mind telling you about our adventure but could you take out what's in my head. Or I can sing it for you if you'd like, it really is a good Song." The strain of keeping it at bay was getting to me.

Without a word she placed her hand on the side of head and began to pray to the different Spirits of the forest; The Great Tree, the Great Stone, the Great Lake, the Great Wolf, the Great Hawk, and the Great Hare. Part of me fought it unintentionally. It didn't want to let go despite knowing the harm that keeping these memories would lead to.

"You're lucky your spirit is so strong. If the two of you had succumbed, neither of you would have made it out." She said.

"Wait, that's it? You took hours with Lariss." It had been about 30 minutes.

"The corruption in you was surface level, you resisted a little but your spirit helped push forward what needed to be removed. With Lariss it was much deeper. I didn't have to just cleanse the corruption, I had to fight and even rebuild parts of her spirit. It'll take a few weeks for her to fully recover. Now, tell me what happened." She had pulled out a bottle of wine and two cups for us.

Over the course of the next few hours I related what happened to us since we entered the forest. Part way through the baby became fussy, Svanhildr took her and began breast feeding her. I didn't ask how she started to lactate out of nowhere. The only part I left out was anything related to Earth. I hated to admit it but I was relieved when Svanhildr said Lariss would have memory loss. It meant that I could possibly avoid trying to explain my previous life to her.

Over the course of the tale, Svandhildr gave some commentary and answered a few questions I had. She found Aspasia annoying and said that was how most priestesses of the Holy Light were, full of themselves. Hearing that the Spirit Stone was alive and now uncorrupted brought a smile to her face, even if a Holy Light priestess was responsible. The blue haired woman that taught us the Song resembled Hildavanar, a water nymph that was of the witch bloodline from the Spirit of the Lake on the northern side of the forest.

When she heard that the entity in yellow used Lariss' mother against her she mumbled 'poor child.' Her expression darkened when she heard about the creature in the cave using straw golems. If that ability was related to a witch's bloodline, then it was possible that creature was related to Svanhildr in some way.

When I got to killing the abomination that was once Tirigianald, she stopped me and placed her hand on my chest.

"I thought it was just residual energy from being in the forest, but this won't just fade in time. Do you still have that core?" She said.

"It's in my Storage Ring." I replied.

"Well take care of it once you're done telling me what happened. Might as well learn if there's anything I'll need to take care of all at once." She said.

I related how I broke free from the dream and how I defeated the entity in yellow. Then I told her how the Spirit Tree opened up and gave us the baby.

"I could tell something was special about you." She said to the baby. "I'll take care of and make sure you know everything there is about being a witch."

After I was done, she told me to follow her outside and she brought a few implements with her. The straw effigies were in different positions but weren't currently fighting monsters. Passing the barn she brought me to a large boulder with a shallow bowl on the top.

"Take off your clothes and sit up there." I raised an eyebrow but she gave me a look that told me there would be no questions and no delay. There was enough trust between us that I followed her orders. With the baby in one arm, she began a cleansing ritual. Oil was poured on my head and she then summoned a small cloud to rain on me. That was followed by a few chants and the burning of herbs.

When she was finished a pain that I hadn't even realized was there left my arms and chest. She then had me pull out the corrupted core with a sacred cloth in my hands. While I held it she poured some oil on it along with the ashes from the herbs she had burned. That was followed by wrapping twine around it a few dozen times. It was impressive how good she was at performing the ritual while holding a child. I nearly dropped Jennifer and Max a few times when I tried to work and tend to them.

In the end she had me wrap the cloth around it and place it in one of the spare Storage Rings by itself.

"If I had another sister or two, I'd be able to fully eradicate this thing. Unfortunately it would take too long to get someone here and it doesn't belong in this world. It will be best for you to take it to the cathedral of the Holy Light in Torinheim. The archbishop there will have enough attendants of sufficient strength to take care of it." She seemed to be trying to convince herself of her chosen course of action.

"Thank you." I said.

"There's no need for that. You're the one that needs to be thanked. I never thought the source of the corruption would ever be removed and more importantly you kept Lariss alive. If you ever need something that's within my power, I'll give it to you." She said.

"Be careful what you say. I have a feeling that in the future I'll be looking back on the difficulty of this quest with fondness." She gave me a nice laugh.

It was near dawn when we went back into the house and she filled me in on what happened over 50 years ago.

"I was just a child when all of this happened so most of what I'm about to tell you is second hand. Your own tale also answered a few questions I had about the past. I'll also need your word that you won't speak about this to anyone, even Lariss. Knowledge of the Song even existing could cause someone to look into it." She said.

"Aren't you scared that I might get curious about what you took from my mind?" I said.

"You're curious but I don't think you're obsessive. You'll understand why even knowing the true origin of the corruption would only open the way for its return." She said.

I gave her my word that I wouldn't repeat anything that she was about to tell me without good reason.

"Tirigianald had been a respected travelling bard around the forest and was gaining popularity in the northern province in general. He wanted a song that would captivate any audience, one that he could play in the royal court and be showered in riches for its existence. His desire was so great that it started to come to him in a dream.

"He was very close to the witch Hildavanar and would sing little snippets that he was working on to her. Then one day he told her that he wouldn't sing any more of it until it was complete, that it was a true masterpiece from beyond the stars, he told her.

"A concert was arranged in the central village and everyone of importance in the forest came. All of the witches other than Hildavanar realized there was something wrong and tried to stop him from finishing his song but it was too late. The audience was under its influence and wouldn't let him stop, some even joined him in singing.

"They protected who they could and set up the seven ritual spots to contain what was coming. You see, the Song has two purposes. It destroys the mind of those who hear, causing them to sing it and it summons that true writer of the Song. Even though they had sealed the main force of the corruption, they couldn't keep it from spreading. The forest fell quickly after it started.

"Knowing that the Song could spread like a virulent disease, those that survived vowed to never speak of it and told a slightly different version of events. The first decade after the forest fell, they kept a look out for any news of the Song spreading but by Spirit's Blessing, they didn't hear anything about it getting out.

"Eventually they all went into the forest's heart to finish what they started. The few that returned over the years shared what they had learned before gathering others to head back in. Lariss' father was the only one of those that survived the start of all this that is still alive and that's because he gave up and left." She finished.

"I understand not wanting to say anything about the Song but some of this would have been good to know before going in." I said.

She let out a sigh. "I can see that now. I had thought you knew everything you needed to complete the task without touching on knowledge that could lead to a greater disaster. We had learned that the source of the corruption couldn't stay long in this world. The ritual sites that had kept it from spreading beyond the forest in the beginning were now keeping it from leaving this world. So I told Lariss that all she needed to do was cleanse or destroy the ritual sites."

"Well, everything worked out in the end. I think it's time I got some rest." I said.

"If you want I can give you something that will let you sleep without dreams." She said.

"I'd like that."

**End of Forest of Dreams Arc**