Black Witch, Death Mage by A.S. Etaski

Author:A.S. Etaski [Etaski, A.S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: erotica
Publisher: Corpus~Nexus Press
Published: 2020-12-05T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Even with the advantage of a Human bua’s face for a quarter of the day, I did not try to be seen in the woods. There were men working despite the fires last night, or maybe because of them, cutting down trees with axes and doing other things. I avoided them where I could, though the one place I could not was the wooden bridge leading to the other bank.

Barely pausing long enough to scrub dirt over the old blood on the spade, I rested it on my shoulder and pulled down my hood. My eyes watered immediately, the aching growing worse as I left the shade, calmly walking toward the bridge with purpose enough that I hoped I would not be stopped.

Just a boy and his tool.

The bridge was sturdy and required about thirty paces to reach the other side. The flowing river underneath caught the Sun and blinded me with its unpredictable reflections. I had to close my eyes to finish crossing. My boots touched soft bank grass when a voice called.

“Oi, kid! Hol’ up there!”

Sigh.

I turned my head toward him like a sighted Human would, though all my impressions were by his stride, direction, and proximity, with an unhelpful blur of brown among the green. I estimated he was about as tall as Brom and strong enough.

“Whatcha doin’ out here?” He paused when I took a step back. “Why’re you crying?”

I wiped my cheeks and lowered my voice, guessing how a half-grown male Human might sound. “I stay at the inn. I look for the Dwarf living in the woods. Can you tell the way?”

He turned his head like he pointed an ear at me; he chuckled softly. “Voice cracking, eh?”

“Mm,” I grunted, not grasping the meaning, only that my unpracticed attempt had been rough. I focused on the ground but kept his limbs in my periphery; I would see him move and could react quickly if he did.

“Hm,” he responded. “Lost someone tah Witch Hunters last night?”

I nodded, eyes watering and not trusting myself to speak too much. “Lost.”

“Gotcha. Yeah, maybe she can tell yer fortune.”

She? Rithal was visiting a female Dwarf?

The axe man turned and pointed East. “The place is about an hour’s walk in. Look for a mound wit’ a single hawthorn tree up top.”

“Ah, I’m city, uhm,” I tried.

“Don’ recognize a hawthorn?”

“No.”

“Huh, yeah, you sound it. Awright, it’s got black trunks, more than one twisted around each other, lots of crooked arms spreading out wide. Leaves make a broad canopy up top, an’ this time of year might have white flowers.” It sounded like he was grinning. “It has thorns, close up. Known for haw berries and thorns. Hawthorn.”

Astonishing. I got most of that, and a lone tree like that on a mound should be recognizable even with my poor daylight vision. “Does she require a gift?”

“Heard the tales, huh? Eh, Osgrid’s a cranky medicine woman, it can’t hurt. Tell ya, though, good thing she wasn’t visitin’ town last night. Witch Hunters been lookin’ for her before.

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