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Chapter 89: Lost and Found
Vanya tumbled through the opaque darkness. Sightless, panting, and steadily running low on the adrenaline that had carried her down one tunnel and then another. She was still underground that much her sense could tell her. The cool, sometimes clammy walls vibrated beneath her dirt-filled fingernails as she pressed her palm over the surface and listened to the tall tale footsteps of her pursuers not far behind.
The blind Witch Hunter shut out the noise and focused instead on the magic trails that had guided her this far. A wave of tunnels that formed this underground maze flickered into view like a map printed behind her eyes. One by one, the options before her faded until a single path lit by a purple hue flashed as if beckoning her to follow.
Vanya let out a faltering growl of frustration and forced her limbs to move. One hand on the wall to guide her, the other loosely outstretched to avoid colliding with any obstacles. Her new form of sight wasn’t perfect, but as long as she maintained a connection to the magically lit tunnel, Vanya knew which way to go. Panic quickly overrode her unease and caution as the footsteps of at least four cannibal witches closed in behind her.
‘I can’t go on like this for much longer. I don’t even know who or what is guiding me.’
The pain building behind her eyes, burning beneath her skin like coals melting inside her skulls, was unbearable. As Vanya’s initial burst of adrenaline and shock wore off, the pain bit harder, causing her to stumble more than once as she tried to keep at least one hand on the wall beside her.
Tremors hummed through the earth around her, filled with spirals of pale light that pulsed at the same rhythm as the Witch Hunter’s frantic heartbeat. Vanya ignored them as the glowing tunnel ahead spiraled upwards towards another tunnel. Stairs carved into the earth outlined themselves, and the Witch Hunter’s numb feet quickly raced up them.
The higher she rose, the more the magic lines spread out until Vanya could make out the ghostly images of houses, streets, and lampposts. The ghostly images of horses, carts, and even people filtered slowly between these solid structures as if painted by sand upon some unseen breeze.
‘I’m beneath—a city?’
Vanya sharpened her focus on the earth magic, ignoring all tunnels but the purple one she pursued. At its end, she found a door waiting at the surface that faced an oddly shaped and narrow ally. Hope fueled her limbs, even as the strange magic outlined the path behind her and the four cannibal witches that bolted towards her like feral cats after a wounded bird.
The Witch Hunter turned instinctively. The purple tunnel vanished from Vanya’s view as she focused on the vibrations that illuminated small ripples of light within her darkness. Fingers curled into fists as the Witch Hunter ducked and slammed her fist into robes, muscle, and bone. The skeletal image of a man’s rib cage, briefly illuminated by the impact of her strike, shattered as his body flew back into the darkness.
Nails scrapped Vanya’s cheeks and neck as the second cannibal pounced on her, dragging the witch hunter down with a banshee-like scream that distorted the Witch Hunter’s senses. They crashed into the wall together, but the tunnel that lit up in Vanya’s vision spiraled like a windmill.
Instinct made Vanya throw herself to the side as the tip of some sharp unseen weapon ripped through her tunic and grazed her side and ribs. The Witch Hunter backed away warily as she grappled with the cannibal still clinging to her back. The witch’s claws dug their way through the bandages over Vanya’s ruined eyes, and the Witch Hunter gagged as pain and nausea sent her stumbling to her knees.
The sound of bones being crushed grated against Vanya’s ears as her hands closed around her assailant’s wrists. She flung the cannibal over her shoulder like a sack of grain and quickly spun around to flee.
The darkness turned red as scratches of pain flashed across her distorted vision. Vanya spat out the fresh blood that poured down her cheeks as she hugged the wall beside her. The purple tunnel was barely visible beyond her blindfold of pain. Only two cannibals pursued her, but she was barely staying upright as it was.
Her agony splintered as a wall spread across her path. Vanya blinked and scrambled through her haze of pain as she followed the three walls of the tunnel and quickly realized—she had run into a dead end.
‘No!’ The Witch Hunter slammed her hands against the solid earth wall as her vision sharpened and showed the tunnel she had missed, well behind the two witches who now closed in. ‘Damn it. Why?’
Her years of training at the Witch Hunter Order screamed at Vanya to turn and fight as if her life depended on it—because it did. The witch hunter’s fingers dug into the earth wall, straining to reach the magic that spiraled towards her as if responding to her desperation.
‘What am I doing? I’m no witch.’ Vanya let out a mocking laugh as the cannibals behind her slowed down to a cautious walk as they approached.
“End of the road, Witch Hunter!” A woman’s surely voice snarled.
Vanya ignored the taunt and pushed down the pain as she focused on the tendrils of magic that sprouted through the earth around her fingers and then spread up her arms.
“Are you ignoring me, bitch?!”
“Let’s smash this cunt’s skull in and finish this. I’m ravenous, and we need to clean this mess up before the Marchioness or Earl Hawthorne come back to check.”
“Fine by me.”
The purple vines that spread up Vanya’s arms remained as she turned away from the wall to face the last of her pursuers. The magic spread up her shoulders, neck, and spiraled behind her eyes as the tunnel and its occupants came sharply into focus.
With no time to question this new form of sight, Vanya slipped into a defensive stance and quickly dodged as the short sword that had grazed her earlier swung towards her chest. As the cannibal turned into his attack, Vanya slipped past him, only to be met by a blast of air that screamed past the witch hunter’s ears and curled through her damp hair, coated in blood and earth.
Vanya barely registered the ghostly outline of the woman’s surprised face as she sprinted forward. The cannibal stepped back and attempted to block Vanya’s Fists with her arms. The loud sound of bones cracking bled into the woman’s abrupt scream that was instantly silenced as the Witch Hunter’s fists continued its trajectory towards the cannibal’s face. Flesh and bone collapsed beneath the impact that killed the witch before her body crashed against the tunnel wall behind them.
Vanya spun into a low crouch as she focused on the final cannibal, who now trembled like a rat caught in a trap.
“What is this!” the male witch spat. “You don’t have any tools or enchanted objects. How are you still this strong?”
The Witch Hunter wiped the blood from her lips and smiled grimly as the vines of magic beneath her fingertips stretched through the ground below them and coiled unseen beneath the cannibal’s feet. “How should I know? You’re the witch.”
“But not the only one, it seems,” the man retorted bitterly.
Vanya’s smile faltered as unease crawled its way up the back of her throat. “You’re mistaken.”
“Am I?” The witch’s head turned as he scanned the tunnel around them and muttered something unintelligible.
A strong gust of wind blew grains of soil in the Witch Hunter’s direction. She smiled grimly as the dull, musky atmosphere tightened with unseen malice that raised the hair on the back of her neck and arms. “If you think I’ll let you finish that spell—” Vanya muttered as she raised her right hand and pulled her fingers towards its center, “—you are mistaken.”
“Bitch!” The cannibal’s distorted scream withered as the vines below his feet opened, swallowed, and crushed him beneath the earth’s surface.
“Ha!” Vanya’s right arm trembled as she reached out towards the nearest wall and leaned against it weakly. “How—I can’t believe that worked.” She laughed, ignoring the taste of blood in her mouth, and then slid down the wall towards the humming vines of earth magic that wrapped themselves around her in an almost motherly embrace.
***
“Did you feel that?” Vivek asked as he halted abruptly and turned to stare through the tunnel wall of Anthraticus. “There’s another earth witch down here with us.”
“Is that what I felt?” Fenn muttered as he tilted the torch towards the compass in Vivek’s hand. “Well, whatever it was, it’s in the wrong direction. Let’s keep moving.”
The earth priest shook his head and placed his hand against the earth barrier. “They appear to be in trouble.”
“It’s none of our business,” Fenn growled as he grabbed Vivek’s arm. “We’re here on a mission for Minerva’s heir, remember. And a risky one at that. Who knows what sort of air witch we might stumble upon down here? Let’s not go out of our way to look for trouble.”
“We can’t ignore one of our own, Fenn!”
The earth witch rolled his eyes as he dragged the priest along behind him. “You were the one who defied the tribes to follow Minerva’s heir. We don’t owe them anything.”
“This has nothing to do with the tribes. Look!”
Fenn sighed, turned, and then narrowed his eyes as the metal needle of the compass spun wildly and then pointed in the direction of Vivek’s fervent gaze. “What are you doing? Stop it!”
“I’m not doing anything! It did it on its own!”
“You can’t mess with a magic compass like that! What happens if we get lost down here! This place is a freaking maze!”
“I said I didn’t do it!” Vivek snapped. The priest shook off his bodyguard’s grip and moved back to the wall while studying the needle earnestly. “I think Minerva—wants us to go this way.”
Fenn snorted and quickly sighed in frustration. “Are you being serious right now? A dead goddess wants us to chase down some random earth witch that got lost in this accursed maze?”
“There’s no other explanation, is there.”
“This is crazy, Vivek!”
“Just trust me on this, Fenn. It’s not like we can find our way to the palace without the compass’s help.”
“Argh! Fine! But if we run into any damn cannibals—I’m going to let them eat you first!”
Vivek simply smiled as he placed his hand on the wall and shut his pale gray eyes, tinged with only the slightest bit of amethyst hue. The walls of Anthraticus shivered as ancient spells trembled awake, responding to the priest’s commands.
Fenn eyed the ceiling above them cautiously as Vivek stepped back. A door took shape as a newly formed tunnel stretched and wound its way towards their new destination. The earth witch took one step forward, halted, and scowled as he sniffed the air. “I smell blood.”
***
They found the crumpled remains of the dead witch first. Fenn rolled the man’s body to reveal the corpse’s twisted, stunned expression.
“Must you?” Vivek grumbled weakly as he waited on the other side of the body.
“Looks like our earth witch smashed his chest in,” Fenn replied grimly before leaning in to press back the man’s lips. “I knew it. Cannibals.”
“All the more reason to find her quickly,” Vivek retorted as he headed down the tunnel determinedly.
“Her?” Fenn lifted his torch and followed the priest. “Are you keeping something from me?”
“No. Not—really.” Vivek avoided his comrade’s suspicious gaze as he placed his hand on the tunnel wall to check their location.
Fenn glanced back down at the earth, his gemstone green eyes narrowing on a faint trail of blood that led down the split tunnels behind them. “Looks like one of them ran away. They might return with help.”
“We’ll be long gone before then, but let’s hurry.”
The earth witch grunted in agreement as he lengthened his strides, the torch in his hand flickering wildly as they continued towards the next destination that also smelled heavily of blood. But the flow of power quivering through the walls of earth around him heightened Fenn’s awareness and caution.
‘I’ve not felt something this primal since my last battle beside the fallen princes.’
“There!” Vivek gasped as he pointed towards the shadows of two bodies lying on the tunnel ground.
“Wait!” Fenn snapped impatiently as he caught the priest’s elbow, handed over the torch, and loosened one of the twin iron boomerangs from a leather pouch on his back. “I’ll go first.”
The priest looked ready to argue but pressed his lips together and remained silent.
The earth mage tapped the bowed head of the first body. When he got no response, he nudged the shoulder instead. The woman’s corpse offered no resistance as it slumped over, revealing what remained of a face crushed with terrifying force.
“This one’s dead,” Fenn commented. He ignored the sound of the priest gagging and moved over to the second body. His eyes quickly narrowed in on the scarlet red tunic and the soiled and torn black trousers that hung over the woman’s scrapped, bare feet.
“Is she alive?” Vivek asked worriedly as he drew closer. The light of the torch illuminated the woman’s short, matted curls that clung to the torn, blood-soaked bandages wrapped over her eyes.
Fenn tensed as her chest rose and fell with a faint raspy breath. “Not for long. Hey! What are you doing?”
Vivek ignored him as the priest stabbed the torch into the ground and hastily pulled the woman’s head into his lap.
“What the fuck, Vivek! She’s a Witch Hunter! Leave her. We need to get out of here!”
“I can’t,” Vivek snapped as he gently brushed the woman’s blood-soaked bangs away from her forehead. “Look!”
Fenn glared at the witch hunter’s smeared, pale skin. The earth witch’s shoulders sagged, and his clenched jaw dropped open as he stared at the faintly glowing mark beneath the woman’s bangs.
“She is a priestess, Fenn,” Vivek continued earnestly, voicing the impossible and yet simple truth that Fenn refused to acknowledge.
“She’s a Witch Hunter!”
“Not anymore!”
“What the fuck! Why would Minerva choose someone like her?!”
“I don’t know. But the Goddess must have her reasons. Water. Fenn, give me your flask!”
The earth witch wordlessly pulled the flask from his belt and handed it over, then turned abruptly to walk away.
“Fenn?”
“I need a minute.”
Vivek sighed and then focused on offering the woman a small sip of water. The priestess sputtered and groaned as she tilted her head away from the drink. The movement disturbed the bandages around her eyes, and the priest repressed another urge to empty his stomach as he watched the blood trickle down her smeared cheeks.
“If you’re set on bringing her with us, we should change that bandage first,” Fenn commented bluntly as he returned and dug through their travel sack.
“Those animals. They took her eyes.”
“Then lets us hope the cannibals learned nothing that will hurt us or our cause.” Fen pulled out a paper-wrapped bundle of bandages. He watched silently as Fenn poured water from the flask onto a handkerchief and carefully cleaned the woman’s face. “We don’t have time for that. What your priestess needs is herbs and a healer before she becomes dead weight.”