OUTCAST : THE PATH OF A WARRIOR

18. ENTER THE HOME OF THE WITCH

CHAPTER 18

The moon was resting in the evening sky, directly above us and illuminating the immediate surroundings of the cottage.

The extra oil lanterns extended to the front yard, where the two guests waited for Parissa to return from the kitchen, and where Nara was preparing the supper.

Paulos was fidgeting impatiently, eager to find out any information on where the huge birds took our brother, as did I of course, but we had to be patient.

But I was more interested about Parissa and her family history, especially now that she revealed her age.

Parissa was coming and going from the kitchen." Sorry about that. Just helping Nara a bit back there." She said, and realised, after looking at my face, that I couldn't hide the fact that I needed a few  questions answered.

" Right." She said, sitting right across the table to me, and sipped her wine." Fire away!"

"So, you, Pet, and Robert are...What, five hundred years old... give or take?" I said .

" Give or take, thanks to this." She replied holding her blue crystal up.

" And what about Nara and her brother Khalo, are they also...?"

" Ah...I'll try and explain that one... it's a bit complicated." She said, wincing.

" A very long  time ago Robert, my older brother, became sick, and was dying. He was never married, and only had me, who lived next door, to look after him."

"And Pet?" I asked

" Ah, Peterson, my husband the soldier. He was always away, fighting this war or another. But that's another story for another time." Parissa leaned back, sighing.

"But Robert's time in this world was becoming shorter by the day, and his one regret was not having a family. So to cut a long story short, I saved his life with one of these crystals, from Jerrico." Her eyes gazed to see if I was still following.

I nodded that I was still with her.

"The power of these stones not only immortalise the one in possession, but I realised that, after placing it in the flesh of Jerrico, one can survive even death, but ultimately, at a cost."

"So you repeated it on your brother too, I take it? But how did you come to posses one of these crystals?"

" I stole them from Jerrico,  six all together." She said frowning.

"Of course I regretted it afterwards, I wasn't thinking! And Jerrico,  the Dragon, never forgave me afterwards." Parissa crossed her arms and looked away for  a moment.

" But, hey... that's history. And to round up the story, Robert became the demon that you know him to be today. But about twenty five years ago, this demon brother of mine, fell in love."

"Ah..." I said " Is it possible to have children in that state?"

" No, but he had to remove the crystal. Which he did, got married and had two children. He of course  grew old with his wife until her death a few years ago. Which was devastating for him."

" So I take it that's how he ended up as a slave in the Arena." I said nodding.

" Yep! Exactly! His choice, after basically giving up on life." She said shrugging her shoulders, and went back into the kitchen.

A small commotion coming through the trees captured our attention. " It's Pet...and it looks like he's brought some more guests with him." I said to Paulos.

Nara and Parissa came outside with some food, and set it at the table. " Ah, they've arrived, good just in time for supper then." Said Parissa, looking at us and smiling.