The Witch's Relay

Chapter 7: Planning Ahead

"So what happe- AAAH!" I suddenly yell out when a big sphere of freezing cold water is dropped directly above my head. "What was that for?!"

I look over at Master, to see her do the same to herself.

"Dogs."

"Dogs?" I repeat, trying to clarify what that entails.

"They have dogs to sniff us out, we need to mask our scent if we want to get away." She then takes out a small pouch of some kind of herb and tosses it on the ground.

"Living flame who's heat burns through the cold and despair, grant me your strength! Burning flame!" Stretching out her open hand she directs a blast of fire towards the pouch.

On contact with the herbs a greenish-gray smoke spreads into the air.

"This will serve to dull the dogs ability to smell for just a little while, we should take this window to escape."

"Should we switch direction as well?" I guess that if we take a sharp turn to the side, our pursuers might continue straight and lose our trail.

"No, they will expect that, come, we will continue forward."

Alongside with my daily kendo swings, Master has begun to send me on daily runs, which has served to improve my stamina. Although, not to brag, my stamina has always been pretty great.

So this light jog through the forest is nothing for me, only causing my breathing to increase by a little bit.

...

When the sun reaches noon we reach the edge of the tree-line, and we stare over a vast plain.

When I had originally entered the Darkwood Mound, I had come from the south, where the landscape was rolling hills prior to forest, but now we emerge in the east, causing the landscape to be completely new for me.

"From now on we will need to pick up the pace. Now there is no cover from the trees, so we can be spotted from miles away." Heather says seriously.

"What actually happened back there?" I ask.

"Something must have happened to make someone suspect a magic-user resides in this area. The "monster" was a group of adventurers, and the "hunters" was backup." She frowns. "I was an idiot to take the bait, since I have seen this tactic used before." Her face is grim, and her eyes full of regret.

"Then they know about the crystal-map?" I inquire further.

"Not necessarily. The crystal-map is one method that specifically enchanters can use. Other types of mages have other methods, but we all have issues distinguishing groups from single entities. They must know this fact." She enters deep thought for a second and then breaks out of it. "Enough dabbling now, let's go!" She exclaims while shooting me a smirk.

I sigh, here we go again. After today I am sick of running, and I just want to lay down for a week-long nap.

...

Finally! We reach a line of hills with trees dotted about. Now we can take it a bit easier once we get behind cover.

Glancing back I exhale relieved as no trace of pursuit can be seen. We got away.

The sun is beginning to set as we walk from hill to hill.

"You know, even though we were in a hurry you could at least have grabbed some sort of snack." I can hear Heather's stomach growl, which makes me feel the tiniest sting of guilt.

Then I shake my head and those feelings with it. That was definitely some sort of mental jab at me.

"I didn't realize we were heading into this type of landscape." I retort. "I was counting on being able to gather something quick to eat wherever we went. I never even considered that all that around would be grass, dirt and birches." That is true. But my Master always tells me to be prepared for any situation, so I suppose it is mostly my fault. I did tell her I grabbed everything we needed.

"Tsk! But I always tell you to be prepared for any situation." She pouts. "Assuming we will only be in the woods is definitely NOT any situation."

...

We do end up however finding a rabbit's den, and using Master's water magic to flush them out, I was able to snatch one large rabbit, and one smaller one.

When it is time to skin the rabbits Master pulls out a large hunting knife from under her cloak and begins to remove the fur at an astonishing rate.

...

"Hihi! That's more like it!" Heather exclaims while slowly twisting some chunks of rabbit meat above some red-hot stones that she had cast several rounds of "fireball" on.

I feel pretty useless as I twirl my stick as well. The only thing I did to help was grab the rabbits as they fled from their den.

"So.. what now?" I ask. "We have no home, and not enough time to build one before winter." I know this since it took me these two months to only set up the walls of my to-be cabin, the cabin which now I realize was in vain. "And aside from the time issue, we have no forest anymore."

"We will have to find a town." She looks down at the stones with a grim look and casts "burning flame" to reheat our makeshift, and fuel-less campfire.

"Haven't we been trying to avoid people so far though?" I was expecting some sort of solution, but not that.

"Yes, and I wish we still could." She sighs "but as it stands now, we have no other options. But we can wait for a bit."

I tilt my head to ask for an explanation.

"Fortunately, anyone who saw my face back there perished, so there is no need to worry about being recognized. However, if we were to show up in some town nearby, right after vanishing, suspicion will definitely arise."

I nod my head in understanding. "So do we keep wandering to a town more distant or hang around for a while and integrate into somewhere nearby?"

"I never said anything about integrating." I get a glare. "We will try to keep to ourselves as much as possible without drawing too much shade. Once spring arises we are out of there."

The meat is finished and we both take our first bites.

Too hot.

Master quickly creates some water to put in her mouth and as I don't have that option, I spit it into my hand, only to burn my hand as well.

"We should probably move a little further east, just to make sure no-one will recognize you, since that could cause issues. And then hang around the area for a while before entering the town."

"Why can we not just enter directly? I am pretty sure that the terrain is pretty similar to here, acquiring food will be difficult."

"That is true, however, someone could suspect us and try calculating how long the journey from the forest takes, and if that were to happen it is better to make the time it took, be way too long to make sense. After all, they won't expect us to hide out in the open."

"I see. But are our pursuers really that capable?" I question her a bit puzzled. My master seems way more cautious than should be necessary, but I suppose that shouldn't be too strange considering her hideout just got compromised.

"Yes." She replies seriously. "Among the ones I killed, there was an A-rank, and I detected at least three more."

Ohh.. We. Are. Toast.

"We are being chased by some of the most resourceful people in the kingdom, I can guarantee they won't pull any stops to find us. Especially since they now know I am someone who can potentially match their best in a fight."

She stands up.

"You know what?" She puts down her stick before bringing her hands to her hips. "I think it is time I teach you how to cast."