My Warlock savior

Birch

There he was.

Hidden away even as a small child. As if the world should be embarrassed of him, but why? That's what I wanted to know. That would be my mission. The Puritans had only arrived a few years ago. Their settlement went without notice, but I had a different encounter. My shop filled with natural sunlight as the door thunked open, then closed with a hurry. I was just pushing the cork into a bottle for an order to be picked up later that day.

The man was thicker, but not obvious to if it was the build of Masculinity, or his clothing. His fair skin and snow hair covered the majority of his head, and thickly across his face.

"Evening." My voice was the first to break the silence, as he was holding strong to our don't blink contest.

"You a healer?" His voice was oddly accented. Not in a otherworldly way, but uneducated in his early life, as many were. I set the bottle down, resting my hands on the hard wood counter.

"Some may think so." His eyes shifted, I clicked my tongue with a sharp intake of breath. "Yes, as an apothecary I distribute medication. People come to me for various reasons." I said after a moment of silence. Lucky for me, the town people never questioned not looking old enough to own a business at the age of 16. Don't tell, what isn't asked. The man's nose seemed to tremble with the mix of smells.

"We don't have your kind where we come. I just-" The way his body shifted told me the kind of pain he was in. It was a simple gesture, but I lifted the wood of the counter to let him into the room in the back.

"Let's take a look. Names Birch by the way. Doctor Birch Ravenous." The man's eyes shifted, but he stepped through.

"Jolly, Minister Jolly. " I lifted a slow eyebrow, but his unwavering mannerism told me he wasn't joking. While I knew my work space well, I started to second guess if I had left anything out that the good minister may find suspicious. I did a once over as I followed the man into the room. Nothing more then some drying plants for medicine, but who knew what he would think they were used for?

"Tell me in the best detail you can of your worries." I said leaning on the counter as he took a half seated attempt to the stool I gestured to.

"We come from far lands, the travel has affected my ability to walk..." His hand hovered over his hip.

"May I take a quick look?" He shifted uncomfortably, but shook his head. He must have been a desperate man, it made me wonder what his god would think of him coming to me for help. I didn't need much to see the inflammation, it was common. "Just as I suspected." I let out a breath, wondering how much I had for his pain.

"Well, what is it?" He snapped, a bit of a changed tone since he'd first arrived. I looked over off the side of my eyes, wringing my hands.

"It's very common inflation around the hips. I'll need to scavenge for the proper herbs. My suggestion is to limit your movement as much as you can until then. I will deliver the medicine once its made, I assume by tomorrow if all goes well." I turned away a moment when his rough hand grabbed my shoulder to spin me around. It took every ounce of self control not to react.

"No. Nobody can know." The desperation in his voice eased me of his intentions.

"I need you to stay off that hip as much as possible. I will remain discreet." With that I walked out of the room, and back to the front counter. "As a matter of payment-" Before I could finish he tossed a coin onto the wood, the clatter almost louder then his receding footsteps and slam of the door.

The elixir was easy enough to make, and this would be the first time I was going to the settlement of the Puritans. The building they seemed to have taken over was an old school house, but now a church of some kind. It was clear who was apart of their colony and who was not, I was far from it. Still I walked with my chin held high and the bottle in my sleeve. It was easy to find the man, in the church. As I entered all the others who were busying themselves fled, the door slamming behind them. I followed them with my eyes then back to him.

"We are not use to your... Kind of descendants... Never seen one of you till yesterday." I nodded, it wasn't new for me.

"And I will be the only Asian- American you will find here. Now," I slid the bottle from my sleeve, keeping it concealed in my hand. "This should last you a week, take once, daily only a gulp should do. I will have another ready if you are needing it." Minister Jolly slapped it out of my hand and shoved it into his pocket.

It was then I had felt it. An energy bursting through the walls, shaking my very core. It was in this building. I eyed the minister, no it couldn't be him, I would have felt it the day prior.

That was my first time seeing him.

A door to the left creaked open, a small boy stepped out. He must have been around ten years old, small for his age. He was dressed in rags, his long hair matted and unkept. The broom was much lager then he, but still he swept on. There was no mistaking it. His blue energy seething off his small body. He looked weak, thinner then any of the other Puritans. He looked on the verge of death...

The boy turned and that's when I could see a scar burned into his head. The scar created a line through his hair, seeming permanently singed colored as a puckered tomato. It trailed down his ear and down his jaw finally ending half way down his neck. I gulped with such a wound he must had been in constant pain. Maybe still is. Minister Jolly reached back with a thundering growl and a stomp of his foot. The rough hand pushing the boy back into the enclosed room.

"You may take your leave now Doctor Birch." His voice thundered, leaving no room but to twist and walk away. The imaged was seared into my mind, and I had questions.

I wanted answers.

What had the Puritans done to the boy? Also, why did they have this boy who possessed such powerful Warlock energy?