The Spirits of the Forest

Chapter 5

Harriot

I can't believe I haven't noticed that this room had a bathroom of its own. Of course, it's no big deal. Except for the fact that, now, I am sitting on the cold bathroom floor, looking through the open door at the walls of my new chamber and listening to the sound of the water as it fills the tub. My fingers absently search for something sharp that doesn't belong to me.

They told me they knew my father, that he was a witcher, just as they are, just as I am. And then, I asked, full of hope: Is he here, too? But of course, he wasn't there. Our ways don't seem to collide, not even by mistake. I've always lived with a shadow-dad, whom I only knew from letters. The fact that he was a witcher doesn't change many things.

But apparently, the fact that I am a semi-witch changes everything.

And I didn't want to be a witcher. I wanted to be a human cause Sirius always said that he loved me because I was so human. My fingers now hang desperate to a weapon that I've stolen.

I don't understand what happened. I returned into this city to tell others how they can kill the spirits. But these witchers, they already posses that information. They don't want words. They want an executioner.

Did I say yes, I would love to take the job? Did I feel pleased by the idea? Oh, and I'm turning into the villain, and oh, I can't return to the time when I hated villains. Cause now villains seem easy to identify with.

But I collected all my strength and said no. No, I can't do that.

And that's when things started to get complicated to process. Information flew around me. Of course Orion couldn't be just a normal witcher. Sirius once told me about an Orion, the creator of the knife he found. Seems like the world's pretty small: the exact Orion stood now right in front of me, telling me the same story. With some few details.

Orion was born with the power of fabricating any kind of magical things. And that was very unusual because, after the war, the newborn witchers whose families didn't leave the island remained stuck with telekinesis, an ability that humans used to create more powerful soldiers. So, while other young witchers were taken at the good people's palace to train, Orion decided to explore the world in order to create an invincible weapon. His first try turned out more of a human than a weapon: a knife who only allowed you to use its power if you let it control your body. You might also know it as the pocked knife my fingers are now playing with. Or as Sirius's knife. I guess it goes up by more names.

His second try, however, wasn't only a success but also a burden. It was a sword so beautiful that he couldn't give it to the humans and spare the other witchers from becoming soldiers, but also so powerful that he couldn't use it himself. And that made him feel even more connected to the weapon, and, like a mom afraid to lose her child, he couldn't let it go. Of course, he tried to. He started new hobbies, created other weapons, tried his luck in romance... but failed all of them. Cause at home, there was always the sword peacefully waiting for his return.

So, for years, young Orion orbited around his own creation, a creator obsessed over the work of his own hands. Sometimes, he almost used it, and other times, he almost threw it away.

But mature Orion solved this problem. Mature Orion did what was best for him. He changed the sword's powers, limiting them in such a way that the weapon became almost useless and certainly not invincible. After that, he gave his creation to the humans, just as he wanted to do at first. Of course, he didn't mention the change. Why would humans need invincibility anyway?