The Unordinary Life of the Enchantress

Chapter Six: A Sightless Seer

The child's grip was unforgiving. Her jagged nails dug into the Enchantress's skin, threatening to draw blood. The Enchantress attempted to pull against the child's hold but found it disturbingly difficult to muster the energy to free herself. Noticing the haphazard steps of her apprentice close behind, it dawned to her that the two had played straight into the trap of this peculiar child, conforming to her wishes of accompaniment to the shelter she promised them.

Though they followed no defined path, the three never threatened to trample the shrubs nor did they have to move around a tree. With every step calculated, the child led the Enchantress in a seemingly straight line, no turns or twists to be taken. The pair was led through an arch of uncharacteristically green vines that seemed to be unaffected by winter's chill, and, beyond the arch lay a stretch of lush grass. A field of gentle green with frost sitting delicately on the tip of every blade.

A slight distance away, a flourishing garden of dwarf fruit trees, fruit vines and vegetation patches adorned a small, wooden cottage, which seemed to glisten with its own radiance. The child, maintaining an unfaltering grip on the Enchantress's wrist, pulled her towards the cottage. Stopping short of the entrance to the garden, the child turned to face the Enchantress and her apprentice.

"Would you like to go inside?" she croaked.

The Enchantress simply stared at the child's face, unsure what to make of the situation. She turned to face her apprentice, hoping to gain inspiration from his reaction to the current circumstance. To her surprise, his eyes held a hint of sadness mingling with a set of pity and worry. He looked down to the girl and started to step near her when, from ahead, sounded the unmistakable creak of a wooden door. Their eyes snapped to see the cause, landing on the figure that stood in the cottage doorway.

Wearing a worn dress with her hair as mismanaged as the child's, a woman beamed at the sight of her guests.

"You're home!" she exclaimed, rushing to greet the child. "Are these the people you told me about last night?"

The child, who did not turn to greet the woman, continued to face the Enchantress, awaiting a response. The Enchantress turned her attention back to the odd child, still unwilling to say a word to her.

Unlike the Enchantress, her apprentice seemed a bit more comfortable with the situation at hand, stepping past his mentor to approach the woman.

"Are you this girl's mother?" he asked tentatively.

The woman raised her head to meet his eyes, a gentle smile gracing her features as she responded,

"Yes."

The woman looked back to her child, resting her hands on her shoulders before steering her away from the duo and back towards their home. The child released the grip she had on Enchantress's wrist to accompany her mother.

"Please, come in," the woman said. "We were expecting you... well, she was expecting you."

Confused and filled with chills, the Enchantress decided she was not willing to enter their home. The well-kept demeanour of the cabin and its garden held an air of deception as its inhabitants greatly juxtaposed its beauty.

"No, thank you," the Enchantress responded. "We must be headed to the Mountain of Reflection. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of time to accept your offer."

With that, she promptly turned away, taking hold of her apprentice's arm to guide them from the eerily strange household. Contrary to her expectations, the boy pulled away from her grip. Baffled, the Enchantress turned to look at him.