The Witches' War : The Five Warriors

Chapter 3

The day we prepared for finally came. We are going to the castle today and volunteer as knights. It has been our dream since we were kids.

We won't stop walking around the house searching for stuffs that might come in handy on our journey. Even after our bags were full, we were still just walking around nervously. We had never been apart from Aunt Ana. Furthermore, we had never left the cottage. There's a mix filling of excitement, fear and sadness.

"It's okay, girls! Don't be scared. You'll do fine." Aunt Ana comforted us after she saw how worried we were. She hugged us one by one and gave one last advice for each of us.

As my turn came, I tried to hold my tears from falling. Aunt Ana was the person whom saved us, raised us and protected us all this time and now, we are going to leave her alone here?

"Adal, stay strong okay? Remember what I said before, that I'll always be there to protect the five of you." Aunt Ana whispered to my right ear as she hugs me tight.

"Aunt Ana, I'm sorry if I caused you trouble before... We didn't have anything to return all the kind things you did." I said regretfully. "I don't want anything from you except to see you girls happy. Now, be a good girl and don't cause any trouble again okay?" Aunt Ana smiled as she wiped my tears.

"Aunt Ana? You're not... a maid... Were you?" I asked hesitantly.

Aunt Ana smirked and nodded. "You'll know who I truly am one day... Don't tell the others okay?" she winked at me. Her reply was far more shocking than what I had imagined. Who is she then?

"Adal!! Hurry up!" Tiffany shouted at me.

I gave a smile to Aunt Ana and walked towards the other girls who were waiting outside the cottage. We waved her goodbye and our journey to the castle began.

We walked into the Magical Forest of Laricienne, a forest created by the legendary witches. The forest is the only path to get to the castle. It is filled with glow in the dark trees as high as our eyes can see, magical creatures and of course, magic. The forest looks prettier and more breathtaking at night.

"Have you guys heard about the forest's story?" Elianor asked. "What story? All that I know is this forest was created by the legendary witches." Susanna asked.

"Well, do you know why? This forest wasn't made for a recreation place or just for fun. It was a gift from the two witches to the kingdom. The forest functions to protect the kingdom and surrounds it with a force field. However, after the older witch turned evil, and the disappearance of the younger witch years ago, the magical powers of the forest weakened. I guess that's why our kingdom was attacked." Elianor endlessly talked about the forest until night falls.

We stopped walking and settled down under a huge purple mushroom. The mushrooms in this forest are not like the normal mushrooms we used to see. All of them are not poisonous and they grew as big as normal houses. We had a short dinner with the food Aunt Ana prepared; soup and bread.

"Wow, is it just me or did El done some reading?" Tiffany joked. "Okay, I might not be the wisest person here but I like the story of the witches." Elianor replied.

"Do you think the witches really exists?" Roselle asked curiously. People mostly believe that the witches' story was just a myth, but seeing how magical the forest is, it proves that part of the story somehow is true.

"I hope they do." Elianor replied with a yawn and went to sleep.

As usual, I'm the only one who was still awake and couldn't sleep.

After awhile, I heard footsteps running in the woods. I tried waking the others up, but they continued sleeping.

The footsteps stopped and I saw a figure of a lady, hiding behind a tree. Her soft melodious voice kept calling out my name. How did she know my name? I'm really scared of ghosts but I needed answers. So I followed the lady into the depths of the forest in the middle of the night with only the glow in the dark trees and glowing paths to light up my way.

The lady started to walk faster and faster until I lost sight of her. Then, I realised that I'm currently standing in front of an old abandoned cottage. Vines and overgrown plants wrapped around the cottage and trees grown out of the roof. It gives an eerie and scary look which made me froze. I couldn't move my body until someone pulled me away.

"Adal, Adal! Are you okay!?" Tiffany asked as she woke me up from my nightmare. Was it all a dream? It felt real. "Yeah, I'm okay, I guess..." I answered as I was still figuring out what happened.

"It's morning now, we should be moving sleepyheads! Don't want to waste time here!" Elianor said energetically and lead the group. The four of us followed not far behind her.

After several hours walking non-stop, Elianor got tired. "Are we there yet? Can't we take a break?" Elianor asked while she walked slowly behind us. "You were the one who said that we got no time to waste here. We haven't even gotten out of the forest yet." Tiffany stated.

"Well, she's right, Tiff! We need a little rest. Let's have a lunch break here.." Susanna supported Elianor's statement. "Okay, we'll stop here for an hour." Tiffany agreed. As soon as Elianor heard the word 'stop', she immediately lay down on the ground.

Roselle opened her bag and took out some fruits. She passed it to Susanna for her to cut it using her dagger.

"Where's lunch? I'm hungry..." Elianor asked impatiently. "Here!" Susanna said as she gave her a slice of apple. "Don't tell me we are having fruits for lunch.." Elianor sighed.

"It's good for your health, El. Eat up unless you want to starve." Tiffany said as she took a bite on a slice of pear.

"I would rather starve than eating veggies and fruits. Looks like I'm going hunting now." Elianor protested. She stood up and started walking away from us.

"El, where do you think you're going? It's too dangerous!" Tiffany scolded. "Don't worry, I'll stay close and not wander off too far. I saw a small animal just now, might be a bunny." Elianor said and left running through the bushes.

"Don't you dare hurt that bunny!!" I shouted. I hoped she heard me. I'm not a fan of fruits either but I'll never eat a harmless bunny. Tiffany sighed and let her go as she knew that there's nothing that could stop Elianor, from doing what she wants to do.

We finished our lunch and heard someone screaming. It sounded like Elianor.

Following the scream was a loud 'roar' coming not far from where we sat. "What was that?" I asked. "I don't know, someone might be in danger if whatever that thing is got out of the forest." Tiffany replied and immediately took out a thin cylinder about the size of her forearm. She pushed the button at the bottom of it and it turned into the long halberd.

"Wait, that must be El right?" Roselle asked frighteningly.

"Ready?" Tiffany asked us in a serious voice. We followed her and took out our weapons.

"We're ready..." Roselle and I answered.