Bound To; The Wish of the Witch

III

Tori awoke to the warm morning sunlight shining through the window and onto his face. He sat up on the cot and contemplated what he needed to do before heading out into the woods again today. He thought of where he was going to get his breakfast and what food he should bring with him for the day. Afterward, he stood, grabbed his bow and quiver, and exited his room. He walked down the stairs to see Port's wife, Suzan, a slimmer, dark skinned woman with fluffy black hair held back by a yellow bandana, standing behind the bar cleaning a mug, a pot of hot cereal steaming over the small fire behind her.

"Good morning Suzan." Tori said as he approached the bar and sat down.

She looked up from the mug in her hands.

"Oh good morning Tori. Heading out early this morning huh?" She said with a friendly smile.

"Well, I figured the earlier I head out, the earlier I get to come back if the hunt goes well." He laughed. "By the way, could I trouble you for a bowl of that hot cereal please?" He said placing a coin on the counter and spinning it toward her.

Suzan brought her hand up over the coin and placed her finger on its top, stopping it from spinning without knocking it over.

"You may dear." She said with a smile while putting the coin in her apron.

She turned, prepared a bowl of the boiled oats, and placed it in front of him with a spoon. Tori thanked her and quickly cleaned his bowl. Before Tori left, Suzan returned his game rack and wished him luck with his hunt.

When he entered the stable to untether Till, he noticed the black horse he sold to Scinthia was tethered next her. He tried to recall seeing her inside last night, but couldn't. After a moment, he simply figured she came in after he went to sleep, fastened the game rack to Till's saddle, and lead her out of the stable. He stopped by the food merchant who had just finished setting up his cart for the day and bought bread, apples, and some dried meats. He wrapped them all in separate sacks and then wrapped them again in a single larger one before securing it to the saddle. Tori made sure the rest of his bags were also properly fastened before riding out of town to the forest with the morning sun casting a long shadow behind him.

Tori quietly rode for a while through the trees, managing to score two rather large rabbits, one with white fur and the other with a slight purple tint to its coat. He came to a clearing that was mostly surrounded by tall bushes and climbed off of Till's back. After grabbing his dark green cloak from one of the saddle bags, he lifted his bow from across his torso and smoothly swung the cloak around and over himself. He fastened the bronze and gold latch, shaped as a traditional arrowhead, up by his neck and slung the bow across his chest again after pulling the cowl up.

"All right Tilly, I'll call for you in a little while. If anyone comes by and sees you, you know what to do." He said petting the horse's face as she nuzzled his chest. "Stay. Be good." He said as he walked off through the brush and made his way toward his usual hunting perch behind the bend in the road. When he arrived, he took a look around to see if anyone was nearby before climbing up the tree and preparing for his first hunt of the day.

For a while, nothing happened, all the same, Tori kept his eyes and ears on alert for any irregular movement or sounds. He recalled what Wiles had told him about the alchemist rumored to be traveling along the road sometime today and sort of hoped it would be his old friend.

It wasn't until a little after mid-day when Tori noticed movement on the road from the corner of his eye and drew his bow. Looking in more closely and seeing that it was another rider with a brown cloak covering their face, he knocked an arrow. The rider hadn't yet turned onto the bend, but Tori figured he'd take the shot early and get the rider off the road before someone else came along. A gentle breeze began to rustle the leaves as he pulled back on his bowstring, the arrow between his fingertips lined up to the rider's head. Just before letting go, he heard a loud snap from the woods far behind him and immediately froze. The rider's head quickly turned in his direction to see where the sound had come from. In doing so, a strand of long red hair fell out from beneath the rider's hood while also displaying the chin of a young woman.