Forever Green

~50~ Fragments of Missed Time

Lenesa woke up beneath a burial shroud.

It was hot and she could barely breath beneath the fabric. Panicking, she clawed it off, desperate to get a better view of her surroundings than what the dim colors through the material showed.

She was on a bed, in a plain room with wooden floorboards and a solitary window against the far wall. A wash stand and pitcher were to her right, and the door exiting the room beyond that.

Her heart pounded in her ears. Whose room was this? And how had she gotten here? She tried to remember the events of the past few days, but her memory was fuzzy.

Belatedly, she recognized the velvety material still clutched in her fist. It had been the red goblin cloak that covered her, not a shroud at all. As she pulled it off completely, it turned back to its normal, red appearance, no longer required to conceal anyone.

Lenesa frowned.  That meant Kivirra had been here, and tried to hide her by covering her with the cloak. But why? And where was here, exactly?

Think!

She remembered the mirage witch, casting illusions with her faun in the mountains. A woman had been killed, and then the faun as well. Then the witch, affected by Turning perhaps even worse than Audeste, had sworn revenge...

Flashes of fire flickered in Lenesa's memory. The festival! The witch had exploded the bonfire with raw magic, and then--

Lenesa clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp. Theiden had been there. He'd held a knife to her throat!

She rubbed at her neck, remembering the feel of the blade digging into her skin there. But why hadn't he killed her? She couldn't remember.

Slowly, Lenesa turned and set her feet on the floor. A twinge at her hand had her looking down to a cut on her finger, still fresh and swollen. Had Theiden done that?

A pit of dread began to open up in her stomach as she forced herself to her feet. The floorboards creaked beneath her weight, but either there was no one in the building, or they hadn't heard. Either way, no one barged through the door, so she forced herself to keep moving.

Her feet were sore as she shoved them back into her boots--boots that someone had taken off for her and set by the door. Had that been Kivirra?

She reached for the door handle, but her world suddenly shifted as a memory flared up, perhaps triggered by some unconscious action or sound. She was overwhelmed with the sudden, primal emotions of fear and desperation, and the force of it had her sagging against the door, fighting against a wave of dizziness. They had been chasing her. They thought she had exploded the bonfire!

Lenesa sucked in deep breaths, trying to not let the darkness eating away at her vision completely overwhelm her. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the real world began to take form again, and the panic subsided to leave just a heavy queasiness in her stomach. It was the feeling of not being able to remember something completely, but not wanting to, either. Lenesa was sure that whatever she was forgetting was important, but also terrible. She dreaded the moment when she would fully remember--if she ever did.

She cautiously opened the door, peering out into an empty hallway. It looked like a home, but the bare walls, sparse furniture, and few rugs she saw as she made her way down the stairs lent her no clues as to whose house it was. Perhaps a relative of Kivirra's?

Then she found a note, hastily written and left on the countertop in the kitchen. Though some of the scrawl was difficult to read, the name at the bottom was clear enough.

Theiden.

Lenesa snatched up the note and scoured the lines, feeling the darkness within her rise up with every word.

Gone with Decliteur. Will be back late. Don't go to the festival tonight--not safe.

The witch hunters would be at the festival tonight, to try to catch her, or Kivirra, or any other witch who dared to show up. And Theiden was helping them--no, it was worse than that. Theiden was one of them.

Lenesa could feel a pressure at the back of her skull, threatening to make her dizzy again as she tried to make sense of this new information.  It couldn't be...but the words before her were undeniable.

With a shaking hand, Lenesa crumbled the paper in her fist and let it fall to the floor.

She would save the witches from Theiden and Decliteur's scheming. No more would she stand for this relentless game of cat-and-mouse and turn the other cheek as yet another witch was killed. Tonight, the only ones who would be harmed would be anyone who stood in her way.

She would rid the land of these witch hunters, once and for all.

~*~*~*~*~
Happy Easter! Here's the next chapter as promised. Sorry it's a bit short. Please let me know your thoughts if you have a moment to type a comment. I'd love to hear your reactions! Stay tuned for the aesthetics collages too. 😊