Witch's Vein and Blood Stains (ereri)

2. The Witching Hour

Four weeks later, Levi went back alone.

The harvest moon hung heavy and full in the cloudless sky, its swollen belly an eerie yellow that lit up the plains around him better than a torchlight. The knee-high grass swayed and rippled around him like waves, stretching as far as the edge of the woods until it was swallowed up by the shadows. They were making good time; Levi had spurred Fable into a lazy gallop when they'd left Shiganshina, now a small dot of light behind them. He'd gone back to ask for directions on how to find the boy who'd tended to him, now just a hazy vision in his memory. The drunk watchman gave him the directions he needed, his speech slightly slurred but the instructions detailed enough that Levi trusted them. Hannes leaned back proudly when he'd finished, then his features darkened as he remembered something more.

"Whatever you do, steer clear of the Dark Woods; it's on nights like these the shadows are darkest. Follow along its borders, but leave at least thirty feet between." The warning was unnecessary really; there was no way Levi would risk that again after his last misadventure.

He looked to his left at the forest in question. Despite the bright moon light, he couldn't make out a single feature of the woods; it was just a dark, indistinct mass that stretched as far as he could see in either direction. It's like the light never even touched it, or was completely swallowed by the shadows. Levi winced through the sharp pain in his upper leg as he dug his heels into Fables flanks, urging her on gently. His supplies rattled and clanked in the saddlebags, the only sound apart from the mare's harsh breaths and cicada drones. He couldn't hear a thing from the forest. Not even a rustle.

Hannes had said the witch's den could be found in a clearing that butted into the woods. Levi came upon it quite suddenly; one moment, he was squinting into the amorphous wall of trees, the next, there was suddenly a small little house shoehorned into a clearing so perfectly circular, it looked like the trees had grown round to accommodate its borders. Hannes had called it Castle Utgard without a hint of mirth, so Levi had expected something deserving of such a title. He'd had seen a great many castles in his career, and while that hardly made him an expert, he could definitely say the dilapidated stone and wood hut before him did not qualify. It looked old, so ancient it very well could have predated the trees around it; a melange of different rocks and stones of varied shapes and sizes haphazardly assembled to vaguely resemble a lodge. If Levi tilted his head to the side, he could see that it even leaned a little to the left, sagging sadly under the messy thatched hay roof. A plume of white smoke chugged cheerfully from its rickety chimney, dispersing on the east blowing wind. That and the soft, flickering glow of candle light through the tiny porthole windows were the only signs of life.

The house, a term used rather generously, was framed by a garden brimming with wild and unusual plants, tangling around each other and creeping up the stone walls unchecked. It was all bordered by a flimsy fence made of sticks tied together with fraying rope. It was a wonder the frail structure didn't collapse under the weight of wilderness it held in. It was hardly a secure design, but it was clear it wasn't trying to keep anything out, but rather hold everything in. Levi could make out the tell-tale shape of a stable around the back, but instead he tied Fable to a fence post. He had little doubt that if she wanted to, she could probably run away and take the whole fence with her.

He tugged his cloak around him and began pacing around the fence, trying to find anything that might have resembled a gate. Surely there had to be an entrance somewhere? It was hard to make anything out under all the vines and branches, and even the moonlight suddenly seemed dimmer with the forests gloom so close. His fingers traced the knotted wood, looking for a latch. He'd just doubled back, cursing, to try again when he heard a sudden rustling from the 'garden' and looked up just in time to see a head of wild hair emerge from a tangle of branches. Levi blinked, stunned, and two brown eyes, magnified through thick lenses, blinked back owlishly.