To Be Determined

Chapter Three: The Cauldron

Neither of us had ever heard anything about the witch apart from folktale and rumors. The Eastern region is not especially fond of magic. It's taboo in the STEM city, it goes against everything that the primarily left-brained community believes in. Despite this, everyone knows the role that magical forces play in the world. Everyone has a distant relative or childhood friend who lives in Beechhaven, the city where magic lives. Overall the stories about the Hex of the Narrow Wood are few and far between, that she is an ancient recluse that lives in the woods, shrouded in mystery. Nobody is entirely certain what she does out here, so I haven't the slightest idea what to expect when I see the top of a small house. I desperately need answers. The plague, the environment, the peculiar events of the last 12 hours, none of it makes any sense.

She stands on the porch attached to the small neat home, a mug in her hands and a gentle smile on her face as if she was anticipating our arrival. Her appearance was rather anticlimactic. She did not look like the sort of woman that would be labeled the Hex of the Narrow Wood. Instead, she looked like a grandmother, or perhaps a great aunt. Her soft gray hair was back in a single neat braid. On her shoulder, a silvery crochet blanket draped over her small frame. She did not look as ancient and decrepit as the folk tales depicted. She looked to be in her seventies, although I am certain that she is far older and far wiser.

"Good morning," she said in a light, airy voice. "I am glad to see that you made it. I have been expecting a visit for many moons now. Please, come inside. You must want to warm up after this last cold night."

Bloodied and slightly worse for wear, I brave the three wooden steps from the yard to the porch and into the house. Iliad supports me as I walk, as I am still incredibly disoriented. Iliad clears his throat as he settles me down into a chair by a homey fireplace. 

"Thank you for seeing us Ms..."

"Call me Momma Leone," she says with a slight smile. "I suppose that you have never heard my actual name. I don't get many visitors anymore, especially from the East."

"I can hardly see why Leone, you make such fine company. I'm Doctor Iliad Dobrzycki and this is Professor Olyvia Saris." 

He squeezes my shoulder and my head clears, little by little. "We have been on quite the adventure traveling for this visit. We were hoping that we could ask you a few questions. Before that I must say, I'm quite concerned about the Professor here. Some abnormal things have been happening lately and I'm scared that she may be hurt in a way that pushes the boundaries of science. I don't know what to do to help her out here."

She takes slow steps towards the two of us. 

"I would be glad to take a look at her Doctor." She kneels and holds onto my right hand with both of hers. "Olyvia, would you like my help? I'm sure that the doctor here is more than capable of taking care of you himself."

"The doctor is the most incapable human being that I've met in my entire life. I should know, I taught him." Iliad squeezed my shoulder a little, I could feel that cheesy smirk from across the room. I touch him with my gloved hand.

"Ah, the lovers. I should have known. It has been many years since I felt that sort of energy in these walls." Her smile beamed.

"Momma, are you an Empath? Can you..."

"Feel what the two of you are feeling? Of course, it is as blatant as the smoke in the air from the fireplace. You have the gift, I assume?"

 I nod my heavy head, a weak smile laces my face. "I have felt this since I was very young. There was a long time where I considered this a curse but-"