Maurelle panted hard as she reached a structure. She held onto a wall and supported her body that has been weakened after casting a lot of spells and running to lose her sisters' chase.
The woman gripped the hood of her black cloak and inhaled a huge amount of air. Maurelle's hands have been trembling ever since she had planned to escape. She knew if she would stay longer inside her chambers, it's either death or hell for her. After that, every second spent would not be worthwhile.
Taking over the world? Who in the right mind would do such a thing? She wants to only free herself from the dark and live in peace.
'I no longer wish for a family but a peace of my own.' She thought.
Maurelle roamed her eyes and saw a lot of people in the village, there was even a castle circling and walled the people. Ships and markets. With a large place, she sure would be safe for now.
At least, she thought she was safe.
"For now, I need somewhere to stay and hide. Mother would easily find me if I am lingering here outside." She uttered before entering one of the houses inside the village.
As she was entering, she bumped into a man. A very tall man.
"Oh, my apologies." The man said but it wasn't looking at her as it was busy discussing and blabbering with people.
He continued talking to the man beside him. "Should you have questions about it? The barrels of bombs has been landed." It said.
'Barrels of bombs?' She thought and widened her eyes.
"Right-ee-ho, seems those men spread bloodbath in the sea, the king's oppressed by it." The other man said and laughed.
'Bloodbath? Just how much did these men kill?' Maurelle silently thought
She only took a quick glance at him and he saw that it was wearing a leather jacket, a white shirt inside, long pants reaching to his wide brown boots, and a belt with a map and knife hanging on it.
'He looks dangerous, I must stay away from this man.' Maurelle thought and was almost to get away when she was stopped by several stares and glares.
She turned the other way and was also blocked by a glare from a fat bearded man holding booze narrowing his eyes to her. She then turned her gaze the other way and a muscular man was seen, she even bumped on its chest.
"Hmmm..." Let out by the muscular men as it lowered its head to level her eyes so he could see her clearly.
She widened her eyes and diverted to the other way. What she did not expect was she stood already at the centre of that same room. Being stared at by a lot of people.
'What have I brought myself into?'
Turns out, the house she entered was barely even a normal cabin as it was a gathering of dangerously looking men and even women holding nothing but booze and knives.
She was getting nervous and anxious. Her hands were trembling and she couldn't move an inch away from her position.
Worried that she might be recognised as one of the evil witch's daughters. She was still standing still when someone gripped both of her shoulders that made her flinch.
"Hey, guys. Don't give this woman a brief stare, calm down. She's with me." The man exclaimed behind her.
Just from his voice, Maurelle took a hint to who it was. It made her confused and as well as even more nervous.
It was that man from before! If she is not mistaken, it's him, it can't be anyone else. How could she let this happen? Right when she planned to lay low and keep a low profile. This is not going as planned.
"She's with you? That cloak is familiar, where'd you fetch a woman like that?" A woman with an undercut asked with emphasis on her voice.
'This woman is a dangerous one, I can see,' she thought.
"Oh, Hermes, I don't see how it's any of your business. Furthermore, we have some things to discuss." The man behind her said and gripped her shoulders even more.
"The north seems to rumble even more. You sure it's not a woman from there, Logan?" Another man spout.
'Logan? Is it his name?'
She could not hold the grip of what that man was talking about, but she knows that the north is where their tower stands. And it seems trouble will be laid off to her fate if it's revealed then and there.
The man who was called to as, Logan, nervously laughed. "What about the north, Zergee? She's nothing like that, the stocks in the ship has been decreasing, if we want to travel, then better blabber things with this woman here." He insisted as they were already slowly walking upstairs and heading to another room.
"She's from the market? But isn't Merlinda the woman we held accountable to?" Zergee asked Logan and laid eyes full of suspicion.
"W-What? No, of course, we don't need one marketer to supply when we can have two. Well, then, enough chit chat. Later people." He ended and lock the door as they entered a room.
"Phew! That was tough— Woah" he turned around t face Maurelle but receive a knife on his neck.
"Don't you think I can just trust you," Maurelle said and pierced her eyes towards the man.
The man held his palms up to protect himself, he gently tapped the knife and lowered it. "After I just helped you there? Give me more than just death." He smug a smile.
Maurelle stared at him for a little while longer when it decided to ask. "Why did you help me? Is there anything you want?"
The man cleared his throat and headed to a near table, he grabbed his map and pinned it open with the bottle of inks he had. Then he pointed to somewhere with the name "Covenstead".
It made maurelle freeze and was brought to a still. The man looked at her with a taunt in his eyes. She knew what it was about to say.
"Don't you think I should be the one to ask you that? This," he tapped that place again. "This is where the evil witch resides in, and you young lady is one of her daughters."
"N-no, of course not. W-What evil witch are you talking about." She looked somewhere else.
"You do know that you act terribly bad, don't you?"
She heaved a sigh. "How did you know?"
He shrugged his shoulders and brought his mouth down in a second. "That cloak is one of the reasons I know, that stick on your pocket,"
She tapped her pocket to check if her wand was still there. Luckily, it was still there.
"Don't worry, I am not a thief nor do I place such interest in things, furthermore, your pale skin and that eyes are quite once a talk in this village." He convinced.
Now that she was discovered by him, she could not even find the words to retort. It seems that there is no better place for her than back at the covenstead. She sat on one of their chairs inside and covered her face.
The man walked towards her while asking, "I wasn't certain that you could give in that easily."
"There's no point in hiding it, isn't there? Go on, you could tell your other men about it and I would gladly receive death rather than head back to that tower."
She was losing hope. But at least, she would rather die in the hands of these men than by her own mother who only loved her for her inner power.
"I won't tell them."
She furrowed her brows and looked at the man in surprise. "You won't? But why would you do that? You heard it, we possess sorcery of evilness, one flicker and death awaits."
"Well, I also heard that she struggles with her own daughter and can not even achieve to make her evil."
Maurelle glared at the man. "Just how much do you know?"
The man scoffed and let out a soft laugh. "You wouldn't dare to ask, milady. This world is full of foul mouths, one bicker and everything sets loose. I suggest you don't go to that part."
"Then, what do you want from me? I can not give you magic, if so my mother would have located me and killed every single man here."
She really can not trust a man. They speak the most confusing words and everything about the outside world is new to her, she never did once get out and swallow souls. She always tried her best to disobey her mother. Unlike her sisters, killing, slaughtering, and taking out innocent lives was never her doing. Not for her mother nor for the gain of power. The thought that she was created by a dead soul saddens her already, what more if she could actually bring death to one of the people here.
Going back, she heard the man ask her.
"Kill every single man? What do you mean? Can she even do that?" He had a very curious look with him.
"Yes, she can. She swallows souls, I expect you to know that since you are one foul ear, and I also escaped from her. Generating magic to the fullest? She could locate me with that."
They went silent for a while until the man went over to the window and looked outside. Then he gazes back at Maurelle.
"Nothing like magic, rather... Do you wish to go to the sea?" He asked the woman.
"The sea?" Asked Maurelle.
"Right, the sea."
"What's there in the sea?"
"Freedom."
Upon hearing that, it was as if hope engulfed her heart-whole and it made her think if she can really trust this man or not?
'How should I decline him?'
"Ahhhh! Please! Please, let's head back!"
In the end, Maurelle could not decline the persistent man. It looked at her with such sparkling eyes that she finds hard to say no.
Now, she's suffering. Seasickness never came across her head but it seems she has it. They were using a boat rather than a ship which she thought they would ride onto, but all of it was just her presumption.
As the man paddled, she kept panicking and closing her eyes from time to time. "I-I can't do this. Let me out, let's head back."
"Oh, don't be such cowardice. It'll subside once we get a bit farther from the shore."
"Farther? How much farther?" Behind her palms as her widened eyes that panicked with the man's words.
The man paddled and hummed. "Just a little push and when there."
"When will we get there?"
"Well, when we get there."
"Ugh— this is not freedom at all, this is madly horrendous." She groaned and complained.
"Nonsense, the water is serene, try to open your eyes and see. I promise you won't regret it."
Maurelle remembered to think twice if she want to ever see the sea from a perspective inside a boat.
Slowly, she removed her palms from her bare eyes and what welcome this lady made her heart stop in sensation. It was nothing tremendous to start with and yet it was the first time that she felt like she was living a life like everyone else. It was the tranquillity of the sea that stunned her.
The woman wandered her eyes. The waves, the beautiful, calming waves. Their resonance, their slow-rolling and crashing, their white caps cresting over and plunging back into the water fully display the beauty and majesty of creation from the shoreline. The sea looked dozy as it rested in the afternoon glow. Towers of radiant light soaked the sea with their beauty.
Maurelle never regretted it. Every each view made her feel things inside her heart.
"You're very beautiful, milady." The man complimented her.
Maurelle heard it very vividly, not even a slight distraction from the sound of the waves. She got flustered and turned very red. The woman was silent and it made the surroundings awkward for the both of them. Only the waves and the breeze passed through their bodies, touched their souls, and there was nothing.
"Ehem, anyway, I want you to take a good look at the vast ocean. Look right there." The man pointed further at the sea.
Maurelle saw nothing but continuous water. "Nothing's there but water."
"That's right, but imagine if you go even further than that. Imagine what could be beyond that borderline. Imagine if you could set foot in that enchanted land. What lies upon it." The man said in such an optimistic voice.
Maurelle gazes back at him. "I might be mistaking it, but are you a voyager?"
The man smiled at her, and in that smile, she just now noticed how this man was quite the looker. It had brown slightly curly hair, his brows adapted that colour, he had a good nose, and his lips were pinkish. Furthermore, his tantalising light brown eyes was like the land of their own. It made Maurelle mesmerised.
"I'm an aspiring traveller, I want to seek a land that I have never been to, and those men back there is my crew and they sought through the same trace. We, too, want to escape out of this land." He briefly explained to Maurelle.
"You want to escape? Where will you go? And do you even have a ship?"
"Of course, I do. I'm a captain as well. But apparently, it's not obvious as my crew don't seem to respect me that much for my age." He scratched his nape and let out an awkward smile.
Maurelle smiled and giggled.
"You look even more beautiful when you smile. You should smile more often, your pink eyes radiate from the sun and it's..." He took a breather. "Just even more beautiful..." The man stopped waiting for Maurelle to answer him.
"Maurelle, the name's Maurelle." She introduced and sighed.
"Logan, as you may have heard of it already."
"Yes, I have. And these eyes? Is a witch's eyes." She retorted.
"Who thinks so?"
"Me? Because I am a witch."
"If you are indeed a witch, then you are the most kindest and most beautiful witch of all."
"Stop with that. How would you know that I am?"
"Escaping from Gwydion the witch is never an easy task and you executed it so well and with that explains that you are nothing like the stories says you are." Logan leaned onto the boat and exclaimed.
'Gwydion...'
Upon thinking of her mother's name, she started seeing things inside her head. It was her mother's evil whispers and laughs. It echoed inside her head and it made her very dizzy. And the waves just made it worst.
"Hey, are you alright?" Logan asked her as he crawled towards the woman and held her face for support.
Maurelle started panting and her heart started palpitating at a ridiculous speed as she saw her mother controlling her subconscious.
"Logan, we need to get out of here. We need to head back."
"What? Why? The water is even more appreciated at night. Don't you want to see the star and—" he was stopped when Maurelle hardly gripped his arm and it made him twitched.
"She found me!" She whispered in between her breaths.
"Who did?" Logan asked with his brows furrowed.
"My mother, my mother she found me. We need to head back. Or, or she, she will kill all of us." Maurelle started stuttering.
Logan froze and he can't possibly find the right words to say to Maurelle. He, was also very nervous as the tiny hairs on his skin started to stand up. For now, the man started paddling towards the shore. His mind was filled with, 'I need to keep this lady safe.'
The moment they arrived at the land, Maurelle immediately stepped out and followed by Logan who finished tying up the boat to a near log. They went back to the house they came from and Logan guided Maurelle to a room where it was used by no one.
"Stay here and don't ever go out!" Logan advised to her and closed the door.
It made her confused as she planned to just head back to the coven, but it seems that that man was willing to take a risk in keeping her in his grasp and won't ever let her go.
'I can not let this happen, has he taken a liking to me when we have just met? That can't be maybe he's just worried or concerned for his people. Well, he did say he was captain of his crew. But, who would dare keep a witch inside their house?'
She started thinking of a lot of things. Maurelle even head to the window and closed it but as soon as he glances back to the door that opened, she thought it was Logan but there it revealed her elder sister, Ravyn.
She gasped and held her chest. "S-Sister, h-how did you find me?"
Going back, when she was still with Logan, it felt as if someone was eyeing her from afar. It couldn't be anyone by her sister perhaps.
Ravyn walked towards her and gave her an embrace. Maurelle started to tremble, she knows that their mother demanded her sisters to find and search for her.
"Shush, I am not here to give you back to mother."
Her tremble didn't stop even after that. "I-I'm sorry, sister. M-mother, she, she has found me. She appeared inside my head, she will kill me if I don't get back."
Ravyn hush her and caressed her head before releasing her and gave a hard stare into her pink eyes.
"You don't need to go back. Tomorrow, when the sun has risen, that man you were with will be leaving this land. Follow that man and go as farther as you can." Ravyn said as she held her sister's shoulders tight.
"But mother, she will kill me if I don't go back."
"Then, if you go back, do you wish to be reborn with evilness and live by the way she wants? There, there now, sister. Just follow your elder sister. Do you want to live in peace? Go with that man and I will do the rest." Ravyn convinced her sister with a smile.
A smile that is filled with secrets.
"But how sister? How will you handle her?"
"Do you not trust me? Look at this," she raised the sleeves of her cloak and uncovered the scars on her pale skin. "This is what she gave me, with this proves that I know her better than you do. If you stay here not only will this land crumble and die but you will never see life the way you used to be."
There, Maurelle had deeply thought of her sister's words. She couldn't sleep and as the sun has risen from the edges of the land. She has finally made her decision.
And that is to follow the man that will lead her to the world of peace.
———————
ABYSSCESS