I found the children in the middle of a small clearing within the forest. There were seven of them. Three boys and four girls, roughly around eight to twelve years old.
I immediately dimmed the orb of light and hid behind a huge tree. I was far enough not to be seen by anyone as I quietly scanned my surroundings. There were no signs of the kidnapper or Trisha; and the children were all huddled on the ground as if something was stopping them from moving.
I stood there as I contemplated my next move. It was obvious that this was a trap, however, the strong urged to rescue the younglings was slowly eating out my sense of reason and better judgement.
"Fuck!" I cursed before I ran towards the children.
I was only a few metres away when the youngest of the children noticed my presence. I saw a mixture of relief and fear on his face.
I put a finger on my lips, indicating for the boy to not make a sound as I cautiously approached them. The boy nodded. Soon after, the others began to noticed my presence as well.
The closer I got to them, the more I realized that they were sitting still as if their body was bound but without ropes or any form of bindings.
What is going on here?
"Are you alr....-" I couldn't finished my question as a wave of energy strucked me.
I flung across the clearing and landed on top of thorny shrubs! I winced in pain as the thorns scratched and penetrated my skin.
I quickly rolled onto my side to push myself in a side sitting position. I then pulled myself up to see who sent the wave of energy.
My eyes widened as I saw a hooded figure standing close to the children. There was a small book being held by magic and hovering beside her.
The person was wearing a tattered black robe, which made it difficult for me to see the assailant's identity as he or she blended perfectly in the middle of the night.
Whoever this person was, is giving off powerful dark energy. It was the vilest and cruelest of all the evil I've come acrossed and most definitely stronger than I was.
I also noticed seven dolls hanging around the enemy's waist. Each dolls were bound by a piece of string tied around their body. It doesn't take a genius to know what those were.
They were voodoo dolls! Dolls that represented the children!
Those and the book has narrowed down the identity of my enemy to a single being, a witch, typically an old crone known as a 'mangkukulam'!
"Who are you?" I asked her but got no response.
Her grimoire glowed a dark purple colour, signaling another attack.
Powers that be,
Hear my plea.
Wind around me,
Purge my enemy!
I hastily cast a wind spell as soon as I realized what she was about to do, however, my attack was easily neutralized by single a wave of her hand.
Shit!
Before I could figure out my next move, the mangkukulam has already casted her spell. I was forced down on my knees as my entire body became hot and heavy.
I started itching as boils began to appear on my arms and neck. If that wasn't enough, I also saw an outline of something crawling from underneath my skin.
I panicked!
I began scratching myself violently in an attempt to get whatever it was out! I felt my own nails digging through my skin causing it to bleed.
"Arrrgggghhhhh!!!" I groaned as I felt someone yanked my hair.
I looked up and saw the witch. I didn't realized that she had closed the distance between us. And despite our close proximity, I still couldn't see her identity. Her face was distorted, obviously due to a glamour spell.
Using her right hand, she then pulled a knife in one of her pocket. My eyes widened as the reality dawned on me! I know exactly what she was about to do because I read it countless of times in the file!
She raised her arm before plunging the knife down but I managed to caught it with my left hand before it stab me on the chest! I was still feeling weak because of her spell and she was easily over powering my strength!
"No!" I struggled frantically.
I needed to think of a way out, fast! My right hand hysterically search the ground for anything that could be used as a weapon and found nothing but dirt.
Wait!
Dirt!
That's it!
I grabbed a handful of dirt with my fist, and as the knife got closer to my chest, I threw the dirt on the witch's face! The mangkukulam has let her guard down due to over confidence and was completely taken aback by my retaliation.
This caused for her grip to loosen up and I used that opportunity to pushed her away. She staggered as she tried to get the dirt off her eyes.
It took everything I had to get up. I did my best to ignore the heavy feeling in my body. I then snatched the voodoo dolls from her waist and ran towards the children. I had managed to untangle the string that binds the dolls allowing the children to be able to move.
"Go! Run!" I told them.
I saw the children hesitated.
"NOW!" I yelled and only then they found the courage to move.
My intention was to run behind them but was forced onto my knees once again. The witch has recovered and casted another spell.
I heard footsteps behind me as she walked towards me. This time I felt like I was choking. A lump of something was stuck in my throat!
GWAAARRRKKKKK!
I gagged as I shoved my fingers down my throat. I grabbed what felt like fibres inside my mouth and then pulled it. Thick strands of hair started coming out. The more I pull, the thicker the hairs become and there seem to be no end to it. My saliva was dripping to the ground.
Once again, I found myself kneeling before the witch! Despite the glamour, I could almost see the devious smile plastered all over her face.
She had won!
Without the ability to chant, my abilities were useless. There's no hope for me! It's the end of the line!
"Go away!" Someone yelled.
Soon after, a rock came hurling to the witch's face. The young boy who saw me earlier came back to save me; thwarting my imminent death!
The mangkukulam turned to face the young boy. Despite being obviously scared, the young wolf never backed down. Instead, he grabbed another rock and threw it at her.
This time, the witch was ready. She caught the rock and non challantly threw it aside. With a glow from her grimoire, the boy fell over and writhed in agony on the ground.
Another one of the children came from behind and attack the witch. This time, it was an older girl who jumped her back. The witch tried to get her off but another child came rushing, tackling her to the ground.
Soon after, another youngling came out of nowhere and snatched the grimoire. She rip the pages off as hard as she could, cancelling the witch's spell.
I watched in awe as the children coordinated their attacks even though it did very little to stopped the evil witch!
It didn't take long for her to recover. I felt her gather the mana around her!
"Get away from her!" My warning came too little too late as she unleashed the mana on the children just as quickly as she had collected them.
The force was enough to push the children away and even I couldn't avoid it in time. I found myself rolling and tumbling to the ground.
After I stopped, I immediately looked up to check on the children. I saw them scattered everywhere and unconscious! Thanks to the rush of adrenaline, my brain was running a hundred miles an hour. The young wolves has helped me recover what I lost and I have no intentions of wasting it.
Powers of nature,
Bind this creature!
Spirits of the forest,
Protector of the weakest!
I put my palm to the ground as I directed my mana to the earth. Moments later, thick roots popped out of the ground and wrapped itself around the witch! The mamgkukulam tried to get away but I didn't let her. I tighten my grip like a vice in an attempt to crush her and yet she remain resilient!
This situation has reminded me of the time when me and my comrades fought the sigbin. A single attack wasn't enough to kill it. It took a combination of attacks from all of us to defeat that monstrosity of evil.
And that's my problem because there's only me right now!
I felt her preparing a counter attack and I am certain that if she succeeds, I will never see the light of day again. This means I have to defeat her right here, right now!
Water and air,
Empowered by anger.
Shards of ice,
My enemies demise!
I followed through my earth spell with an ice spell. I let loose an endless barage of sharp crystallized water towards the witch. She has successfully managed to deflect most of it using mana while the rest of it peirced through her.
And it's still wasn't enough to kill her!
Holding two spells at once for a prolonged period of time has started to take a toll on my body. I could feel the fatigue slowly creeping in as nausea began to blur my vision!
"Damn it!" I cursed.
There's only one way to win and that is to push passed my limits! I must risk everything! An all or nothing gamble. I either die by her hands or we could die together! And I would rather go down fighting!
"M-my will u-unbroken.... arghhhhh ..... shit!" I gasped!
I only managed to chant the first line of the incantation and my body felt like it was already on fire! The pain was just too much for me! I didn't think I could bear it!
Fuck!
My grip was starting to loosen. The mangkukulam had managed to free her left arm.
Double fuck!
I must try again!
"M-my w-will un-unbroken..... urghhhh.... m-my p-power str-strengthen.... ahhhhh!" I screamed as the pain trippled.
My body isn't equipped to handle such huge amount of mana. Blood started pouring out my eyes, nose and ears! If I kept going, the mana would destroy my body from the inside!
Shit!
I saw the witch flicked her finger and her grimoire began to glow again. The torn pages began to mend themselves as the book levitated towards her.
It's now or never!
My will unbroken,
My power strengthen!
Force of heaven,
Smite this villain!
I finally managed to finish the incantation with great difficulty. It felt like I'm about to die as power surged through me. My chest felt like something's pressing on it as I started coughing out blood. My entire body was burning and I am on the verge of loosing consciousness. My focus was hanging by a thread.
But I pushed through!
The sounds of roaring thunder echoed through the forest while lightning illuminated the sky like fireworks on a new year. The clouds began to move, forming a massive ring above us!
A gust of icy air blew through the lush trees of the forest like a strong arctic wind that sent goosebumps to my skin. I could feel a powerful energy building through the sky accompanied by an orchestra of thunder nearing its peak!
In a blink of an eye, a series of powerful lightning struck the mangkukulam! And for the very first time, since our encounter, I finally heard her voice. Her scream reverberated all around us!
It was music to my ears.....