Haunting memories from a similar traumatic past event flashed before Elvira's eyes. Her breathing became rapid, her chest muscles tightened, and beads of sweat formed on her face. The utmost terror and helplessness her younger self had once felt overtook her body and froze it in place.
As the men came closer, her heart felt like it would implode with fear.
Elvira closed her eyes and rubbed her sweaty palms together. "I am not a child anymore. They can't hurt me. No one can sense my energy. They can't hurt me, "she uttered to herself inaudibly.
Her horse's panicked neigh brought her attention back to her surroundings. The agitated animal kicked its hind legs in the air and fled. If only Elvira were a horse, she would have followed its path.
Elvira stared at her fleeing horse while watching the wizards through her peripheral vision. The wizards let her go once. They would surely drop her at the nearest town again.
When the wizards were only a few feet apart, she was prepared to fall unconscious again.
Suddenly, one of them grabbed her and roughly pinned her to the ground on her back.
"Quickly, check her feet, "he said to the other wizards, and someone lifted her skirt to her ankles.
Elvira groaned in pain under the powerful hold of that wizard. It burned where his hands were.
"What are you?" he asked her. She studied the man who had her in an inescapable hold. He was a young man with shoulder-length blonde hair and a muscular physique.
"Her feet are fine, Everard," said the other wizard examining her feet. Upon hearing that, the blonde wizard released Elvira immediately.
Elvira got up slowly and brushed the dirt off her dress. Once she was finished, she lifted her eyes to see that all three wizards were looking at her suspiciously. Elvira gulped in fear. Why were the wizards questioning her identity, and why were they checking her feet? Did her gift of concealed power become weak? Or was it because the dark curse upon her was making itself noticeable?
"You still didn't answer me," said Everard. "What are you? And why are you here in The Devil's Groove?" His tone was stern. Elvira could be in grave danger if she didn't provide a satisfactory answer.
"What do you mean? Who are you?" asked Elvira. "Why are you asking such questions? And why did you pin me down to the ground to look at my feet?" She tried her best to act like a clueless, scared human being.
"If you are a human, then I wonder what you're doing in the Devil's Groove, all alone at this hour?" Everard raised an eyebrow and inched towards her. "Every human town nearby knows that spirits haunt these woods for quite a while now. So how come you are brave enough to amble around here and remain unharmed?"
Elvira was at a loss for words. At least they suspected her to be a spirit instead of a witch, but at the same, she didn't have solid answers to his questions.
She stuttered, "Um, uh, I didn't know..." Her voice was wavering, "I didn't know that. How could I have known? I am not from around here."
The look on Everard's face made it apparent that he wasn't buying any of her lies. "So, where are you coming from? And why are you so nervous if you're speaking the truth?" he asked.
"Everard, why are you terrorizing this poor creature?" came a voice from another direction before Elvira could open her mouth. She saw another young man holding a big ornate staff coming towards them.
"She is frightened by the blue bolt of magic that I so gracefully used," the man said to Everard once he was close enough. His manner and face were shockingly friendlier compared to his companions. "Also, I saw the way you were manhandling her. I couldn't intervene before because this staff seems to have a will of its own and has a problem with obeying authority," he said while shaking the staff lightly. That wizard towered over Everard. He was also leaner and had less muscle than him.
"Elijah and Gabriel," called Everard to the other two wizards. They were fat and looked almost identical. "Take the staff from him and take it someplace else so we can talk to this woman."
The twin wizards did as he told them to. After they were gone, all eyes were again on Elvira. Instinctively, she knew that she would face an unforgiving and lengthy interrogation. She might be able to make her case as a helpless human girl with crocodile tears. Fear squeezed out the moisture from her eyes and mouth, making it impossible to work. Perhaps magic could help. Was it wise to let the energy of her magic in the air when they were already suspecting her for some unspecified reason?
"My apologies, my friend here is not too polite," said the wizard with the strange staff. He had chestnut brown curly hair and piercing grey eyes that had a bit of mischief in them. "My name is Wivior, and we're all wizards. What's your name?"
Despite her awareness of their true nature, Elvira felt her spine tingle with fear when he said that. She had prayed for years to never run into wizards again. Unfortunately, her ill luck had brought her into contact with people who weren't kind like the ones she had encountered in the past.
"My name is Elvira Smith," she answered. Giving her name away wasn't a problem because no one besides the witches of her coven knew her. However, her mother had strictly forbidden her to give her last name to anyone the coven didn't trust.
"Why are you holding me here like a prisoner?" she asked nervously. "I wish to leave now."
"My apologies, Madam. We are required to question every passing traveler. I admit my friend was an ass to deal with a lady roughly," Wivior said, shooting a glance to Everard, who looked unapologetic and irked at his companion. "We need to confirm your identity because we're here to capture all the sneaky devils hiding in this forest. You might not know that these forests are full of these ghastly creatures. Spirits are shapeshifters, which makes it harder to spot them."
Wivior's gaze intensified. "As you can see, we carry a powerful weapon that can split any magical being in half. We're having difficulty with the weapon due to its hostility towards spirits. So far, before coming across you, we ran into one spirit posing to be a human, hoping to trick us. It would have worked if his feet weren't backward. Spirits can never shapeshift into faultless humans."
The wizard touched the jewel on the staff, activating a soft blue light. "All I can say is that things didn't go well for him when this weapon, specifically designed to destroy spirits, unleashed its power on him.
Elvira was frightened to the core by how the wizard phrased that. His choice of words was better than the other one. However, he was trying to scare her off by saying all that. What bothered her the most was the weapon they were carrying. Was it truly capable of doing all he stated? Would it harm a witch? Did it give them a hint about her true nature? Was her friend Charlotte, the spirit, alive? And on top of all that, why were wizards hunting spirits in the first place?
All those questions made her even more nervous. Elvira wasn't given any training for combatting wizards. All she could do was pretend to be a human. At which she was already miserably failing. How would she escape death now!?
Her eyes filled with tears, and she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Don't cry. We didn't mean to scare you, miss." Wivior extended a handkerchief. His tone and facial expressions had softened.
"Everard, I think she is a human woman, and we owe her an apology. The staff didn't react to her when she was close to it, and you already checked her feet. She didn't flee after hearing about the spirit weapon, and now we have tormented her to the point of crying," he said to the other wizard.
"We're sorry for the way we have treated you. It was a necessary procedure. After all, we're doing it for the people. We didn't mean you any harm," said Everard. His words were okay, but he didn't seem to care. Although his face was very handsome, he seemed to lack sympathy even for humans. She wondered what he would do to her if he were to find out her truth. Her fate would be the same as those witches who were there a century ago to perform a spell with her_ murdered or worse.
"Can I go now?" asked Elvira, wiping tears off her face. Hoping they had bought her lies and would let her leave in peace.
"Of course, but the woods are not safe right now to travel alone. Spirits must be scattered beyond the forest lands trying to escape from us," said Wivior. "I'll be honored to escort you to your destination."
Elvira couldn't possibly accept that offer. "No, I think you have already done enough," she said.
"Come on," began Wivior. A friendly, dimpled smile lit his handsome face. His face was more handsome than Everard's, noticeably more when he smiled. "I know you are mad at us. As wizards, we can do more for you after we're done with our duty here. I would be worried if I let you pass this forest alone. So, even if you decline, I will follow you anyway to ensure your safety."
"Aren't you busy with your job here?" asked Elvira.
"Yes, but we're probably going to be here all night or the next day as well. It's a long, tiring job, so I have plenty of time on my hands," said Wivior.
Elvira had no choice but to accept his offer, even though she was unsure where she would ask him to take her. If the wizards were going to be there for who knows how long, how would she be able to return to her village? She was too drained to perform another fast-travel magic spell. It would take her many hours to travel on horseback. Lilith was going to be so mad at her!