Mrs Frostbane's words kept ringing in Raorka's ear as they made their way out of the town, towards the forest.
She said she had to thank me?
I pointed her to the solution..?
But how? He didn't remember Rowena particularly being impressed by any of the theories he had suggested, rather she shot down most of his ideas.
"Are you okay Raorka?" Lucerne asked, her voice tinged with concern.
Raorka broke out of his reverie and smiled at her. "Yeah yeah I am fine. Let's go see the Witch now."
Lucerne made a grimace but said nothing as they continued on their path out of Temuril.
As they came closer to the Forest of Old Gotuj, the trademark roar of the dragon broke through the silence of the afternoon.
"You know, I'd like to see that dragon once if I could."
Lucerne vigorously shook her head. "No no you wouldn't. Dragons are terrifying creatures, even one bound like Old Gotuj."
Raorka didn't take that warning seriously at all. After all dragons were ultimately big lizards who shot out fire. Sure they were dangerous maybe, but terrifying wasn't the first word that leapt to his mind when he thought of it.
Once this is over I'll ask Lucerne again
Presently they came across the Okye, across which lay Artemis' hut. There was a small light visible within indicating that the Witch was indeed at home.
Raorka and Lucerne deftly crossed over the river and then going up to the door, it was Raorka who softly knocked on it.
"Miss Artemis? Are you there?" He called out.
There wasn't an immediate answer but Raorka heard a thumping sound from inside as if someone had fallen over. Then there was a long pause, and Raorka thought he also heard an Incantation being chanted inside but he couldn't be sure. After that, the Witch opened the door, regarding the both of them once before stepping aside and indicating they enter.
Lucerne couldn't hide the distate in her face when entering the hut of the Witch, but if Artemis noticed that she certainly didn't say anything about it.
"What can I do for you both?" She asked softly after handing them the translation leaves. It had become almost a habit for Raorka to immediately put them in his ears as soon as he entered, but he had to show Lucerne what they were forced. Although the latter was initially quite suspicious, she eventually relented and put the magic artifact in her ear.
"Miss Artemis, surely you have heard of the kidnappings in the town?" Raorka asked as he moved towards one of the open chairs.
"Yes of course I have." She said gravely, pointing Raorka away from the chair and towards the bed instead. Raorka looked once quizzically at Artemis before shrugging and going towards the bed instead.
What the hell is wrong with sitting on the chair?
A fleeting thought came into his mind, but he had other things to worry about so he didn't dwell on it.
"Actually one of our friends, Rowena Atar, was the latest one to disappear. And we are under the assumption that she had discovered the identity of the kidnapper." Raorka began slowly.
Artemis didn't respond but just nodded, indicating him to continue.
"Well before she could alert the authorities, she was actually kidnapped herself. And just before she was kidnapped she was reading this book in the library called The Witch of Temuril: A Brief History."
If the name of the book was of interest to her, Artemis certainly didn't show it on her face. It remained an expressionless mask as she stared straight at Raorka, as if daring him to make an accusation.
However Lucerne was the one who did.
"Since the name of the book clearly mentions you, you can see I hope why you would be the prime suspect?" She asked pointedly.
Artemis didn't respond immediately. She slowly shifted her gaze from Raorka to Lucerne and then asked, "Have you two actually read the book?"
"Yes I have, than-"
"Yes, and we arent accusing you of anything!" Raorka quickly interrupted Lucerne and shot her a look to shut her up. Antagonising the Witch was probably not the right move.
Artemis tilted her head. "No? Why are you here then?"
Raorka breathed a deep sigh. This wasn't going well.
"Well we just wanted to know your perspective on the information written in that book. Something in there gave a hint to Rowena about the identity of the kidnapper, so who better to ask what that something would be other than you?"
Artemis turned her clear blue eyes away from Raorka, looking out of the window. When she spoke her voice was calm and cool.
"I remember the book you speak of well, as well as its author. The book is more about Temuril than about me."
"But you had a hand in the making of Temuril right?"
Artemis smiled. It was the first time Raorka had ever seen her smile, and he thought there was a wistful look in her eyes.
"You could say that. When I came to settle in this forest, there were no other humans around me. People stayed away from here due to the roars of the dragon. That is until a certain Emperor Knight arrived here with a battered crew of soldiers and set up camp here. Slowly I helped them and the camp turned into the town you know."
"Emperor Knight?" It was a new term for Raorka.
"Emperor Knight Temuril of the Frontier." Lucerne said, her eyes wide with wonder. The name of the Emperor Knight had seemingly removed all her hostility towards Artemis and she stared at the Witch in wide eyed wonder.
"You really met him?" She asked wonderingly.
"Why, yes. He was in quite a sorry state when he came before me for help though." Artemis said amusedly.
I'll have to ask Lucerne what an Emperor Knight is later on.
"Anyway, " Raorka said trying to get the conversation back on track, "you were here since before the existence of the town, and you have watched the town grow throughout the years. Is there anything that comes to your mind that can help us figure out who is kidnapping the girls?"
Artemis shook her head. "I think you are looking at the wrong place. I can't think of anything in the history of Temuril that has any links to what is happening now."
Raorka sighed. That's about what he had expected.
"What about the cracking of the dome?" He asked tentatively.
"What about it?"
"The book implies that a lot of people thought it was your doing."
"It wasn't."
"How did it happen then?"
Artemis paused. She looked quite reluctant to share the information about this. Finally she said ,"I don't think that is relevant to the current happenings."
Bingo
"Maybe it is though. Maybe that is what Rowena was loo-"
A banging sound interrupted Raorka. He looked around surprised, but there was nothing in his vicinity that could have caused it. He looked at Lucerne and Artemis and both of them were similarly surprised, though Artemis seemed to get over her surprise relatively quickly. She turned her head as if to look back but then immediately stopped herself.
"What was that?" Lucerne asked. She went over to the window to check if anything was going on outside but there was nothing. In fact Raorka was sure that it had come from within the room but he couldn't see anything that could have caused it.
"Maybe one of the wooden floorboards creaked loudly." Artemis said nonchalantly. She was trying to change the subject.
Raorka was still suspicious but he decided to acqueise this time.
"As I was saying, " He continued, "maybe that is what gave Rowena the hint to who the kidnapper is."
"But the book makes no mention of what actually happened does it?"
Raorka fell silent. He was stumped. Artemis was right, the book only implies that she had caused it, it had no further details on if they had ever found. Thus it must not have been the clue which led Rowena to the solution.
She said she had to thank you later
You had pointed her towards the solution
Artemis must have noticed the pitiful expression on Raorka's face, for she sighed and then said, "Fine, I will tell you how the dome cracked. Though I doubt you will get any useful information out of that."
Raorka immediately brightened up and smiled at the Witch. "Of course thank you so much! It may still be useful to us even if Rowena didn't use it herself. Or maybe she already knew how the dome cracked."
"No, no one knows this story yet."
Artemis' declaration paused Raorka's enthusiasm. He looked sideways at Lucerne who shrugged at him. The Witch seemed to have grown deadly sombre.
"Do you know how a Witch is made?" Artemis asked suddenly.
Raorka and Lucerne looked at each other once and then shook their heads no.
"Let me enlighten you then. A Witch is someone who practises forbidden magik. Someone who researches magik on human subjects for example would be classified as a Witch. So would someone trying to research immortality or someone trying to summon demons. The Kingdom itself is the one who classifies someone as a Witch, and keeps them in their records. Most known Witches are already imprisoned in some prison or the other throughout the land." Artemis paused, looking at each of them to verify they had understood her words.
As always the teacher.
"But I," She continued, "am not a Witch."
"What?!"
The cry was almost simultaneous between Raorka and Lucerne.
Artemis didn't respond, but looked cooly at both of them, waiting for them to calm down.
"What do you mean? Didn't you practise immortality?" Lucerne asked when she had caught her breath.
"No actually I did not."
"Then how are you alive for so long?" Lucerne asked quietly, and Raorka had the feeling that she already knew the answer, but was dreading to hear it.
"I am not a Witch." Artemis repeated, and then she stood up.
Her fingers trembled as she touched the bandanna tied around her forehead, her grip tightening slightly before she slowly pulled it away.
"But I am something worse," she murmured, her voice low and tense. As the cloth shifted, her ears came into view.
Her ears were sharp and pointed.
"I am an elf."