I woke up in the witch's cabin, dimly lit by the fire in the hearth. There were bundles of mice and rats just above the bench where I was lying, and the smoke-darkened ceiling was covered with cobwebs. The old hag valued her repute.
I found her in the back yard where she was brewing some disgusting potion of greenish colour, in the big dirty cauldron she would never lift alone. "Feeling better already?" - she asked, without turning her eyes from the broth. "Kind of", - I replied, sitting down on the steps.
The potion smelled - reeked. The wind was piercing and cold, the sky was covered with stormy clouds, but from time to time the bright blue bits shined through. It felt so good to be alive.
"I remember how we went to the mountains", - I said finally, though the witch paid attention only to her broth. - "And I remember how the archer shot down the trolls' shaman. But after that I hardly remember anything at all. How did I get here. What happened to the others. They are all right, aren't they?"
She kept stirring and stirring, without saying a word.
Then she turned to me, looked at me with her pale eyes, a nightmare brought to life, and said: "Not quite, master Alric". She turned away, scooped some of her lousy broth and tasted it. And then, quite indifferently, told me: "They are all dead, master Alric, all of them except you, and their families would have killed you slowly and painfully if only they knew that you're alive. And you are alive only thanks to my spells and knowledge".
I reached to my neck, unable to breathe for a moment. There used to hang the necklace of trolls' fangs, the fangs of the trolls I killed, the thing that reminded me - I was not useless anymore, I could make difference, I had power enough to protect the ones I cared for - my king, my friends, my land. But it was not there. "They took it..."
"Master Alric, the trolls did not take it", - slowly said the witch. "It was me who took it. I take it because I need payment for the treatment. It is only fair. Your necklace, your sword and your horse. You will not need all these things".
She added some more spiders to the cauldron.
"For you, it will be better to leave as soon as you're able to. But, well... It is all the same now, you're already too late".
I found her in the back yard where she was brewing some disgusting potion of greenish colour, in the big dirty cauldron she would never lift alone. "Feeling better already?" - she asked, without turning her eyes from the broth. "Kind of", - I replied, sitting down on the steps.
The potion smelled - reeked. The wind was piercing and cold, the sky was covered with stormy clouds, but from time to time the bright blue bits shined through. It felt so good to be alive.
"I remember how we went to the mountains", - I said finally, though the witch paid attention only to her broth. - "And I remember how the archer shot down the trolls' shaman. But after that I hardly remember anything at all. How did I get here. What happened to the others. They are all right, aren't they?"
She kept stirring and stirring, without saying a word.
Then she turned to me, looked at me with her pale eyes, a nightmare brought to life, and said: "Not quite, master Alric". She turned away, scooped some of her lousy broth and tasted it. And then, quite indifferently, told me: "They are all dead, master Alric, all of them except you, and their families would have killed you slowly and painfully if only they knew that you're alive. And you are alive only thanks to my spells and knowledge".
I reached to my neck, unable to breathe for a moment. There used to hang the necklace of trolls' fangs, the fangs of the trolls I killed, the thing that reminded me - I was not useless anymore, I could make difference, I had power enough to protect the ones I cared for - my king, my friends, my land. But it was not there. "They took it..."
"Master Alric, the trolls did not take it", - slowly said the witch. "It was me who took it. I take it because I need payment for the treatment. It is only fair. Your necklace, your sword and your horse. You will not need all these things".
She added some more spiders to the cauldron.
"For you, it will be better to leave as soon as you're able to. But, well... It is all the same now, you're already too late".
