"I still need to buy a few ingredients we're running low on, and then we'll head back," Mnou explained her plan as she tied her scarf at the door of the tavern.
"Would you mind if I looked around a bit more?" Esme asked, giving her companion a pleading puppy-eyed look.
"Go ahead," Mnou replied. "But be at the crossroads outside town in half an hour. You can find your way there, right? And don't make me wait for you!"
The two of them parted ways, each heading in the opposite direction.
Mnou quickly bought everything she needed and went straight to the designated meeting spot. As she passed the last house of the village, she caught a glimpse of a pointy witch's hat behind a stone wall and heard voices coming from that direction.
"Wow, so you're investigating some kind of mystery. That sounds so cool! If I find out anything, I'll definitely tell you. Man, I want to be a wizard too."
"No, you don't."
Both kids behind the wall flinched and looked up, startled, at the shadow with a pointy hat looming above them. Mnou fixed her icy gaze on the boy who had just been talking. "Trust me, you'd regret it."
"W-why?" the boy whispered. "It sounds like a lot of fun."
"Ha, fun," the older witch scoffed.
"Um, this is my master," Esme introduced the shadow still towering over the children.
"Do you know why you'd regret it?" Mnou ignored Esme's attempt to change the subject.
"Why?" came the hesitant reply.
"Master, we should probably go. We were just talking, you don't have to scare Azra like that," the little girl tried to intervene desperately.
"Because someone has to die," Mnou said with a cold smirk, leaning on the wall, her eyes still locked on the boy.
"D-die?" Azra stammered in fear.
"That's right. I want you to look at this staff," she stretched her hand toward him, holding the staff firmly. "Looks like just a piece of wood, doesn't it? And it was, once. But what's different about it now… is that inside it rests a soul. The soul of someone who died. Someone close to us. That's the only way we humans are granted the immense power of magic. Everything has a price."
"Y-yeah, I guess," Azra mumbled, unsure what else to say.
"But no one can truly understand that unless they've paid it!" Mnou suddenly shouted. She didn't understand why she was doing this—why she was scaring this boy, who hadn't done anything wrong. She didn't have an answer. So, she just continued. "If anyone thinks magic is some sort of gift or privilege for a lucky chosen few, I want to correct them. Magic is nothing more than a curse!"
Silence fell. The boy stood with his head lowered, nervously dragging his foot through the dirt. Esme frowned and looked toward the sea. The tension in the air was thick, like ozone before a storm. One could almost feel it.
"Well… I… I'll never wish to be a wizard again," Azra muttered, not daring to look at the older witch.
He received no reply.
"We should probably get going," Esme suggested, breaking the silence. Mnou just snorted and set off up the mountain path with firm steps.
"I'm sorry, Azra. Don't worry about it too much," the little witch apologized softly before trotting after her mentor. She caught up with her after a while. The uncomfortable silence still lingered between them, until the girl couldn't bear it any longer.
"Did you really have to scare him like that?" she asked, almost angrily.
"I can't stand people who wish for things they don't even understand," Mnou snapped and picked up her pace, leaving her apprentice to scurry behind like a panting dog she wanted to shake off. But that didn't help. Esme caught up with her quickly.
"I get that, but you could've said it in a nicer way," she protested, trying to keep up.
Mnou didn't respond at first, but after a while, she let out a deep sigh and slowed down. "Alright, maybe I went a bit overboard," she admitted. "I don't know what came over me, but I just got so angry when he said something so dumb. Must be the wine," she muttered the last part under her breath. I really need to stop drinking.
"Well, what matters is that you realized it," Esme replied with a bright smile.
Mnou just grumbled something and continued striding up the steep hill.
The days passed, and with them, their length shortened. The sun began to set earlier, and dark shadows crept into every corner. The northern wind grew stronger, stripping the trees of their already brown-orange leaves by the hundreds. The sea was restless.
Mnou had come to terms with the fact that she probably wouldn't be getting rid of her new apprentice. The girl was thrilled about every task she was given. She had even learned to milk the sheep quite decently by now. The witch had to admit, it was rather convenient having someone around. After so many years of living alone, it felt strange to have someone constantly by her side. With a vaguely unsettling feeling, she realized it had been incredibly, unbelievably long since she'd last lived under the same roof with another soul. She remembered days—many, many days—when she hadn't spoken a single word. Sometimes she had to say something out loud just to make sure she hadn't forgotten how to speak. And now? Now she had to respond to a never-ending stream of questions and remarks. It annoyed her. She had never been much of a talker. But somewhere in a dusty corner of her mind, a small voice was beginning to make itself heard—telling her that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't so bad after all. It was so different from the life she used to lead that it felt like her world had been flipped upside down. And in a way… it was kind of nice. She tried not to listen to that faint little voice too much, but it never went completely quiet.
"This morning, we'll go deeper into the mountains," Mnou announced over breakfast. "I want to introduce you to the basics of drawing magic from nature."
Esme's mouth was full of oatmeal with honey and raisins, but that didn't stop her from blurting out a muffled, enthusiastic sound that was probably meant as agreement.
They set off right after breakfast. Soon, they left the well-trodden path behind, its stone walls trailing off behind them. They headed higher, toward the wind-swept peaks. The wind howled, and the witches had to hold on to their hats. Mnou was glad she had brought her wool scarf. This far inland, the salty scent of the sea had all but vanished, replaced by a heavy, earthy smell laced with the tang of pine. Eventually, they reached a small grove made up mostly of pines, with a few deciduous trees scattered among them. They'd arrived.
"Let's begin," said the mentor as she settled comfortably onto a patch of moss, her student sitting across from her. "You were probably taught in school how to transform raw magical currents into spells we can use."
Esme nodded, listening intently.
"Most people draw from air—it's everywhere. In cities, there aren't many other clean sources of magic available. If you learn to draw from the air, you can use magic anywhere. It's useful, but not the most efficient. Out here in nature, though, the magic currents are far stronger. They're in every living thing. It's ironic, really—humans are the only creatures who can use magic, and yet we wipe it out in cities just by being there. But I'm digressing. Right now, I want you to focus. I know it sounds tedious, but you must feel it. You must realize that magic is all around us."
"Okay! I'm ready!" the little witch blurted, closing her eyes at once to begin.
"Wait—one more thing. I don't think you'll manage it today, but it's possible you'll slip into a kind of trance. That's good. But it might feel like magical threads are tightening around you—maybe even like they're strangling you."
Esme's eyes flew open, staring at her master in shock. Her confidence wavered, and she shifted nervously in place.
"But don't worry," Mnou quickly added. "I'll be right here with you the whole time. And most importantly—your physical body will be completely fine. What you'll be feeling is your spiritual self."
"Spiritual self? What's that?"
"I was just getting to that before you interrupted me," came the sharp reply.
"Sorry," the girl said, guilty.
"Anyway. Where was I? Ah, yes. Your spiritual self is basically your soul. It's the part of you that can perceive magic, and it's through your soul that the magic in a wand is shaped and manifested. A soul can exist—and in some sense, function—without a body. It can be separated for a while, allowing it to travel the astral world."
"I want to learn that!" the girl cried out, her eyes lighting up. "Can you do that, Master?"
Mnou hesitated, realizing she'd made a mistake. Damn it. Of course this would be the thing that catches her interest. But I absolutely cannot let her try that. Why are kids always so damn curious?
"Er… it's not important," she said with a cough, clearly dodging the question. "I just mentioned it in passing. Let's get back to drawing from natural currents, okay?"
"What's the astral world like?" the apprentice insisted, clearly enchanted by the idea.
"Well, it's… sort of like our world. At least the first layer is. No one really knows what the whole astral world looks like, or how big it is. Some believe that every person has a different astral world. There are even theories that the souls of the dead rest in the deepest levels. Many experts have tried to reach those depths, but no one ever has. And some never came back at all. Quite a few, actually."
Mnou suddenly realized just how much she'd let herself ramble about the astral world—and how Esme was eating up every word like gospel. Fear prickled through her. What have I done?
"And that is exactly why I should never have told you about it!" she snapped. "You have no idea how dangerous it is! Don't even think about trying it. People who travel in the astral form train for years. Someone like you could get lost even in the highest layer."
"But I want to try it! Teach me!" Esme pleaded; hands clasped like she was praying.
"Did I ever say I could do it?" Mnou asked, annoyed.
"No, but you can, can't you?" Esme countered slyly.
"No!" her mentor snapped—but even she realized how unconvincing that sounded. The little witch beamed.
"I knew it! I knew you could!"
Mnou rubbed her temples. Her head was starting to ache.
"How deep did you go?" Esme pressed, relentless.
"In the first layer and I glimpsed into the second," the witch muttered, defeated. "But I only tried it a few times, and even that was far too risky and reckless," she added quickly. "Don't you get it? You might never come back! It's dangerous."
"But you could teach me everything," Esme said sweetly, giving her master puppy eyes.
"That's enough! I'm not teaching you that," Mnou said firmly. "Or at least not until you're ready," she added with a sigh.
"So, you will teach me someday?"
"…Maybe," she said after a long pause.
"Yay!"
"Don't go thinking that means in a few days. Or weeks. We're talking years."
"Understood, Master."
Mnou stood and stretched. The root she'd been sitting on had started to press into her back, and her limbs felt stiff. Her head throbbed. Ugh, I am so not cut out for arguing with kids, she thought wearily. What I need is a hot bath, she sighed—and then suddenly, she had an idea.
"You know what, Esme? I've got an idea. It's kind of on our way home anyway, so we'll stop by."
The girl looked puzzled. "Stop by where?"
"You'll see," Mnou replied, already looking forward to the destination.