The Witch of Flowers
Chapter 3: Cold and Dark

Corin frowned as he assessed the vines that surrounded the area around the house he and his siblings had taken shelter in. Their savior hadn’t joined them even as the days passed. He worried that the slavers had captured her. It was the only thing that made sense given the circumstances. She had said that the house was safe, but she hadn’t done anything but use some strange magic to grow this vine wall. The vines didn’t budge when he had approached them before and nobody else entered. Perhaps that was what made the house so safe. Still, he couldn’t trade his and his siblings’ freedom for his savior’s. What could he do, though, when he couldn’t even leave this little area of the forest?

“What is going on here?” Corin heard a voice from the on the other side of the viney wall. “This feels like Iris’s gift, but I don’t feel her anywhere in the forest.”

The vines parted to reveal four figures. A large red wolf, an oversized white tiger, a lady with black hair, and a tall man with golden hair. The man and woman seemed almost ethereal. In that moment, Corin remembered the tales his parents used to tell them before bed about the Great Spirit Lords that lived in the Great Forest of Lux? Was this that forest? It wasn’t like his location had been the first thing on his mind when he was trying to protect his siblings from the whips the slavers had attacked them with, or when he was struggling to run them to safety. Corin bowed his head just in case.

“This child…,” the woman spoke softly. “It seems the humans were disregarding the terms of the treaty.”

A hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him forward roughly. “Indeed it seems that way,” this time it was the man speaking. “This child bears injuries from whips and shackles. It seems slavers somehow managed to pass through our forest before we could detect them. Faris, Yuki, go inside and see if Garrick is awake, if not replace some of his healing potions. I need to ask this child what is going on here.”

Garrick…That was one of the names on the gravestone not far from the house, “U-um, sir, when the one who rescued us sent us to this place I noticed a gravestone with that name on it.”

The man immediately dropped his wrist. “Show me,” his voice came out almost pained.

Corin nodded and guided the man to the grave next to the house. “Oh dear,” the woman said softly. “Poor Iris.”

“Why didn’t she come to any of us?” the man almost growled.

“I assume grief took over her when it happened. Those two raised her since she was a baby. She might not have known what to do from then on out,” the woman’s voice cracked.

“There were two other young humans sleeping on the floor next to the front door with similar injuries as the boy,” a new voice joined them. Corin quickly glanced at the young man who spoke. He looked similar to one lupine demihuman but not quite. The wolfish features seemed more defined than his human ones, and he looked much stronger.

“Did you bring one of the potions?” the golden haired man asked sharply.

“Yes sir,” the wolfish man said as he bowed his head, handing over a bottle.

“Child, drink this and then we’ll talk,” the man said handing him the bottle after it was opened.

Corin nodded and then drank the potion, wondering how he could possibly pay them back for the potion when he had no money to his name. He and his siblings were orphans. It had been hard enough keeping them all fed before the slavers started hitting the villages around his own. Still, he wouldn’t argue yet. They may be able to help his savior. He was surprised by the warmth that spread through his body the moment he swallowed the liquid in the bottle. The pain that had torn through his back ever since their capture faded so quickly he almost couldn’t believe that he had been injured in the first place. The bruises that covered his skin healed quickly as well.

“Good, now please tell me what happened from the beginning,” the man with golden hair said firmly.

Corin and nodded, telling the man how he and his siblings had been targeted once the slavers had come to their village in the middle of the night. The wagon they had been chained to, the whipping as the wagon moved. He told them that the wagon had been moving through the forest when his savior had managed to restrain two of the slavers and used magic to break the shackles that held him and his siblings to the wagon. He told them of their mad dash to escape, and the young woman’s urging for them to continue to this house before the vines seperated them from their savior. “It’s been four days since then. The vines didn’t budge no matter what I tried, so we’ve been stuck here. The young woman hasn’t returned either. I’m worried that the slavers got her. There were four of them so she was definitely outnumbered, and they had weapons and shackles with magic inhibitors in case they came across any resistance.”

The group before him grew more grim with every word he spoke. Another young man approached, this one looking like one of the tiger-like demihumans, but, like the wolfish one, much more tiger-like. He knelt on one knee in front of the man with golden hair. “Great Spirit Lord Lux, I wish to travel to the human lands to replace and rescue Iris. May I please have your permission?”

Corin swallowed, no wonder the man and woman had seemed so ethereal. Lux was the name of the leader of all the Great Spirit Lords, the one the Great Forest of Lux was named for. So this must be the Great Forest of Lux. What would happen to him? He hadn’t shown proper respect to the leader of the Great Spirit Lords. “Not yet,” the man said. “We need to track down her location first. If slavers have her, they might have placed a slavery crest on her. While we could easily remove it once we located her, I do not want to risk those holding her captive giving her an order to harm or kill herself.”

“But she could be killed in the meantime, to hide the crime or for any number of reasons,” the wolflike man protested, obviously wanting to go with the white-haired tigerlike man.

“My decision is final. We would know immediately if Iris was dead. Our blessings are still intact, so we know she is alive. We just need to wait until some factor allows us to determine her exact location. I’ll start by having Floris and Faunis speak with the plants and animals in the forest to replace out which nation the slavers went and try to track them beyond the bounds of the forest. Nyx, tell the Spirit Lords to deploy all of the guards to the perimeter of the forest. I will not allow any humans to pass through until we replace and rescue Iris. In the meantime, Faris and Yuki, you will help the three young humans adapt to living in the woods until we replace Iris while remaining on standby. Depending on where Iris has been taken, I may send the two of you to retrieve her at a moment’s notice, but Iris intended for them to be safe when she rescued them.”

“Is t-there anything we can do to help? I want to help my savior. My siblings and I would have never escaped without the lady’s help,” Corin managed. He would do anything if it meant that his savior was safe.

The Great Spirit Lord Lux sighed. “Your wounds have just barely healed. Your body still needs to recover. If you insist on helping after that…Yuki, Faris, you can train and teach this child and the other siblings if they so desire, but don’t overdo it. They are humans.”

“Understood,” the pair replied firmly. They looked a bit frustrated, but Corin could understand it. It seemed like they and the Great Spirit Lords were close to his savior, perhaps even the leader of the Great Spirit Lords. Of course they would want to help his savior if they were anything resembling friends. He would do his best not to hold them back and to help rescue his savior.

The Great Spirit Lord Lux and Nyx quickly left, leaving him alone with the two men who looked similar to demihumans. “What is your name, human?” the lupine man snarled.

“My name is Corin, sir,” he bowed his head.

“Since it seems we’ll be stuck with each other until Iris is located we should exchange names so we can speak easier. I’m Faris, and the white tiger is Yuki,” the lupine man grumbled.

“I-I’m sorry,” Corin managed.

“Why?” the tigerlike man grumbled, “As much as I hate to admit it, it isn’t exactly your fault that Iris got taken by those slavers. If Faris and I didn’t fight all the time we probably would have been here to help her back then, but we were still being punished. Does that make us at fault for those slavers’ actions?”

“Of course not,” Corin blurted out. “It’s the slavers who are going around taking people from their homes and enslaving them.”

“Exactly,” Faris sighed. “Still doesn’t make this situation feel any better though. I guess we should do our best to get ready for when Great Spirit Lord Lux tracks down Iris. When your siblings wake up, they’ll need to use a potion to heal up as well. All of you look pretty malnourished so you’ll probably need some more time to recover before we can start training you and them if they desire.”

Iris woke in a cold and dark place. She glanced around, carefully noting her surroundings. There were no windows. No noise from the outdoors could be heard. It wasn’t as damp as the underground slave auction had been, but she could tell that she was still undergound. The ground was made from a similar stone, though more elegant. Unfortunately, her hands could replace no piece of nature to call for help. How long would she be trapped? She wasn’t shackled, but feeling around revealed that she was in some sort of cell with cold metal bars.

Iris tried to activate her magic to light up her surroundings, but felt the slave crest burn against her skin. That had been forbidden, it seemed. What about her abilities around plants? Again, agony cut through her as she attempted to create a sprout. Damn it, that would have been the easiest way to reach soil, cracking one of these rocks with one of her plants. She’d have to do it by hand, and even then, it would take ages considering the quality and hardness of the rocks in her prison.

Suddenly, dim light filled the air. It was the same as those in the underground auction house. Now that she was able to get a closer look, she realized she was right. The source of the light was some modified fire magic, though it was contained in small magic stones affixed to torch posts on the wall of the hallway leading to her cell. With the added light, Iris was able to see just how small her prison was. While it was tall enough for her to stand, it was not wide enough in any other direction for her to lay flat. There was nothing on the ground that could resemble a place she was meant to sleep, only bare stone.

Iris heard footsteps echo across the ground, approaching her cell lazily. A young lady, probably around her age, came into sight. Her hair was just as bright blonde as the man who had purchased her as a slave. She wore a fancy pink dress and high-heeled shoes. The look on her face was a malicious smirk. Then the snarl came out, “How dare you look at me, you filthy slave. Bow your head and place your hands outside the bars on the ground.”

Iris didn’t want to move, but she felt the slave crest force her body to move against her will. Her head dipped and she tilted forward, her hands sliding outside the cell bars. Iris didn’t even get a chance to understand her situation before one of the young woman’s shoes came down on her hand. Iris felt the bones in her hand snap as the weight increased. Iris let out a small whimper.

“Are you defying my orders?” the woman shouted. “Remain completely still, and do not let out a noise.”

Iris’s body seized up, unable to move any longer. The young woman opened the cell door and stepped inside. Then the blows came down. First a slap to her face, then a kick to her ribs. After that, the girl repeatedly stamped down on her legs and kicked her arms. Iris just wanted to collapse on the ground and curl up in a ball to avoid at least some of the pain, but she couldn’t move. The slave crest must have been made to allow all of those related to the buyer order her about.

Iris didn’t know how long the pain continued before the young woman finally stepped outside the cell and closed the door behind her. “Know this. You’ll never escape from this place. You’re only a disgusting slave.” Footsteps left her alone and then darkness once more. Still, Iris couldn’t move, the order had not been relinquished.

The next time the lights came on Iris felt a chill run down her spine. It had to have been more than a whole day since the last time someone walked towards her cell. A man’s low crude laugh reached her. “It seems my daughter showed you your place, slave. Grow as many castor bean plants as you can immediately.”

Iris felt the power within her activating. She tried to fight against it but the slave crest burned against her chest and the magic just pooled out of her against her will. Iris couldn’t even count how many castor bean plants grew in front of her eyes through the pain of her injuries and the slave crest’s burning. It kept flowing out of her until she was left breathless, her heart fluttering irregularly at the strain. How long would she be able to survive like this?

“Wonderful. The yield is much higher than I thought,” a gloved hand reached in to retrieve the plants. “Now, just to make sure you realize where you stand…” the man trailed off. The cell door opened. Iris wondered just what this man was going to do before the pain came down on her back. A whip, once more she was being whipped just like those slavers had done during her transport. The time blurred before her as the pain grew with every time the whip cracked as it rushed through the air. Eventually, the blows stopped. “You are now permitted to rest.”

Iris’s body gave out as the young woman’s orders were recinded by the one who had purchased her. She heard the cell door close and footsteps receded as darkness took over her surroundings and her mind once more.

Iris didn’t know how much time had passed when the lights came on again. The footsteps sounded different than the others she had heard before. Iris couldn’t replace the strength to move her body from the ground as her eyes stared blankly at the dimly lit surroundings. Eventually, a woman came into view. She looked to be related to the young woman who had beat her before. Looking at her appearance and apparent age it was likely the woman was that person’s mother and the wife of her captor. She was holding a dish in her hands. The scent coming from it could only be described as vile. Iris flinched as the woman threw the dish into the cage roughly. “This is your meal for the next three days. Be sure to not waste a single bite.” Iris held back the urge to vomit, but still didn’t move. “I said eat. I order you to eat,” the woman almost laughed aloud as the order left her.

Iris felt the order take over her body. Iris bit into the food on the dish. Iris couldn’t even identify what it was but the taste revealed that it was anything but healthy food. The food was half rotten. Still, the order compelled her to continue to chew, to swallow every last bite of it. The urge to vomit grew, but then Iris felt of the Great Spirit Lords’ blessings activate. The slave crest didn’t fight against the blessing. Iris felt the sensation in her stomach ease as the blessing spread through her body. It seemed the slave crest couldn’t hold back the blessings since they weren’t something she controlled herself. Iris was relieved. At least she wouldn’t die of food poisoning. Still, she couldn’t escape like this. She would be forced to endure this until she found a way to escape. The woman laughed before leaving her in darkness once again. Iris felt around, but found no weakness in the stone as her fingers clawed at the ground, hoping to replace even the smallest crack. If she could replace even the smallest defect in her prison, perhaps she could use it to ask for help with the blessings. All she could do was try and perservere until then.