Chapter 4 The Witch

They asked peasants where the witch lived and what they heard didn’t encourage them to continue their journey.

‘I wouldn’t go there if I were you. She’s fearless. She defended herself against eighty men. Alone. They surrounded her home. We haven’t heard about them ever since.’

‘Eighty men?’, Edwin looked impressed, ‘Where should we go to meet her. We are only two and we come in peace.’

‘We don’t actually come in peace,’ Gwidon said, ‘We want to make her join us in this war...’

‘Go to the west, my lords!’ the peasant pointed at the route, ‘She lives by the lake. She’s terrifying! She’s the most dangerous witch that has ever walked on this earth.’

Gwidon and Edwin rushed their horses. After an hour, they arrived at a hut situated picturesquely by the lake. No one was inside it and no one was in the nearest proximity. 

‘She’s not here.’ Edwin searched the hut, ‘Maybe she went to some Witch Sabbath to meet other witches. What should we do? Should we look for others that are written on this list you keep in your pocket?’

‘Let’s wait.’ Gwidon decided, ‘We will waste more time running around and looking for her if she only left for a moment. You can make a fire. I will try to catch a rabbit or a little bore for the dinner. We shouldn’t make her angry by stealing her food. I’m not sure if eating it would do us good. It can be poisoned, or magical.’

Edwin nodded for he himself was in possession of many magically tinkered with foods and drinks (including the chicken he gave to Gwidon, which was supposed to make the man prone to love-making and weaker in will) and started collecting dry wood for the fire. 

It was getting late when Gwidon finally caught a rabbit and killed it for tonight’s dinner. He was on his return journey to the hut when he saw someone swimming in the lake. The moonlight lit the waters. Gwidon stopped and leaned against the tree to have a better view. A wonderful sight appeared before his eyes. It was a young woman. Her hair was long and brown, her lips full, her face beautiful. Her strong arms appeared from time above the water.

‘Good evening!’, he shouted across the lake, ‘I’m Gwidon, the king’s knight. What’s your name?’

The girl noticed him and stopped swimming.

‘Lilet. What brings you here?’

‘I’m looking for a witch. I’ve been told that she lives nearby, but her hut is empty and she is nowhere to be found. Maybe you know where I can find her?’

‘Why are you looking for a witch? Aren’t you afraid? She single-handedly fought eighty men. People say that she’s dangerous.’

‘That’s what I’ve been told. I’m not going to fight her. I want to ask her for help. I came here with a wizard. The kingdom is going to be in danger and we need her magic to protect it.’

‘I’ve heard that she disappears in the evening to come back at dawn. You have to wait.’

Lilet slowly came from the water. She was naked. The moonlight lit her big full breasts and white skin. Her hair reached her knees, her dark eyes were surrounded by the curtains of black eyelashes. 

Gwidon felt an instant flow of desire, which overwhelmed his body and made his voice tremble. He felt his member grow thicker and bigger in his trousers. He blushed and thanked the night for its darkness, which covered his cheeks. 

‘What is it, knight? Haven’t you seen a naked woman?’

‘I have. But not as beautiful as you.’

Lilet smiled, exposing her white teeth. 

‘You flatter me, my knight.’

Lilet approached Gwidon. She twisted her hair to get rid of the water. He looked at her, astonished, feeling every vein ready for the whirlwind caused by her touch and warmth of her body.

‘You yourself are the most beautiful knight I have ever seen, my knight.’

Gwidon received it as an encouragement. He approached her. But then stopped. He was known for being resistant to female charm. The army was his priority. The service was his only love. And he was promised the hand of Princess Karina. He was promised the kingdom.

‘What is it, knight? Are you afraid?’

Lilet’s naked body was centimeters away from him. He only had to reach his hand and touch it, pull her to himself and start kissing. Only a few centimeters away. He felt her heart pounding, her wet body heated the air between them. He was able to feel her breath.  

‘It’s getting dark. I’d better go home. The witch can come and see us...’

Lilet started walking away.

‘Wait,’ Gwidon grabbed her hand, ‘I’m not afraid of any witch. You’re the most beautiful girl I have ever met, Lilet.’

He pulled her to himself and started kissing. She undressed him and now two naked bodies were seen in the light of the moonlight and the reflecting light of lake waters. Both of them, young and beautiful, were starving for a touch of love. Both of them were defenseless in the empty forest. They made love for hours on the forest moss, Gwidon completely under the charm of his lady. He kissed her full breasts, licked her neck, slid between her legs. She pulled him to the ground, jumped on him and rode him like a horse, holding his arms over his head and pressing them to the tree trunk. They were like wild forest children who finally found out what their bodies were made for. Lilet was trembling with ecstasy. Gwidon exploded with his life energy, moaned with satisfaction, and instantly fell asleep.  

He woke up, alone, put on his clothes, and came back to Edwin, who had already fired the fire. Over the fire, he was roasting fish, which he caught in the lake. 

‘What took you so long? I had to look for food myself.’

‘Can’t you magically make food from nothing?’

‘I can but it will magically disappear as soon as it lands in your stomach.’

Gwidon gave Edwin the rabbit and sat by the fire. The knight was still under the charm of his recent encounter. The wizard and the knight ate and, tired after a long day, both fell asleep. 

They woke up tied by strong ropes. They realized that they were no longer in the forest but in the witch’s hut. Gwidon heard footsteps coming from the kitchen. He looked in the direction of the door and saw a woman coming into the room. 

‘You are a witch?!’

Lilet was wearing a green dress and her hair was plaited in a plait. 

‘You know each other?’, Edwin looked at both of them.

‘Briefly,’ Lilet answered, ‘I’m sorry for the ropes but I should never trust men traveling alone. Especially, a knight and a wizard. 

‘And it was you who fought eighty men single-handedly?’

Gwidon still couldn’t believe what he was looking at.

‘My grandmother taught me some tricks. A woman living alone in the forest has to protect herself. I used magic. I lured them here and turned them into rabbits and ferrets.’

Edwin spat. Last night’s rabbit could be a man changed into an animal and the wizard could in fact have eaten a man’s flesh. 

‘You charmed me!’, Gwidon felt deceived.

Lilet laughed.

‘Dear knight, I didn’t perform any magic on you. You made your own choices.’

Edwin didn’t quite know what the two of them were talking about.

‘Can you untie us, please? It’s not comfortable.’

‘I will untie you when you tell me why you came here and what exactly you want from me. And tell me the truth or else I will use a magic potion to hear this truth regardless.’

‘Witches! Wizards! You are all the same. My mother told me not to have any contact with you!’

Edwin and Lilet looked at Gwidon as if he was an angry and spoilt child. 

‘Too late, my knight. You are already in our company. What’s with this war?’

Gwidon told Lilet what he was told by the king. 

‘So it is true. My grandmother told me that they might come. They had built up their anger for centuries. They had prepared forces. Mother Earth kept them in her heat for too long. Now they will burst.’

‘So can we count on you?’, Gwidon was full of hope. Not only because they needed a witch but also because he wanted to keep Lilet by his side for whatever the reason. He felt, somehow, that losing her would cause him pain. 

‘Of course. But we won’t win alone. One knight, one wizard, one witch. This is the company for a small mission, not for the entire war.’

‘As a matter of fact, this is exactly the number of people we need to recapture Gustaw.’