Chapter 24: Chapter 24
Laura tagged along as her daughter’s unconscious body was carried into the carriage. Her eyes were glassy and she hoped Mozart’s treatment would yield results as it was the last resort.
After three of them settled behind, the driver took off. The carriage slowed down as they approached the outskirts of Veilwood.
"We are here." Mozart said with a firm voice, causing the driver to stop.
Laura’s eyes were wide with disbelief as she refused to believe this place was their final destination.
Maria was carried out of the carriage by the driver.
"This place doesn’t look safe." Laura muttered, eyeing the cracked sagging mud walls which looked like it could collapse anytime soon.
"Let’s go inside." Mozart said as she led the way.
The air in the witches’ settlement felt heavier. A group of witches and wizards, most of them elderly and wrinkled sat around muttering in low tones.
Smoke drifted from the crooked chimney. The smell of decayed herbs hung in the air.
"Don’t keep my daughter there." Laura shouted at the guard who was about to place Maria on a worn out mat on the floor. "Isn’t there something better?" She asked Mozart.
"The mat is safe."
The man placed Laura on the mat and left. Laura crinkled her nose in disgust as she sighted a cauldron boiling with foul smelling liquid.
She muttered aloud. "This place looks more like a sickness brewing pit than a healing house."
"Did you bring your daughter here for healing or to judge the furniture?" Mozart snapped at her. "You and your alpha banished us to the outskirts. It’s your fault that this place looks this way."
Laura wanted to say something, but seeing Mozart’s infuriated look, she didn’t argue further. Maria’s life depended on this.
"If you wanted clean floors and fine air, you should have gone to a castle, not to witches."
"I’m so sorry. Please continue." Laura apologized as she knew Mozart was angry. Laura now understood why Mozart requested half of the best lands as payment.
The witch hissed and squatted to Maria’s level on the mat. Her eyes are fixed on Maria and she raises her closed eyelids, surveying them, before standing up from the floor.
She motioned to two young witches by the corner, and they lift Maria and place on a broad wooden table in the center of the room. The elderly witches come inside, surrounding the table.
"A ritual would be conducted." Mozart informed Laura. "I need you to wait outside. Only witches can be present here."
Laura clasped her hands together nervously, before turning towards the door and leaving the room.
She stood outside, and in less than a minute, she heard the voices of the witches, chanting unfamiliar words.
Candles were placed around Maria, and while the witches chanted, Mozart prepared a cauldron. She stirred it, while sprinkling powder into the air. The big pot overflowed with green bubbling liquid.
The air grew heavy with magic, and even as Laura stood outside, she could perceive the smell from the cauldron. It smelled otherworldly.
The chanting got louder, sounding more like a song. As the music crescendoed, Mozart’s green portion began taking a scarlet hue. She smiled, adding a few more ingredients to the pot. A horse’s tail, a dragon’s scale and the fang of a werewolf. She stirred everything to a thick consistency.
"Perfect." She muttered as she scooped the contents of the pot into a huge wooden spoon. She moved closer to Maria and parted her lips to drink the liquid.
Maria’s body began shaking vigorously. The witches sang even louder. The ramshackle house also shook, the pots, pans and hanging herbs fell to the ground.
"It’s working." Mozart squealed and reached for a short wooden stick by the corner. She pointed it at Maria and began reciting some incantations. Laura stood outside, her heart heavy with worry as the house shook. She hoped everything was okay.
She tried to peep through the window, but a sharp green light shone through the space, hitting her out of the way and blocking her view.
Mozart held out a spell book, reciting ancient incantations. This was necromancy, and it hasn’t been practiced in ages. An assistant offered her a skull head which she placed on top of Maria’s head and continued with the incantations.
Maria’s body shook violently one more time, afterwards she lay limp, not moving an inch.
"Chant louder." Mozart commanded the witches.
Then, something unexpected happened, Maria began coughing vigorously. She foamed from the mouth and the green liquid spilled out. Laura rushed towards the window one more time as she heard the sound from her daughter. The blinding green light threw her off again.
"She’s alive." The witches whispered among themselves as the coughs died down. Mozart stopped the spell recitation and rubbed ash on Maria’s forehead.
She placed a hand over Maria’s nose and felt the air coming out, proving that she was breathing.
Maria slowly opened her eyes. Her face looked like one which was in a trance. She didn’t react to the group of people hovering around her.
"How are you?" Mozart asked, but Maria kept blinking her eyes, not saying anything in return.
Laura was allowed to enter the room. She rushed to her daughter’s side, scooping Maria into her arms in a tight embrace.
"Easy. She hasn’t recovered fully."
Laura loosened her hold and stared at her daughter with tears in her eyes. She almost thought that she had lost Maria.
"We should go home now. Thank you so much Mozart. I would give you everything you asked for."
Mozart chuckled as she arranged her scattered tools in place. "She hasn’t recovered fully. If I were you, I’d leave her here for a few days until she can speak."
"She doesn’t speak?" Laura repeated as she did a close examination on Maria. She asked her daughter a few questions, but Maria behaved like a person who was in a trance. Her eyes were fixed in one direction, and it was almost as if she couldn’t recognize that someone was in the room.
"Can she see me?" Laura asked. She waved a finger in Maria’s face, but her daughter acted like nothing was in front of her.