CHAPTER 15

"Master." I am pulled from my thoughts by Saumur. His presence tells me he has found the sorcerer. 

"Where?"

"She is in the dungeon. She is a witch, an old one."

"A witch? I thought they were extinct. She must be the last. No matter, I will still get my answers from her."

Saumur follows me to the dungeon. As I come upon the cell holding our new guest, I am repulsed by the stench that emits from it. Inside is a women who looks to be in her nineties, but I know better. Her smell tells me she is as old or older than I am. She is haggard, wrinkled, and all skin and bone. When she sees me she begins to laugh. "I knew you would search me out once you found out what I did to the girl. I am sorry to be a disappointment, but I will not reverse what was done to her."

"You will answer my questions one way or another. I will let you decide. You can tell me what I want through torture and a prolonged agonizing death, or should you not be difficult, I will grant you a quick death."

"You may ask, but I will decide what information you receive. However, you will not free the girl from the spells I have cast on her easily." The witch began to laugh but it soon turned into a wheezing cough.

"What type of spells did you use? One obviously blocks memories, but there is more. She found a mate. How?" I am beginning to grow impatient.

"A simple but affective aphrodisiac will immitate the feelings of love. The boy was a volunteer so I didn't have to waste any on him. He was very eager to play his part."

My anger can be felt throughout the room. The girl feels a broken heart over a man she never loved and a child that should never have been forced on her. "What other spells have you put on her and how do I break them?"

"The aphrodisiac will wear off on its own. It was only a potion. The memory one is harder. She must choose to remember otherwise it will be painful for her to bear the intensity of her memories flooding back. It will cook her brain quite literally if not done properly. You must wait for her to begin remembering on her own before you can remove this spell. The last spell, is one that altered  her memory. She will believe the scars she bears to be from torture at your hands when she remembers the past you have."

"They were smart. I will have to choose to either break the spell blocking her memories or have her memories come back altered so I was the one who gave her those scars. Those sick bastards are smart, I'll give them that."

Saumur then speaks up, "Is there a way to reverse the alterations or change the alterations?"

"You are a clever one. Yes there is," the witch responds. "But, it isn't easy."

"Spit it out you old crone. I am losing my patience," My hand begins to wander over the torture equipment I had brought in.

"Of course. She has to relive every scar in order to correct the memories alterations. But be warned, if not all of the scars are completed, she will not remember. So the choice is yours, Gypsut. Do you leave her without her memories, let her have altered memories without the pain of receiving all of her scars again, or do you force her to undergo the same torture you stopped all those years ago so she might remember the truth?" The witch smiles and begins to laugh her cracked cackle.

She begins to cough part way through the laughter. A few wheezes later and the witch was dead. Gypsut isn't surprised. He knew she had poisoned herself the moment he smelled her. He just hoped the information he got would work. He had to try something, anything to save Dhiren and bring her home.