The good witch

It was morning, and as usual, Clarine, the wonderful witch of nature, was walking in the Oliar forest, which was slowly waking up in the beneficial light of dawn. The dew refreshed the air and its drops glistened like pearls on the leaves of the trees and on the colorful petals of innocent sweetness. Clarine strolled happily through this rich and soothing kingdom of greenery. On this day, she was wearing a beautiful long-sleeved dress of a very dark white and brown, which suited her perfectly. Her long, soft green hair was like a kingdom of life in its own right. Varieties of flowers and small plants grew there in serenity, little creatures lived there just as peacefully, and some of them were playing happily, shouting and laughing at the same time.

"Hey up there! Be quieter!" the witch scolded them lightly, laughing. "You'll wake up the fat sleepers of Oliar with your screams!".

Obeying their mistress as best they could, the creatures laughed silently, plugging their mouths with their little hands and jumping around. Shaking their heads, falsely sorry, they handed the good witch the seeds, which they carefully removed from her hair, who took them with a falsely stern expression, then soaked them with her magic before throwing them on the ground. The healthy seeds, enveloped in benevolent magic, quickly took root in the soil.

But that's not all. Taking a deep breath, Clarine invoked her power, then enveloped herself in a wondrous, radiant Prasin aura, gracefully knelt down, placed her hands on the ground and infused it with her magic. Soon, young shoots emerged from the ground. Satisfied with her work, Clarine exclaimed happily.

"There, now you can grow and flourish in peace!".

Then, still ablaze with that wonderful springtime aura, she touched a few trees and passed on some of her magic to them, the trees lit up in turn, regaining their strength and grandeur.

Clarine stopped in front of a giant, century-old tree that was home to a variety of small, colorful creatures with big, tender eyes that stared at Clarine with a peaceful, adorable look. The witch regarded the tree with deep compassion.

"Oh look at you, all tired and dry. You're spending all your energy protecting these carefree, exhausting, but endearing little creatures that you don't have the heart or inclination to abandon. It is too admirable of you. Hopefully, the rain will come soon. But until then..."

Clarine took a deep breath, closed her eyes and placed her hands on the large bark. The nature witch glowed brighter, almost blending in with the morning light. She transmitted the rest of her light force to the tree, which in turn became irradiated and slowly began to regenerate.

"Yes, that's it. Do it slowly, let my strength and magic enter you. Breathe and live."

Clarine healed the giant tree for quite a long time, even hours, and then the rain fell heavily. The tiny creatures flew and formed a giant roof over Clarine, who, having finished her beneficial ministrations on their huge home, smiled gratefully.

"Oh, you are protecting me from the rain! That's so sweet."

They were sociable with those who wished them and the forest no harm, but at the same time, they wanted to thank her for what she had done for their admirable century-old shelter.

"You are welcome. But this rain is much too heavy, you'll get hurt."

Immediately, one of the creatures fell and Clarine struggled to catch it. Knowing she couldn't hold on much longer, the creatures scattered for a moment, presumably to find her shelter. She was right when a few minutes later they returned and asked her to follow them. Clarine, hesitant at first, agreed and followed them. The little creatures led her to a huge cave hidden behind tangled trees and a bed of moss, which she had never noticed before. The opening was wide. Clarine, stunned, approached and looked inside, so her astonishment intensified to an inordinate extent. For what she discovered was just incredible. All the inner walls of the cave were covered with a thick layer of fire, wonderfully installed. The nature witch couldn't believe it.

"But what does this mean? It's incredible, I've never seen anything like it. Who is capable of such magic?"

Thinking that rain was more dangerous than fire, the creatures urged her to enter. Hesitantly, Clarine agreed to enter the well-guarded cave. She wandered the labyrinths of the cave for a long time, the walls of fire illuminating the area.

When she finally reached the far end, she saw two boys and a huge beast lying on the ground covered with smooth, fluffy leaves, fast asleep.

However, sensing an unfamiliar presence, the young brown mage woke up immediately and looked at Clarine. At the sight of , he instinctively shrank back, showing an aggressive attitude. Kneeling, he held out his hand in a threatening gesture, ready to send a magical shot at the slightest suspicious movement.

However, when Clarine approached even closer to better see the strange people she had discovered, and who seemed to have taken refuge in this unusual place, she was soon stopped by an unknown and incredible force, a kind of magical barrier that prevented her from advancing. But it was not this that stunned her, not even though the barrier was created by a surprising force, no, what stunned her and above all, frightened her was the considerable and crushing magical pressure that had risen and enveloped the whole cave in no time, immobilizing her body and taking her breath away until she felt nothing more. Clarine had the impression that a gigantic, fatal shadow imprisoned her inexorably in its dark mortal veils. It was frightening. But it was only the beginning. While Clarine remained irremediably locked between the countless and insensitive arms of this morbid and terrifying power, she saw one of the young boys, the one with hair darker than the power that held her prisoner, with a delicate body and skin so fragile and diaphanous as the witch had never seen, transform. Without having made the slightest gesture, he darkened slightly, then cracked on all sides before liquefying as if under the effect of an unbearable heat to disappear as if he had never existed. But all this was only an illusion, this young child existed with certainty, and he made it clear, because probably the master of this great and terrifying power could only be him. And when, after having apparently been satisfied with the artifices that he made her undergo, he finally deigned to release his hold on her. This last one, the painful heart, could finally catch her breath, but while grimacing of pain, so much her chest was oppressed. She believed even had the clear impression that all her body had passed under a metal roller. Certainly, the young mage had withdrawn from her body his magic domination, but it had not dissipated for all that, the colossal shadow, almost maleficent always hovered all around her, observing her with its empty and blackish glance. And so he did. Its creator.

The young boy with the inconceivable and abominable power, who was standing behind her. Slowly, cautiously, without any equivocal gesture, Clarine turned towards him and finally observed him at leisure.

He was a young boy of a strange and bewitching beauty, but what struck her most was the aura of princely grandeur that he exuded from his whole person and which, moreover, he used to address her.

"Who are you?"

Clarine took her time to answer.

"I am..."

But the young mage interrupted her with an authoritative gesture of the hand before declaring.

"You might as well understand that you have to be careful what you say to me now, because if it's not the truth, you'll never have the chance to say anything else, not here, not anywhere else?"

The witch nodded gently.

"I understand."

So Miron approached the intruder in turn and appraised her slightly before going to join his companions.

But he was soon surprised by the expression the witch wore on her face after contemplating him for a long time, an inexpressible upset, and which ended up making her close her eyes for a moment, as if she could no longer bear the empire of this too intense, too bright feeling.

"What nostalgia. One moment, I would have believed to be in his presence." she murmured for herself.

But Clarine took a deep breath, straightened up and reopened her sublime eyes to put them again on the young prodigious mage.

"Hello, I have no bad intentions, I swear. I am Clarine, a nature witch. What is yours? " She really spoke to him in a soft voice.

Miron, with indecipherable opaque glass eyes, the darkest the witch had ever seen, continued to assess her carefully. Although his intuition told him to trust the beautiful, life-haired witch and he lowered his guard, he still decided to be wary. He answered cautiously

"Miron, and this is my friend Kei," he added, pointing to the blond boy, "and behind me, our beast. We haven't found a name for him yet. We met him a few hours ago and decided to take him with us because he helped us."

"Helped? Because you needed help?"

"Yes, alas. To escape a sordid situation that people like our own executioners would probably never have endured themselves."

"I see. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. And what are you doing here? Are you hiding out? Are you being hunted by these tormentors?"

Miron made a vague gesture with his hand and smiled.

"We don't know yet. We will stay here to see and decide what we will do. We'll see if those foul executioners we escaped from are after us now. I mean, if there are any survivors."

The flying creatures entered in their turn and invaded the whole cave. They played with the sleeping beast and Kei, inevitably waking up the latter who, as soon as their eyes opened, saw the good witch surrounded by her friendly creatures.

The blond boy jumped up and started to scream. But when he clearly saw Clarine with her long hair of life, full of little creatures of all kinds, he became completely mad with terror.

"No, they're here! They found us quickly! Our beloved freedom lasted only a few moments! What a horror! And I thought that..."

Then, without understanding what he was doing, Kei grabbed Miron and shook him violently.

"I said you were wrong Miron, didn't I? You were too optimistic! I told you they'll never leave us alone. They're too evil for that and nothing will make them back down! Not even you and your damned powers!"

Miron rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Calm down Kei, she wasn't sent by them. Don't you think I would have fought and burned to the ground by now if she had been? No, this woman is an unknown, or rather a witch named Clarine. And she is innocent. At least, from what I've seen so far."

But Kei didn't even bother to listen to his friend. Too nervous, he instinctively intensified the walls of fire enveloping the interior of their hideout, scaring the beast and the creatures present.

Guessing what was happening, Miron screamed in turn,

"Kei, no, stop! Calm down, you'll burn us all!"

But already too disturbed, Kei lost control of his magic. The flaming walls shook and then intensified dangerously, terrifying the little flying creatures who all took refuge in Clarine's life-giving hair realm. Then the terrible fire turned into burning and deadly waves, engulfing the beings present, as well as the entire cave.

Clarine, submerged, could only protect her head with her arms, screaming in terror.

"Aaaaah!"

Acting instinctively, Miron quickly stood up and held out his hand, shining with an incredible aura. He cast waves of powerful magic that pushed back the glowing sails, but as a whole tide of fire rushed towards them, Miron resolved to create a huge barrier that protected them from the devouring flames, a barrier that he expanded with phenomenal power, destroying the entire cave and everything hundreds of meters around, as much as he irrevocably extinguished the frightening sea of fire.