Chapter 3: Night in the Woods

[Trigger Warning: Attempted Sexual Assault]

Jenny was sitting by the campfire. They had quickly stopped by the Silverwood town again to buy a pair of horses. Dravisha had naturally assumed human form. The seller was some old geezer who had easily been fooled by Dravisha's charm to lower the prices, which had fortunately helped Jenny quite a bit, as she was on a budget. How the mighty have fallen, she thought. Her mother was a successful merchant. Too successful. A woman who had too much power and wealth was commonly scorned by society, and it is what ultimately sealed her fate. The jealousy of the townsfolk, along with the paranoia of the church, made for a potent combination.

Jenny sighed while stirring the ashes of the flames, moving an unburned piece of wood closer to the flame. Memories of her mother weighed heavily on her chest, but she forced herself to focus on the present: the quiet rustling of leaves, the faint rushing of water in the distance, and the steady breathing of the Demoness lying nearby. Even in sleep, Dravisha exuded an air of predatory grace, her sharp features softened only slightly by the shadows cast by the firelight. The unfortunate brimstone scent lingered faintly around her, imperfectly masked by the musky aroma she used to pass as human. That smell oddly aroused Jenny. All of her senses had been enhanced since she had slept with the demoness, a boon of the demoness' essence in her.

 At the sound of what appeared to be approaching footsteps, she got up and picked up her wand. The footsteps were silent, clearly being muffled by something. This could be a sneak attack, she thought. She peered into the darkness, looking for any sign of a silhouette. She pooled mana into her wand, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice. Dark magic missiles shot out at her, crackling with powerful energy. Jenny intercepted them with an invisible shield wall. The impact of the attack lifted her off her feet and sent her flying into the air before abruptly crash-landing on the solid forest floor.

 Pain exploded in her right arm and back, coursing through her body like hot liquid. She gritted her teeth. For a moment, she was disoriented. The canopies spun like a kaleidoscope, together with the moonlight and stars. She took a deep breath and got back on her wobbly feet. An instant later, a silhouette charged at her with a drawn black sword. Blood-red runes were carved into the blade. A rune blade—Jenny knew which meant the attacker was a Warden.

 The Wardens weren't just any witches; they were powerful witches hand-selected by the elders of the Coven. They carried out the Coven's justice and were exceptional in the use of battle magic. They carried powerful enchanted rune-blades, ones that cut through magic as if it were nothing. Any witch that broke the coven laws was hunted down ruthlessly by these Wardens and executed. For a novice witch like Jenny, fighting a Warden meant death, plain and simple. She closed her eyes, fear paralyzing her. Goodbye, cruel world, she thought.

But the Warden never made it to Jenny. She had instead been knocked aside by a destructive shadow blast from the now-awakened Demoness. A Demoness who didn't like having her sleep disturbed. Luckily for the Warden, she had managed her runic bracelet to summon a last-minute shield, blocking most of the corruptive damage from the shadow blast.

The Warden slid on the forest floor, prepared to meet her new attacker. Dravisha stared at the Warden with her furious blood-red eyes that glowed eerily in the darkness. Never one to shy away from theatrics, Dravisha slowly expanded her demonic wings. "You've made a terrible mistake attacking us."

Dravisha flapped her wings, taking to the skies. She disappeared into the shadows. As a master at shadow sorcery, Dravisha had no problem hiding herself; in fact, the forest at night was her perfect hunting ground.

"I can taste your fear, witch," The Demoness purred. "It's delicious,"

The Warden desperately tried to keep track of the Demoness, but it was a near-impossible task. Taunting whispers carried by the wind came up to her from all sides, misdirecting her from the true location of the Demoness. Shadow daggers periodically flew at her, grazing her skin whenever her defences faltered. Each strike left trails of blood seeping through her clothes, weakening her resolve. It was clear Dravisha was toying with the witch. She was dragging out the fear and suffering of her prey. Savouring the power over the life and death of this mortal.

"Where are you? Show yourself." The Warden shouted, fear having taken the reign.

"Here," Dravisha softly whispered from behind the witch, pressing a shadow dagger to her throat. "Drop the blade, witch." The Warden complied, letting the rune-blade clatter to the ground. With a flick of her wrist, Dravisha conjured writhing shadows that coiled around the Warden's limbs, pinning her in place.

Jenny came up to them regarding the Warden cautiously. The Warden's face was mostly obscured by her hood, but Jenny caught a faint glimmer of silver hair beneath. Her armour—a mix of leather and steel—was well-crafted, with the Gorget standing out. The sigil of the Coven, a pentagram encircled by intertwined vines, was emblazoned on it. "Why did you attack me?" Jenny really wanted to know. She was exiled from the coven; that was her punishment, and no warden should be after her.

"Answer her," Dravisha purred seductively.

Jenny could sense the tension between fear and hatred within the Warden. Why this Warden hated Jenny so much, she did not understand, she had done nothing to her or the Coven.

"You broke the Coven's laws, you must be executed," The Warden said with spite.

"They already punished me for that," Jenny snapped furiously. They had already destroyed her hopes, why the fuck were they sending assassins after her now. The elders had already voted that they weren't going to execute her—unless this wasn't the responsibility of all elders, it was the responsibility of one elder. Understanding dawned on Jenny, "Tilda sent you, didn't she?"

"So, what if she did?" The Warden spat. "You broke the laws; you really think you can just get away with that?"

Dravisha could sense the boiling fury of her little witch. "Oh, this will be fun," She said while digging a claw through the leather of the Warden's vest. It ripped open just enough for Dravisha to slip her hand in and attempt to fondle the Warden's breasts.

"What are you doing?" Jenny asked, disgusted.

Dravisha looked perplexed. "I'm claiming what's mine." This was obvious, she thought. She was a Demoness of Domination. Forcing herself on others was a good way to dominate them. She was going to rape this mortal and make her into a slave.

Jenny's stomach churned in revulsion. Sure, on a theoretical level, she understood what Dravisha was. She understood this was her nature. But knowing something and seeing it were two entirely different things. She couldn't allow this demon to rape anyone, not when she was the one who summoned her. This was her responsibility. Anyone Dravisha raped was the same as her raping them. The mere thought brought bile to her throat.

Jenny took out her necklace at once and powered it up with her mana. She threw her hand out with the pendant tightly clasped at the demon and released the stored-up energy. A strong violet shockwave exploded from the necklace, sending Dravisha reeling back.

"Run," Jenny cried out.

The shadows that had bound the warden disappeared, letting the Warden conjure a powerful wind spell. Jenny could swear she saw a brief glance of gratitude in the Warden's eyes before she jumped off into the forest.

Dravisha was caught completely off guard and took a moment to process what happened. She was still perplexed by what happened. She could not comprehend why Jenny would attack her. There was a brief flicker of anger in her eyes before she noticed something. Jenny had attacked her completely unprovoked.

"You attacked me, you actually attacked me. You attacked your own Familiar," Dravisha said quietly. There was no anger in her voice, but there was menace. Real cold menace.

Jenny tensed; she knew very well that cold menace was ten times worse than hot anger. She also knew what she had done to Dravisha. She had violated their contract. A Familiar and a Witch can never hurt each other intentionally. That's just common sense; otherwise, they could not work together and violating a contract with a Demon was bad, very bad. In most cases, it meant the loss of one's soul. However, the contract Jenny signed was different.