Chapter 15

The setting sun set and was eventually replaced by the majesty of a crescent shaped moon. I closed the farmhouse front door and gazed at what had been my home for so many years. The memories of running around the house, causing nothing but trouble for my father played in my mind and the emotion of having to turn away from the place I thought I’d spend my entire life residing in, was overwhelming.

I walked briskly over to the farmland to get one last look at the plot of land that kept me going after my father’s death. The thought of leaving my crops unattended to wither and die was maddening. However, I wanted to at least preserve the memory of my perfect plot of land while I still could.

I stepped onto the plot and inhaled the smell of freshly maintained soil. I reached down and uprooted a turnip that was days away from being perfectly grown. The second the turnip emerged from the ground however, it withered away into dust.

Without thinking, I uprooted another one and this time, the turnip disintegrated moments after making contact with my hand. I continued to yank turnips from the ground at an alarming rate until none remained. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t just seeing things but sure enough, all my turnips had withered and died.

“W-what is this!?”

I ran to where my tomatoes were planted and repeated my actions, The ripe red tomatoes blackened and decayed immediately after I made contact with them. This occurrence was beginning to send me into a panic. I ran to various parts of my farmland and where ever I’d go, the result was the same. My precious produce would wither away into nothingness with only a touch.

The last remaining spot that was free from my death touch was where I had been growing the sweet potatoes for the Harvest Moon Festival. I hesitantly approached them, they were nowhere near ready for picking, but I bent down and dug one out. I closed my eyes as I pulled it out of the ground, I half expected it to disintegrate like the others, but unlike before, it didn’t. I slowly opened my eyes and witnessed a spectacle that almost made me drop the potato. It grew, in fact, it grew to the point of being ready for use in cooking. I rolled the perfectly grown potato in my hand and wondered what was different to before, then it hit me.

Unlike when I had been uprooting the crops earlier, I only touched the potato with my right hand, the other produce were plucked through the use of my dominant left one. To test my theory, I tossed the potato into my left hand and my suspicions were confirmed when it withered and died the instant that it made contact with it. I stood in place for a few moments and pondered this outcome.

“Purr, having fun?”

I could just make out Cat Sith slowly making his way toward me, he was covered in blood and his fur was wild and spiked.

“W-what happened to you?”

“Purrft, you should have seen the other guy, besides this blood is not mine. As much as I enjoy hunting, I think it’s time we left, there will be another hoard of Bane due any moment.”

“Why do they want me so badly? Also, why did you let those two Mages make it through to the farmhouse?”

“Prrr you’re a hot commodity, until you bind a Bane to you, there will be many that will hunt you down. It’s like I said before, your powers have just been unsealed, so your stench reaches the four corners of the world. Two Elementalist? I only spotted one, the girl. I allowed her through so you would be able to say your goodbyes.”

So he allowed Astoria through, why did he know that we were acquainted?

“Prrr, stop making such a confused face, in the early days, mistress requested I check up on you occasionally, fortunately I was freed from such a burden when the situation changed and it became difficult to travel between continents. That is how I knew that she was your mate.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold it, we don’t have that kind of relationship, I mean...not yet at least.”

“Prrrahahaha, forget her boy, she’s an Elementalist now, besides, I can name an endless number of Witches and all manner of Bane that outclass her in attractiveness. Our kind do not mix well with hers.”

Cat Sith took a good look around the farmland and nodded to himself. He then signalled for me to follow him and we began to make our way toward the dense forests that surrounded the area where the village was located.

I walked behind the devilish cat and pondered whether I’d ever be able to see Astoria’s pouting face again. I knew we’d cross paths in the future, but there was no telling how much further she’d fall into the pit of anger and hatred by then. Would the remainder of her girlish charm disappear and be replaced completely by ruthless misdemeanor?

“Cat Sith, why is Caliban using Orc and Imp in his invasion plan? Surely he’d be strong enough without them?”

“Prrr, Orc and Imp? Oh, that’s what you Verdantians call them, those of us from the Calliginous Continent refer to them as lower class Bane.”

“Wait, Orc and Imp are Bane?”

“Purr, of course.”

Before I could question him further, Cat Sith stopped in front of a mighty oak tree. Despite looking huge and healthy, I could tell there was something off about the tree. It was emitting an uneasy aura and there was a small circular hole about 6 feet above the base of its roots.

“Prr this is the one. It hasn't been used for a while, but it should be able to get us to where we're going.”

Cat Sith got on two legs and drew his claws, he proceeded to carve a symbol on the tree and placed his paw over it. A few moments passed and the carving evaporated into the tree bark.

“Prrr place the locket into the hole.”

Cat Sith stepped aside and beckoned for me to place my mother’s locket into the allocated spot on the oak tree. I hesitantly approached the tree and placed the locket in the allocated space.

A few seconds passed and the locket began to exude a purple hue, the tree became illuminated and before the entire tree was drowned in a purple shade, an arched doorway appeared in the middle of it, with the locket at its centre.

If it wasn’t for all the stuff I’d seen up till this point, I would probably have stood slack jawed at this sight.

“Prr come along now, the fact that Madame gave us leave to enter is in of itself a miracle, we must cross the threshold before she changes her mind.”

With that, Cat Sith opened the door and walked through. I stared at the doorway for a few more seconds, before tentatively stepping through and closing it behind me.