The Witch's Hunt by Misty Cogburn (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📕

Yet, in that moment he fell asleep. With an almost diminutive regard for his situation, Trávn sank into a blissful abyss filled with peaceful dreams he would soon forget.

~*~*~*~*~

It wasn’t until nearly midday that he woke again. This time he was roused by the succulent smell of food drafting towards his nose. Even at the lightest hints of a nearby meal, Trávn’s gut woke grumbling awake with a roar.

Having become accustomed to such outbreaks, Trávn found himself deadened to the rudeness of his voracious middle. Pitifully, he doubted the food was intended for him… it was quite possible he, in is hunger, was smelling food drafting in from the next room.

Yet, as a small foreign laugh broke out within the room, Trávn flinched awake as if he had been struck.

Made abruptly aware of the other’s presence in the room, Trávn panicked.

Almost instantaneously, he was fully awake. Finally able to break free of his lingering exhaustion, he struggled to free himself of his bedding. Yet, Trávn’s efforts only served to tangle his limbs helplessly within the entrapment of his bed’s linens.

When he finally managed to escape their hold, Trávn hurriedly tossed the collected furs and linen sheets from over himself to madly scan the room for his quest. His wild, untamable, hair bounced oddly on his head as he searched for his uninvited company. Yet, it was not until he rubbed his blurry sleep-crusted eyes that Trávn unsteady gaze finally landed on a familiar face. Upon his discovery, Trávn’s stuttered wordlessly in surprise.

His brown eyes widened in a near comical manner, as he was hit with recognition.

There in his room was the small Wizard he had, so awkwardly, encountered the night before.

Thankfully clothed this time around, the boy sat on the far end of Trávn’s bed, and for what felt like the first time Trávn took in the Wizard’s appearance. Like the other Sea Devil’s he’d had the displeasure of already meeting, the boy’s hair was a russet red. Yet, his eyes were a strangely moss green that held a kind and caring glint.

Beneath the boy’s eyes was an odd paint that lined each eye with a dark shade of blue, and on his left cheek a strange symbol was painted in green. From the elaborate designs embroidered on his tunic’s pale green trim, down to his slim bare legs and delicate leather boots too small for any man.

Unable to help himself, Trávn openly stared at the strange boy.

His appraisal of the other Wizard was blatantly apparent. Yet it was not until he saw the discomfort in the boy’s face did Trávn lower his pointed gaze. Having the sense enough to look away, Trávn was suddenly abashed for his disrespectful actions. After all, who was he to judge another for having a girlish form? Most none of Trávn’s own features were considered exceptionally masculine. Yet, never could he be openly called beautiful… as the boy in front of him could claim.

The boy was so fair in skin and appearance, it was easy to see why the larger man from last night had wanted the Wizard; he was, after all, very striking.

At the notion, Trávn’s brash actions from the night before replayed all too vividly in his mind. Even his ears burned as he was filled with embarrassment at the tactlessness of his unwelcomed entry into the other’s more private matters. Yet, even as the awkwardness strained heavily on Trávn’s overly sensitive conscious, he kept a straight face before the other; in response, the boy only smiled humorously at him as if laughing at an inward joke.

In all appearances it seemed that Trávn’s unease gave the boy a sense of mirth.

Upon this discovery, Trávn found he could not keep the other’s steady gaze. Eyeing his lap and picking at the dried thread-like skin around the sides of his nails, Trávn kept his gaze lowered. As the other remained silent, Trávn nerves became raw as he fisted his sheets within his hands, unsure of what to say to the other Wizard.

After all… He had never met another Wizard before last night.

This was a first for him, and he had so many questions he’d like to ask. Feeling somewhat brave, Trávn dared to glance up as he fretfully chewed at his lower lip. He mumbled inaudibly to himself as he found the other’s gaze unnervingly locked with his own, and he quickly glanced away.

He was stumped over what he should say to the boy, nevertheless what he should do in this situation. Overcome with the need to address his fellow Wizard, Trávn forced himself to stutter out a restless greeting of acknowledgment… even as he shifted away from the other’s gaze. With his own eyes settled on his lap, Trávn found he was unable to look at the other Wizard; at least, not without remembering the abhorring events from the night before.

Flabbergasted as to what to say to the small boy, Trávn panicked.

He wanted nothing more than to flee the room, yet as he inhaled another deep breath of the tantalizingly tasty smelling food, Trávn hesitated. The tension was heavy between the two, yet it came to a sudden crashing halt as once more Trávn gut rumbled. Hurriedly pressing a hand to his stomach, Trávn coughed into his other hand. Hoping the sound would smother the offending sounds before they could be made known to his strangely silent companion.

Yet, the brief laugh the other gave showed Trávn’s efforts were vain at best.

With a heated face Trávn forced himself to meet the other’s mossy gaze, his resentment obvious to any who looked. For a moment, as the two wizards said nothing, Trávn felt a strange stirring in his magic. Yet, whatever connection had begun, was broke off by the other Wizard’s words.

In the same gruff tongue that had met him on the Devil’s shores, the small Wizard inquired something from Trávn. Yet, to Trávn’s own surprise, the garble was just as incomprehensible as it was the first time he’d heard it…

By now his magic should have helped him adapt to the Devil’s tongue. However, for some reason it seemed he was on his own in learning the strange language.

In the other’s eyes, Trávn saw a look of understanding flash at his confused look.

Again the boy retorted the same line, saying it slowly and with some annoyance at Trávn’s ignorance. Yet, again the words that came from the other’s mouth were lost to him, that was, until the end of the boy’s sentence.

“…smár kyrpä…”

They were only two words he was able to make out of the Devil’s language, yet Trávn’s heart soared within him as they registered with his mind. Yet, once again, that was until his mind and magic fed him their meaning.

“…small dick...?” he wondered aloud in a faint voice.

Trávn had no idea how to take the vulgarity that had come from the boy’s lips, never mind, decide whether or not to find them offensive. Was the boy referring to him? Trávn wondered as his head cocked slightly to the side.

He had been slow to process the words meaning, and only then did he realize the reason of his struggles. As he began to link together the familiar aspects of the language’s components, Trávn discovered the root of his problem.

It seemed that the boy’s words were not all together a singular language!

Somehow the Devil’s tongue was a mesh of several languages… Suddenly excited by his discovery, Trávn spoke a question aloud. Meaning to ask what the boy had meant, Trávn was shocked by what came out of his mouth.

 “Mitä helvettiä…?” He inquired.

Slapping a hand over his mouth, Trávn flushed darkly. Not even finding the question comical, even at the sight of the boy’s bulging eyes, Trávn quickly switched from the Devil’s tongue to his own, more proper, language. How shocking…, Trávn could not help, but think.

In most cases, when he was adapting to a new language, slang terms were the most complex. Yet, within the Sea Devil’s language, it seemed common speech was apparently riddled with all sorts of vulgarities.

Trávn was abruptly broken from his thoughts as the boy threw back his head to laugh wholeheartedly at Trávn’s words. Suddenly much more inviting, the other Wizard scooted closer to where Trávn sat on the bed.

Where before he had been much too distant, now the boy was much to close. Yet, the lack of distance between their faces didn’t seem to bother the boy, even as his delicate face spread wide with a large predatory grin.

Trávn omphed loudly as the other Wizard painfully thrust a bowl of food to Trávn’s chest and slapped at his shoulder roughly. Though the action was friendly, it left Trávn sore and aching from the small boy’s surprising strength.

Looking down doubtfully at his food, Trávn was surprised to find a hearty meal. Without any needless orders, Trávn dove into his meal. It was a grainy cold stew, grey in color with an assortment of strange vegetables and plants.

Yet, to Trávn it was a heaven sent gift.

Using the flat slice of bread atop the stew, he spooned out what he could of the vegetables and broth. Out of habit, Trávn ate around the thick chunky bits of the stew’s meat. Not wishing to consume the flesh of a living creature, he did the best he could with what he had been given. He was ravenous as he ate his meal, regretful even, as he sat the bowl away from him still filled with the chunks of unidentifiable meat.

His companion raised a brow at his actions, but wordlessly took the bowl for himself and ate what was left with his fingers. With nimble hands the boy picked at the meat within the bowl, eating what little was left and lapping at his fingers with his tongue to clean them of the stew’s thick juices.

Embarrassed at the excessive display, Trávn hurriedly looked away from the boy’s mouth to eye his own fisted hands. He was unsure if he should give his gratitude for the meal or not… in his travels it seemed customary to do so with humans. Yet, in the supernatural world, such things could be seen as offensive.

He had never greeted another Wizard before, nevertheless shown his gratitude to one. Nervously, Trávn glanced towards the other, stunned to find the boy’s wide eyes so close to his face. Flinching, Trávn fell backwards as the other stared down at him with an unnervingly studious gaze.

Then… in a strangely meaningful way, the boy held out his hand with his palm exposed.

Feeling magically compelled to do the same, Trávn held out his hand.

As their skins connected the room erupted in an explosion of magic. Between the two Wizard’s palms a miniature blue sun burned keeping them separate, yet all the while pulling them closer to one another. Trávn stared, enchanted by the smaller Wizard’s otherworldly gaze, which now shown blue with his magic.

“I knew it,” the boy said in his own tongue, “I knew you and I were of the same …magic.”

Happiness shown in the boy’s large blue eyes, so brightly Trávn was stunned. Having always hated the sudden change of color in his own eyes, Trávn was surprised at how captivating he found the strange color on the boy. Such an otherworldly color suited the boy much better than any shade of green…Trávn felt as if he could drown in the boy’s blue-silver eyes. He sank deeper and deeper, gazing into their depths, realizing with a sudden start how close their faces had become in only a moments time…

He could feel the boy’s breath blew across his lips, and unconsciously his parted.

Then the other Wizard kissed him…

Magic erupted between them at the contact, passing from Trávn to the boy and back again as the younger Wizard weaved their tongues together in Trávn’s mouth. At first