Chapter 3
“Kamiko the Witch”
Morning: Kamiko was out gathering herbs and berries when a sudden gust of cool air was followed by an eerie stillness. She looked about and listened. She gulped. She was not alone. Basket in hand, she headed back towards her hut. She was being followed. Kamiko walked faster. A twig snapped behind her! Kamiko dropped her basket and ran! Reaching the hut, she threw back the blanket that served as a door and frantically sought her knife. Light poured in from behind as her cloth door was flung open. A very tall figure leaned into the hut! Kamiko cowered in a corner and screamed, waving her knife about wildly! The fair-skinned, green-eyed, golden-haired intruder snatched her wrist and easily disarmed her. “Kamiko,” his rich, weird, melodious voice addressed her. “As friend or as foe, I have found you.”
“Please,” Kamiko whimpered. “You have me. Kamiko is yours. Please don’t hurt her. She will obey.”
Sir Thaydrin held the woman-fay’s face and peered into the widening pupils of her brown eyes. “Tell me who you are,” he commanded.
“Kamiko,” she choked. “Milord knows who I am.”
“Kamiko, why are you afraid?”
“Please don’t hurt me.”
“Why would I hurt you?”
“Milord....”
“Tell me.”
“Milord..., Kamiko is a child of the dark elves.”
“Take heed, child of the dark elves: Your lineage does not offend me. If you are my enemy, it is by your heart, not your blood.” He pulled her to her feet. “Come with me.”
“Yes, milord.”
“I am Sir Thaydrin. I have sworn by my heart, my mind, my spirit and my strength that I shall serve, protect and avenge. I am not your lord, Kamiko, child of the dark elves. Unless you imagine evil against me or against those whom I hold dear, I am your friend.”
Aya watched from the woods as Thaydrin brought Kamiko the Witch out of the hut. Though her face and hands were long and delicate, her lips thin, her eyes slanted and her ears narrow and somewhat pointed, the woman-fay looked... human. Though her clothes were ragged, she was surprisingly clean... and remarkably beautiful.
Aya stealthily followed, as planned, as Thaydrin brought Kamiko with him to the boat. The woman-fay was startled when an armed woman emerged from the trees and bushes. “My beloved,” Thaydrin introduced Aya. Kamiko bowed.
As Aya came closer, she noticed that Kamiko’s eyes were brown, like a human’s, but looked as wild yet wise as an elf’s: Such hauntingly beautiful eyes. Aya both liked and loathed them staring at her. Aya bowed.
“Into the boat,” the he-fay urged.
On the river: Thaydrin rowed while the two females sat uneasily together. “You are wondering where we are taking you,” the elfin knight told Kamiko. “You are wondering what we will do to you.”
“Kamiko shall humbly obey.”
“You are curious as to why a mortal woman is my companion. She wields a sword. She can follow you unheard and unseen. Who is she? You do not know.”
“What does my lord wish of Kamiko?”
“I am the enemy of your lineage. Kamiko, am I your enemy?”
“Milord, please,” the half-elf choked. “Kamiko will obey.”
“You fear me.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you fear me?”
“Please don’t hurt Kamiko. She will do whatever you wish.”
“I have but one wish.”
“Please tell Kamiko. Kamiko hopes to please you.”
“It is my wish that all shall be well. I have no other.”
Later that morning: Kamiko was in the river, bathing behind the privacy of trees and bushes. Thaydrin and Aya sat nearby, with the boat. “Isn’t Thaydrin worried she might try to escape?” the woman questioned.
“I am not.”
“Why not?”
“If she flees, I will know that I must kill her.”
“Thaydrin doesn’t know already?”
“I do not.”
“Why not?”
“Though she is a child of the dark elves, she is naive. There is no evil without knowledge of evil, thus, I cannot see if she is truly my enemy. For now, I shall spare her life that she may demonstrate who she truly is.”
Thaydrin snuggled Aya and kissed her head. “My soft, warm woman, I am glad that you are with me.”
“Kamiko is beautiful,” Aya commented.
“Yes, she is. Kamiko’s soft yet delicate beauty is the harmony of woman and nymph.” He stroked Aya’s hair. “You are beautiful.” He kissed her cheek. “I favor my warm little Aya.”
“Really?”
Thaydrin laughed, “Are you ignorant of your own charm?! Does my pretty little Aya not know that her every smile, her every utterance, her every gesture is to my utter delight?!” He embraced the woman. “Even your silly questions rouse me.” He whispered into her ear, “Go wheresoever you wish, but know that you are always welcome to come with me.”
Aya believed him. She did not know why, but she always believed whatever he told her. Aya hugged Thaydrin and cooed.
The he-fay, woman and woman-fay eventually moved on up the river. Thaydrin kept his hood up. Aya asked him, “Thaydrin is not worried about being seen by humans anymore?”
“The Hunters will know we have Kamiko. They will pursue. We must travel on the water that we cannot be tracked. Let them guess which way along the river we have gone.”
Late in the afternoon: Thaydrin landed the boat and the three made camp. The he-fay handed Kamiko a concoction of herbs. The half-elf looked up at him. “If I kill you,” Thaydrin told her, “it shall not be by poison. Eat.” Kamiko obeyed. “You and I shall rest while my beloved woman keeps watch.”
That evening: Aya slept next to Thaydrin while Thaydrin sat watching Kamiko. Nothing was said for a long while until the woman-fay commented, “She is so beautiful.”
Thaydrin told her, “She said the same of you.”
Kamiko placed a hand over her own heart and smiled at Aya. “She is so young. Shall my lord take her from this world?”
Thaydrin said nothing.
Kamiko wondered, “What is her name?”
“She is my beloved woman.”
“Forgive me.”
“Perhaps.”
For a while, neither of them spoke. “She loves you,” Kamiko told the high elf. “Her eyes brighten whenever you touch her. She awaits your whim whenever you look at her.”
“Your father is a Dark Knight.”
“Yes,” Kamiko nodded.
“He is a warrior in the service of the False Queen. He is my enemy.”
The woman-fay bowed her head. She quavered, “Kamiko is not against you, milord. Kamiko seeks your pleasure and yours alone.”
“Why?” Kamiko did not answer. “You have feared man before you have feared me.”
“Yes.” Kamiko sneered, “Humans blame Kamiko for their every misfortune. Even their children are cruel!”
“The heart of man is fearful and vicious.”
“Yes.”
“Men desire you, yet you are to blame. Women hate you, slander you and curse you, yet you are to blame. Children taunt you yet you are cruel.”
Kamiko wept. “Yes,” she sobbed.
“You are a witch.”
“Kamiko is a witch. All that my lord says is true. Does my lord know everything about Kamiko?”
“Tell me of your magic.”
“Milord?”
“It is whispered among men and women that you have the power to curse unto death.” Kamiko did not answer. Thaydrin watched her cringe and squirm. “Kamiko.”
“Yes, milord.”
“I shall not suffer a murderer to live.”
The half-elf quaked. “You’re going to kill Kamiko.” She whined and whimpered, “Why?!” She nearly fainted as the elfin knight stood.
“Thaydrin?” Aya was awake.
“Sleep,
my beloved. All shall be well.”
Aya saw Kamiko cowering at Thaydrin’s feet.
The he-fay glared down at the witch. “Tell me, Kamiko. Tell me what you have done.”
“A child drowned; a child who had taunted Kamiko that very day.” She sobbed, “Kamiko had nothing to do with it! They beat her. They pulled her hair. All of them cursed Kamiko and spat on her. They were going to kill her!” She snarled, “Kamiko grabbed Ayumi as she spat in my face! I pulled the life out of her! They screamed and Kamiko laughed. Even when they ran, she could catch their souls and pull their life out of them! Her wounds healed. They died. All who survived fled from Kamiko. She cursed them all! She hates them all! She hates the very blood in her veins!” Kamiko shrieked! “The Queen’s elves have come to this hideous world because I have summoned them! Kill me, high elf and be done with it! May my people avenge me!”
Thaydrin’s long hand gripped Kamiko’s throat. Tears streamed down the woman-fay’s cheeks as she awaited her own death.
“Thaydrin!” Aya cried. She grabbed his wrist. “Please don’t do this.”
“You feel for her?”
“Yes.”
The he-fay laughed. “Is the heart of woman truly so soft? Tell me, my love, what you see that I do not.”
“I see a lonely woman who defended and avenged herself when no one else would.”
A refreshing wind blew through the trees. Thaydrin released Kamiko’s throat and gestured towards Aya, “She is of the blood that flows within your veins. The dark elves are your people and they have come for you. She, too, is your people. She has cried out for your sake. Go in peace.”
Aya helped Kamiko up. “You can take the boat,” the woman offered. “I’ll come later to get it.”
Kamiko nodded and bowed. “Thank you,” she choked. She wept when the woman hugged her.
Thaydrin watched as Aya helped Kamiko into the boat and pushed her off.
“We must go,” the elf said.
“Yes,” Aya nodded.
Thaydrin took gentle hold of the woman’s shoulders and leaned down so that they were face-to-face. “You have inspired me to defy wisdom. For better or for worse, you have done well.” He kissed her warm forehead and took her warm, soft hand. “Aya.” She looked up at him. “I am joyful that you are with me.”
With that, the elf and woman ventured into the shadow of night.