The Devil's Cursed Witch

Erlos thought that they would visit another village or a nearby town to continue investigating about the origins of the human girl, but Draven was already heading back towards the burned mountain.

"Sire, are we returning so soon? Don't we need to get more information about that human girl? Shouldn't we confirm if she is really the princess—"

"Does it matter?"

Erlos paused. Now that he thought about it, regardless of the human girl's real identity, as far as everyone was concerned, she is dead. Digging up her part did sound like a useless waste of time.

Soon, they returned to the soot-covered mountain, and Draven walked towards the part of the mountain where he remembered he found that female.

Seeing his master deep in thought, Erlos found himself secretly amused. They were back to the same place where they teleported in, but instead of returning to the palace, his king was wandering in the area, seemingly looking around for something.

'He said she doesn't concern us then why are we back here? These days, Sire says one thing but does the exact opposite.'

Unaware of his servant's thoughts, Draven walked around, trying to see if there was anything else he could find that's related to that female creature he found..

It wasn't that he blindly trusted the words of a stranger, but as someone who protects Agartha from humans, he would check the situation about the human kingdoms every once in a while. He forgot how many years ago it was that he heard rumors about that oracle's prophecy, though he didn't pay particular attention to it since it doesn't concern him nor Agartha.

'Looks like that creature is indeed the one from the rumors. It doesn't make sense though. If she was declared cursed even before she was born and her father believed that, he would have killed her in her mother's womb, or have killed her when she's still a newborn.

'Why wait now? Why did they leave her on this mountain and opt to kill her now when she's—' He realized he didn't know how old this princess was.

'Another thing that doesn't matter.'

He brushed this thought aside and walked ahead.

'If she lived here, then there must be a shelter or lodging around.'

A distance away from the spot where he found her collapsed body, his sharp eyes caught sight of several large boulders arranged characteristically, in a manner that normal humans would find natural. But his sharp eyes found a certain boulder covering what seemed to be a cave's entrance. He imagined that if there were tall trees in that area, it would have probably been difficult to discover such a hidden cave. However, now that everything was burned, the existence of the cave was revealed.

Erlos caught up to his master and stood beside him, peering around to see what Draven discovered.

"Sire! That looks like a cave!" Erlos said. "Ohh, now it makes sense. So those humans know the 'witch' lives in this mountain, but don't know exactly where, that's why they decided to simply burn the mountain itself. What a bunch of lunatics."

Draven didn't affirm the elf's guess and simply approached the cave, but he had also had similar thoughts.

As Erlos curiously followed behind him, his eyes not on the discovered abode but on the tall man in front of him, making his own assumptions about his king. 'This is shocking. I know he is interested in that human girl, but I never knew it was this much. I don't know how he found her, but if he truly doesn't care about her, why would he bring her with him to Agartha? Why would he offer her the privilege of sleeping in his bed, a grace no one ever received till date.'

When Draven entered the mouth of the cave, he frowned. It was a small cave, its ceiling almost touching Draven's head on some parts, while he had to dodge some of the hanging rocks from the ceiling. The tunnel was dark, long and narrow, the width enough only for two adults to walk side by side.

'Footprints?'

Although it was dark, Draven's eyesight was not affected and he saw the fresh footprints on the ground, many of them seemingly from people wearing heavy boots. It appeared that he wasn't the only intruder who entered the cave.

At the end of the cave tunnel, Draven found what appeared to be a cave dwelling with all necessary items a human would need to survive. There were clothes, wooden chests, items made of clay and metal, small weapons like knives and hunting bows, among other things, as well as two beddings made of dried grass.

From the state of the footprints, it seemed like the earlier intruders came here but didn't stay long, only enough to search around for several minutes before leaving, probably to check if there were living people inside. They must be the soldiers of the Kingdom of Valor confirming the death of the witch.

Draven observed his surroundings with a frown as the dwelling was filled with smoke. If he were a human, he would have experienced trouble with breathing and probably passed out from inhaling too much smoke. 'This must be where she lived and it seemed she was not alone. Someone was living with her, taking care of her needs. But where is that person? From what I felt that night, no one else but that female creature is in this mountain.'

"Search for anything of value," Draven ordered Erlos and immediately turned around to leave the cave. 'She probably tried to hide herself inside the cave, but smoke from the burning forest must have filled the cave and she was forced to escape, otherwise, she would have died of suffocation.'

Blurred images of that night flashed in front of his eyes. That young girl ran out of the cave, coughing out the smoke she inhaled, only to find that the forest was burning, everywhere covered in flames. She didn't understand what was happening, but she instinctively knew she had to find a way out of the fire, but she could not go on for long and tripped over a burning log, causing her body to sustain burns since she had already fainted from suffocation at that point.

'She is the key to this mystery. There is no other explanation other than her for how or why I was summoned here. How and why did she summon me? And why me? What is the purpose?'

Draven remembered the scene inside the guest room, where she transformed herself.

'That creature seems human but no human should be capable of that, unless they dabble in sorcery and black magic, but her body has none of that. Even the cave has no trace of magic in it.

'Forcing me to save her can't be without any reason. I need to find out the answers to everything.'

Soon, Erlos came out of the cave carrying something small in his arms. "Sire, this is the only thing I found. It might be related to that human girl's identity."

He was holding a wooden box about the size of his palm seemingly dug out from the dirt, and inside there was a jade pendant with an intricate design, something so out of place inside that shabby cave dwelling. It was a piece of jewellery that looked more like something a wealthy noble or royal would own.

"Hand it to Leeora," Draven instructed.

"Yes, Sire."

With a pensive look, Draven decided that it seemed he couldn't get the answers to his questions at the moment. Since nothing more could be found here, he should just return to Agartha. After all, it happened that today was the day when the council meeting was being held. It would be rude to make the leaders of the races wait for long.

Draven and Erlos returned to the Kingdom of Agartha.