The Witch's Apprentice: Chapter 26
Making Camp
Hello and welcome back to The Witch’s Apprentice. if you’re new here, I recommend starting from chapter 1. Otherwise, welcome back!
In the last chapter, our heroes tried to secure a magical sword embedded in a walking colossus, but after Sarah and Henry had both tumbled to the ground, they decided it might be better to live to fight another day. But all was not in vain, as their attempt at climbing the colossus had dislodged several colossal chips—one of the ingredients they’d come searching for.
As a thunderstorm rolled in over the Rannoc Ranges, they decided to find a place to set up camp. This is where we pick up the story.
Making Camp
By the time the tent was up, the rain began to let up, and just as quickly as it had started, the storm passed. The dark clouds drifted away, and the world looked clean and shiny once again. The air smelled like wet dirt and moss, that particular smell you only find after it’s been raining. High above, birds chirped in the trees, and everything felt brighter and more alive.
"Looks like we’re not going to drown after all," Henry said, wiping water off his sleeves.
"Small victories," Sarah said as she squeezed water from her jacket. Her hands were cold, but she felt a little better now that the storm was over and the sky was turning blue.
Henry started building a small fire just outside the tent. The ground was still wet, but dry enough for the fire to catch. Sarah unpacked their supplies while the fire crackled softly. Water still dripped from the edges of the tent. They sat close to the fire, warming their hands and trying to dry their clothes.
Lix, looking damp and a little ruffled, let out a happy sigh as the fire took hold. He fluttered over to Sarah and curled up in her lap, letting the warmth soak into his tiny body. His wings drooped lazily, and he gave a soft, contented hum before tucking his snout beneath his tail.
"I’m really glad you came with me," Sarah said, glancing down at Lix with a smile, then looking up at Henry.
"Me too," Henry said, staring into the flames. "It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a real adventure. This reminds me of that time when..." His voice trailed off.
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You can’t just stop in the middle like that. What happened?"
Henry smiled a little, still looking at the fire. "If you really want to know. This weather..." He pointed to the puddles near the fire. "It reminds me of one of our old adventures. We were up in the Rannoc Ranges, me, Girk, Elisa, and Duldren. It was a terrible week. It’d been raining every day and I was so cold, I almost wished for an orc attack just for the chance to work up some heat.”
Sarah leaned closer to the fire, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders. “You’re really selling the adventuring life,” she teased with a smile.
"It wasn’t all bad,” Henry chuckled. “We did find the gryphon feather we came for. Elisa needed it for some kind of ritual. She had to do as a step toward becoming a Warden in her druid circle. She’d talked about it for weeks, what it meant to her. Even Duldren, grumpy old dwarf that he was, agreed to help. Though he did grumble something fierce about catching pneumonia before we even reached the nest.”
“So, tell me more about Elisa and Duldren. Were they part of your group or party, or what do you even call it?”
“I guess you call it a party,” Henry said, smiling faintly.
He tossed another stick into the fire, the flames licking upward as he leaned back against one of the tent poles, resting his weight. for a moment he sat looking into the flames. Then he cleared his throat
“Where do I even start? Elisa… well, she was the heart of the group in a lot of ways. She wasn’t loud or commanding like some leaders are, but she didn’t need to be. She had this quiet strength, like the roots of a tree. Steady, dependable. You always knew she’d have your back, no matter how bad things got.”
Sarah nodded, already picturing the druid in her mind. “She sounds… kind.”
“She was,” Henry said, his eyes catching the firelight. “But don’t let that fool you, she was tough as iron. I saw her stare down a pack of wolves one day and go toe-to-toe with a troll the next. “Becoming a Warden was her dream. It’s a respected role in the druidic order, sure, but that wasn’t what mattered to her. She wanted it so she could protect her people, the forest, and everything that lived in it.”
“And Duldren?” Lix piped up, his tiny head tilting from Sarah’s lap.
Henry let out a big laugh, the kind that made the cold air feel a little warmer. “Duldren was... well, he was Duldren. The grumpiest dwarf you’d ever meet, but loyal all the same. He was always complaining about the weather, the trail, or Girk’s ‘bird-brained ideas.’” Henry smiled at the memory. “But when it came down to it, you couldn’t ask for a better shield to stand behind. He could hold a line like a fortress. Stubborn as a mule, though. Once he set his mind to something, good luck changing it.”
Sarah grinned and pulled her cloak tighter. “He sounds like a handful.”
“Oh, he was,” Henry said, shaking his head. “But he had his soft spots, even if he tried to hide them. He always called Elisa’s rituals silly druid stuff, but he was always there to haul her gear up a mountain, while complaining all the way. And Girk… well, Girk and Duldren were like oil and water, but they cared about each other in their own way.”
“What about Girk?” Sarah asked. “I mean, I already met him back at the inn, but what was he like back then?”
Henry grinned. “Oh, Girk? Fastest, sharpest fighter I ever met. Didn’t need weapons—his claws and beak were enough to send most bandits running. And he loved to stir the pot. If there was a way to rile Duldren up, Girk would find it.”
Sarah laughed. “What about you, Henry? What were you like back then?”
“Me?” Henry raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I was the guy trying to keep everything together. Someone had to stop Duldren from storming off, Girk from setting something on fire, and Elisa from putting herself in danger for someone else’s sake. Let’s just say I had my hands full.”
Lix narrowed his eyes, clearly not buying it. “I bet you got into trouble all the time.”
Henry’s grin grew wider. “I bet you do, little one. It takes one to know one. But you’re not wrong, trouble and I were well-acquainted. But that’s the thing about adventuring, it’s dangerous as hell. But it makes you feel alive like nothing else. The road is hard, the risks are real, but when you’ve got a group like we did… it’s worth every bump and bruise.”
The fire crackled softly, filling the silence that followed, and Sarah leaned back, her imagination spinning with images of Henry’s old companions and their adventures in the mountains.
So is that why you decided to come up here with me? I mean, you warned me about going into the Gardens of Ynn, but then you changed your mind.
The firelight flickered in Henry’s eyes as he stared into the flames. Outside, the rain had turned into a gentle drizzle, steady and calming.
“Maybe,” he said after a moment. His voice was quiet. “Maybe I didn’t realize how boring things had gotten until you showed up. A new witch in town, the old one gone... it made me curious. Or maybe…” He paused and gave a small smile. “Maybe I just missed being out on the road more than I thought.”
They sat quietly for a while, the fire warming them like a soft blanket. Lix dozed in Sarah’s pocket, letting out tiny snores.
“So what happened next?” Sarah said leaning forward. “Did you get back to Heatherholm with the gryphon feather, and did Elisa ever become a warden?”
Henry’s gaze didn’t shift from the flames. He sat quietly for a long moment before letting out a slow breath. “It’s the darndest thing, you know,” he said at last, his voice barely above a murmur.
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