Chapter 604 The Witches Talisman
The group remained frozen around the crude cloth doll for several long moments.
The realization that they had been deceived settled over them like a heavy fog. Nobody spoke. Every possibility they had considered over the past few minutes had been completely overturned. There had never been a dead child. There had never been a corpse to bury. Someone had carefully constructed a trap, knowing exactly how a group of decent people would react upon finding what appeared to be an innocent child abandoned in the middle of nowhere.
They had been the real target all along.
The silence was finally broken by Leonid.
"...Guys."
His voice was calm, but there was enough seriousness in it to immediately draw everyone’s attention.
"I don’t know if any of you have noticed..."
He slowly looked toward the edge of the road.
"...our horses are gone."
"Huh?"
Several heads turned at once.
Liam’s gaze swept toward the trees where they had tied the horses only minutes ago.
Nothing.
Not a single one remained.
The ropes they had used to secure them had been cleanly cut, the loose ends swaying gently in the night breeze as though mocking them.
Tatiana’s eyes widened.
"Our supplies..."
She hurried toward the nearest tree before stopping abruptly.
The saddlebags had disappeared with the horses.
Their food.
Their spare clothes.
Water skins.
Blankets.
Medical supplies.
Everything.
Gone.
Irina slowly looked around, her sharp senses searching for movement among the trees, but the surrounding forest had returned to its earlier stillness. The only sounds came from insects hidden among the undergrowth and the distant rustling of leaves carried by the wind.
Liam quietly let out a breath before lifting his eyes toward the night sky.
The four moons now hung high above them, casting pale silver light across the endless wilderness.
"It seems..."
He spoke more to himself than anyone else.
"...this was always going to happen."
The trap had never been about frightening them.
It had been about separating them.
Distracting them.
Drawing every capable fighter away from the road for just long enough to steal everything they owned and abduct one of their companions.
Whoever had orchestrated this hadn’t acted impulsively.
This had been planned.
Every single step.
Then, unexpectedly, someone smiled.
Mary.
A spark appeared in her eyes as though several disconnected pieces had suddenly fallen into place.
"This..."
She looked toward Agatha.
"...is actually a good thing."
Irina turned so quickly she almost looked offended.
"A good thing?"
She gestured toward the empty roadside.
"Our horses were stolen."
"Our food is gone."
"Our clothes are gone."
"Gregor has been kidnapped."
She frowned.
"How exactly is any of that good?"
Before Mary could answer, Agatha’s expression suddenly changed as well.
Understanding spread across her face.
"Of course..."
She quietly laughed to herself.
"I should have realized sooner."
Liam looked between the two witches.
"What am I missing?"
Agatha smiled.
"Witches rarely travel without preparing for situations exactly like this."
She crouched beside one of the cut ropes before absentmindedly running her fingers across it.
"We carry all sorts of enchanted items with us."
She began counting on her fingers.
"Tracking talismans."
"Spirit charms."
"Runic markers."
"Protective sigils."
"Moonstone dust."
"Binding threads."
"Mana crystals."
"And several small ritual components."
She looked back at Liam.
"Most people think they’re just ordinary travel supplies."
"They’re not."
Mary nodded.
"Several of those talismans were inside our bags."
Liam blinked.
Then his eyes widened.
"You can track them."
"Exactly."
Mary smiled.
"They may have stolen our supplies..."
"...but they unknowingly stole several magically linked objects as well."
Agatha stood.
"Unless whoever took them specifically knows witchcraft..."
"They won’t even realize they’re carrying magical beacons."
Liam’s mind immediately pieced everything together.
Whoever had taken Gregor had almost certainly been the same people responsible for stealing the horses.
If they found the horses...
They found their supplies.
If they found their supplies...
There was a very good chance they would find Gregor.
A faint smile appeared on Liam’s face.
"Now that’s the first good news we’ve had tonight."
Mary stepped toward the center of the road while Agatha joined her.
The two exchanged a single glance before quietly nodding.
Without another word, they both closed their eyes.
The surrounding forest suddenly felt quieter.
Even the breeze seemed to soften.
Agatha slowly raised both hands before bringing them together in front of her chest.
Mary mirrored the movement.
Their voices rose almost simultaneously.
Not loudly.
But with a strange rhythm that seemed to blend naturally with the night itself.
"Spirits that walk unseen beneath the moon..."
"Guide our steps through shadow and stone."
"Reveal the path hidden from mortal sight."
"Let the threads of mana return to those who wove them."
The air around them began to shimmer faintly.
Tiny particles of pale blue mana drifted upward from the ground like glowing dust.
Neither witch opened her eyes.
Instead, their chanting continued.
"By silver moon and ancient root..."
"By hidden trail and whispered truth..."
"Answer the call of your makers..."
"Lead us to what was taken."
The mana surrounding them thickened.
Small circles of light appeared beneath their feet, intricate runes slowly rotating across the ground before fading just as quickly as they appeared.
The forest itself seemed to respond.
Leaves rustled despite the complete absence of wind.
Somewhere deep among the trees, an owl let out a low call before everything became silent once again.
Liam, Leonid, Tatiana and Irina instinctively stepped several paces backward, giving the witches all the space they needed.
None of them spoke.
They simply watched.
The final words of the chant echoed softly through the darkness.
"What belongs to us..."
"Return our path."
Silence.
A heartbeat later...
Both witches opened their eyes.
Tatiana involuntarily held her breath.
Their irises had vanished.
Their pupils had vanished.
Only pure white remained.
It looked almost unnatural beneath the pale moonlight.
For several seconds they stood completely still.
Then...
Both of them slowly turned their heads toward the same direction.
Mary smiled.
"We found them."
Agatha nodded.
"Let’s go."
Without another explanation, the two witches began walking.
The others immediately followed.
They remained on the road for another two minutes, neither Agatha nor Mary hesitating even once. Then, almost simultaneously, both women turned sharply toward the dense forest bordering the path.
Without saying a word, they stepped into the undergrowth.
The others followed closely behind.
Tree branches brushed against their clothes while thick bushes occasionally forced them to slow their pace. Moonlight filtered through the dense canopy overhead, painting shifting patterns across the forest floor.
Nobody spoke.
There wasn’t any need.
The only sounds accompanying them were the endless chorus of cicadas, the distant chirping of unseen night insects, and the occasional snap of a twig beneath someone’s boot.
The deeper they traveled...
The stronger the smell of smoke became.
Liam noticed it first.
Wood burning.
Fresh.
Nearby.
A few moments later...
A faint orange glow appeared between the trees.
Everyone instinctively slowed.
The glow grew brighter with every step until they finally reached the edge of a small clearing.
Liam carefully pushed aside a branch.
His eyes narrowed.
There were people.
Nearly a dozen of them surrounded a large campfire.
Some sat on rough wooden logs with mugs raised high, laughing loudly as they drank. Others danced around the flames while music echoed through the clearing, produced by a man casually playing a stringed instrument beside the fire.
It looked...
Normal.
Too normal.
Irina’s lips slowly curved upward.
"There you are..."
She took one step forward.
"...got you, bastards."
She was just about to burst from the trees when a firm arm suddenly wrapped around her waist.
Her entire body was pulled backward before she could react.
She looked down in surprise.
Liam.
He immediately released her.
"Sorry."
He scratched the side of his cheek awkwardly.
"That hand placement wasn’t exactly planned."
Irina barely acknowledged the apology.
She looked at him.
"What?"
Liam didn’t answer immediately.
Instead...
He kept staring at the camp.
His eyes moved slowly from one person to another.
Then toward the horses.
Then back again.
Finally...
He quietly spoke.
"...Something isn’t right."