-Roasted-

                                                        (continued)

The tree’s whispers swept through the forest. Golden leaves were spread across the sweet crabgrass as Izara calmed the heavy rise and fall of his chest.

“No confrontation with the Crow Witch needed,” he said.

“Do you know where we can find these ingredients?” Jaiden sneered. Izara was taken aback and stammered about the question, “I- uh, no… but I-”

“Do you even know what those ingredients are? How do we know if we can… if we can trust… ” Jaiden shifted and suddenly swayed over but caught himself before falling.

“Jaid, are you okay?” Marsh jogged over to his brother who had his face in his hands. He pulled his hat over his eyes as it became harder to stay upright. Jaiden groaned and glared back to the creature, “My head… What did you do to me?”

“Please, come sit down, you’re experiencing a side effect from the translation spell! It won't take long for it to subside,” He explained frantically but Jaiden continued, skeptical.

“Well, why doesn’t Marsh have any ‘side effects?’”

“It’s easier for children to learn new languages and so translation spells are taken better,” Izara shuffled closer to them and brushed his cloak to the side, “I’m sorry about that, I should have told you.”

“Come on, Jaid, I’m sure he just wants to help…” Marsh persuaded.

Jaiden frowned, “But we don’t know who or what he is.”

Marsh punched him on the shoulder sparingly but still annoyed, “Yeah, and we won't know who anyone is! We don’t even know where to go from here. Think, man!”

Jaiden’s head was spinning. He couldn’t take ahold of his commonsense but even so. “But Rune,” Jaiden thought, “How can we trust anyone from this place? Rune didn’t deserve to get poisoned. If someone like this ‘Crow Witch’ is capable to do something like that for no reason, then what’s stopping anyone else from doing the same?” He looked back at the paranoid creature who had given them the ability to communicate. If what he thought was true, than a creature with that much power wouldn’t waste time to try to help. “Unless… Rune did do something that got them…” He trailed off, not wanting to even think Rune could deserve such a fate. Jaiden’s stomach was in knots.

“I… Okay…” He agreed.

                                                             ◈◈◈

They settled around the fire and Izara rummaged through a grass-woven bag.

“Oh wids-” He muttered. Marsh leaned over and asked, “What’s up?”

Izara dug further through his various things as he responded, “Oh, I can’t seem to find any more meat for my midmeal…”

Jaiden peeked out of the shade from his hat, “Oh, yeah, I’m sorry about the food you were trying to cook…” Marsh glared at his brother, prodding him to continue. “And sorry for lashing out at you. You were… only trying to help,” Jaiden pulled his hat up from covering his face entirely.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s my fault for not explaining my intentions… And besides, I have some hazelnuts and nightflower seeds I can roast,” Izara tossed more kindling into the fire and dusted his hands off on his pants. He pulled out a light bag and a handheld contraption that the brothers didn’t recognize.

“So,” Izara began as he poured nuts and seeds into the metal object, “the... Crow Witch.” He closed the lid and held it over the fire. “What did she do to your friend, exactly?”

Marsh refrained from calling Rune Jaiden’s ‘date-mate’ as his brother gathered his words. Jaiden started talking about that morning, then added details about Ms. Crodsfer, the relic of the town. He first told Izara about the lights in the clouds, when Rune fell to the ground, and every off feeling that obscured his mind.

“How did you know where to find this place?” Izara interrupted. He sounded desperate but wonderstruck.

“There… was a book in the school’s library,” Jaiden fiddled with the loose yarn on his scarf, “But it wasn’t out in the open on a shelf. It was locked up and the librarian had the key.”

“A book? That’s very odd… I didn’t think there was any information about Amberdon in the Other.”

“What’s the Other?” Marsh asked.

“What's Amberdon?” Jaiden added.

“Oh, well, you two are from the human world. It’s the world that's outside from ours. I’m not sure what you call it but we call it the Other,” He threw up his hand to the sky and turned to Jaidem, “And this is Amberdon. I, uh, assumed you knew since you found it.”

Jaiden frowned, “No, I didn’t know. All the information I had of this place was just a page of notes. The rest of it is in some other language.”

Izara nodded, “There are books of your world’s history in the royal libraries but they’re also not translated. Most are even restricted to borrow,” He pulled his contraption out of the fire and opened the lid to reveal perfectly roasted hazelnuts and what Izara called ‘nightflower seeds.’ Izara rustled the back of his head and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry- I got off track…” he stammered.

“It’s alright. After I saw the book Marsh and I went to Ms. Crodsfer’s house to see if she was home but there wasn’t any sign of her. Then we looked for the waterfall and now we’re here.” Izara seemed to shudder every time the Crow Witch was brought up but he listened intently.

Marsh leaned over to see the roasted treats, “Can I have one?” He hadn't eaten a hazelnut but they smelled sweet enough. Izara dropped a few in his hand to try.

Jaiden began to think and clenched his shirt sleeves.

“Did… Did Rune do something…?” His brow furrowed. Izara looked at him with his wide eyes. “I just don’t understand why Ms. Crodsfer would do it, even if she is a witch.”

The fire cracked in their silence.“The crow witch… Priscillian Crodsfer…” Izara began, “it’s said that she makes… deals. People, from everywhere, ask her for things and in return, they give her something she wants. And if Rune asked for something from the witch, I don’t believe they’d give her their life. It… It might have been an outside force. Someone else that gave her their life.”

Jaiden looked sternly into the flame. Izara handed him a handful of roasted hazelnuts as he finished, “Your friend wasn’t at fault, but I’m sure we can figure out who is.”