Witches of Mellgrah

A cute-looking guy with an English accent matched her pace and caught her off guard while she was waving a stick.

'Not what type of witches?' Maya was confused for a moment.

"We don't need wands for casting," he elaborated further after seeing Maya's expression trying to understand his joke.

"Oh." Maya laughed belatedly, feeling silly for not getting it right away. Perhaps she was too tense this whole time. "I didn't even realize it looked like that."

"I just couldn't help but to make that connection," he chuckled. "But otherwise, ingenious idea. Do you mind if I walk behind you so you can save me from spiders as well?"

Maya blushed at his flattery. She couldn't remember when the last time she received a compliment was. At least it was clear what she was trying to do with the stick. She imagined she must've looked ridiculous to the others.

"Not at all. You can keep a look for mushrooms while I take care of spiders."

This way she could be someone's hero while compensating for her anti-talent.

"That's a great idea. I'm Adam, by the way," he offered his hand for a handshake and Maya shook it clumsily, introducing herself.

"You're one of the girls Isaac has lunch with, right?"

"You know Isaac?"

"We live on the same floor and hang out sometimes."

"That's great. I was worried for Isaac being subjected only to female company," she said light-heartedly.

Adam chuckled. "Well, he's extremely fortunate. But he has a few of us, guys, to rub it in our faces."

'Was Isaac being seen as a ladies' man by his male friends?'

"You can join us for lunch if you'd like."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not bitter about it. Just joking. Besides, I'm not sure I would fit your legendary reputation by sitting at that table. That might be too much pressure for me."

"Reputation? What do you mean?"

He stopped like her question dumbstruck him. "You guys managed to sit two opposing queens at the same table, on the very first day of school."

He must mean Sarah and Elena.

"I wasn't aware that was a significant event."

"Do you not know the drama between them?"

"I'm aware they don't like each other," Maya said. "Not that there's some drama the whole school knows about."

"Oh, you weren't here this summer? It was a bitter rivalry between them to win over Keith's heart. It seemed like every other day one would overtake the other on the leading board. They kept us on our toes. People even bet real money on it. It was fun."

"Sounds like you guys lived through a real-life soap opera."

"Yeah. It was insane. It cooled down a bit after Elena had won, but your squad had awakened whispers about it, again."

"Well, I think you should admire Andrea for it. She was a mastermind, of sorts, there. I was just a means to get Elena there, it seems. But it was all just a pure coincidence, though."

"Coincidence or not, it made your group sort of popular. You're like a celebrity. I feel nervous just talking to you."

"Oh, stop it. I'm still just a loser who got caught in all that," she didn't know how to take his flattery.

"Don't put yourself down. If anything, I'm the loser wasting your time chatting you up. All of that aside, you still seem like a really interesting and down-to-earth person."

"I wouldn't say you're a loser. But if you insist on it, we could create our own loser club."

"Sounds great." Adam gave her a bright smile.

Their guides warned them to keep their eyes open. As the terrain got a bit rougher, they drifted apart focusing on their balance. Maya felt proud of herself for lasting this long walking through the woods and this erratic terrain. The last week of training really showed some effects, but she expected to be exhausted for the rest of the day.

Feeling like she'd seen something in the corner of her eyes moving in the distance, Maya slowed down. It was blue, so it stood out like a sore thumb even with her not getting a good look. Someone must've gotten separated from the group. Knowing how easy it was to get lost, she wanted to make sure they had someone in their line of sight to orient themselves.

However, she didn't take into account that by wishing to be mindful of that person she was separating herself from the group. Since she could still hear them rustling and talking, she thought it would be okay.

Perhaps it would be better if she went over there and warned them. Trying to locate them, looking in the direction where she thought she saw the person, she noticed something odd about them.

It was a guy. He seemed to wander off aimlessly. But he was also wearing something that she could only make out as blue pyjamas.

Maya froze. It was a ghost.

Before she could start looking for her way back, something seemed to make him notice her and he slowly turned to face her.

Maya gasped.

The other half of his body came into view and revealed his blue and white pyjamas were stained with crimson red. His neck appeared to be ripped open by some vicious animal and torn to shreds, and the side of his head was scraped to the point of revealing the whites of his skull.

She almost screamed in terror as his bare feet, muddied to his ankles, started waddling toward her. As she stood frozen in shock he was rapidly approaching. Until he stopped, right before he was about to reach Maya. She saw the look of terror in his eyes, like he was afraid of her. Then, like a strong gust of wind, something swooped him away.

He was gone, as if he'd never existed at all. In Maya's mind echoed a faint sound, a screech the sky she heard in her dream, as if something about this situation had triggered her to remember it again.

She was standing there petrified with her heart trying to jump out of her chest while clutching the necklace Leo gifted her. He appeared beside her and just as she was about to cry to him about what she'd just witnessed a different voice startled her from behind.

"I saw you met your future husband," Elena commented jokingly.

Maya was so out of herself that she couldn't comprehend what she meant by those words. Could Elena have seen him as well and made some sick and twisted joke?

Elena tilted her head, confused by her distress. "You know… Adam Blair," she clarified after Maya's expression left her unsatisfied. "What's wrong?"

Maya felt a sense of relief. Elena was referring to her talking to Adam earlier. It just dawned on her he was the Adam they were talking about last night. Of course, Elena knew nothing about the ghost. Keeping track of reality was becoming increasingly difficult for Maya.

"Nothing. We better catch up to the rest before we get lost."

Quickly calming herself down, Maya began walking in an attempt to avoid Elena's eyes from peering into her distress.

"It's that way."

Elena pointed in a different direction without moving from her spot. Exasperated, Maya changed her direction and began to head back.

"Um, Maya…" Leo started.

They were approaching the group and someone's scream directed everyone's attention. Maya and Elena picked up their pace to meet everyone gathering at the small ridge.

Down from that point, a horror awaited them.

People's gasps and screams filled her ears as they reached it, and a horrible stench assaulted Maya's nostrils. She paled at the sight and hands grabbed her and pulled her back.

It was Adam. He acted quickly and pulled her away so she could get herself together, away from the horrible sight. It seems he registered her falling into a panic attack even before she did. No wonder it was so hard to breathe.

Maya felt grateful he rescued her. She saw it only for a moment, but it was enough to scar itself in her memory. Now she knew the striking difference between seeing mangled ghosts and the true horror of rotting dead bodies.

Under that ridge were discarded bodies. Multiple, human bodies.

"It must be the missing students," Adam said after a long pause.

Maya looked at him, having managed to calm down a little but still pale as a sheet.

"I heard four students have gone missing the other day. I guess we all already knew what happened to them, but seeing it…" Adam shivered.

"Adam…" Maya hesitated. "Was one of them wearing a blue pyjama?"

"Huh? I guess."

Adam couldn't understand why it would matter to Maya what they were wearing. Seeing a ghost of one of the victims wandering wasn't the main focus to her either. It was what it meant that deeply disturbed her.

It had seemed Elena's past remark about the inside being as safe as the outside the walls bode true. If a student was taken in their pyjamas, they could have hardly ventured outside and were, in fact, taken from within the safety of the town borders.

It was the protection of guards that was making the difference!

Suddenly Elena's headstrong insistence on training as a warrior seemed like the soberest choice a helpless student could make in the face of such realization. And, as her roommate, Maya was ever so slightly safer.

They couldn't talk more. Students were directed to return to Amellan and they walked in silence, each dealing with their inner distress alone.

If the God of Light was truly just the Goddess of Death, they must be having a ball time.