Book 2. Mina - The Hag 1

Book 2. Mina - The Hag 1
Mina opened her mouth and shrieked as loud as she could. The swords stopped a breath away from her neck and dropped to the ground as the mercenaries covered their ears with their palms. The root around her foot loosened. She rose from the ground slowly as she continued to shriek. The men fell to their knees, their eyes rolling at the back of their heads.
While running through the Enchanted Forest, she had forgotten all about what her voice could do, but as she had the men on their knees, at her mercy, did she have what it took to kill them?
She stopped screaming. Her voice, while powerful, will not be used as a weapon to kill others. The men lowered their hands.
“I can’t hear anymore,” said one.
“My eyes!” the other screamed. “What have you done to me, witch?”
“I…” she said. Even if the men had tried to force themselves on her and take her life, she had never wanted to harm them. Just get them to stop.
The light coming from behind her grew stronger. Two white tigers appeared from behind the trees and stopped next to the mercenaries. They looked familiar. Where had she seen them before?
The mercenary that claimed he could not hear anymore fell on his ass. “T-tigers,” he stuttered.
“Where?” the other asked.
“Sleep,” a woman’s voice came from behind Mina. It sounded somehow familiar. The mercenaries fell to the ground, soft snores coming from them. “Finally, you have returned.”
Mina turned on her heels, coming face to face with an old gypsy woman. A strange necklace was around her neck with a white pearl in the middle, the light coming from it. “You are the woman that helped me and my sister some time ago.” The woman’s eyes were not opaque anymore but green, like those of Mina. “I knew you were not blind.” The woman grinned. “What are you doing here? And where are the other gypsies?”
“This has been my home for a very long time. As for the gypsy caravan, it is still in Ora Dorei,” replied the old woman.
Could she be the Hag? But all the stories Mina had heard about the Hag described her as a very ugly woman with a big hunch on her back, twisted bony fingers, and skin full of warts. While the woman in front of her was old and her face full of wrinkles, she was not ugly. The memories of her getting lost in the forest when she was six were still foggy. “I expected you to be more terrifying.”
The woman chuckled softly. “Then you know who I am. Good.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is of no importance. You can call me Hag, like everyone else.”
“Isn’t that a little offensive?” asked Mina. “I mean, you don’t look like one.”
“I think me being called something like Buttercup won’t be as terrifying as the Hag.” Mina supposed that the Hag was right. People got scared if someone said ‘the Hag.’ “Come. There are things we have to talk about.”
Mina looked over her shoulder at the two mercenaries. The white tigers were still next to them. “What about them? Will the tigers….” Finish what she started?
“You can choose to kill them, like you did with the others, or let them walk away.”
Mina blinked, confused. “I… did what?”
The Hag disappeared between the trees. “The forest listens to you. Or have you not noticed?”
Mina looked around the trees, not believing the Hag’s words. “How?”
“Your voice is quite special. Didn’t you know it by now?” The Hag spoke from behind Mina, but when she turned around, no one was there.
“How can the forest listen to me when I have never spoken to it?” Mina tried to reason with the Hag.
“Don’t you remember?”
Mina frowned. What was the Hag up to? “Remember what?”
The Hag appeared next to Mina. “That you saved the forest from being destroyed by the Shadows.”
That day when she was six years of age and got lost in the Enchanted Forest, the Hag had found her and hurt her left wrist. “I don’t think it is wise to trust you. After all, everyone knows the stories of your cruelty. I felt it on my skin before.”
The Hag grinned. “I see you have no recollection of what happened that day. Let’s drink a cup of tea, and while I heal your wound, I will tell you all about your voice.”
“What does my voice have to do with anything?”
“I will explain everything to you in my cottage,” said the Hag before starting to walk between the trees. The white tigers followed her.
Mina glanced at the mercenaries—they were still asleep—and followed after the Hag. The two women walked in silence for a few minutes until they reached a cottage built in a small clearing near a silver lake. The music Mina kept hearing since entering the forest sounded louder around the lake. A small fence surrounded the cottage. Hanging baskets of flowers hung from the wall between the door and the window.
The Hag opened the door to the cottage, and Mina stepped inside. The interior was similar to the vardo from the gypsy caravan. Close to the stove was a table, lit candles on top of it. A basket with hard cheese, smoked meat, ham, bread, and a bottle of wine sat behind the candles.
On the nightstand adjacent to the bed was a beautiful jewelry box adorned with black pearls. The Hag took off her necklace and put it inside it. A shawl was on the bed, and the Hag grabbed it before going to Mina and giving it to her.
Mina wrapped the shawl around her shoulder. “Thank you. Do you want me to make the tea?” asked Mina.
“Maybe wine is more appropriate for this occasion,” said the Hag as she pulled a chair to sit in.
The white tigers climbed on the bed and closed their eyes.
Mina grabbed two goblets and plates from a shelf and sat at the table. “You were saying something about my voice and the forest listening to me,” she said as she poured wine into the goblets.
“You have a Crystal Voice, Mina. Once you know how to use it, you can command the mountains to move, and they will do so.”
Mina took a sip from her goblet. “I have never heard of a Crystal Voice before.”
“The women that have mermaid blood running through their veins are rare, but they are always blessed with gifts, powers that only mermaids have. Some can make any man fall in love with them, while others cry pearls instead of tears. Only a few of them inherit the voice that all mermaids have—the Crystal Voice. But you, Mina, you are one of a kind. Being half gypsy makes your voice even stronger.”