For the longest time there was only darkness. Then Lara saw it, the light, shining in the distance. At first it was dim, but it shone gradually brighter. And brighter. And brighter. Too bright in fact, it became irritating. She opened her eyes.
Lara jolted and screamed. The fall. That was the first thing she remembered when she regained consciousness. But she was not falling, she was on solid ground now. She felt the ground with her hands. Yes, it was really solid, wood solid, it felt. She couldn't see the floor as the blinding glare was still shining at her face. Then the light weakened. It took a few seconds for Lara to regain her vision. And when she did, she realized, for the second time in a few days, she was imprisoned again, this time in a wooden cage.
It seemed she was indoor as there was no sunlight anywhere, and the only light source was from the person standing in front of her. The stranger looked like a sorceress. She was a magnificent sight to behold. Her tall and slender body ensconced in a blue dress that failed marvelously to cover her up at places where it should. The tight bodice split in the middle, showing ample cleavage. The hem of the dress was a mass of delicate tassels that generously showed off her long full legs whenever she moved. Her skin was smooth as silk and her face resembled the idealized images of goddesses from ancient statues. Her entire body oozed sensuality, seemingly molded to arouse unsuspecting eyes. In her right hand she was holding a lavishly ornate wooden staff topped with a bright gem emitting a soft purple light. Purple...?
"Are you that bird-woman on the tower?" Lara asked after she connected the dots.
"Good observation," the sorceress remarked with a slick as ice voice. She entered the cell and walked towards Lara. The young priestess involuntarily crawled back away from the advancing witch until her back touched the cage. Lara felt uneasy with this woman, her intuition told her there's something unnatural about this witch. The lustrous woman extended her hand and held Lara's face, she twisted and turned Lara's head as she studied every facet of her face.
"How old are you?" asked the sorceress.
"I'm twenty," Lara muttered. The sorceress's hand was the same as her voice, cold as ice.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Lara. Who are—?"
"Good, good," the witch said with a satisfied smile. Letting go of Lara, she stood up and walked out of the cell. "Come with me," she said.
"Who are you? Why are you taking me here?" Lara asked sheepishly.
"You can call me Melisza. You're here for a special reason, dear Lara. Come with me and you'll find out," she said while waited at the cell's door for Lara. She still wore a smile, but it definitely not to show friendliness.
Lara stood up, and in the process realized something's different about her. What is she wearing? She wasn't wearing the dull servant dress, but a white, thin, almost sheer, ankle-length dress. It fit her perfectly, as if it was tailored for her. She gave Melisza a confused look.
"You'll find out soon enough," the witch repeated, the mysterious smile never faded on her face.
"Let's go." Melisza chirped cheerfully and Lara meekly followed the witch. She had so many questions, and witch's reticence made Lara anxious.
As they walked through a narrow corridor, Lara noticed many strange things about this place. The floor and the wall were made of wood. There wasn't any light sources except from Melisza's staff and crystal balls hanging from the ceiling that magically lighted up whenever Melisza walked under them. Lara heard the sound of bird chirping coming from somewhere, and judging from the constant chirping there must be a lot of them. Finally, they made it into a big room filled with sunlight. She could see the sky above through a giant hole on the ceiling, and above the hole, schools and flocks and hordes and mobs of birds of all kinds was flying or perching. Lara saw green leaves and big branches above the hole, providing natural shades. Suddenly it made sense to Lara: she was inside a tree the whole time. And this must have been some sort of sundeck for the witch. Melisza must have carved out her own lair from this giant tree.
But there was no time for sightseeing as Melisza descended a wooden staircase. Lara followed her, and the light above faded gradually, but never diminished completely.
At the bottom of the stair was a round room. At first Lara couldn't make out what was in it because the room was near pitch black, but Melisza waved her staff and the room brightened up. Lara gasped when she saw light spread above her head as dozens of candles floating in the air were lit simultaneously.
Lara looked around. It was a spacious living room with no windows. She saw chairs, tables, drawers and bookshelves. Scattered about were some tapestries and unknown items of decorations made of feathers mounted on the wall. On the opposite side of the room were double doors, and just like almost everything else in this lair, it was made out of wood. But the thing that caught Lara's attention was something lying in the middle of the room. As she and Melisza walked towards it, Lara could slowly make out the shape out the thing. It was a creature actually, a very big one. He prostrated on the floor and lay motionless, there was a thin layer of black fur on his body and most noticeably, a pair of ivory horns extruded from his head.
"Recognize him? I took you away from his fort?" Melisza whispered into Lara's ear, whose eyes were still glued on Tarok's body. He was wearing brown leather pants and a tattered white shirt with multiple slashes on it, and he had no weapon on his body. Lara couldn't answer, she was stunned and utterly confused.
What had happened here?
As if reading Lara's mind, Melisza started explaining. "Well, your master and his ruffians rode here trying to attack me. How foolish! I got the upper hand, since I saw their scouts riding away from my nest earlier, so I was prepared. Killing the men was easy. But him. Oh, he was a real piece of work. He destroyed probably a hundred of my tree guards. Only my strongest spell could bring him down."
"Is...is he dead?"
"Dead? Oh, no. I'm not done with him yet. I have plans for him. And for you too, dear Lara," Melisza whispered into Lara's ear. Her breath was cold, and it made Lara's skin crawled.
The seductive witch left Lara's side and strode towards Tarok. She gripped the staff by the tip and swung it, knocking Tarok's horn with the other end. Golden sparks flew the moment wood and horn met, causing the minotaur's body to jerk slightly. He awoke from his slumber and grunted.
"Get up," Melisza spat.
Tarok panted hard as he struggled to prop himself up, his tense muscles straining under his own weight. Melisza must have cast an impressive spell to make him like this. At last, he managed to sit on his knees. Lara noticed he couldn't rise further due to the fetter tying his hooves to the floor. His hands was also cuffed, and the handcuff tied to the floor through a short chain. The giant minotaur flexed his arm and yanked hard at the chain, but it didn't give. He tried again, harder, but still nothing happened. He studied the chain. Lara saw the surprise on his face, but faint purple glow on the chain let Lara knew Melisza had enchanted it.
"Stop wasting your energy," the witch said, already walked back a step to keep out of Tarok's reach. "My enchanted chains are stronger than your brute strength can ever be."
"Why do you keep me alive?" he muttered under his breath, still hadn't looking up. His voice was low enough to be barely audible but was filled with a suppressed anger that reminded Lara of his earlier rage.
"Hmm, you're straightforward, huh. No 'Where am I?' or 'What are you going to do to me?' or 'Please don't hurt me'?" she said in a girlish mocking voice.
Tarok remained silent, but his anger was barely contained now as steam blew through his muzzle. Melisza grinned. As she was walking back towards Lara, the witch said, "Don't want to talk to me, huh? Then maybe, you would like to talk with someone you know." Melisza grabbed Lara's shoulders and shoved her forward forcefully, sending her falling face down in front of Tarok. When she had gotten up on her knees, she saw a pair of blue eyes, just a foot away from her, staring at her in disbelief.
"WHY IS SHE HERE?" Tarok roared at the smirking witch.
"Stop screaming! You'll scare the birds. I bring her here of course. Oh, did I mentioned that I drop by your camp? After you had so thoughtfully trekked through the forest just to 'visit' my home, I could not but return the favor. It was very entertaining to see your men cut down to pieces by my tree guards, to hear their screams of anguish, to see the camp burned to ashes. I wonder what they will think if they know their leader did this to them. Hmm?" The sorceress hummed in a mock girlish sound. Tarok avoided her eyes. "But sadly, I couldn't stay till the end, I got my prize, and so I must head back."
"What are you talking about? What prize?" Tarok inquired.
"She's kneeling right in front of you." Melisza gestured towards Lara. She immediately felt her blood run cold.
Her? The prize? What does that witch want from her?
"Confused, huh? Well, you'll know later, I don't want to ruin the surprise. Anyway, truth be told, payback was just one of the reasons for my short trip to your camp. Through your accompanying minions I learned of a young female slave in your possession. A Verea's priestess no less. What a coincidence, I though. I need a young girl right now. So I make the trip, prepare to fight my way through the fort to find this girl. But I don't even need to do that. She was standing right on top of the tower, ready for me to grab. It was surprising how easy everything was." She boasted in a singsong voice while parading around her bounded prisoners.
"What did you do to them? The four men who follow me?"
"I left them where I found them. Dead, of course. Don't feel too bad, once I got everything I want to know, I let them meet their ends quickly. Sadly, the same can't be said about
you
."
