Chapter 42: Taking a Gamble
It was a moment ago that the sky was clear and blue, yet it had turned gloom, filled with dark clouds and heavy rain fell angrily as though the earth held a great debt. The erratic nature of the mountain weather was not something unfamiliar, but it was nevertheless a plan changing.
Although it was still in the morning, all the witches doing the activity outside can't help but going back to the cave and stayed inside the camp. Although this resulting in them not working, a lot of witches were not exactly thrilled about the rain and even felt depressed. Like people said, the weather had a way to affect one's mood.
However, some people were instead thrilled by it. For example, there was a pair of excited twins, Airy and Abby.
Abby had the ability to lit flame on water, but it was not exactly that easy to practice. When they bring a bucket of water from outside, she could only maintain the flame for about five minutes before it dissipated. They needed to repeat it a couple of times before she got tired, but doing so would be burdensome.
Their only option was going to a water source, but it was quite far away even with Nightingale's mist that could disregard obstacle. To not disturb anyone, they generally went during the deeper part of the night. But with rain, they didn't need to make that a one hour round trip.
They also had a reason to feeling relief for not going too far. It was unknown as to why, but Cara becoming increasingly suspicious as of late. Was their movement realized? It was not the first time Nightingale and Tyre had this suspicion.
The snake witch would stop at nothing to see her goal achieved, but she was also not somebody foolish and didn't force the witches under her wings to move. She understood that if she went alone, it would be nearly impossible to pass the mountain safely, while with everyone she only needed to pay a cost that was her speed naturally being slowed down.
However, Nana's arrival and her miracle-like ability that made the witches abandoned the white gauze and bandages made Cara impatient to go to her so-called Holy Mountain. It was clear for everyone to see how recently Cara had become somebody that easily irritated and now her harsher side showed up from every slight.
It was actually good for Nightingale and others since Cara did a good job of making the witches uncomfortable by herself, but it also wretched Nightingale's heart since what Roland said about the obsession of her respected mentor was more or less true.
Even so, as with good opportunity arose, similarly came greater risk. This also made them realized that maybe their time was not as loose as they originally expected. What Roland described as a bad end for the witch cooperation association was when they moved from the camp in active search for the place Cara thought as her goal, and it was not hard to see she was raring to go despite the appearance of demonic beasts were just around the corner. This unexpected variable was something they clearly didn't wish for, and they were pressured to hasten their plan.
It was not like they didn't want to, but it was hard to do so. Nightingale decided to delay Cara's decision at all cost if she really came up resolved to go regardless of the months of the demons.
Nightingale shook her head and continued to quietly watched over Airy and Abby exhausting themselves from their practice under the shelter of a small crevice outside. The water flow carelessly on the uneven ground and flame were dancing on top of them, yet the burning water provided no heat, even contributed to more of the coldness.
Airy on the other hand, was easier to evoke. Her only problem was they needed some space to do so. They recently discovered that her ability came down to make her surrounding air agitated and made a whirlwind around her with no specific direction in its rotation. Within a range, she had some degree of control to where the wind propelled to. The generated wind also had the same heat as the ambient temperature.
The reason Airy ability was not appreciated in the camp was that the place they decided to stay at was usually packed and her erratic control of the wind would disturb the fireplace and the tents. However, there were times where she could only make a small gust of wind while at different times, had enough power to whip sand and dust into the air.
It can be said the twins were the few witches that didn't know how to properly use their ability, like Mystery Moon and her magnetization.
Both Airy and Abby were not being able to use their powers as they wished, Nightingale wondered if the ever-resourceful Roland could help. Unfortunately, he was not around for her to ask.
After some time, the twins had shown the sign of fatigue. Nightingale smiled and patted their heads in praise, before grabbing their hands and slipped into the mist, quietly making her way to the camp.
"Is it true that using our ability often lessen the pain of demonic torture? I don't feel better after practicing it more often these days."
"I and others heard it directly from Nightingale, she apparently realized that those using it often resulting in less pain and smoother process... And anyway, it was something you can tell like you said, during demonic torture. "
"Now that I think about it, in her designated day, I don't think she was in much pain."
A heated discussion about the news that Nightingale brought this time had been underway for some time. And now with the rain putting a stop to their activities, they didn't have anything to do but talking about it once more with the whole group.
It was easy for Nightingale to simply said her piece to everyone, and indeed she didn't wait to do so after dinner during the first day of her return. She didn't speak a single word about Roland yet using the breakdown and speculation from his words for a more convincing explanation. It wasn't that she wanted the credit all for herself, but as per Roland idea, it was so that the doubtful witches had an easier time to swallow the idea.
In reality, it was relatively easy to see, the witches that merely doing physical work had more frequent death in comparison to those periodically used their ability. It was that they were muddled from stress and pressure, not to mention some other variables that resulting in them to rarely if ever used their abilities. Misguided that it had something to do with willpower than their power was a fatal misconception that plagued the group for a long time.
Now with someone cleared the way, the fog in their heart was lifted. Whether it was someone that rarely utilizing their power or not, they would start to practice regardless. Practically all the witches were doing the same, especially those with experience. Their spirit was greatly lifted, those always living in fear of the demonic torture saw a light of hope.
What was unbearable during that special day was the fact they would face a pain enough for people to consider suicide rather than enduring it again next year. If they could reduce the pain, no matter how small, it was better to do it.
"It can't go on like this," Tyre said suddenly. "It will be too late before we could convert enough witches to our side."
"We're going to make a move."
Nightingale turned and looked at the only fake witch in the camp and nodded, "Do you have any idea?"
With each passing day, it was clear what's Cara up to. While they could try to delay her intention, it was only a possibility and failing to do so would only lead to a greater failure.
It would be fine if they just stayed in their present camp all the way to the spring next year and proved the effectiveness of their introduced method of reducing the demonic torture pain. The witches had enthusiastically accepted Nightingale words and now everyone, even those forbidden to use their ability was now reluctantly allowed by Cara under everyone expectation so long they didn't purposely bother the camp.
With a great result, when they came out clean that it was Roland's idea and at the same time inviting them to Border Town, the resistance for such suggestion was probably only minimal. Their success was probably very huge at that time since they would not rest to sow the seed that the idea of seeking mythical Holy Mountain was not very realistic even compared to the option of taking refuge under a prince's wings.
Unfortunately, that option looked like no longer possible.
"I have grasped the structure of this camp more or less," Tyre said slowly, "Beside Cara who is the figurehead, there are two witches that made the camp as it is."
There weren't a lot of witches, and she had stayed for nearly a week. With Tyre capability to be a social butterfly after only taking a deep breath, it wasn't hard to see that most witches revered two specific people even more than their leader. Because she was cautious, she even made a list of the hierarchy of the witches. With no surprise, Nightingale who held the best record in discovering and recruiting new witches, as well as her admirable combat ability and easy going attitude, made her way to the top five.
However, her words alone were not enough.
Nana and Tyre quickly made their presence known with their own ways, but since they were new, their voice had no weight. In fact, if they suddenly spoke to persuade them to join Border Town, the little prestige they built would crumble in a blink of eyes and also attracted hostility.
Nightingale pondered for a moment and asked after two figures appeared on her mind, "You mean Wendy and Leaf?"
Older witches were not necessarily influential, but Wendy was certainly like the mother hen in a group of lost chicks and looked after everyone in the group with great attention. No matter how unruly a witch was, Wendy most likely held a soft spot in their heart. She and her good temperament were why many witches gathered and established the witch cooperation association in the first place.
Leaf was different in a way that she was like the spear of the group. Her ability and personality made her a symbol that made everyone had the courage to move on of their journey. While she was not one of the first to join the association, she quickly made her way to become the core of the group. It's not like she had an aggressive personality either, mostlikely her careful and attentive outlook made her popular.
The two were precisely what Tyre referred. She nodded solemnly and wasn't surprised at all that someone like Nightingale that had years of history with the camp to understand her with a simple recalling. Tyre paused a bit before saying, "Yes, they are the key."
Nightingale let out a sigh. Although she had reconciled with Wendy, to bring back the issue again was something hard for her. But she knew that little trouble was not even comparable to the life of her sisters.
"No, I will be the one to ask Wendy." Tyre interrupted Nightingale thought with a surprising statement. "Wendy is easier to talk to, and while I probably can't persuade her in one go, it was even more impossible for me if I were to face Leaf instead. But you are different, Leaf knows you and probably at least listen to what you have to say."
If they could succeed, even if they can't directly bring the witches to the Border Town right away, at least it was possible to make the group staying on their ground till spring.
Nightingale felt her approach to the situation made sense, but her relationships with Leaf was not exactly tight. Nightingale frowned and muttered, "If we aren't successful..."
"If we can't persuade them... Perhaps the only way is with that extreme method of yours." Tyre looked at Nightingale with a complicated expression.
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