Vaeludar’s eyes were growling with anger. He thought his mother was a human scientist who studying science for the greater good of life, but being a witch was changing his view of what his parents were.
“But she didn’t take the youths of girls. She did something else but I don’t know anything else. These stories come from the hermit
“Then I’ll find and see where to find this castle and this princess,” said Vaeludar.
Before he left, Vaeludar said his farewells to his companions and trailed to find where this hermit would be and the location of the Lost Castle.
A PATH OF THE CASTLE
V
aeludar traveled into a steep valley with a single stream flowing downhill. From the village, he walked northwest. He traveled a mile away from the village and walked toward a valley of rocky hills. Upon entering a narrow passageway through a rocky canyon, his feet stepped on a ground of brown grass. For some reason, the sky was glowing bright instead of dark. The travel on foot was easy going and didn’t have to worry about falling off a cliff.
After some walking, he found a stream dripping downhill. He followed the stream hoping it would lead to the hermit.
Green trees began to appear and the night was beginning to turn into day. The sun was starting to appear from the clouds, and the clouds began to fade away. The clear sky was starting to show its ocean blue color. The life Vaeludar used to love was starting to come back in these lands.
The mountains were up close and rose up to four thousand feet high above the ground. It looked like a good distance for Vaeludar to fly. But he had no idea where he would start. The mountains stretched out ten miles wide. It would take him weeks to find the castle.
Vaeludar was starting to wonder how this was working or if this landscape was just another illusion. There was some kind of magic going on in these lands. Vaeludar knew it had to be some kind of dark magic. He would know it would have to be the Shadow King Lusìvar’s dirty work.
“I don’t know if this place is supposed to be natural like an apple grown from a tree or if it is made of magic. Whatever it is, I’d better find the hermit.”
Down the stream, he was coming across a hut built with layers of logs. A roof of hay was strapped over the top. An open gap revealed the hut’s interior. Smoke rose from a small opening from the roof. The hut was built more of a poorly fabricated cabin than an actual a hut.
Vaeludar sniffed the air and walked towards the hut.
As he walked closer, he peeked through the open gag the walls of logs made it easy to see in. There wasn’t much inside the hut: a small rectangle of hay with the looks of bed and a pot hanging over burnt firewood. He walked around the hut and followed several yards down the stream.
A grey hooded figure was carrying a basket and picking grapes and plants walking to the hut. The figure had to be the old hermit.
Vaeludar walked closer to the hermit.
“I knew you would be coming one of these days just like that dragon said years ago,” said the hermit, in a deep, soggy accent. “I knew you would stop by, but how would you stop by if you didn’t know where you were going?” Vaeludar didn’t know what to say in response. All he could do was breath.
“You’re quieter than I expected to be.”
“I didn’t know what to say,” Vaeludar finally responded.
“I thought you would be more than just words,” said the hermit.
“I thought so too, but we both just met and we haven’t introduced each other. My name is Vaeludar. I am here seeking aid to find the castle you definitely know about. I need to get there as soon as possible. Would you help me find my way there?”
“I thought you have wings,” stated the hermit, slowly getting up. She turned around and walked very strange-like. Her upper face was covered by the hood’s blackness, but her mouth looked grey colored and wrinkled. “Why don’t you use them?”
“I could, but where would I fly with my wings? I have a specific castle I need to be. If you could just show me the way and I follow, I would not disrupt you.”
“Just use your wings,” she replied.
“Where would I go? I would like for you to walk to the castle with me following you.”
“Look at me,” said the hermit, walking slowly to her hut. “If I walk to the castle hidden within these mountains, it would take many days to get to. Why would you wait for me?”
“Because I hear you are the only one who knows where the castle is. A castle holding a princess captive with an Ice Dragon as the guardian. I need your help to show me where I can fly to. If you can’t help me, then I gauss I am only wasting my time here.”
“You’re just like your mother. Mixed with patience and irritation. She was quite the witch she was. Stealing love from men to stay young while her three sisters stole the youths of little girls. I remember those days so well.”
“Wait a moment,” said Vaeludar. “The three witches are my mother’s sisters? And if they’re my mother’s sisters, they would make them my aunts. And if my mother is a witch, that would make me a—”
“A warlock,” replied the old, female hermit.
“A carrier of witch’s blood in a man’s body. That would explain a lot I have tough skin and magical abilities humans don’t have.”
“Yes, you carry the blood of a witch,” stated the hermit. “What a witch she was. Stealing men’s love to make her younger. She
