Immortal Desire
Chapter 32

In the Eastern region of the empire, rumors have it that a village of witches existed. But without any specific evidence, the said tittle-tattle remained as hearsay.

“Ow!”

A loud g***n echoed in the midst of the night. Even the crickets paused for a bit and peeped when the lady’s head came out from the crack on the ground.

“Ugh,” Latina g*****d when her skull hit a hard object. She lifted her head and could barely see the moon in the sky from a small hole up above. Tall trees surrounding the area and the hard thing that hit her was a huge tree root.

“Impossible,” she muttered. They were going down all the way, yet they emerged from the ground. “Argh,” she flinched when Azrene bumped into her.

“That was fun,” the girl exclaimed. She pushed Latina when she adjusted her position. “It’s weird, why did you stop? Is there no exit?”

Latina shook her head although the girl won’t see it. “This… it’s blocking on the way,” she said, poking her head between the giant tree roots. “I think this is the end. I wonder where’s the exit though, this is too narrow for someone to get through.”

“Oh no,” Azrene muttered. “What if there’s no way out?” she asked, panicking.

“Calm down,” Latina mumbled, pushing herself out of the small space. The smell of dead leaves on the ground gathered on her nose. She sneezed after inhaling a bunch of air and sniffed the stench of animal pee. “Phew, it smells bad.”

“What is it?” Azrene inquired behind her. “It’s so dark in here… do you see anything?”

“Hmm,” Latina hummed and roamed her hand on the ground, finding a pebble or something. Her hand found something small and hard, she threw it ahead. Listening to the sound of the object jumping several times, Latina learned where they are. “We’re in the forest. Fallen leaves are everywhere and the sky isn’t too visible from here. The area seemed to be covered with wild grasses too,” she informed. Pulling herself up with all her might, Latina got out of the narrow hole. “Come, give me your hand. I’ll pull you up,” she instructed and offered her hand which the girl accepted.

“Woah! I didn’t know that we’d end up here,” Azrene said, turning around. “It’s still dark. We should leave before anyone else finds out that we’re gone and follows us here.”

Latina nodded and held the girl’s hand. “Let’s head in that direction. I could smell human scents coming from there. There must be a house, we can go and ask for directions.”

Azrene agreed, and they walked side by side until she stepped on something. “W-what is t-this… Ahhhhhh!” the girl screamed. She stepped on a trap and was lifted upside down, a thick thread of ropes tightly wrapped on her ankles. “My head’s spinning,” she said, struggling.

“Shh!” Latina covered the girl’s mouth when she heard footsteps coming their way. “Someone’s coming. Keep your voice down,” she whispered.

“Mm…mm…” Azrene responded. She lifted herself and cut the rope by pulling it apart, displaying her inhuman strength.

“That was awesome,” Latina mumbled, amazed at how the girl broke free from the tightrope.

“Small things,” Azrene replied. They crouched themselves on the ground behind the bushes.

Two young men approached the trap, expecting a boar or a deer. To their dismay, there was nothing in the catch except a torn rope.

“I thought we caught something big,” a boy, with light brown hair, holding an ax, said. He walked around the area to thoroughly check. “Something fishy is going on here.”

“You must be mistaken. I heard nothing at all, it must all be your hallucination. Let’s go,” the other boy, with a bag of herbs, said. He had black glossy hair, almost invisible in the night.

“What? You’re the one who said– hmp!”

The ladies watched how the boy with jet black hair scolded the other and even covered his mouth to shut it up from nagging.

“There’s nothing here. Let’s leave this trap and fix it tomorrow. Maybe we could have some meat if we used a sturdier rope.”

“Okay.”

The boys left, giving Latina and the girl a chance to breathe in relief. Azrene stood and looked around, only to be approached by the boy who actually just hid behind the nearby trees.

“Ah…”

“Silence or I’ll cut your head off.” Azrene shut her mouth when the boy aimed his ax at her neck.

“Please don’t hurt her,” Latina pleaded. She lost her strength when the boy grabbed her arms. “We don’t have any ill intention,” she added. Shaking her head to the girl who’s about to fight back.

“Who are you? How did you find this place?”

Latina looked at the boy who was pinning her down. “Getting here was just an accident. We don’t know this place and as for our identity…we’re friends, running away from a certain place. We meant no harm, trust me. After running away from that place, we ended up here.” Latina pursed her lips, she couldn’t tell more about their identity and where they came from. Not that she had a lot to say given that she was still confused about being a demon, feeding on b***d.

“You’re lying,” the boy with brown hair said.

“There’s no way you’ll get here by accident. This is the enchanted village hidden in the forest. No one could get into our territory unless you used a scrupulous means.” He held Azrene’s chin, “It doesn’t matter though since no one has ever survived after finding out this place.”

Latina grabbed a handful of dried leaves. She felt extreme hostility coming from the boys and other than that, a strong intimidating presence was coming. If she doesn’t take any action, they might end up dead.

“Young ones,” an old greasy voice spoke.

“Lead the way to the village for our guests. Don’t forget to tell everyone: we’ll have a feast tonight.”