The black witches here were faster and agile, used to the forbidden forest they moved deflecting the bullets by hiding behind the thick trees.
Clutching the cold gun in her hand, Penny raised it, trying to aim at the black witches but she missed all the targets. Damien was successful in shooting one of them and then another fell on the ground to evaporate in the atmosphere.
One of the black witches who appeared to be in her late twenties jumped right in front of Penny, staggering her back from her firm stance.
“Look what we have here, Giana. A new lamb in a pack of wolves and vultures,” the woman smiled wide, her teeth looked neat and clean. Her black hair was left open and the dress that she wore resembled one of a decent family and not a peasant. Penny raised her hand, pulling the trigger of the gun to hear it click but the bullet never fired out of it, “Your bullets are empty,” the black witch reminded, her walk was smooth even with the forest floor that had roots to make up a stop before taking another step.
Oh great, Penny muttered in her head. Even if she were to know how to load the bullets in the gun, she didn’t have the time to load as the black witch stood too close to her liking. Every time she tried to create a distance so that she could pick her needles that were in her dress pocket, the black witch somehow closed the gap.
“Where is the boy?” Penny asked, coming directly to the point.
“Boy? What boy?” the black witch gave her a confused look, her eyes looking down at her curiously as she was two inches taller than her. Penny was of decent height but the woman was just tall.
Catching her lips that moved up a little, Penny commented, “Looks like all witches can turn to a decent actress,” the boy must be somewhere hidden but how hidden, asked Penny to herself.
“Oh? I did think of going to one,” the black witch said, in a blink of an eye she pulled out a knife in the air before throwing it at Penny, the sharp edge of the knife slid too close to Penny’s cheek before going to get lost behind her. It seemed that the black witch was playing with her. Trying to scare her before killing her.
Damien was occupied with two other witches who were attacking him and he was fighting back with his gun as he reloaded and shot and repeated the cycle, his hands extremely fast where the witches were able to keep up as they were two.
Penny could feel the sting of pain on her cheek which was caused by the graze of the knife. Drops of blood appearing, one drop of blood slid down her cheek.
“What happened?” asked Penny, “Your parents didn’t let you because they wanted you to brew people?” she asked the woman to receive a smile from the black witch.
“That happened later. I was adopted you see,” the black witch pressed her lips as if feeling sorry for herself. When she went to throw another knife, Penny moved back to hide against the tree before running away to a much cleaner and flatter ground but there was nothing but roots. The woman kept throwing knives at her.
Taking shelter, Penny tapped on the sides of the gun, checking on how to open the slots to push the bullets, “What a naive child,” the black witch said who had suddenly made it to the top.
When did she even get there? Penny remembered the time when Damien had made her climb the tree to test if she was a black witch. The woman crawled down the tree like a spider, her legs twisted as she made her way towards her.
This didn’t stop Penny from tapping the gun which continued to stay locked. The witch caught her and threw her against the nearest tree and Penny fell down. The woman continued to throw her left and right.
Damn, black witch, cursed Penny.
Damien was right, practical lessons were much different compared to the theoretical ones. The black witch looked at Penny who had dropped the gun.
“What little bitch doesn’t know how to use a weapon while carrying? White witches like you are really dumb, thinking you are pretty and come out to fight who knows nothing at all. Once you are dead there will be less empty-headed witches who think they are oh so very nice,” said the black, catching hold of Penny’s neck, she got her to stand and let her legs dangle in the air while Penny struggled to pry the black witch’s hand from her neck who was tightening her hold around it.
Penny put her hands in her pocket, pulling out the needles and jagging the needles on either side of the black witch’s neck who let go of her suddenly. The black witch started to cough first, seeing her body not disintegrate like the others she had seen, she pulled two more needles to stab her shoulders.
“You speak a lot,” Penny huffed for air, running her hand around her neck. Pulling another needle, Penny ran it right over the black witch’s forehead, “This is for all the throwing.”
Moving away from the black witch who was on her knees first, the black witch stood up, knowing something was up. Glaring at Penny, she started to chase her three steps with her hand almost reaching her when her fingers started to turn to dust before her whole body turned to nothing but ash that couldn’t be seen due to the fog on the ground, leaving the clothes behind.
As if the existing ones weren’t enough, another witch came out of nowhere. Penny screamed at Damien,
“How do I put the bullets in?” she asked, making him miss his concentration to get hit by one of the black witches before he shot her. The sound of the gun was like a beacon of light that was calling the witches to fight.
She had to jump away from where she was standing as the black witch came to attack her.
“You can feel the button down the trigger. Push and leave it,” she heard Damien say. Not knowing what to do, Penny used the end of the gun to hit the black witch. Well, this worked too!