Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves - K.A. Merikan Page 0,40
from the strange building, but as he took a whiff of the air, all he could sense was wood and herbs. When the beam of the flashlight licked the walls, it became clear that what Radek had initially taken for pieces of cake were in fact wooden elements cut into shapes associated with gingerbread. And the colorful icing? Paint.
Radek curled closer to Yev, intimidated by the witch who lived inside, even though he hadn’t seen her yet. He now realized that no matter how insane it was, she was the real deal, and just thinking that someone possessed the power to turn him back or leave him in this form as punishment for all his past transgressions left him trembling in Yev’s arms.
The oval door opened in invitation, uttering a melodic creak, and Yev walked toward it, cuddling Radek more tightly to his fragrant chest. “It’s okay, Ember. She’s a very nice lady, you’ll see.”
The woman who stepped outside had grey hair pinned into a bun at the top of her head, secured with flowers and ears of wheat. Her long green skirt swept along the porch while her loose white shirt was crumpled, as if she didn’t care for it despite the elaborate folk embroidery adorning the sleeves. There was a tightness to her wrinkles, as if they’d been artificially added to the face of a young woman, but the veiny hands with dark spots betrayed her true age.
Radek’s heart beat faster when she spoke in a voice so raspy it sounded as if she didn’t often use it.
“What do you need?” she asked. “My agreement with you wolves has been smooth so far. Don’t make me regret it.”
Did this have something to do with that time Yev had fed wolves outside his house? Had that been about something magical too?
Despite Yev’s reassurance, so far the witch seemed irritable rather than nice.
Yev exhaled and presented Radek. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t know who else could help. This one is some sort of shifter. Says he’s human.”
The witch frowned, her pale, wide lips stretching. “That is a fox.”
Yev groaned in time with Radek’s bark. “May I come in so that you can examine him?”
Radek whined, hating the sound of that, but the witch cocked her head. “How curious. Tell me more.”
Yev followed her inside the dusky cabin illuminated by candles. The hot coals left in the hearth provided additional light, but their true purpose was to keep warm a cauldron that smelled of mushrooms and broth. The interior, while dusky and small, felt surprisingly cozy with air aromatized by herbs, dried roots hanging on the walls, and vegetables stacked in boxes taking up all the shelves in sight.
Yev didn’t waste time and told the story of how he’d found Radek in snares, and how they communicated today, but as Radek listened, his attention shifted to a shadowed wall on the other side of the kitchen. Not nearly as wholesome as the area he’d noticed first, it had shelves heavy with rats, bats, and all sort of small animals and insects preserved in jars of different shapes and sizes. He could have sworn a toad suspended in jelly winked at him from its confinement.
This was too much.
Radek tucked his head under Yev’s armpit, seeking solace in the earthy scent of his sweat, but then his paws hit a counter made of raw wood, and he looked up at the two giants staring at him.
“So you say yes when you bark?” the witch asked, and Radek made a desperate sound, fidgeting under the weight of her gaze.
Her mouth twisted. “And is your fur green?”
Yev exhaled, as if he didn’t understand her method either. “Say no, Ember.”
So Radek whined.
The witch cocked her head, taking hold of his jaw. “Hmm… Let’s try something else.”
She walked off to the area with all the objectionable ingredients and grabbed a small glass container filled with clouded eyes suspended in some sort of brine. Radek backed away on the table, but Yev grabbed him before he could have rolled off, and stroked his back with a shush. The witch pulled one eye out of the jar and wrapped it in a white handkerchief.
“It won’t hurt. If you’re a man, come here and don’t act like a baby,” she said, urging Radek forward, so he reluctantly approached her, trusting Yev to keep him from harm. “Good. Now hold your eyes open.”
When Radek did as told, she squeezed the handkerchief until it leaked a clear liquid, which dripped into his