Rayna, the Witch of Sintra

Growing up, Rayna was not very concerned with what was happening in the world outside of her village of Sintra. Her mother and father did a good job of hiding the peril that awaited her when she got older.

At the age of five, Rayna was invited to go foraging in the woods with her mother. They collected plants and herbs in order to make various tinctures her mother used to heal the villagers and visitors of a number of ailments. Rayna loved it so much and felt the connection to nature immediately. This was her calling in life.

Along with her two younger brothers, Rayna started to grow into a teenager under the watchful eyes of their parents. The village was flourishing, the people happy. On her thirteenth birthday, her father came home with a special gift to her. A small whimper came from under his coat as he approached her after being in the woods hunting that day. He opened his coat revealing what was making the noise, it was a wolf pup. Her father told her he had found it by the stump of a tree, abandoned and scared. Rayna was ecstatic that she was now trusted to care for this small creature. She named him Gotthold because he wouldn’t leave her side from day one.

Just as she had done almost everyday since she was fourteen, Rayna ventured into the woods to forage. She had just turned sixteen, and was excited about the coming years and being a young woman. Without warning a loud boom echoed through the woods, followed by screams that felt like they surrounded her. It was coming from the direction of Sintra.

Rayna grabbed her sack of plants, throwing it quickly over her shoulder and started running. She called for Gotthold, and he bounded after her, quickly catching up and matching her speed. As she got closer, she could see black smoke and flames billowing from the buildings along the edge of the village. Her heart racing, and her feet seeming to drag under her, she entered the village. Animals ran past her in chaotic fear. People lay dead in the streets, some of them wearing uniforms she did not recognize.

She rushed through the ruins to the house she shared with her mother, father, and brothers, hoping to find them safe, but knowing that was a lot to ask. The outside of the house was charred and burnt, part of it still with flames showing. She waved the smoke from in front of her face in order to see inside. Peaking around the edge of the front door, she sees a body lying on the floor. She rushes over to check who it is, rolling it over to see the face. Rayna stumbles back and gasps. It is her father, blood soaking the front of his clothing.

She chokes back tears, stumbling back out to the streets. Peering back and forth, she looks for any signs of life. There are none. Her mother and brothers, along with a number of villagers are missing.

Suddenly, a warm tingling sensation overcomes her. She is frozen in place, not able to break free from whatever was trapping her in her body. Rayna looks towards the ground, now six inches below her feet. Her head jerks back and the warmth in her body concentrates in her chest. It shoots out towards the sky. Then it’s gone, as quickly as it came on, and she drops to the ground, the breath knocked out of her.

Rayna feels a hand on her shoulder, and quickly jerks upright and turns around. Her shoulder still warm, there is no one there. Confusion and fear enters her mind. The smell of smoke reminds her of what she came back home to.

Rayna gathers her thoughts and knows she must leave her home. She must find the ones who caused this destruction as well as all the missing villagers. Gotthold nudges her hand with his nose, reminding her he is still with her. She pats him on the head and walks over to one of the soldiers. Looking the strange man over from head to toe, the colors and design of his suit are seared into her memory.

Before setting out on her journey, she gathers up food, a hailspitter, and tinctures her and her mother had made. She finds an old map at one of the shops that hadn’t completely burned down. On it she sees Greyfalls written in large letters. Her family had never traveled that far before, but she knew she had to try to get there.

Weeks passed by, but she finally arrives at her destination. The city is busier than her home town. People crowded the streets. Immediately something catches her eye, a man in a uniform exactly like the one she saw on the dead man in Sintra. She locks eyes with the soldier, takes a deep breath, and starts walking towards him.

As she gets closer, she starts questioning what she is doing, but knows there is a bigger reason that she is here than her fear. The soldiers eyes narrow on her, but she doesn’t avert her gaze.

“Take me to the Scarlet Empress”, Rayna demands. The soldier huffs at her, ignoring her demand. She repeats her request. Out of the corners of her eyes she sees more soldiers approaching.

“Leave now”, a soldier to her right says. She hesitates, not knowing if she should make her request again or to turn and walk away. Maybe this isn’t the best way to do this, she thinks.

The soldiers take a step closer to her. “LEAVE”, another one with a booming voice says behind her. One last look at the soldier standing in front of her tells her they are not backing down. Rayna turns, seeing how many soldiers are standing around her and the people in the street that have stopped to watch. Squeezing between two of them, her and Gotthold quickly walk away. She breaths out the breath that was caught in her chest.

Feeling a sense of defeat, she develops a new plan. Over the next two years, she makes her way from village to village, along the way to Port Cullin. At each village, she hears similar stories and sees similar destruction from the Greyfalls armies coming through. Many people need her healing tinctures for various injuries sustained during the raids. She finds out that there is a number of people missing just as her mother and brothers are.

One sunny summer day, she enters Great Forks. Immediately she notices the brightly colored awnings jutting out from small shops. The people walk by, smiling at this stranger before them. Out of all the places she had been, this felt the most like her old home.

She looks down at Gotthold by her side, and says “we will stay here awhile” to herself. He nods in agreement with what she said. A small stand looks empty. She approaches the stand next to it, and asks the person behind the counter about it.

“If you have something to sell, go ahead and use it. The last person using it has left.” Rayna’s eyes widen as she thinks about the tinctures in her sack.