The Witch in the Woods: The Transmigration of Hazel-Anne Davis Chapter 4: A New Home

I woke to the sound of rustling leaves and the steady rhythm of Shadow’s breath beside . My body was still stiff, still aching, but the pain was manageable now. Familiar. It reminded of when Papa made climb mountains with weighted packs, then sent sprinting through raptor territory as a "test."

I hated it back then... but I’d kill to have it back now.

The fire outside had burned down to embers, the faint scent of rabbit bones lingering in the cool morning air. I stretched, rolled my shoulders, and arched my back before standing up. My body was still too small, but I was getting used to it. Hopefully, my fighting power would kick in sooner rather than later.

I would need it to build my house.

Shadow followed at my heel as I started down the slope. After a few days in the forest, I knew that we were on a mountain. Where exactly that mountain was located, I still had no idea, but I was definitely on a mountain.

But no matter if I was in the woods on the side of the mountain or a vast desert plain, I needed a ho, not just a cave to hide in. A proper shelter. Sothing with a roof, a door, and a garden. Sothing that offered safety and security as well as a place to set down roots.

Most importantly, I needed soplace that was mine.

Together, Shadow and I scouted the forest in silence. I wanted the perfect location, one that had everything I could possibly want and need.

The higher we went on the mountain, the better the vantage point, but that also ant more exposure. I also wanted sothing close to a water source but far enough from the main trails that no wandering soldier, drunk villager, or pack of wild animals would stumble across it.

Papa’s Survival Rule #31: "Water brings life. Too much life brings death."

After three hours of hiking, we finally found it. A narrow rise tucked between two small hills, partially hidden by thick undergrowth. A small stream cut through the land, shallow but fast-moving, and the soil beneath my feet felt rich, ideal for planting. Trees ford a natural canopy above, thick and ancient, their branches interlocking like a woven roof while also keeping the house away from prying eyes.

This was it.

I dropped to my knees and touched the earth. Cold. Damp. Alive. I could work with this. The house itself didn’t have to be big; it just needed enough room for , Shadow, and a big enough garden that I could grow most of my own food.

Shadow sniffed around the periter like he was checking for predators. It seed like he, too, felt that it was perfect when he returned to my side, nodding his head. Well, the wolf had already claid it, now it was my turn.

"I need to clear trees," I muttered, eyeing the undergrowth. "Which ans I need an ax."

tal manipulation was second nature to . I’d pulled blades from the air before, twisted steel to my will without blinking, all I needed was just a bit of tal for to make so magic. I called for the power now, raising my hand, as I narrowed my eyes.

Nothing.

This ti, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried again, this ti reaching deeper than I ever had before.

But still nothing.

Of course. There was no tal nearby. No ore, no mines, no shavings. Not even a rusted nail in the dirt for to use and manipulate. Just soil and stone.

I sighed. "Should’ve known. Can’t make sothing from nothing." Sure, there would be tiny, minute flecks of iron in the soil, but they weren’t enough for what I needed, not even if I completely stripped the mountain.

Besides, I needed so tal in the soil to grow the most nutritious food.

Shadow padded past as I looked around and disappeared into the trees. I didn’t follow, not right away. I started clearing brush by hand, breaking branches over my knee and stacking wood to the side. My fingers bled as my back ached, but the pile of ’firewood’ grew.

Nothing would go to waste.

A sharp bark echoed through the woods, drawing my attention. I turned just in ti to see Shadow trotting toward , sothing long and silver clamped between his teeth.

My eyes widened as I straightened up, my heart picking up. A part of my soul called to the object in the wolf’s mouth, demanding that I answer the call.

A sword.

It was old. Iron, maybe steel, it was hard to tell through the rust and dried blood. But it was solid. Real. And definitely not from any ti or world I recognized.

"Where did you get that?" I whispered, taking it from his jaws. Shadow turned and trotted back the way he ca, stopping only to look over his shoulder, wanting to make sure that I was coming.

Well, I was good at obeying when it suited my purposes... so I followed.

We pushed deeper into the woods, the terrain changing beneath my feet. The trees thinned, and the air turned still. That’s when I saw it...

A battlefield.

Or what was left of one.

The sll hit first as dozens of bodies, bloated and rotting, were scattered like discarded dolls. You never forgot the sll of death. Chang Xuefeng said that it was ant to be a warning to the living, that if you slled the decomposition, then it was already too late for you.

Shaking my head as the words of the Death God echoed through my head, I stepped onto the battlefield. So of the n were armored, while others had already been stripped down to their bloodied underclothes. Arrows jutted from chests and throats, as spears pinned others to the ground like a bug on display.

The scene was gory, but I didn’t flinch.

"Material things are only useful to the living," I muttered, stepping over a severed hand. "And if they ain’t living... then it’s all mine."

Shadow stood beside , silent and watchful as I began my work.

Swords. Knives. Arrows. Armor. Boots. Packs. I stripped the dead down, sorted everything into piles, and didn’t waste a single thing. Most of it was ancient, hand-forged, and primitive compared to what I grew up with. But tal was tal, and I could make it sing.

I found an abandoned cart overturned near the edge of the clearing, supplies and bodies littered about, and started loading my newfound stash. There must have been a horse or two to have pulled it originally, but the beasts were long gone, only bloody harnesses where they once stood.

Probably a wolf pack or other large animal. After all, the horses would have been a filling, but easy al if they couldn’t run anywhere.

By the ti I turned back toward my new ho, the cart was full. My hands were raw. My body ached, but I couldn’t hold back my smile.

Tomorrow, I would start building, and if anyone ca looking for , they’d wish they hadn’t.