Somewhere, far from the events currently transpiring in Stone city, was a small settlement. It stood in flatland, a river running just outside its border, a forest and a mountain range on the other side.
Nineteenth Village. Dailah's hometown.
Most of the town's area consisted of pastures for the cows and goats, selling milk and other dairy products was what it was known for.
In that town, where people woke up early, a blonde middle aged woman sat on her porch, sipping black bitter coffee. Ironic, the woman would think, considering she was in the business of making sweets and desserts.
She quietly observed the girls playing hopscotch outside. From what she heard, whoever won the game would get to go on a date with the boy currently staying in town, son of some mildly wealthy woman from the city who was passing by.
It was a peaceful scenary, yet her heart was in turmoil.
"Mrs. Emma! Mrs. Emma!" - One of the kids ran up to her. The winner of the play it seems - "I'm going on a date with Isaac!"
"Good for you dear!" - She patted the girl on the head. It was a relatively small place and everyone was familiar with each other here.
"Do you think i can become a mommy like you?" - The girl asked, eyes sparkling.
"Its a bit too early for you, but keep this up and you certainly will be someday."
"I will!" - The girl said, storming off into the distance. Probably to look for the boy, apparently called Isaac.
"..." - The woman let out a sigh of sympathy for the child.
That young lady would be in for a terrible disappointment, Emma thought. Even if the boy himself was willing, his family is another matter altogether. No chance a mother would let some random girl from the boonies get close to her precious son so easily.
Still, it was better to let the girl experience the letdown for herself. Cracked bones grow firmer, they say.
She was also like that when she was younger, but her memories with men turned out miserable at best. In the countryside there aren't a lot of them so young maidens would usually take up any chance they could get for a daughter.
Two traveling merchant, sisters, along their one husband had come to town back then. As it turns out seeds were part of their merchandise, though they conveyed it in a more subtle manner. Naturally, Emma and many other women of age gathered their savings and took on the opportunity.
Her head was in the clouds all the while... until her night came and she met him.
The man was handsome and seemed well taken care of, however his eyes were those of complete, impassive indifference. He clearly did not enjoy what he was doing, to the point Emma wondered if he was being forced to. By the greed of his wives or their poor circumstances, she could not tell.
But Emma went ahead anyway, she wanted a daughter and the village needed to keep their population. There would be more chances like this in the future, but it was unlikely things would be much different when compared to... this.
He took what seemed to be some type of enhancement drug and the two did the deed. Only the bare minimum was spoken and there were no farewells. He probably didn't even registered her face.
Still, it gave her Dailah, so it was all worth it in the end.
She turned her head away from where the girl had disappeared to, looking far into the distance, thinking about her kid.
Her heart grew tighter.
When she first heard Dailah could control magic, she felt a mix of pride and anxiety. It was great her little daughter could become a witch, but she knew their lives weren't all smooth sailing. Besides...
There is no way she wouldn't be worried about her! The type of work she would do should be simple as a low-rank, but it still involved dealing with perilous creatures didn't it!?
She closed her eyes thinking back to a certain event from years ago.
They were hunting together. While camping, Dailah had gone out to take a leak and didn't return. The longer she took, the more anxious Emma grew. She decided to check on her, maybe it wasn't just number one but also two...
Emma checked around the camp but her daughter was nowhere to be found. As she considered mounting a search-party, she heard a gunshot in the distance.
Naturally, she ran in the direction of the sound. The girl had taken the rifle with her after all. Eventually she reached a slightly open area and - thank the Great Mother Terra below - Dailah was there, completely unharmed.
"Dailah! What were you thinking!?" - Anxiety, washed over by relief, turned into bursting anger.
The girl turned to her, slightly startled and trembling. Unfortunately she would not know anymore if it was because of her scolding, or something else.
"M-Mom! I-it was a doppelganger... but i got him so its fine!" - The child proclaimed.
"Huh?" - It took a moment for the words to process.
A doppelganger? She means that doppelganger...? Aren't they almost something out of legends at this point?
There's no way... right?
As her daughter elaborated, many possibilities ran through her mind - none of them good - and the mother's heart gradually sank. Dailah took her where the supposed doppelganger had fallen off, but there was nothing there. After scolding her one more time, they went straight back home.
But Emma was still uneasy inside.
Dailah had always been somewhat of a troubled kid. She had a few worrisome behaviours that needed proper correcting, but thankfully she always listened in the end.
And more importantly, Dailah never lied. Omitted or kept silent about some things maybe, but whenever asked directly she would tell the truth. It was almost strange for a kid her age.
Once in back in the village she went around to check if anyone had disappeared, attempting to excluded one of the terrible possibilites her mind thought of. Thankfully, there was no one missing. Then she decided to organize a search party in the morning with the other villagers, to see if they could find any traces of this "doppelganger".
They found nothing.
Eventually she just buried this event in the depths of her mind. Dailah even tried asking her about it once, seemingly unsure of what had transpired. Emma just took the chance to make up some story, not wanting the girl to worry too much about what happened then.
She still asks herself if that was the correct decision. After all, now that Dailah was older and had a more mature mind, what if she began to believe she killed some innocent kid!? The mother couldn't bear the notion of having her child live with such a burden.
Now those past events come back to haunt her at the night. Her heart hurt at the thought of her beloved daughter facing off a dangerous monster somewhere she can't see. Or worse... dangerous people.
She could have died yesterday and the news would still take a few more days to reach her ears.
Occasionally, her throat clogged, an horrible chill would crawl all over her entire body. The woman couldn't help but start believing this to be some sort of bad omen, that Dailah was in danger.
Of course, it was likely just paranoia. But such logical and reasonable thoughts did nothing to subside her fears.
Emma took another sip of her now cold coffee. As always, it was bitter. Maybe she should consider drinking something that calmed her nerves rather than excited her. She looked in the direction Stone City should be.
Dailah, please consider writing to your mom some more. Visit her when you can.
And please be safe.
Ha ha guess who inspired the author to write this chapter
ITS A ME