[ WP ] Your young daughter is a magic prodigy with summoning powers . Despite you being normal , when she 's in danger she keeps summoning you first .

“ I ’ ll take a bushel of cucumbers, a loaf of bread, two barrels of mead, and one cheese wheel, ” I told the grocer in the market square. 
 
 It was hot in town that day. My neck had reddened after being beaten by the sun all day as I sold my wares and purchased those of others. Evading the busier purveyors, I made efficient work of my day and managed to build some rapport with the smaller businesses. Many venders often overpaid for my pelts and meats and granted me significant discounts on their items. 
 
 The grocer loaded my cart and told me the cost. Retrieving my coin purse, I counted out what I owed. I handed my gold to the merchant, it hit his hand, I blinked, and when my eyes opened I found myself in the middle of the forest behind my hovel face to face with a pack of wolves. 
 
 “ Papa! ” my eight year old daughter shrieked from behind me. “ Wolves! ” 
 
 “ Yes, I see that, dear, ” I responded in a touch of panic. 
 
 “ Right! ” she said. She lifted her hands, thrust them at me pointedly and in a flash my body was adorned in stout leather armour, to my left arm bound a shield and in my right hand sprouted a short sword. 
 
 I turned to face the wolves, still worried at their number, but determined to save my daughter. 
 One wolf lunged and gnashed its teeth. I swung my sword and planted it in the side of the wolf ’ s face. Two more attacked, one I blocked with my shield but the other latched onto my arm. I fought to shake off the beast, but its bite held firm. 
 
 “ Help! ” I called out to my daughter as the three remaining wolves encircled me. 
 
 My little girl thrust out her hands again and behind the wolves materialized the donkey and cart I had abandoned in town. 
 
 “ Not that! ” I cried. 
 
 “ Oops! ” She pushed her hands forward again and a doe emerged from the ether. As the panicked animal bounded away, the wolves decided it would be easier prey than I and gave chase. 
 
 “ Are you alright? ” I asked once the animals were gone. 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 “ Reyna, how many times have I told you? Summon a knight or a troll or a dragon. I can ’ t always win these fights. I ’ m just a humble hunter. ” 
 
 I of course knew the answer. She had no mother, she had no friends, and the only people she knew were myself and… 
 
 “ Well hello there you two. ” …The witch. Her taught skin defied her many years and her black cloak hugged a seemingly youthful figure. The only evidence of her advanced age was the snow white hair that cascaded down her back. 
 
 “ I ’ ve told you not to come around my daughter, witch. ” 
 
 Her black eyes twitched. She spoke so smoothly the words seemed to sing from her nigh motionless mouth. “ Oh, I know. But then again, you are powerless to stop me aren ’ t you? ” She raise a hand and from twenty paces away lifted me into air. 
 
 “ Let go of my papa! ” Reyna screamed. She pushed out her hands and a boulder appeared, flying at the witch. It crushed her into a nearby tree and in a cloud of black smoke she vanished and I tumbled to the ground. 
 
 Standing, I brushed the moist moss and dirt from my tunic. “ You know she ’ ll be back right? ” I asked my little girl a more ominous question than she knew. 
 
 Reyna gave a nod of comprehension and we traveled back to our hovel. 
 
 
 Over the years that followed she was trapped by more wolves, giant spiders, a bridge troll, a few dozen highwaymen, and at least three very aggressive squirrels. Each time she called me to her aid, usually when I was hunting, gardening, bathing, or in town, and always when I was drastically under prepared for the task at hand ( excepting of course with the squirrels ). 
 
 On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, I sat before the fireplace, tears streaming down my cheeks. My daughter entered our one room cabin bouncing about a boy she had met on the road. He was tall and handsome and a skilled warrior ( or so he claimed ) and was coming tomorrow to meet me. 
 
 It was only after she had regaled herself with reliving the day ’ s events that she realized I was crying. 
 
 “ Papa, what ’ s wrong? ” she asked. 
 
 I couldn ’ t muster the words so I simply stood and embraced my daughter, squeezing her as tightly as I could. 
 
 “ Papa, you ’ re scaring me, ” she said pushing me away. 
 
 “ Reyna- ” I finally managed, “ -You won ’ t be here tomorrow for him. ” 
 
 “ Why not? ” the misunderstanding ever clear in her light eyes. 
 Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door. I slowly moved across the room and opened the latch. Standing in the driving snow before me, was a tall, fancily clad young man. 
 
 “ May I enter? ” he inquired. 
 
 After my skeptical look, he pressed, “ I met your daughter on the road today. I was supposed to come to meet you tomorrow, but I couldn ’ t wait, ” he sheepishly grinned. 
 
 “ Now is not a good time… ” I started, but was cutoff when my daughter pushed me aside and invited the young man in. 
 
 She poured us each a stein of mead and made me take a seat by the table. Distracted as I was, the boy made slow work of winning me over. 
 
 “ Sir, have I offended you in some way? ” he pressed as midnight drew near. 
 
 “ No. ” I said sharply. “ But you must leave now. ” 
 
 “ Papa, why? ” challenged Reyna. 
 
 At that, another knock shook our door. This knock was stronger than that of the young man. This knock seemed to calm the howling winds outside. This knock dimmed my once roaring fire. This knock made the world grow dark and cold. 
 
 As I approached the door, it opened itself. A black cloak stood at the threshold. The shroud stepped inside and lowered its hood, unveiling the face of the witch. 
 
 “ Tell her, ” the witch demanded. 
 
 I refused. 
 
 The witch cackled and said, “ Fine. ” Then she began. “ Little girl, ever wonder what happened to your mother? ” The witch knew I had refused to answer any questions my girl posed about her ma. 
 
 When Reyna failed to answer, the witch continued, “ You never had one. Your father was living alone in the wilderness for decades and could stand the solitude no longer. He had lost the will to live on by himself and called out to the world asking for a companion. But not just any companion would do, no. He needed someone who needed him. Someone incapable of taking care of themselves. Someone so dependent on him she would summon him at the slightest provocation. The little girl was always a powerful summoner, but she never wondered who summoned her, did she? ” 
 
 Reyna was frozen and could not respond. The witch finished her story. “ I found your father and brokered a deal. I would give him eighteen years of a loving, dependent relationship with a daughter, and then I would take the daughter. You see, I am growing very old, and while my spirit is powerful, my body grows weak. Tonight I will transfuse my essence into you, stealing the prime years of your life. ” This cackle began softer and grew and grew until it chilled, not only my bones, but the very fabric of our home. 
 
 “ You ’ ll not take her! ” the young man shouted as he tackled the witch outside and slammed shut the door. 
 
 “ What have you done? ” I asked him. 
 
 As he began to respond, the heavy logs of my cabin instantly splintered and blew away in the wind. The explosion of my cabin shook the earth, and we all fell to the ground. The witch took my daughter by the hand, and vanished. 
 
 
 A moment later I found myself lying on the floor of an underground stone chamber. Torches lines the walls and a pool of blood bubbled in a bath in the middle. Above the bath, was chained Reyna, about to be lowered in. The witch already waded in the pool. With her eyes shut, she began to chant in an indiscernible tongue. 
 
 Once again, Reyna armed and armoured me. I stepped forward and thrust my blade through the witches back, but once again, she dissipated in a cloud of black smoke. 
 Reappearing behind me, her bloody garments clung to her body. “ Fool child! ” she hissed. “ I created you! You know I have power over you! ” 
 
 The witch lifted a hand and my daughter ’ s clothes tore, and blood began to drip through the tears in the fabric. The witch then waved her hand through the air again and through me into a stockade across the room. 
 “ Your father can not help you now, girl! ” 
 
 My daughter then summoned the young man, and he instantly met a fate akin to mine. We both watched helplessly as the witch crawled back into the blood bath and began her chant once more, and once more Reyna summoned a boulder to crush the witch and once more the witch teleported away. 
 
 Reyna began to think independently, being unable to use me. She summoned a key to unlock her chains, she summoned a sword, shield, and armour for herself, and she charged at the witch to no avail. 
 
 The witch simply tossed her aside without a touch. “ Stab me, girl, ” the witch taunted. I want to show you something. Confused and angry, Reyna let out a battle cry as she drove her blade into the witch ’ s heart. She twisted the sword and slid it back through her foe ’ s sternum. Watching in terror, the fresh, gaping wound closed itself. 
 
 “ You see? ” the witch laughed again. “ Even if you could harm me, you could not end me. I created you to be a sacrifice and you can only be saved with a sacrifice! ” 
 
 Reyna summoned another key in the hands of the young man. She then summoned yet another stone over the witch, then another, then another. Wherever the witch reemerged, Reyna crushed her again. She instructed the boy to free himself and to flee. After a brief protest, he did. 
 
 Reyna then turned to me. “ You wanted me to depend on you for my survival, Papa. Now I will. ” At that, she summoned a fire that engulfed the room burning everything within, save herself. 
 
 I watched in horror as the witched screamed, burning alive, and as the flesh melted away from my own body. My need was served. Her sacrifice, was found. 
 
 If you found this not terrible, check out The Change by L.M. McPherson on Amazon or Authorhouse.com
