The Witch in the Woods: The Transmigration of Hazel-Anne Davis
Chapter 76: One, Two, Three, All Eyes On Me

Chapter 76: One, Two, Three, All Eyes On Me

The road stretched quiet under us, the scent of smoke still lingering on the wind. It clung to my cloak like regret, thin, bitter, and difficult to shake. The field we left behind had gone black beneath the sun, but I didn’t need to look back to remember the way the flames had curled around bone.

We had moved quietly for over an hour. No sign of soldiers. No refugees. No patrols. Just the open plain—wide, sunlit, and deceiving.

Shadow padded ahead, ears twitching now and then, eyes fixed on a horizon only he could see. Yaozu rode slightly behind and to my right, close enough to move as one, far enough to keep his field of vision clean.

It should have been peaceful. It would have been, if the back of my neck wasn’t prickling.

I didn’t say anything. Not yet. I just slowed my horse, letting my fingertips brush the reins with the kind of casual tension that only looks casual.

As if sensing something ahead, Shadow stopped, and I did too.

Shi Yaozu’s hand had already shifted near his belt, his fingers loose, not reaching—but not relaxed, either. I would have to remind him that he needed to break himself of that habit. He didn’t have to reach for a weapon; he was the weapon.

Together, we scanned the land. There were no birds calling out to each other, no bugs, and even the wind seemed to have stopped, waiting for whatever was to come next.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever.

"You feel that?" I murmured, my eyes searching for some sign of what I felt.

"Too quiet," he replied with a stiff nod. "They’re here."

I hummed in agreement. "How many do you think?"

He didn’t hesitate. "More than a dozen. Not charging. Watching. From the grass, twenty paces to the left... another fifteen behind that ridge."

I smiled faintly. "They’re trying to be clever."

"Trying, being the operative word," he echoed.

A moment later, the grass moved.

They didn’t charge; they simply emerged from the grass like they owned the place. One by one. Pairs. Small groups. A ring slowly closing around us with enough distance to pretend they weren’t cornering prey.

I counted twenty-three in my line of sight. There were more. At least ten in reserve, maybe another two already circling wide.

Some wore crimson armor—Yelan scouts. Others had loose desert-tan tunics and the red sun stitched along the sleeves. Chixia.

Yaozu muttered, "Mixed patrol. Joint force."

That was new.

And stupid.

They didn’t speak at first. Just stared at us, grinning like cats who thought they’d caught something slow.

One of them stepped forward. A man with a shaved head and dark stubble across his chin. A Lieutenant, maybe. Probably from Chixia. His posture screamed authority without power—shoulders squared like he thought that was all it took to win a battle.

He raised a hand lazily.

"Easy now," he called. "Drop your weapons, dismount, and you’ll be brought in breathing."

I didn’t bother to move.

Yaozu tilted his head slightly but didn’t reach for anything. Good. He was learning.

The man waited. When we didn’t obey, his smile sharpened.

"Did you not hear me?" he asked. "I said dismount. Both of you."

I slid off the horse with a practiced grace and dusted off my sleeves.

He looked me over slowly, eyes dragging across my clothes, my boots, my hands.

"That’s better," he said. "Smart girl."

Shadow stepped to my side without a sound, his size alone enough to draw mutters from the flanking soldiers. They didn’t know what he was. That was their first mistake.

The lieutenant motioned to one of his men. "Take the animals."

No one moved.

Shadow growled. Just once.

The man closest to the horses shifted his weight... and then stopped.

I took a single step forward.

The man laughed.

"You think you’re something special?"

"No," I said calmly. "I know I am."

That made a few of them chuckle, but I didn’t let it get to me. Let them enjoy their last few minutes on earth.

"Let me guess," the lieutenant said. "You’re some merchant’s daughter who thinks she can flirt her way out of trouble?"

I didn’t answer.

"Maybe a little noble brat sent out to find glory. You think I haven’t seen your type before?"

I raised a brow. "You really don’t know who I am? I thought the people from Yelan would have known. I’m a bit disappointed."

He blinked, my joyful tone not registering with him. He expected me to be scare, to drop to my knees and beg.

Too bad for him.

Instead of doing what he expected of me, I simply smiled.

"One... two... three," I murmured, letting the words drag across the silence like silk over glass. Then I raised my voice just enough to carry. "All eyes on me."

Every soldier stiffened instinctively. Heads turned. Eyes locked.

And I gave them what they wanted.

Mist began to curl from beneath my boots—not rising in tendrils but blooming outward, soft at first, brushing against the tips of the grass like dew.

The lieutenant’s face twisted. "What the hell—?"

"You should’ve run," I purred, taking a step forward. He matched me, step for step, his hand moving to his blade like that would have worked.

He took a step forward, hand moving to his blade.

"Don’t test me, girl. I—"

"You don’t know me," I said flatly. "But you will."

Beside me, Yaozu didn’t move. He didn’t speak. But I saw the way his body angled just slightly—ready to react, not interfere. This wasn’t his fight.

I had it well under control.

Shadow crouched lower to the ground, red eyes fixed on the nearest soldier. His breath came slow and heavy, like a furnace under pressure.

The lieutenant raised his hand. "Kill them both—"

And then the screaming started.

Just one voice.

Just one man.

From the back line.

He shrieked once—sharp and wet—and dropped into the grass, convulsing.

The others turned in time to see his arm dissolve at the elbow, flesh sloughing off in strips of steaming red as the mist swarmed up his shoulder and into his throat.

Another scream. Then another.

The mist moved faster now, no longer a quiet warning.

But I didn’t move. I didn’t lift a finger.

Not yet.

The soldiers backed away from the dying men, shoving each other, swords raised, shouts overlapping into chaos. A few tried to swing through the black haze, but their blades hit nothing. One man gasped as his helmet caved inward with a wet crunch, blood spraying in a fine arc as he collapsed.

The lieutenant stared at me.

"What are you—"

I stepped forward. Slowly. Deliberately.

"I warned you."

He reached for his sword.

I raised my hand.

That was when it would begin.

"Last chance," I said, eyes never leaving the lieutenant. "Walk away now, and the rest of your men might live."

"Are you threatening me, girl?" he spat.

I smiled.

"No," I said. "I was offering mercy. Too bad for you, you didn’t accept it."