Willow remembered an event that had happened two months prior that was remarkably like the description of magic’s return as written about in the journal. There was a loud boom in the sky, which, according to the local newspaper, was heard throughout all of Ethermoor. Willow was working in her shop when she heard it. She ran outside and saw a strange light shining across the sky. Some of the villagers panicked, thinking that something horrendous had happened. The next day, there was a huge article in the newspaper about it. It said a volcano had erupted, and the strange light in the sky was the sunlight reflecting off the volcanic ash.
Willow thought that the events of that day precisely matched the ones described in her ancestor’s book. Had the spell already been broken? If magic had not already returned to Ethermoor, how had she been able to practice it all these years? She had been wondering about that for several years.
Willow decided to find out. When she was looking out from one of the tower windows, she saw a stream flowing nearby. She walked to it, dipped the pendant in water, and washed the locator spell off. Willow pinched the pendant and said, “Earth and wind, come together to find the person who cast the spell written on Zadelia’s altar to bring magic back to Ethermoor.” Nothing happened. Then Willow had another idea. She knew that if she placed it on an object that belonged to the person she was trying to locate, the spell would work.
Willow and Starfire walked back to where the crust of bread lay on the ground. Willow picked up the bread. It was covered in mold and hard as a rock. The thought of touching it made Willow nauseated. She placed the pendant on top of it. “Earth and wind, come together to guide this pendant to the one who left this bread lying on the ground.” The pendant jutted backward. She put the crust of bread in her bag in case the spell wore off the pendant and she needed to cast it again. Willow saddled Starfire and rode off in the direction the pendant was guiding her.
They traveled for several days. Every once in a while, they came to a village. They got supplies and food, and Willow slept in an inn. Willow was grateful to have a bed to sleep in rather than sleeping on the forest floor. Two weeks later, Willow came to a beach, and she could not see any land on the horizon.
Great, the spell took me right to the ocean! she thought. Then, the pendant turned to her right. She looked and saw a rowboat large enough for both her and Starfire to sit in sitting on the shore.
So, how am I supposed to get across the ocean in this? Willow thought. Starfire huffed angrily. “Don’t worry! I’m not leaving you here! It’s big enough for you too!” Willow said to her horse.
She pulled the boat to the edge of the water and turned it over so that the bench in it was facing upward. She led Starfire into the boat first, and then she got in. Willow and Starfire rowed off in the direction the pendant was guiding them. “Now, if we have not crossed this body of water by this evening, we are going home!” Starfire nodded.
Willow and Starfire rowed until about noontime. Then, just on the horizon, Willow saw a mountainous island rising in the distance. As she sailed closer and closer, she could see that it was a gorgeous island covered in green trees. Willow hoped that the pendant was leading her to somewhere on the island.
She rowed the boat up to the shore, and she and Starfire stepped out into the water. Willow dragged the boat out of the water and into the forest, hoping that the tide would not wash it away when it came in at night. She saddled Starfire, and the two walked into the woods. She and her horse were extremely hungry, so she ate some of the oranges off the trees, and Starfire ate some grass growing nearby.
The pendant led them through the mountainous terrain, and Willow heard many animal sounds that she had never heard before piercing through the forest air. They rounded the first hill, and the beauty of the valley took Willow’s breath away. Mist rose above the trees, and a flock of beautiful bright-red birds flew over the forest canopy. She saw a large stone castle sitting on the other side of it. She felt the pendant pulling her in the direction of it.
She rode Starfire through the valley and up to the castle door. Willow grabbed the massive metal knocker and banged it on the door five times. When she did, the spell removed itself from the pendant, and it hung limply on her wrist. She had reached the place it was taking her.
The knocks reverberated through the air. Willow held her breath as she waited for someone to answer the door, hoping that she had not come all this way in vain. Her heart throbbed nervously. What would this person be like? Would they even be safe for her to meet? All of these thoughts flooded Willow’s mind.
The door opened, and Willow saw a middle-aged man with chin-length brown hair standing in the doorway. A massive grin stretched across his face. “Ah, hello there! Come in!” he said.
Willow thought it odd that he was so happy to see someone he had never met before standing on his doorstep on an island where he was quite possibly the only human inhabitant.
“Don’t you want to know my name first?” Willow asked.
“Your name is Willow Nightshade. The Ethermoorian Police killed your parents,” the man replied.
Willow was shocked that he not only knew her name but how her parents had died. “Wait, were you expecting me?” Willow asked. Starfire whinnied.
The man laughed and said, “Yes! I cast a spell on the country of Ethermoor so that sorcerers and sorceresses who suffer a great loss can find me!” the man said. He pointed behind him. “I have a stable and a pasture out back behind the castle where your horse can stay. I will take you to it.”
He walked out of the doorway. Willow followed him around the castle and out to a large pasture behind it. Starfire suddenly whinnied and started jerking backward on the reins.
“Has she ever stayed in a strange stable before?” the man asked.
Willow thought about his question. Starfire had stayed in stables on their journey. Willow had never seen her exhibit this kind of behavior about staying in a strange place until now. “Well, yes, she stayed in the stables at the inns we stopped at on our way here.”
The man smiled and said, “She’ll get used to staying here.”
They locked her in the stable. Willow saw three brown horses standing in the other stalls. None of them even so much as looked up at the people who had just walked into the stall. They just stared at their troughs and ate hay as Willow and the man locked Starfire up. As they walked away, Willow heard Starfire whinnying and stamping around in her stall as if she didn’t think she would ever see Willow again. She turned to her horse and said, “I’ll come back and see you later.” She could tell by the look in Starfire’s eyes that she was not convinced.
“So, you cast a spell across the country of Ethermoor so that sorcerers and sorceresses who suffered a great loss can find you?” Willow asked as they walked back toward the castle.
The man smiled and said, “Not just those who suffered a great loss, but those who suffered a great loss at the hands of King Banderon and want revenge! I am formulating a plan for overthrowing him and bringing all the magical people back to the realm. By the way, my name is Victor.”
“But how did you know my name?”
“The spell was activated the moment you decided you wanted your revenge on King Banderon, and it guided you to me. I immediately knew who activated it,” Victor said.
Willow had a hard time wrapping her head around all this. She had initially wanted to find the woman who had told her parents about that library. On the other hand, revenge had been burning in her heart since the second those men killed her father.
“There was another customer in my mother’s shop at the time of my parents’ arrest, and she said she was the grandmother of a Sea Sorceress who died under mysterious circumstances. She told my parents about a library where they would be safe from Banderon,” Willow said.
“Well, I have never heard of a library where someone could be safe from him!” Victor replied.
Willow decided this was the perfect time to ask him if he had been to Zadelia’s castle. “Were you th
e one who recited the spell to lift the magic barrier that was inscribed on the altar at Zadelia’s castle?” Willow asked.
A sad look came over Victor’s face. “My brother, Gerald, was the one who recited that spell. Do you remember that day two months ago when that deafening explosion resounded through the whole country?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that was the sound of the spell over Ethermoor breaking. My brother succeeded in bringing a fairy helper to Ethermoor, but sadly, King Banderon discovered him a few days later when he tried to heal a man’s stomach ailment. We later discovered that the man was an undercover police officer who was trying to find the whereabouts of magical people,” Victor said.
“Kind of like what happened to me,” Willow mumbled. “My parents were killed while trying to escape from the police.”
“I am sorry about that. After my brother died, I set about getting revenge on Banderon. I placed a spell over this country to lead other sorcerers and sorceresses who feel the same way as I do to my castle. I am going to teach all of you magic.” Victor pulled a quill-shaped gold pendant out of his shirt. “I am a Knowledge Sorceror, and I have a wealth of books about magic in my library.”
“Where is the fairy he summoned?” Willow asked.
Victor shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. She disappeared after he died.”
“I was trying to conjure a fairy helper in hopes that they could go to Icatora, the Realm of the Good Dead, and get my parents.”
“Now, fairies cannot do that. Dead is dead. Once a person is dead, they go to the Dead Realms. and stay there. Fairies are the only beings that can travel between the Fairy Realms, the Dead Realms, and the Realms of the Living. Humans cannot. A fairy can’t bring a human spirit from either Icatora or Levotheria back to the living.”
Willow’s heart sank. “Oh.” She knew no one could bring back the dead, but she was desperate to try to bring her parents back to life. She cried the whole way back to the castle.
“I know it’s hard to lose a family member,” Victor said, trying to console her.
They arrived back at the front door, and Victor led Willow inside the castle. The interior was dark but still warm and welcoming. “There are two other sorceresses here studying magic with me,” Victor said. Willow dried her eyes to try to look presentable to the other students. He led Willow through a set of large double doors. She froze in awe at the sight that befell her eyes.
There was a massive library at least three stories high, and the walls were lined from floor to ceiling with books. Her heart leaped when she saw two other young women in the room, each sitting at large wooden desks. One woman had long, straight black hair, and the other had long, curly blonde hair.
“Willow, this is Lillithia,” Victor said as he gestured toward the black-haired woman. Lillithia looked up and smiled at her. “And this is Rosaria.” He gestured to the blonde woman.
The blonde woman smiled and leaped out of her chair. She stuck her hand out in front of her to shake Willow’s hand. “Hi! My name is Rosaria!”
Willow shook her hand. “I’m Willow Nightshade!” She was thrilled to get to meet other sorceresses. “Are you also a sorceress?”
“Yes! Both of us are!” Rosaria replied. Willow wondered what Banderon had done to the other two women that made them want to seek revenge on him.
She gazed at her surroundings. “Where did you get all these books?” she asked Victor.
“I have collected them over the years. We Knowledge Sorcerers collect as many books on history and magic as we can find.”
Willow felt a stab of sadness as she thought about her parents. She wished they could have seen his collection.
Victor put his hands together and said, “Now, why don’t the three of you get to know each other while I go fix supper?” Willow had only eaten fruit that day and was starving.
“We would love to talk to Willow!” Rosaria said, smiling. Lillithia smiled at Victor and stood up from her chair. Victor walked out the door, leaving the three of them alone in the library.
“So, what brings you to Enchantica Castle?” Rosaria asked.
“Enchantica Castle?” Willow laughed.
Rosaria stared at her blankly. “Yes. This island is called Enchantica Island.”
Willow said, “I’m sorry, but I just think it’s really funny that an island where only magical people live is called Enchantica Island.”
“Victor named it that. It’s his private island,” Lillithia said.
“What kind of abilities do you have, Willow?” Rosaria asked.
Willow thought for a moment. As much as her family trusted the people of her village of Fernhollow, they had never shown their weather abilities to them. The villagers knew that they possessed fairy magic, but they did not know what kind of fairy magic they had. Her father and grandparents on his side and Andaria’s mother were the only full humans to see Willow and Andaria’s weather abilities. Willow’s grandfather on her mother’s side was her sorcerer family member. “I can conjure thunderstorms, shoot lightning out of my fingertips, float in the air, and turn into a cloud. My fairy ancestor was a Rain Fairy,” Willow said.
“That’s awesome!” Rosaria replied.
Willow decided to walk around the room and look at the books and other interesting objects that lined the shelves. She scanned the shelves, hoping beyond all hope there might be a secret book on how to bring the dead out of the Dead Realms, but unfortunately, she did not see one.
As she approached one of the bookcases, Lillithia said, “Oh, and a word of warning. Victor doesn’t want anyone touching his materials without his permission. He will get really angry if you do.” She walked back to her seat and continued studying.
Willow turned to Rosaria and asked, “So, how long have you been here?”
“I have been here for two weeks, and Lillithia has been here for a month,” Rosaria replied. “So, what happened to you to bring you here?”
“The police murdered my parents for practicing magic. First I traveled to Zadelia’s castle to try to use the spell to summon a fairy from the fairy world and bring magic back to the realm, but it looks as if Victor beat me to bringing magic back. Then, I cast a locator spell on my pendant here, and it led me to this island.” She pointed to her dragonfly pendant.
Rosaria sighed and said, “Yeah, that’s what brought us here too. The government murdered our families for practicing magic.”
“I’m so sorry,” Willow said.
“Yup, that’s what brought us here. Same as you.” Rosaria sighed. She perked up again. “Perhaps maybe sometime you can teach Lillithia and I how to cast your locator spell!”
“Yeah! I’ll have to teach it to you! Maybe there are some spells you can teach me!” Willow said excitedly. She smiled at the prospect of sharing magical knowledge with other sorceresses. “So, what kind of abilities do the two of you have?”
“I am a Nature Sorceress, and Lillithia is a Knowledge Sorceress.”
As Willow looked around, she saw bottles with strange contents in them. They had labels such as “Unicorn Mane Hair,” “Dragon’s Baby Teeth,” and “Basilisk Venom.”
“Where did he get these things?” Willow pointed to the odd jars.
“Those creatures live here on the island. Perhaps you’ll see some during your stay here,” Rosaria replied.
“I sure do hope so!” Willow said excitedly. Willow had heard stories of people seeing such creatures. Every once in a while, she heard stories that someone had seen one, but there was no real evidence that they existed in present-day Ethermoor. They, too, had been sent into exile five hundred years ago, along with the fairies.
Victor burst through the door and yelled, “Supper’s ready!” They walked out of the library and into the dining hall. The four of them sat down at the table. The last time Willow had eaten a cooked meal was when she’d eaten at a restaurant in the last village she had stopped in, which was three days prior.
She sat down and inhaled the sweet aroma o
f the baked chicken, carrot and raisin salad, baked bread, and macaroni and cheese that sat in bowls on the table. Willow looked out the window and saw the sun starting to set on the horizon. She filled her plate and began scarfing down her food.
“What kinds of magic can Nature and Knowledge Sorceresses do?” Willow asked.
“Nature Sorceresses help plants to grow,” Rosaria replied.
“I can detect when someone is telling a lie,” Lillithia said.
Victor said, “After supper, perhaps we can all play a little ‘getting to know you’ game by demonstrating our abilities for each other.” The thought of doing that made Willow nervous since she had never shown her magic to anyone outside her immediate family.
After supper, they all walked outside. “I will go first!” Rosaria said as they passed by a flower bed in the castle garden. She bent down and blew on a flower that was brown and withered. The flower’s petals suddenly straightened out, and they turned bright red! A rose appeared in place of the dried-up bud.
“That’s awesome! Can you do anything else?” Willow asked.
“What do you mean?” Rosaria asked.
Willow realized that she might have offended Rosaria by asking her that. “I mean, can you grow trees?”
“No! A Nature Sorcerer can only keep plants healthy! We can’t grow them!” Rosaria laughed.
“All right, my turn,” Lillithia said, crossing her arms. She narrowed her eyes at them. “Tel me something I don’t already know about you. I will tell you if you are telling the truth or a lie.”
Willow thought for a moment. Her hobby was sword fighting, and she’d competed in matches around Aralin with a blunt sword. She wanted to see Lillithia’s truth detecting abilities. “I have never played a sport before,” Willow said.
“Lie!” Lillithia said.
“All right, I am a fencer,” Willow replied.
“That’s a great skill to have for when we storm Banderon’s castle!” Victor said.
The Night Sorceresses Page 6
