Brayden was the next to walk through the portal, leaving Eudora behind. But this time, they could hear footsteps climbing the staircase. A twinge of frightfulness captivated her and she ran hurriedly to the vortex which swung close as she hopped onto the other part. Wherever the portal would bring her, it’d be better than there.
* * *
“No, no, no. Not again.” She whined, closing her eyes in fear.
“Hey,” Anwen interfered. “Relax, it’s quite alright.”
“Eventually, she opened her eyes and looked all over the place. It wasn’t the bakery, though there was something recognizable about it. Out of all the befuddlement that had enraptured her whole creature, Eudora could remember that place exactly.
They’d been there the first time they’d entered the forest. It was the entrance to the OOF.
“Why would the vortex bring us here?” She asked.
“It’s crazy, but I was just thinking about being here.”
“Guys,” he intruded. “Don’t you think it’s too risky to be here?”
“That’s what happens when you decide to follow your stupid cat.”
“Hey, don’t call my cat stupid. He’s only helped us so far.”
“I’m worried now;” Eudora pretended to be annoyed. “Did you see the mess he created in the chamber? It’s like he turned the place upside down and you don’t give a damn about it.”
“I don’t think the cat’s our big problem right now,” he reasoned. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Just be quiet.”
Silence captured the place, and they could hear some crackling noises.
“I say we hide,” Eudora whispered.
“Where?”
“I don’t know,” she looked at her dramatically.
“Guys, here.”
They followed him behind a pile of stumps.
While they were running into the muddle, Anwen stumbled into her own feet.
“Anwen,” Eudora shouted, trying to help her up.
“You shouldn’t have come back for me. They might catch us.
“Guys, hurry up,” he said hastily.
“Augh,” Eudora growled as soon as they settled behind the pile of stumps. “What is this place.”
“You’d rather get caught?” he asked.
“It’s probably better than coexisting with this moss-infested aisle.”
“Guys, shut it,” Anwen yelled as the footsteps were approaching.
“Do you see anything?”
“It’s so dark,” Anwen told her.
“I think we shouldn’t talk. We’re putting our lives in danger while trying to have a conversation under unsafe circumstances.”
“I could slap you right now,” Eudora hissed at him.
“You see what I’m talking about?” he emphasized.
“I do, but don’t look at me like that. I cannot stop her. She’s like a firecracker.”
"She knows what she's talking about," Eudora told him.
It was at that moment that the cat meowed and made them all cringe in terror.
Eudora looked at Apricot threateningly.
“Who’s there?” a man’s voice broke through.
None of them responded.
“I know someone’s there. I heard you.”
Wait a minute. The guards were not chatty guys. Were they being too panicked for no reason?
“Asterix?”
“Asterix’s a statue,” Eudora gave her the once over.
“It’s an elf,” Brayden concluded.
“Thanks for stating the obvious,” Eudora scoffed.
“Who are you?” the elf shouted at them. If Anwen put her fear aside for a moment, she could notice that the elf was as horrified as they were.
“He must be Asterix’s substitute.”
Apricot moved out of their den.
The elf seemed to cringe a little, stepping back. He looked at the magical device in his hand and approached it to his mouth.
“He’s gonna report us.” Brayden concluded.
In no time, Eudora brought her book out of the backpack and started ruffling the pages. Then she remembered that this was such an old-fashioned way of doing things. She asked the book to tell her how to turn the elf into a rat.
“Transverto in mus,” she said and promptly the elf transmogrified into a tiny little creature, moving out of sight immediately.
“What did you do?” Anwen yelled.
“I did what I had to.”
Anwen shook her head. It seemed like the forest had the ability to turn them into the worst version of themselves.
“What do we do now?” Brayden asked.
There was a moment of silence, until rapid footsteps were coming nearby.
“Run,” they heard Eudora shout.
This made them start scooting.
Anwen stumbled on her feet yet again. Oh, snap.
A man grabbed her by the shoulders and cast a spell on her, and a recognizable feeling of restriction made her obey unwillingly to their indications.
She was their hostage, yet again.
Great.
How many times did this have to happen?
Apricot?
Had he managed to run again?
Eudora?
Brayden?
Where were they?
Multiple, fragmented questions burdened her mind, and she was being dragged against her will. Anwen was so tired, she almost lost consciousness. Actually, she did, many times.
Chapter Twenty
“Hey,” she spotted a good-looking face upon her.
“Hmm...Brayden?” she asked. “Where are we?”
“Are you okay?” he ignored her question.
“I think so,” she tried to get up and take a look around. “Where’s Eudora?” she noticed her friend’s absence.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged.
“What about Apricot?”
“Well…”
“Brayden, why is it just you and me?”
Now that her vision was a little clearer, she took a glance at her surroundings and realized she didn’t actually know that place. It wasn’t the same cage where they’d been locked up before. This place was tighter, darker, and smelled worse.
“There’s no latch whatsoever,” he informed her.
“Why did they put us into separate rooms?”
He shrugged.
“Maybe she’s not their hostage. Probably she’s managed to escape.”
“Hopefully.”
“Otherwise they’d turn her into stone, like that did Asterix…” she freaked out.
“Hey, don’t worry. She’s ferocious, remember?” he tried to console her. “She’ll manage to get herself out and probably save both of our asses too.”
“That’s her,” Anwen tried to calm down.
This place was so cramped, it was hard to even breathe. This time the guards had decided to treat the hostages mercilessly since they had already managed to escape twice.
She was scared.
How long till they made it out of the cage?
How many times did they have to get themselves in and out again?
This game was kind of getting at her.
“You know, I can’t take it anymore. We have to do something, I cannot do this again and again. We have to find a way out, I mean ultimately, we need to escape the forest for good.”
He didn’t say a word, but his complexion suggested that he agreed with her.
“If only we had Eudora here. With her craziness and her book, we could handle to come up with a plan.”
“Yeah,” he laughed delightfully.
“Where is she anyway?”
There was no latch in the door, actually, if she paid attention she'd notice that there was not any door in the first place. This chamber might have been charmed, trying to stop them from finding out how to get out again. And seriously, it
seemed like, the guards of the palace had finally noticed their sneaky ways, so they’d decided to go for a craftier setting.
Great.
Not only did they get caught again, but they were being locked craftily.
Could this get any worse?
It couldn’t.
In a glance, the charm of the wall vanquished at once, and three guards appeared in front of them. Anwen then recalled how she'd turned two of them into statues. But it hadn't even been her fault. At least, that's what she liked to believe.
The guards put a spell on them, and in no time the two of them found themselves inside the enchanted membrane that was becoming so recognizable now.
She looked at Brayden trying to find some consolation as a lot of cruel things crossed her mind. And really, the guards would stop at nothing after she turned their friends to stone.
Probably Eudora was petrified right now.
No, that was too much to take.
When they stopped, she felt like she recognized the place. Yep. It was the very spot where she’d petrified two of the guards.
She’d been feeling so bad about it all along, but seeing how cruel these monstrous men were, she was starting to think that they had it coming. They deserved to be punished.
Well, actually, thinking about it, she'd only been trying to protect herself and it wasn’t her who initiated the magic. Actually, she couldn’t even cast a spell, since she wasn't a witch in the first place.
“Apricot?” she yelled when the spell that was controlling her started to vanish just a little.
The cat meowed mercifully. Some kind of spell was holding him face-down in the air.
That was so cruel.
The spell that controlled Anwen and Brayden vanished completely.
Weird.
One of the guards turned around and faced the cat hanging from the tree.
No, they better not do that!
She hoped they weren’t up to what she thought they were.
But her fear materialized when he pointed his finger at the cat and was ready to put a spell on him. Maybe he was about to petrify him
No, no, no.
This couldn’t happen.
Apricot was everything to her.
She wouldn’t allow that. And immediately she realized she was already free. And so was Brayden. But why would they bring them there only to let them free? These men were too cruel to be so nice.
Was this some kind of a sick game? Maybe the guards would mess with the cat first, then they’d take revenge for the other guards whom she’d petrified.
Augh, whatever it was, she decided to let them play her like a fiddle. Maybe Eudora had been right all this time after all. She was kind of a weak link.
“Stop it,” she yelled at them.
“Someone has to pay for what’s done,” the guard talked stiffly.
“He didn’t do anything. He’s just a cat,” she whined.
“But he’s your cat.”
She saw his point. They wanted to punish her…crucially. But she was so keen on her pet, she wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him.
“Leave him,” she shouted. “It’s not him you want anyway.”
“You’re right,” the man responded. “I don’t give a damn about him. Did you even think twice before you turned our friends to stone? You petrified them without any hesitation. Why do you expect me to be merciful now?"
“Your fight is with me. Leave him alone. We can deal with this together.”
What? Why did she say that? She was already so scared.
“Okay…”
He accepted her crazy offer.
Now she was screwed. For real.
He broke the spell that was holding Apricot in the air, and the cat jumped into the ground.
“I’ll petrify you in a flash.”
She closed her eyes forcefully, and let herself succumb to whatever this frustrated man was about to do to her. After all, she was not a witch. How long can a human survive in the witch world? It’s crazy how she’d managed to make it through so far.
As she was waiting for whatever was about to happen to her, a growling interrupted the situation. Immediately she opened her eyes and noticed that Brayden had gone wild, getting himself out of the cage.
“Brayden,” she shouted.
What he was doing was absolutely crazy.
Before long, he jumped in front of her, and after a second, he turned into stone.
“No, no, no,” she yelled and whined at the same time. “What did you do?” she shouted at the guard in front of her.
“That was supposed to be you,” he pointed at the statue of Brayden.
This was too much to handle.
“And now it’s your turn,” the guard seemed so satisfied with this turn of events.
His smirk irritated her.
He pointed his palm towards her and she knew exactly what was about to happen. She’d been in this situation before and…wait…she’d managed to handle it before.
Anwen needed to recall the whole situation and every single detail that could come in handy. But she was under a lot of pressure, which made it so hard to think clearly. She had to come up with something fast.
She tried to recall the whole thing. She wasn’t holding anything magical when the guards tried to petrify her, except for…
The brush.
That was it!
There must be something about this brush. She’d always seen it as an old piece of metal, but that brush was awesome.
Well, she rummaged through her pockets and there it was.
She held it in her hands and waited quietly. After all, that's what she'd done in the original event, right?
Anyway. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.
That was the only plan.
She felt the merge of vibrations weep her entire body. It crashed, it melted, it spumed around and then it turned back to where it came from.
The man turned into stone.
The second man came forward. He tried to do the same thing as the first one.
In no time, he froze in place.
The third ran.
Déjà vu.
What was with these events that kept recurring again and again? Did they plan to make her crazy? 'Cause it was working.
This forest was so weird.
* * *
He was a statue.
A statue!
How could she live with herself after all these events, if she ever made it out of there?
“Brayden,” she whispered. “Apricot, wait,” she called her cat after he rapidly lingered amidst the trees.
She followed him. What other choice did she have?
"Apricot?" she yelled after he disappeared behind a bunch of bushes.
“Meow.”
“Apricot?”
Soundlessness.
“Apricot, where are you?”
He meowed again. She wasn’t sure where the sound came from. It was so messy anyway. How was she supposed to walk around without putting her well-being at risk?
“Meow.”
“Apricot? You’re not being very helpful.” She yelled.
Then she heard some scratch noises coming from behind the bushes and she trembled a little.
“Apricot?” she yelled again.
She decided to walk through the bushes as the sun was rising.
Effortfully, she managed to bring herself on the other part of that barrier and she looked at the cat standing beneath an orange tree. He was so quiet and adorable.
Next to the cat was a vortex. That’s why the cat wanted her to chase him there.
In no time, Apricot waddled around, and brought himself on the other side of the vortex.
In a hurry, she jumped through the vortex, knowing that she had to chase her cat no matter what.
Chapter Twenty-One
“We’re still in the forest,” she scowled. “After all th
is trouble, I thought our trip here was finally over.”
He purred.
“I know.” She replied. “This place is not suitable for a cat. I wish we were at home.”
Now the cat rubbed his head endearingly against her leg. She patted his head with her hand while sitting on the moist ground of the forest.
“Things were different,” she suspired. “Everything was easy.”
The cat lingered across from her. It was definitely not the place to succumb in bittersweet moments and complain about her life and ruminate over it.
“I was a witch…”
He looked at her compassionately.
“Or so I thought…”
* * *
She trembled when a crackle snapped from behind her and she instantly turned around to reveal where the sound came from.
It was just a rat.
Phew.
After all the emotions that had embraced her creature entirely, she thought it was just rude for someone to disrupt her in a disrespectful way.
“That almost got me,” she said to the cat.
And now a hideous creature revealed himself from across the series of trees, holding a stump in his hand. He was so huge, with a wrinkled face and big eyes; he stank. She figured he must not have taken a shower in a while.
Well, it must’ve been quite some time.
“Who are you?” she brought herself to her feet and asked, stricken in horror.
"I'm the owner of the property. What are you doing here?"
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know anything about it.”
"This is a private territory. You shouldn't barge in just like that. You need permission."
“Permission?”
“Yeah. From the guru of ointments.” His voice was so deep she barely made out a word he said.
Come to think of it, of all the people she’d met in that forest, she’d never come across the guru of ointments.
“I’m sorry. Again I had no clue about it. I’m an outsider.”
“An outsider?”
“Yes, I just followed the vortex. I had no idea it’d bring me here.”
"The vortex?" the man looked shocked.
"Hmm," she wrinkled her face without knowing whether there was anything wrong with it.
And all of a sudden, she was drenched into a pile of questions that befuddled her mind. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned the vortex at all. It seemed to have perplexed him. What if he hated the vortex? What if the vortex was the cause of his looks?
An Academy for Witches (A Witch in Progress Book 1) Page 12
