by Dani Swanson
“Do you see that? Look!” Percy ran to one of the bushes along the path and retrieved three strands of red curly hair.
“She’s been here!” Thea no longer felt any of the pain in her body.
“It looks like she’s on her way back to Izotza. We’re on the right path!”
“So, we walked weeks in the snow to go right back to where we started.” Thea chuckled as they continued to go up the next path to the next ridge.
“Not necessarily.” She looked over at Percy to see him nodding up the direction of the mountain. A few miles ahead, up the next slope there was a fiery red mass of hair blowing in the wind.
“Robin! ROBIN!!” Thea was now running. Throwing thunderbolts in all directions, trying to get her attention. “ROBIN!!!!” The group was running at full speed, screaming out her name. The mass of hair stopped moving, as Thea could see that Robin had spun around. She could faintly hear her yell back to her.
“We found her! Wait, she’s alone! Where’s Edward?”
Thea looked ahead and indeed only saw the form of one person coming toward them. She gave a worried glance over at Percy as they both continued to jog toward her friend.
They all were nearly out of breath by the time the witches reached each other. Both of them dropped their cats as they wrapped their arms around each other and fell into a heap on the ground; tears running down their faces as they hugged each other – both were speaking so fast that Percy couldn’t make out any words they were saying.
“I thought I lost you forever! Are you alright?!” Thea was holding Robin’s face by her cheeks.
“I’m fine now.” She said as she wiggled her face out of Thea’s grasp.
“Where’s Edward?” Percy’s voice was low, as he already knew the answer to the question he had asked.
Robin could only make eye contact with him for just a moment before she looked away with tears in her eyes. “He….he didn’t make it.” Her tears started to stream down her face, freezing in little icicles on her eyelashes. “He was protecting me against a horrid witch….and….she ate him.”
“The Baba Yaga? We also ran into her.” Thea said as she hugged her friend, trying to comfort her between sobs.
“She let me go because I had the egg and told her I would go give it back to the mother.”
Thea gave a blank look at Percy. He shrugged and sat down on a snowy log next to the girls. “Your book did say that she protected nature.”
“That is true.” She continued to rub small circles onto the back of her friend. “Did she actually talk to you? I couldn’t understand a single thing she was saying when we ran into her.”
“I could hear her in my brain.” Robin had the most twisted look of bewilderment on her face. “She was speaking that twisted elvish-fairy mutterings and I could understand what she was saying in my head. It was the strangest thing I have ever experienced! She told me that she would spare my life if I would save the life of the dragon. I don’t know how she knew I had the egg, but I wasn’t going to question it. Every time I tried to climb down a mountain, something would happen that forced me to go up the next ridge. It was like she could control my path. I went back to the cave where we had originally taken it from, and the mother was there that time. Tinker and I returned the egg and ran out of there before the mother could light us up.” She looked lovingly over to the grey cat who was cuddled up with her brother, Fig, licking each other’s faces. “I think they missed each other.”
Percy was trying to have a stoic look on his face, was fighting back the tears for his fallen friend.
“I’m sorry about your friend. He was a good man and did all he could to protect me.” Percy gently nodded his head before he got up and walked away from the witches.
“He’ll be alright. Let’s just give him a few minutes.” Thea held Robin back when she tried to go after him.
The two witches built a small fire as Thea filled Robin in on what had happened with The Circle of Owls, the interaction with her mother, and that they now needed to go rescue her grandmother from the circle. The whole while Robin sat with her own book in which she had the story of the Circle of Owls, fighting with herself if she should give the book to her friend. She eventually just placed the book back into her bag, keeping her knowledge to herself.
“We should get going before it gets too dark out. The wolves will be out to look for their dinner soon.”
The group decided to check in at the Izotza palace to see if there had been any news of the other parties, before they headed out to join the group finding Penelope. It took a few days to make their way over the snowy mountain, while avoiding going anywhere near the home of the Baba Yaga.
Thea had been informed that Dean and the Ice King both had returned with their party, but alas, without finding Penelope. She went into the parlor to find the Ice King in a drunken stupor as Dean watched from the couch.
“What’s going on?” Thea whispered to Dean. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a half sideways hug. “Your grandpa has been drinking for two days straight and crying about Penelope. We made it to the dungeons of the Kingdom of Owls but did not find Penelope. He found a skeleton in a cell that had her name on the door, so he is convinced that it is her that he found. We met your friend Lola, who says hello by the way, and she tried to convince him that it couldn’t possibly be Penelope, but as you can see, that didn’t go over very well…..Did you find Robin and Edward?”
Thea pushed open the door to reveal Robin down the hallway with Percy hanging up their coats. Robin had a big smile on her face as she came down the hall to give Dean a hug. “What about Edward?” Dean said in a hushed voice. Thea quickly shook her head no before walking over to the Ice King.
Her voice was soft as she started to speak to him. “Irving, that wasn’t Penelope, she sent me a message. She’s still alive.”
“What?! Are you sure?” He blubbered through tears as he sloppily hugged her.
“It has to be her who has been messaging me. I am going to go in the morning to get her for you, okay?” She looked down to see that the Ice King had his whole leg wrapped tightly in bandages. “What happened here?”
“Oh, that…that’s nothing. I’m just fine.” He tried to cover his leg with the edge of his robes.
“He fell down the mountain on the way to the Kingdom of Owls and had to be carried the entire way there, and his leg is still very swollen.” Dean said with his eyebrows raised from his post by the door. He sheepishly took a drink from his cup when the Ice King turned around to look at him.
“It’s not that bad! You hush! I’ll be ready to go tomorrow!”
“Oh, you most certainly will not.” Thea said through a chuckle. “You will be staying here and resting that leg!”
“I’ll go with her and Dean, she’ll have plenty of support with her.” Robin chimed in as she sat down on the other side of the King.
Through his mumbled, drunken words, he finally agreed that he would be staying behind at the castle. Thea placed her hands on his leg, healing his wounds; which was a large spectacle for the drunken king. Thea healed his leg but still insisted that he would stay home.
They stayed in the parlor and drank to the memory of Edward. Percy was the first to retire for the evening, quickly followed by the Ice King, who staggered through the castle to his chambers. Robin stayed for maybe another hour until she couldn’t stop yawning, excusing herself to go to bed.
Dean had his arm wrapped over the shoulder of Thea, with Fig laying across both their laps at the same time. Thea felt very comfortable there on the couch and gave into it, laying her head in the nook of Dean’s arm.
“She still doesn’t seem the same. Something seems off with her.” She fiddled with the ends of her hair as she looked up to catch his gaze.
“She’s been through a lot. Her sister died…She watched her friend die, and almost got eaten by a dragon. I think she’s earned the right to be acting a little weird, don’t you?”
“I guess….” Sh
e said through a yawn. Fig lifted his head and gave Thea a small meow. “Yes, sweet boy, we can go to bed.” Thea gave him a little nudge as he jumped down to the floor and stretched. “I better take my kitty to bed.”
Dean stood with her, and gave her a hug, then guided her chin up to meet his lips. They kissed for a moment, then as they parted, she felt a smile spread.
“Good night.” She whispered sweetly, before turning for the door.
“Sweet dreams, Thea.” His voice was deep yet cracked as he spoke.
She giggled to herself as she walked down the hallway toward her room.
She got outside of her door and could see the light still on in the room next to her where Robin stayed. The door was cracked open and she could hear Robin talking on the other side.
“Why didn’t you give it to her? I told you the story so that you would tell her!”
“I know that….and I will! But how do you tell your best friend you know all this stuff…..and how do I tell her?”
“Just give her the book. That was the whole point of it.” The voice had gotten low, and somber. “You never have had a backbone, I swear!”
“Why do you always have to be so mean to me?”
Thea took a step closer to try to see through the door who Robin was arguing with, when the floor below her creaked, alerting Tinker from her cozy spot on the bed to come investigate. Robin walked behind the cat and swung open the door before Thea was able to retreat to her own room.
“Oh, hey Thea! You gave me such a fright!” Robin was in her pj’s, with her red hair tied on top of her head in a large bun. Her body blocking the view of the room.
“Sorry dear, I was just headed to bed, and thought I heard you talking to someone, so I was coming to check on you to make sure you were all right…” Thea was straining her neck to see into the room.
“Well, no silly, there’s no one here but me and Tinker.” Robin held open the door for Thea to peer in. The room was empty except for the fluffy grey cat sitting by Robin’s feet.
“I must be sleepier than I thought.” Thea said as she rubbed her face. “Night, love.”
“Good night, Thea! Sleep well!” Robin’s voice was extra chipper as she shut the door.
Thea could hear Robin talking through the wall to a different voice. She couldn’t make out the conversation but heard two separate voices having a conversation on the other side of the wall.
CHAPTER NINE
Sorgin had moved the Circle of Owls to a new location in the cloak of a moonless night. The house which Sorgin had acquired through one of her many deals long ago was on the edge of Monkey Tree Village. From the outside it looked to have just a few rooms, and she seemed to be an old spinster who lived with her sister. Cricket and Sorgin were the only two members of the Circle of Owls who showed their faces around the town; the women often disguised themselves, changing their appearances with potions before leaving their home. The others were all living in the many layers below the ground, that spread out farther than the entire village. The circle had grown back to a solid number of one hundred and twenty-nine creatures. The dwarfs had already started to create more of their black collars that couldn’t be broken, and the witches and imps had already started to curse them to control those who wore them. It was as if Thea and Lilly hadn’t done a thing to affect the Circle.
The Circle of Owls were not the only ones who were on the move. Lilly Quinn, in the form of the Grimalkin, had an exceptional sense of smell and had followed the sweet scent of Sorgin’s perfume when she noticed the decrease of activity at the Chateau MelBel. The sweet smell of peaches and petals was something unique that Sorgin brewed herself. Lilly tracked the group as they weaved throughout the kingdoms over several weeks, collecting more members at each stop along the way before settling at Monkey Tree Village. She, too, changed her appearance; she cut off her long, flowing, silvery hair into a short pixie style and colored it to a mousy brown color. She often wore a scarf tied as a headband that hid the points of her ears. She also pierced her nose, trying to distract people from knowing who she was. She spent a lot of time at the tavern in Monkey Tree Village, hiding her face whenever Sorgin or Cricket would enter to meet with shady looking creatures.
Lilly had started to wash dishes at the tavern to pay for her meals and to pay for a room in the back of the building. She went by the name Sam. She mainly kept to herself and always made sure she was on a break when one of the witches came in to do their business.
After a few weeks, Lilly witnessed Celeste meeting with Cricket. The two sisters sat in the corner and seemed very concerned as they whispered to themselves. Lilly moved closer to clean a nearby table and listened to their conversation.
“I have three of them trapped under the mountain….I think one of them is a female and can lay eggs!” Celeste hissed in an excited whisper.
“You think, or you KNOW?! We need to make sure that we are correct with our moves here, sister.”
“If you’re going to second guess me Cricket, you are more than welcome to go freeze your butt off in the mountains instead of me!”
“Well, one of us must keep mother under control, and you lost your powers, so how do you think that would work out?” Cricket smugly hissed.
“You say that like you don’t have one of your collars on her.” Celeste rolled her eyes as she sat back in her chair, taking a long drink out of her mug. Her green eyes were turning dark as she glared at her sister.
“You are the one that needs the scales of all those dragons. That’s the only way we are going to get your powers back. I can’t make a potion for you unless you have enough scales, and enough witches to take the magic from.”
“Do you really think it will work?” Celeste was now holding her mug with both hands, leaning in to hear what her sister had to say. “How are you going to trick the Imp-Witch into taking the potion?”
“Sorgin will do anything I ask of her…. First, we will get your powers back, then we will get our Kingdom back. Once we get that Lola out of the castle, we can go back to slowly taking over each of the kingdoms.”
“Do we have enough people to overpower her little army? That golden acorn she has keeps the kingdom safe from anything magical within its walls.”
Lilly was carefully taking her time to wipe down each table around where the two witches were sitting; often holding her breath to try to hear more of what was going on.
“Sam! Girl, come on, you have more dishes to do back here.” The burly cook yelled from the window behind the bar.
The witches stopped talking and turned to look at the girl who was busing the tables. Lilly dropped her head to not be seen, as she hurried to the back of the tavern. She cautiously watched through the small window as she washed the dishes. She saw the sisters finish their mugs of brew and depart the dark corner of the tavern with their heads covered by their cloaks. Lilly grabbed a bag of trash and scurried through the back door. She dropped the bag as soon as the door shut and ran around the side of the building. She saw Cricket head toward the house, meeting Sorgin outside the front door, and Celeste heading out of town toward the Izotza mountain. Lilly opened the door and grabbed her cloak.
“Where do you think you’re off to? We’re not done working here.” The cook said as he picked his teeth with a toothpick.
“I have to quit.” She turned on her heels and was out the door, following Celeste out of town. She hid her face with the hood of her cloak, keeping a safe distance behind. She knew that Celeste would be the weaker of the two, and thus an easier target for getting into the Circle.
Lilly followed Celeste through the trees and to the base of the Izotza mountain. She watched as Celeste cautiously peered into the darkness to see if anyone was watching her, and then she pressed a knot on a tree. With a slight rumbling, a door opened into the side of the mountain. Celeste entered before the entry closed behind her.
“Where are you going little witch?” Lilly waited a few minutes before going over to the tree and following the same
path that Celeste had taken to get into the mountain.
Once inside, Lilly could see that the cave ran deep into the mountain. She could hear rumblings from down the path, but all she could see was the darkness…and a single light that Celeste carried with her down the path. Lilly’s eyes turned black as she twisted her body and turned into the Grimalkin. Her vision in the dark was much better in her cat form. She stalked Celeste through the dark path of the cave for what seemed to be half the night. Celeste stopped and dropped her torch onto a pool of what Lilly mistook as water. Whatever the liquid was ignited, sending flames down a stream and illuminating the entire cavern.
Celeste created an entire camp below the mountain. She had gone down to where her cauldron sat, lighting the fire below. Lilly watched from the shadows as Celeste filled water bottles with the boiling water. She then walked over to a pile of laundry against the far wall. “Time to warm up again, little ones.” She pulled back a blanket to show four eggs, larger than her head, that were tinted blue.
