As soon as he’d seen the cottage, he sensed that he’d found the right place. He had no magical gifts of his own, but he’d always had a strong intuition about things. That and his unfailing loyalty were the only reasons Scelestus kept him on all these years.
Standing on his tiptoes, Jinn put his bony fingers on the windowsill and peered inside. The glass had been hand-blown, making it mottled and blurry, and he almost had to press his face to it to see clearly through the window. A woman had her back to him, her long brown hair tied in a fraying braid.
But sitting across from her at the table, that beautiful young girl had to be her. Her flawless pale skin, rosy lips, long waves of hair, and dark lashes framing her blue eyes – it could only be Lily.
The older woman with Lily glanced back over her shoulder, and Jinn ducked down quickly. She might’ve seen him, but he didn’t care. It was too late. He’d already found Lily.
Jinn scurried away from the house, delighted at finding her. He wasn’t strong enough to haul her off into the night, but he didn’t need to be. His mistress had given him an opaque glass ball with which to summon her. All he had to do was hold it up and say a few words, then Scelestus would be able to find him and appear. Jinn went just far enough away from the cottage where they wouldn’t be able to hear him when he spoke to Scelestus.
The cloak and the dappled glass would have blinded Wick to Jinn. In fact, she never ever even saw him. Just his dirty fingernails pressing hard against the windowpane as he peered inside.
The tremor of the apples combined with the sight of human fingers, and Wick knew they were in real trouble. Along with that ominous warning Lily had gotten from her mysterious friend, Wick had a terrible feeling that whoever it was, it was coming for Lily.
“You need to go,” Wick said in a hushed voice as soon as she saw the fingers disappear from the sill. She didn’t know how much time they had, but she had to get Lily out of here.
“What? What’s happening?” Lily’s skin blanched, but Wick didn’t have time to explain.
“For your safety, you need to escape while you can.” Wick pushed her chair back and grabbed her cloak. Lily got to her feet more slowly, confused by the sudden shift in things, and Wick draped the cloak around Lily’s shoulders, tying it around her neck. “This has some magical properties, not a lot, but it should be enough to protect you through the night. Hopefully.”
“Why do I need to go?” Lily looked at her with wide frightened eyes. She looked so innocent and so young, and so much like her mother. Wick touched her hand to Lily’s cheek in a rare moment of sentimentality before dropping it.
“Someone is here, looking for you.”
“Why aren’t you coming with me?” Lily asked, looking at Wick with concern.
“I promised your mother I’d look after you, and so far, I’ve done a poor job of it. This is my chance to make things right.” Wick smiled wanly at her and went over to the window on the other side of the cottage, opposite from where she’d saw Jinn spying on them. “Now hurry, while I still have a chance to do some good.”
“Where shall I go?” Lily bustled up the ends of her dress so she could climb out the window.
“You need to be resourceful,” Wick said, helping boost her out of the window. Lily hung onto the frame and dropped to the ground with a silent grace that made Wick a tad envious. “I’ll come for you if I can. But if I don’t, keep moving. Run as fast and as far as you can.”
“Thank you.” Lily stared up indecisively at her. She wanted to say more, to do more than leave a friend to fight her battles. But she didn’t know what else to do, and Wick kept insisting that she leave. She didn’t want to hold Wick back, and she didn’t know how to fight at all, let alone who she was fighting against.
Reluctantly, Lily pulled the hood up over her head and darted across the clearing. Her feet made no sound as they padded along the mossy earth, and she ran into the trees of the Necrosilvam, unsure of what awaited her or how’d she meet it.
Wick gingerly picked up her wand, a gnarled twisting piece of what appeared to be bronze, but really, it came from a deceased unicorn. She had many things around the cottage that could be used to create some very powerful potions, but she didn’t have the time to make them and had only a few actual completed potions.
She went over the vials on the shelves, rummaging through them. Most of them were innocuous things like sleep aids and wound healers, and she knocked a blue vial of plant growth serum to the ground. It shattered, liquid splattering everywhere, and almost instantly, a small white flower grew from between the floorboards.
“Impressive. For a novice witch.” Scelestus’s voice echoed through the small space, and Wick whirled around to see her standing in the middle of the cottage. An iridescent dark blue gown flowed around her, making her take up more space than she needed. Without a sound or a puff of smoke, Scelestus had appeared in her home. “But you’re not a novice witch, are you?”
“I’m not as practiced as I used to be.” Wick straightened her shoulders and did her best to hide her startled reaction to Scelestus’s entrance. “But don’t be fooled by my appearance. I know a few things about magic.”
“Yes, I can imagine.” Scelestus glanced derisively around the cottage. Wick raised her wand at Scelestus, and while it was puny enough to make the sorceress laugh, Scelestus bit her tongue and smiled sweetly at her. “There’s no need for that, at least not yet. I’m looking for someone who belongs to me, and as soon as you return her to me, I can be out of your hair. No harm done.”
“There’s no one else here,” Wick said honestly.
“I’m sure that’s true.” Scelestus looked around again. “There isn’t enough room here to hide anything. But I’m certain that you know where she is.”
“I don’t know anything, and I can’t help you,” Wick told her evenly.
“Now listen here, you pitiful wench, I want what is mine.” Scelestus swirled her hand in front of her, waggling her fingers until a ball of fire appeared in the palm of her hand. “I will burn this place down, destroying every last bit of this little haven you’ve made for yourself, if you don’t tell me where the girl is.”
“I don’t know where she is!” Wick shouted. “And if you burn this down, I’ll destroy you.”
“Destroy me?” Scelestus threw back her head and cackled, and the sound sent chills down Wick’s spine. The instant she heard it, she realized exactly who Scelestus was.
“You’re that horrible gypsy woman!” Wick’s hand trembled, and she had to fight to keep the wand steady on her. “Your clothes are nicer, your makeup is better, but you’re still that haggard old woman underneath it all!”
Scelestus narrowed her eyes at Wick, taking a moment to place her. It had been more than ten years since she’d lived as a traveling gypsy, practicing her sorcery in dirty rags in dark alleys. She had struggled for so long, until she met the lovely Lady Iris walking through the town. Scelestus did a simple trick for her, and Iris had been so pleased, she paid her with a ruby. It was then that Scelestus decided she would have the Lady’s life, even if it meant that she had to take her life to get it.
“You’re Iris’s confidant?” Scelestus smiled wider. “You’re the one she went to, to save herself when she realized that I was coming after her. That’s how she got that ridiculous bag of parlor tricks that did nothing to help her.” Scelestus laughed again, growing louder and more delighted. “She went to you for help, and you gave her nothing. She died because you weren’t strong enough to help her!”
“No.” Wick gritted her teeth and gripped her wand tightly. Already, she was drawing her energy up, calling everything she had and building it inside her. “She came to me, and I told her how to stop you, how to kill you, but Iris would never resort to that. She refused to stoop to your level. You took advantage of her innocence and her charity. But I am not nearly as kind or forgiving as she would be.”
“You failed at preventing me from killing her, and now you’re going to fail at pr
eventing me from killing her daughter.” The fire ball in her band burned brighter, and Scelestus raised her hand, preparing to throw it and burn the cottage down.
Before she had a chance, Wick’s wand glowed blue and shimmered. A beam of light flashed out of it, enveloping Scelestus, freezing her in place. She struggled against it, her mouth contorting in rage and pain, but Wick was using all her might to hold her.
“Invictus evictum!” Wick shouted and flicked the wand.
Scelestus went flying through window, shattering glass and splintering wood. Her body slammed hard against a tree several yards from the cottage, and she slumped down on the ground. Jinn ran to her side as quickly as he was able, and at first, he thought she was dead. Scelestus lay immobile, her eyes shut, with a thin line of blood dripping from her mouth.
“My Lady!” Jinn wailed, touching her shoulder, and Scelestus’s eyes shot open. “Thank the gods that you’re alive!”
“Of course I’m alive, you dimwit!” Scelestus struggled to get up and snapped her fingers at him. “Help me up!” She put her arm around Jinn, and he helped her to her feet.
“What happened?” Jinn asked carefully. “Did you find the girl?”
“Does it look like I have the girl?” Scelestus wiped at the blood on her lips and glared back at the cottage.
“No, I’m sorry, Mistress.” He bowed his head in shame. “Did you destroy the witch?”
“No. Not today.” She turned away from the cottage and walked in the other direction, toward the palace.
Wick had drained Scelestus of her power, and all of her muscles ached and burned. It would take all of her strength to get them home, and she’d have to wait a few moments before she could recharge her magic enough to do that. It had been far too long since Scelestus had battled with anyone.
She considered going back to finish Wick, since the fight had undoubtedly drained her too, but Wick didn’t have the girl. In a few days, when Scelestus successfully recaptured Lily, she would have more than enough power to do away with Wick, and anyone else who crossed her. But for now, she was old, tired, and painfully mortal. Her time would best be spent back in her chambers, using the cauldron to track down Lily.
Wick had used all of her energy to cast Scelestus out of her cottage. She had wanted to kill her, but she had never done well with the dark arts. As soon as she’d sent her away, Wick went to her grimoira, looking for a spell to destroy Scelestus.
She had to drag herself to the table. Her muscles felt weak like jelly, and her mind had gone hazy. Even her vision blurred, and she found it hard to see the words on the pages. She cursed herself for growing stale and complacent living in the woods. Most of her practice went into potions and holistic cures, and it’d been years since she had used actual magic like that.
All her attention was focused on trying to find a way to kill Scelestus and get revenge for Iris’s murder. She had entirely forgotten how this had started until she heard the howling. To the layman, it sounded like wolves, but more menacing, like a howl mixed with a mad man laughing. That was the calling card of the canu.
The canu were a pack of hybrid demon dogs, and they worked for Valefor and his peccati. Scelestus would be the least of her worries if Valefor had gotten involved. Too late, Wick realized the canu were howling happily, the way they did when the caught their prey.
“Lily.”
8
Lily ran through the forest, Wick’s cloak billowing out around her. She heard the sounds of the forest around her, groaning and yearning, and the branches scraped against the cloth, but none of them touched her. The moon had been huge and full, but clouds rolled over it, blotting out its precious light. She could hardly see in front of her and narrowly missed running smack into a tree several times.
The flap of wings echoed in the sky above her, but she kept her course as straight as possible. She didn’t know where she was going or what she would do when she got there, but she knew she had to keep going. Wick had possibly sacrificed herself for her, and Lily couldn’t let that be in vain.
The only time she stopped was when she heard a booming sound behind her, coming from the cottage. She’d already gone too far to see the cottage itself through the trees, but she turned around anyway. Dazzling blue light spiraled through the sky, and Lily watched with awe for a moment before it disappeared.
She didn’t know what it meant, but when Wick had saved her from the charuns, her wand had cast out blue light similar to that. It had been on a much smaller scale, of course, but she had to believe that Wick had vanquished whoever came looking for Lily.
Staring in the direction of the now darkened cottage, Lily chewed her lip and tried to decide what to do. If Wick had done away with the assailant, then she had no reason to continue running away. On the other hand, if Wick hadn’t, Lily might walk into a terrible situation and only make things worse. But she maybe could help Wick if she went back. Or if she kept going, she’d be out of Wick’s hair and stop being a burden to her.
Then the decision was made for her.
Lily had grown accustomed to the sounds of the horrible little monsters that scurried about the forest floor. She rarely saw them, but she knew their grumbles and chirps and padded footsteps. When she heard the sound of heavy ragged breathing, she knew immediately that it was something else entirely.
The enclosure of the trees made it hard to tell how far away they were, or even how many, but it sounded like a lot to Lily. Even their breathing was angry, and it was often interrupted by growling or the sounds of teeth of gnashing. The air smelled faintly of burning, like the scent after a flame had been extinguished.
She soon realized that they weren’t breathing heavy; they were sniffing, searching for something. Her heart pounded in her chest and her hair stood up on the back her neck. If she could smell them that meant that they could probably smell her.
One of the beasts howled, a deep, resonating sound mixed with a strange cackle. The sky was filled with the sound of charuns flapping their wings, dispersing into the night. Even they were frightened of the beasts. In the shadows, Lily couldn’t see much of anything, but she knew they were there – she sensed the shift of movement, the heavy sound of their feet pounding the ground, and their excited breathing as they approached.
Lily turned and ran for her life.
Her legs moved as quickly as they could, churning underneath her, but she knew it wasn’t fast enough. They howled again, and it sounded much closer than it had before. She heard their feet pounding, a rabid pack of movement, and she darted around trees, trying to make her path as confusing as possible.
She rounded a tree, and there the beast was, right in front of her. Her feet skidded on the muddy ground, and she nearly flew right into it, stopping mere inches from its growling muzzle. The clouds parted enough for the moon to shine down on them, the light glinting off the massive incisors in its jaws.
It vaguely resembled a dog, but it was much too large, standing almost as tall as Lily when it was on all fours. The beast was hairless, and its skin appeared to be charred leather. The paws were as large as her head, with opposable toes and claws, like a cat’s, so it could hold or tear things apart. Its long tail moved like a monkey’s and had a forked end. The eyes were pure black, without any white rimming the pupil.
Lily stepped back, and she felt hot breath blowing on her cloak. Another one of the dogs was behind her, and when she turned around, she realized that four of them had surrounded her. She had nowhere to run, not that she could outrun them.
“Easy.” She held up her hands palm out to them, moving in a slow circle so she could keep her eyes on all of them. “Please, let’s all just stay calm.” One of the beasts growled and stepped toward her. “Stop!”
She wrapped the cloak more tightly around her, hoping that some of its magic would ward them off. They hadn’t torn her to bits yet, but other than eating her, she didn’t know what else they could possibly want with her.
The beast kept walking forward, and Lily had no
choice but to step back. The one behind her moved to the side so she could get by. They moved together, walking as a pack in front of her, so she’d keep walking backwards. They were herding her along, and she stumbled over branches and tree roots, refusing to take her eyes off them. Unlike the charun, they acted like they knew what they were doing, like they wanted her to do something or go somewhere.
Her heart raced in her chest, and she knew she didn’t want to be a part of whatever they had planned. They snarled and growled as saliva dripped from their teeth. They looked ravenous, and her instincts told her they wanted nothing more than to eat her alive. But for some reason, they didn’t. Their muscles trembled with restraint as they sniffed and huffed at her.
Lily decided that her only chance of survival was trying to make a break for it. She wasn’t as fast as they were, but she was much smaller. If she darted and weaved enough, going through small crevices in the trees, she might be able to lose them. As she walked backward, grabbing onto trees to keep her balance, she noticed a hollow log on its side. Maybe she could hide in there, or at least get a head start crawling through it.
As soon as she thought she was close enough, she turned and bolted toward the log. She’d barely made it four steps when a giant paw slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground. Its claws tore the cloak and ripped into her soft flesh, not enough to maul her but enough to send pain shooting through her body. She would’ve screamed, but the weight of the beast pushed her face into the mud. She breathed dirt, and she couldn’t even cough it up.
Just before she became certain she’d suffocate in the ground, the weight lessened on her body so she could lift her head up. She could still feel the paw, holding her in place should she try to run, but she could breathe again. Lily coughed hard, causing her body to spasm painfully. Her back screamed at her, but she tried to push herself up anyway. The dog growled and dug his claws in deeper, reminding her that he had control.
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