by Lauren Quick
There were multiple sets of tracks surrounding the cabin, including footprints, wolf prints, and dozens of crisscrossing snowcraft tracks. Nothing stood out to Honora as particularly witchy about the prints—no high-heeled boots, no smaller prints, nothing unusual about them except for a crust of ice that engulfed the entire yard and clung to the roof. Honora remembered Rosalyn’s mention of the harsh weather, especially the ice. Could the beginning of the winter thaw be the cause of it? Possibly, but why so much ice on Ren’s cabin?
Something wasn’t adding up.
The fastest way to find Ren was to use magic. Honora had about a half-dozen locator spells memorized. Finding lost things like witches, wizards, and valuables was her bread and butter when she was first starting out as a P.I., but she never thought she’d have to use her talents to find her boyfriend. She went to Ren’s bedroom in search of a personal item, something that contained a strong energy signature.
At first she was going to grab a piece of clothing or maybe one of the many stone talismans he wore around his neck on leather cords, but as she sifted through a wooded bowl filled with the necklaces, she changed her mind. She needed something stronger, more personal. That’s when she went to a special closet Ren kept in the back of his house near the door. She swept open the closet doors, revealing a display of enchanted axes. The magical ax was revered in the North Woods, and Ren cherished his collection. There was a small ax she particularly liked. It had a wide curved blade and a short handle and when she held it in her hands it hummed with magical energy.
This was the one, but it wasn’t the only thing she was taking with her.
If Honora was going to go out into the North Woods, she wasn’t going unprepared. She grabbed a thick canvas bag and loaded it with a few additional axes she could handle and a thick round shield. Ren also stocked pine flares and warming stones that Honora loaded into the bag. Satisfied with her gear, Honora carried Ren’s small ax outside and placed it on the icy ground at her feet. Next she waved her wand and mumbled the words to the locator spell. The ax responded immediately, lifted off the ground, and flew through the air until slamming into a tree a few feet away.
Honora felt a sense of relief that her locator spell was reliable. “Looks like I’m headed in that direction,” she said adjusting her flying goggles and heading off into the dark woods.
The spelled ax led her deep into the forest until falling with a thud to the ground. The magic was spent. The locator spell had nothing left to offer her. But it didn’t matter. Welling with hope, Honora could sense Ren’s nearness. She circled the area. The moon was full and bright overhead and her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. If she hadn’t been searching for something—a hideout, a camp, anything—she might have missed the clearing. Huge pines surrounded a sliver of open space in between the thick tree trunks, a vast white snowscape. A glittering ice fort caught Honora’s attention and made her pulse surge.
Ren was down there.
On closer inspection Honora noticed the ground in front of the fort was slick with a vast frozen pool surrounding a huge throne made entirely of ice. Balls of illuma light filled the clearing, creating shimmering halos. Honora lowered her body into the tops of the pine trees to camouflage herself, though she didn’t notice anyone around. She drifted closer to the clearing, but stopped short when she noticed a gigantic ice cage suspended from one of the trees a few yards away from the throne. A figure was slumped inside the cage.
“Ren,” Honora whispered, but repressed her desire to fly to his side.
After being snagged by a magical trap more than once when she was a rookie P.I., Honora knew better than to rush to the rescue. Before flying too close, she surveyed the area with a quick magical scan and found the perimeter was free of traps or alarms, but she also found the lack of magic highly suspicious. Who would kidnap a wizard and have no protection, no warning, just an ice cage to keep Ren captive?
Honora flew to the cage and their eyes met. She swallowed hard. His face was haggard, eyes drooping.
“Ren, how are you?” Her brow creased with concern. She rummaged in the duffel bag and pulled out the warming stones, slipping them through the bars to him. “Are you hurt badly?”
He cringed when he shifted his weight, moving closer to her, taking the stones, and mumbling the spell to ignite them before answering. “I’m fine. A little bruised, but not too badly.” A crust of dried blood had formed at the corner of his mouth and under his nose. Whatever happened, he hadn’t gone along quietly.
“Did you really think I’d let you stand me up on our date?” she said, trying to add a little levity to their circumstances. She pulled off her glove and touched his bearded cheek through the bars.
“How’d you find me?” he asked, leaning his head against the cage.
“I’m an investigator, remember?” She arched her brow. “But more importantly tell me what happened. Who did this to you?”
He blinked slowly, recalling the ordeal. “She’s an ex. Her name’s Trix. We dated for about a year. It ended six months ago. Last week out of the blue she sent me a strange and very troubling gift with a cryptic note.”
“You mean the heart with a nail driven through it, I presume?” A shiver ran up her back just thinking of the battered heart.
“You saw that?” He struggled to his knees.
“Yes, I did. You sure can pick them.”
“I thought it was nothing. I wasn’t even sure it was from her, so I ignored it, which turned out to be a big mistake.”
While Ren was talking, Honora turned her attention to the lock on the cage door.
“Trix showed up tonight at my cabin. I’ve never seen her act so irrationally before. She was so angry, literally fuming at me for some perceived slight I made toward her. She wanted me to come with her to her new house and when I refused, she attacked me and Timber.” He leaned his head back and sighed. “Poor Timber.”
“Don’t worry. I got the bleeding stopped on his wounds and sent for help. He should be fine once the healer attends to him.” At least Honora hoped he would, but she needed Ren to stay focused. “We can help Timber after we get you out of this cage. Your ex really did a number on the lock.” Honora attempted numerous lock-picking spells but nothing worked. She pulled a small silver wand out of a special pocket sewn into her jacket. It was her new lock-picking wand she’d specially designed. She slipped the needle-thin tip into the lock and muttered a spell. Unfortunately, not even her new wand was working.
“This thing is frozen solid. Did you see a key anywhere?” Honora asked.
“She doesn’t need a key,” he said, his body was limp, shoulders sagging. His expression was weary. His eyes were watery and bloodshot and his cheeks bright pink. Despite the stones, the cold was getting to him. Honora needed to work fast or her boyfriend would end up with hypothermia.
Ren’s focus went to the ice fort. “I don’t know what’s happened to Trix or why she would do this. She’s one of the kindest witches I know.”
“Witches change. Maybe she’s been harboring a grudge and you never knew it. Something happened to make her snap, and she came after you. What she did is no joke. This is serious. Right now, I don’t care why she did it. I only care about getting you out of this cage and getting you home.” Frustrated, Honora slammed the lock against the cage.
“We can’t leave.” Ren hobbled to his feet, urgency filled his face. “Not until I find out what’s wrong with her.”
“Are you crazy? She threatened and then attacked and kidnapped you. She almost killed your familiar. We’re getting you out of the cage and home.” Honora rifled through her pack and pulled out one of the axes she brought. It felt good to swing the ax at the lock, repeatedly, releasing pent-up aggression. Unfortunately, the lock was impenetrable, and she didn’t know enough earth magic spells to activate the runes and take the ax to the next lev
el.
“What is this thing made of? I think she’s created an unbreakable lock. You’re ax isn’t working.” She pulled up, sweat beading on her brow. Ren had slumped to the floor of the cage. His head cocked toward her, his expression darkening as if suddenly realizing what Honora was doing.
“No! You can’t break it! She’ll know. Stop hitting the ice.” His bloodshot eyes widened with fear. This witch had really done a number on him. Honora worried he wasn’t thinking clearly.
She glanced over to the throne and fort, but there was no movement. “I don’t see her anywhere. Who is this witch?”
“You don’t understand. It’s too late. She probably already knows you’re here,” he said, grasping the icy bars of the cage.
“There were no wards. I checked and I’m not that loud. How will she know?” Honora cringed and bit her bottom lip, realizing suddenly what this witch was. “She’s an elemental.”
“She’s an ice elemental.”
Hovering in the air, Honora spun around. “She’s not here yet. It just means I need to work faster.” If Honora couldn’t use the ax, she decided to go to the source and flew to the branch of the tree that held the cage.
Ren glanced up and watched her work. “This isn’t like Trix, I swear, something’s wrong. You have to help her.”
“Help her? I’m about to kick her frozen butt. Help is not in the program.” Honora scoffed, inspecting the limb for the weakest part. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was a bit too noble for her taste, even for Ren.
“You don’t understand. It’s been a rough winter for all of us. We’ve had numerous thaws and refreezes. Winter just won’t break. I’m sure that has something to do with the weird way she’s been acting. I think she’s sick.” He grasped the bars of his cage.
After finding the weak spot on the branch, Honora flew to Ren. His lips trembled, turning blue. Ren’s concern for Trix was admirable, which was a nice way of treating an ex, but he needed to get real and face facts.
“Trix’s behavior isn’t normal. She’s gone beyond weird, Ren. She’s gone criminal. She’s kidnapped you in a crazy attempt to have you all to herself. She’s clearly got some problems. You don’t have to defend her to me.”
“Honora, you don’t understand. She’s not the same witch I knew. She’s sick, really sick.”
Honora pulled her wand out of her jacket pocket and pointed it at the tree limb. “Ren, I need you to be ready. I’m going to break the branch and then levitate the cage to the ground, be ready to brace yourself in case the cage falls too quickly. Do you have your wand?”
“No, it’s back at the cabin. Just promise me we’ll help Trix after you get me out of here.”
Honora tried not to roll her eyes as she raised her wand, but something in the trees moved suddenly snaking toward her. It was too late. A slick black vine tangled around Honora’s leg, violently yanked her off balance, and pulled her through the clearing toward the throne, where an angry witch now sat.
“Honora!” Ren yelled, but his voice trailed behind her.
Honora was thrown to the forest floor and dragged across the ground for a few painful seconds before getting her bearings and lifting herself off the hard icy surface. Though still being yanked along, at least she was in the air. Frustration pulsed through her. Honora had let her guard down and now she was caught in a trap. Towering above her, the glittering throne sat in the ice-encrusted clearing. Huge glassy shards driven into the ground shot skyward in an impressive display. Ice steps surrounded the huge chair. Honora came to a sudden halt and righted herself, her feet hovering above the ground still tethered to the witch—the ice elemental.
Honora crossed her arms over her chest and stared down a formidable witch dressed in a sleek white snowsuit. A giant snowy white cat sat by her side. Trix was both gorgeous and horrifying. The whites of her eyes were entirely red, her skin so pale it was practically blue. Her lips were bright pink but cracked and peeling. Her long black hair jutted out of her head in a snaky halo. The vine around Honora’s ankle wasn’t a vine at all, but a long tendril of the witch’s hair that sprouted from her head like a long whip. More hair fanned out in what looked like a thousand strands of stinging currents.
“Whoa. Nice hair,” Honora said with just a hint of sarcasm. “Must be a real pain to condition.” She’d heard of rare witches who could grow their hair right out of their head at will. It was an interesting, though kind of pointless persuasion, but Trix had taken it to another level.
The ice cracked in a thundering sound as tree branches shivered and snapped and the icy coating on them broke and rained to the ground. The ice elemental waved her thin arms in the air and the shards shifted, liquefied, and reformed underneath Honora in a bed of sharp daggers. A second loss of altitude and she’d be impaled on an icy dagger. Honora swallowed. Perhaps antagonizing Trix wasn’t a good idea. The witch had talent, but Ren might be right about her being sick. His ex didn’t look good.
Trix spoke in a deep husky voice. “You’re in my forest, pretty witch. And I don’t like it when witches wander into my territory. State your business.” Her red eyes narrowed, her gaze razor sharp.
It was a small relief that Trix didn’t know Honora was Ren’s new girlfriend and she decided it was prudent to keep it that way.
“I was seeking a guide and was told Ren was the best. When he wasn’t at the address given to me, I came searching for him. I have no intention to harm anyone or trespass in your territory,” Honora said, biting back her real response. “Please accept my apology.”
Trix’s face flared with anger. She rose from her throne and pulled Honora close to her at ground level. The witch smelled sour, like milk gone bad. “You’re lying. Ren is mine. You came to steal him from me. I can sense your deception.”
Seeing a chance for a quick strike, Honora whispered a splitting spell and when Trix’s hair suddenly loosened, she thrust her body skyward and flew as hard as she could. The vine of hair chased her as Honora circled as many trees as she could, tangling the hair, attempting to incapacitate the witch. Thinking she’d gotten the upper hand on Trix, excitement raced through Honora until a second vine of hair shot upward and twisted around her neck. Honora choked, thrashing her body under the tightening noose. Her throat constricted, lungs burning. The sky spun above her. A winged shadow coasted overhead. Barnaby! He’d finished his job and found her. Honora’s eyes fluttered.
“No! Trix, please stop!” Ren yelled. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. I’m yours. Let this witch alone. She means nothing to me.”
Trix’s head whipped around at the sound of his voice, his words appeasing her and she loosened the threads binding Honora’s throat. The hair vines receded but shards of icicles fell from the trees above, surrounding Honora with icy bars. She’d gone from one trap to another.
“I will give you one last chance to speak,” Trix said. “But I want the truth.”
Honora coughed, catching her breath. She’d overestimated her ability to fight an ice elemental in her own territory. “He’s right. It’s true I came north to see Ren, but I must have gotten the wrong impression about us. It’s obvious that our relationship wasn’t real and he’s with you now.” It was as close to the truth as Honora was willing to go.
Trix stepped back to her throne and stroked the head of her familiar, which looked like a sleek white mountain lion. “Ren is a desirable wizard. His magical skills are unsurpassed as is his devotion. You will not be seeing him anymore. Not today or ever.”
“No problem. I can be on my way. Turns out I’m not adjusting well to all the cold and ice. I should head back to town.” Which was also true. Honora had not adjusted well to the frigid weather and couldn’t imagine being an ice elemental. She needed to regroup and get reinforcements if she was going to save Ren.
Trix eyed her up and down. �
�Your flying magic is strong, but as a witch you are weak. The North Woods are not a place for you.”
Honora flashed the most sincere fake smile she had in her repertoire of facial expressions. “So you’ll let me go?”
Trix barked with laughter. “That’s unlikely. The woods are too dangerous for a novice like you. You will stay. I’ll prepare a cage for you.”
Fear bloomed inside Honora. “But it’s too cold. We won’t make it through the night,” she said, hoping to sway her captor. Ren wouldn’t last much longer in the cage.
With a flick of her wrist and a mumble of spells, Trix created a hanging cage for Honora made from ice that she grew right off the tree limbs. Honora felt sick to her stomach. She needed to get out of there. Watching Trix melt and reform the ice into the shape of a cage gave her an idea. Trix needed to dissolve the icy bars surrounding Honora to get her inside of the new cage. She felt the icicle bars turning slick as Trix manipulated the ice. She’d only have a few seconds when the ice melted, enough for her to squeeze through and attempt an escape.
Honora needed a distraction. She searched for Barnaby, who was perched in the trees behind the ice elemental and held eye contact with her familiar. She hovered a few inches off the ground and pressed against the wet ice as it melted and shifted. Feeling the bars give, Honora signaled with a quick two-fingered gesture and Barnaby dove at the witch, attacking her from behind.
Without missing a beat, Honora pushed forward, slipped the bars, and raced toward the forest. When she was young, she’d combined her flying technique with a running motion that gave her a quicker take off without immediately gaining altitude. She flung her body forward, running, then coasting low, barely above the ground until reaching the trees.
