Nighttime Ventures
I sat up in my bed, leaning against the wall. In one hand, I held the second Azura book. In the other, a lit candle. My eyes burned as I struggled to make out the words on the flickering pages. I’ll just finish this chapter, I thought, my mind slow with sleep, one more, then I’ll go to sleep. I shivered slightly in the cold, nighttime air, turning the page clumsily as I read on. “Azura crept through the damp tomb,” I murmured lowly, reading aloud to keep myself awake, “her noble courage began to waver as the ghosts of Gaude materialized around her, wailing their deathly sins. They reached towards Azura, wanting her life for th-”
SLAM!
I jumped with a scream, my book falling to the floor as hot wax splashed onto my arm. “Mierda!” I yelped, vainly scrubbing my arm with my free hand, “santa mierda que duele!”
A chuckle came from the doorway, making me freeze. My head shot up, relaxing when I saw Eda standing in the threshold. “Sorry Luz,” she said, not looking very sorry at all, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I gingerly set the candle down on the nightstand, glaring at the amused witch. “Sure you didn’t,” I retorted, sarcasm thick in my voice, “That’s why you threw the door open, to not give me a heart attack.” I retrieved my book from the floor, marking my page before setting it down by the candle.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that statement,” Eda said with a shrug. She drew a spell circle, making me sigh in relief as the wax evaporated from my skin. “Now,” she continued, “get dressed. It’s time for your first lesson.”
My eyes went wide, and I jumped out of bed, no longer tired as I bounced over to her excitedly. “You’ll teach me do to magic?! Finally! But why now? It’s the middle of the night.”
Eda rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t sleep, that’s why. Plus, you’re much too annoying during the day.”
“Gee, thanks,” I deadpanned. “So,” I began, grinning, “does that make you a night owl? Ha! Get it?! ‘Cause you’re the Owl Lady!”
Eda scowled darkly, turning on her heel and walking away. “Nope, I change my mind. Go back to bed.”
“No, wait!” I called after her desperately. “I’ll be right down!” I quickly threw on a pair of shoes, black sweatpants, and a purple hoodie, charging down the stairs to find Eda sitting at the table. “What are you gonna teach me?” I asked excitedly, grabbing a granola bar from the kitchen before sitting across from the witch. “Oh! How about some dark, forbidden magic that will emotionally scar me for life!”
She snorted. “Kid, that kind of stuff would kill you,” she paused, tapping her chin in thought, “Although… after that pun I’m not sure I would mind.”
I rolled my eyes, stuffing my face as I waited for her to continue.
And she did, albeit with a long sigh. “However, you’re more useful alive than dead. Well, that and I don’t want to be stuck with your ghost for all of eternity.”
I grinned, nodding in agreement “Yeah. I would definitely haunt you.”
Ignoring my comment, she stood and walked to the door, picking up her staff before heading outside.
I quickly stood, shoving the last of my late-night breakfast into my mouth and following her, closing the door behind me and looking around, straining to spot the witch in the nearly pitch-black night. A soft, golden glow appear to my left, and I turned to find Eda standing by the cliff, a light spell hovering at her shoulder as she waited for me. I walked over to her, standing beside her silently as I gazed into the water below.
Without a word, Eda cast another spell, making me inhale sharply as I was pulled over the cliff. Panic took over, and I clung to Eda, my eyes closed tightly. “Kid, let go,” she complained gruffly, “you’re not falling.”
I peeked open an eye, straightening as I saw the narrow beach slowly drifting closer. After a moment, we alighted safely on the sand, Eda removing my arms from herself as soon as we touched down. I gazed around curiously, trying to figure out why we were down here. The beach was awash in a faint, purple light, and the still air resonated with the gentle sound of waves breaking on the shore.
“This is the Boiling Sea,” said Eda, speaking softly, “as its name suggests, the waters reach boiling temperatures during the day, enough to melt the flesh off your bones.” She touched her hand subconsciously, wincing at the memory of some old pain. “It’s perfectly safe at night, however, though it is still a fair deal warmer than the seas in your realm.” She crouched down at the shoreline, just out of reach of the questing water.
I sat down beside her, curiously putting one hand in the water. As Eda said, it was warm, though not enough to hurt. There was a minute of silence, and I stared out over the sloping sea, blinking as I noticed a faint, purple gleam in the coming waves, dissipating as they broke on the shore. “What is that?” I asked, pointing it out to Eda.
Eda smiled, putting out her light with a snap of her fingers. The lights in the waves surged, gaining brightness as the night got darker, until it became a swirling mosaic of purple shades. I sucked in a breath, awestruck by the sight. “It’s beautiful…” I murmured. Eda nodded beside me.
“I’ve read books from your world,” she began, leaning back on her arms, “humans have no concept of what magic is. It’s not a gift, nor a random occurrence of fate, it has logic and meaning behind it, just like all things.” She paused, looking up at the dim stars before continuing. “The Isles are of the body of a fallen Titan, ancient beings of demonic origin. As it died, its blood gushed out, reacting with the sea and creating magical energy as we know it. Over the years, rain spread that energy over the body of the Titan; causing genetic mutations in the flora and fauna that grew from the remains. The boiling rain also broke down the body, making its surface survivable.
When witches migrated here, they found it swarming with demons, and they would have left immediately if not for the magic here. Over the years, they learned how to channel it through themselves, giving them the power needed to fight back hostile demons. Annnd blah blah blah, centuries went by, now here we are.”
I sat silently, slowly processing the flood of information. Finally, I turned to Eda. “So, what were the Titans? Where did they all go?” I asked curiously.
Eda shrugged. “No one knows, they just disappeared or died off. There are other Isles out there, I’ve been to a few.”
I frowned, thinking over that. “Is that where the witches came from? Other Isles?”
“Nope,” said Eda, “There used to be a mainland, but the Titans dying in the sea caused the water levels to rise exponentially. As far as I know, the Titans are the only landmasses left.”
I nodded slowly, mulling it over before a new thought occurred to me. “How did the first witches learn magic?” I asked excitedly.
Eda scowled, her ears pinning down. “I don’t know, unfortunately. When Emperor Belos rose to power, he had all the records made by wild witches burned. There’s nothing left, and believe me, I’ve searched.”
I slouched with a disappointed sigh. “So that’s it then,” I said gloomily, “I’ll never be able to learn magic.”
Eda turned to me, a glint in her eyes. “No,” she said firmly, “I know there has to be some forgotten way to channel magical energy, otherwise we witches wouldn’t be able to perform it either.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, responding, “but don’t you have some physical difference that lets you use magic? That’s what you told me when I first met you.”
Eda nodded. “That’s the thing, over time we adapted to use magic. Eventually, we developed a growth protruding off our hearts, called a bile sack. It pulls in magical energy from our environment and allows us to channel it through our body to use it to cast spells. Before that, there would have had to be another way.”
“Huh,” I said, intrigued. A cold gust of wind hit me, making me shiver. “So, why did you bring me out here, exactly? We could have had this conversation inside the nice, warm house,” I complained, rubbing my arms in an effort to warm myself up.
The witch rolled her eyes, cuffing the back of my head. “Because,” she said in the slow voice of someone talking to an idiot, “The sea is the source of all magic, weren’t you listening? If there’s any way for you to learn to use magic, you’d find it here.”
“Oh,” I said dumbly. “Yeah, that make sense.”
Eda shook her head, muttering something unflattering under her breath. “I’m so glad you understand,” she deadpanned, “now, go into the water.”
“What?” I said, surprised. “Eda! I’ll freeze!”
She groaned, slapping a hand against her forehead. “I swear, you’re even more bone-headed at night! It’s the Boiling Sea, it’s warm, nitwit!”
I smiled sheepishly. “Ohh, right. Oops.” Standing, I stripped down to my boyshorts and bra, hissing through my teeth as the frigid air hit me and throwing my clothes down beside a very grumpy Eda. With that, I turned and walked into the sea, relaxing as the warm temperature shed the cold from my bones. A couple feet in, I paused, turning back to face Eda nervously. “There’s nothing in here that’ll eat me, right?”
She shrugged, uncaring. “Probably not. Just don’t swim towards anything living.”
“Wow!” I exclaimed, glaring at the witch, “it’s truly remarkable how unhelpful that is.”
Eda merely motioned for me to keep moving in response. I rolled my eyes, continuing my trudge into the water. Once it was up to my stomach, I stopped, sinking until the water lapped at my chin. I smiled, enjoying the warmth. Taking a breath, I dunked my head under the water, my eyes narrowed as I ignored the burning salt water and looked around. The water was lit purple, minerals amongst the sand shining white as they reflected the light. About thirty feet out, the sea floor dropped off sharply; the sloping shoreline giving way to open water.
I resurfaced, releasing my breath as I rubbed my burning eyes, wincing at the pain. I shook out my hair, pushing the short locks out of my face so that I could see. The small, purple waves hit me gently, lifting my body up each time in an odd, syncopated rhythm. Curiously, I reached out a hand, trying to grab the purple light. “Ay dios mio…” I muttered in awe as it swept right through my hand, illuminating it from the inside before exiting again, keeping time with the water as it continued to the shore. Another wave went past, making me frown in thought as I noticed that this time the light parted around me, not passing through as it had before. I wonder…
I reached out again as the next wave drew near, this time focusing again on the magic in it. The light entered my skin, making me grin. I started moving backwards towards the shore, keeping pace with the wave as I studied the glow coming from my hand. It appeared to lie just under my skin, pulsing softly as if it were breathing. As I gazed at it, a shape began to form; thin, golden lines faded out of the purple light, still pulsing in time with the rest. I gasped, my eyes widening in shock as they darted over the glyph-like figure. In my focus, I stumbled over something in the sand, falling with a splash into the water.
I quickly stood up, frantically scanning my hand for any sign of the light. To my disappointment, it was gone. But exhilaration rapidly took over, and I spun towards Eda, charging out of the water in my enthusiasm. “Eda!” I crowed, “I saw something! In the light!”
Eda stood, grinning as she shared in my excitement. “Great job, kid! I knew you could do it. What did it look like?”
I grabbed a nearby stick of driftwood, kneeling and drawing in the sand the glyph I had seen. “Kinda like a person,” I said as I worked, “It had a line down the center, a circle on top with a little triangular hat. There was another, bigger triangle extended from the base of the circle to about where the legs would be. And… two angled, parallel lines at the torso.” I paused, studying it with a slight frown before perking up. “Oh! And there was a circle around the whole thing!”
I stood, stepping back beside Eda. It was silent for a moment, then I glanced up at Eda. “What do you think it means?”
She was still staring at it, going over the shape with sharp eyes. “Hmmm,” she pondered, tracing it in the air with one hand, “I’d guess that it’s the written symbol for either light or water. But if that’s the case, then it should be activated by now…” She frowned, thinking over the dilemma. “Oh, I know!” She said, snapping a finger, “try drawing another circle around it. We use circles to channel magic, so maybe it’s the same here.”
I nodded, hurriedly doing as she suggested. I watched it for a second, then turned back to the witch with a frown. “Nothing’s happening,” I said dejectedly, my shoulders slumping in disappointment.
She sighed, reaching out and ruffling my hair. “Don’t worry, kiddo. We’ll figure this out. Why don’t you go put your clothes back on so that you don’t freeze.”
I blinked, looking down to see that I was standing there in only my bra and boyshorts. “Oh, right,” I said. I tried to use my hands to rub my skin dry, not wanting to put clothes on while I was still wet.
Eda shook her head at my actions, reaching up a hand to draw a spell circle. The water on me suddenly evaporated with a dull hiss, giving me a second of warmth before a particularly chilly gust of wind hit me.
I shivered, clenching my jaw to stop my teeth from rattling. “Thanks, Eda.” I went over to where I had thrown my clothes, shaking out the sand before putting them back on. That done, I moved back Eda, rubbing my hands vigorously along my arms to generate some warmth. “What are you thinking?” I asked her, practically able to see the gears in her brain turning.
“Well,” she began, “I think we need to take a step back. How were you able to see it?” She turned, watching me expectantly.
I cleared my throat, taking a moment to get my thoughts in order. “I kinda, focused on the light, I guess?” I rubbed my aching eyes, trying to think. “Like, when I focused on the light, it would physically pass through me, and my hand would turn purple. If I didn’t, it just parted around me. So, I focused on it while keeping time with the wave, and after a couple seconds that glyph appeared.” I finished, gesturing to my drawing in the sand.
Eda frowned, the gears picking up more speed. “So, even though you can’t channel magic,” she said slowly, “the energy still needed a connection to you, a physical substance, to gain physicality itself.” Her eyes lit up, “that must be it! Try touching it.”
I shrugged, completely lost in the conversation. Nevertheless, I reached down a hand and touched the glyph.
Immediately, the drawing flared into life, bright tracks of golden light racing to fill in the lines. I stumbled backwards in surprise, my wide eyes fixed on the glyph as it started to compress in on itself, the edges lifting into the air as it peeled away from the ground. After a moment, it was over. Floating above the space where the drawing had been was a small sphere of brilliant, golden light, pulsing softly.
A wild grin grew on my face, and I whipped my head to stare at Eda, my eyes shining. “Eda!!” I crowed jovially, vibrating with excitement, “I did it! I did magic!” I laughed raucously, jumping up and down erratically.
Eda laughed, smiling at me proudly. “Fantastic job, Luz! I told you you could do it!” She clapped her hands together, her smile turning feral. “Now, it’s time for part two of this lesson. Application!” With that, she drew a spell circle, sending a giant fireball flying towards me.
“Mierda!” I yelped, dodging on instinct, barely avoiding the deadly projectile. I stood there blankly as my mind tried to catch up on what the hell just happened, snapping back into focus as Eda hurled another fireball my way. I ducked out of the way with a scowl, throwing up my hands and glaring at the grinning witch. “What the fuck, Eda?!”
She cackled, drawing circle after circle in the air around her. “Until you learn counter spells, the best way for you to survive in a fight is to get used to not dying!” She paused, staring at me amusedly, her spells hovering like golden hoops around her. “Plus,” she added, “I get to throw fire at you!” She snapped her fingers, and her barrage was unleashed.
My jaw dropped at the shear amount of fire headed towards me. So, like any reasonable human would, I turned and ran; the sand trembling beneath my feet as fireballs crashed into it, sending molten glass spraying towards me. A stream of curses erupted from my mouth as Eda pulled alongside me, relaxing on her staff while I ran for my life. I glanced over at her, weaving slightly to avoid the fire on my heels. “You,” I panted, “are a terrible teacher.”
Eda merely shrugged, looking very content with this situation. “I disagree. Not dying is a very important life skill. You should be thanking me!”
Gritting my teeth in annoyance, I violently launched myself to the side, grabbing the top of Eda’s staff and using my weight to yank it down until it hit the ground, catapulting Eda off of it. My breath whooshed out of me as I landed hard on my stomach, making me grunt in pain. I lay still for a moment recovering, then slowly heaved myself up, still holding onto the staff in one hand. Looking back, I sighed in relief as I noticed that the fire had stopped.
“Good thinking, Luz!”
I turned back. Eda was walking back towards me, covered in sand and grinning.
“Maintaining spells requires concentration. If you surprise or distract a witch, their focus will be broken and the spell will dissolve.”
I chuckled, rubbing my head sheepishly. “I just wanted you to faceplant, that’s all.”
Eda rolled her eyes, taking back her staff and getting back on. “Okay,” she said, “enough practice. Let’s get you some experience!”
I took a step back, crossing my arms and eyeing the witch warily. “Experience, how…?” I asked hesitantly.
Eda snorted. “Don’t give me that look! We’re only gonna commit a small crime. Nothing to worry about.”
I shook my head, climbing on behind her and nearly falling right off again as we shot into the sky. Gripping the staff tightly, I tried to extract more information from Eda. “And what ‘small’ crime would that be, exactly?”
She shrugged, calling back, “relieving the local prison of some of its stolen contraband. It’ll be easy.”
“Alright, fine,” I sighed, wondering if I was going to regret getting on the staff.
After a few silent minutes, we landed on the top of a giant, grey-bricked castle. I looked around, perplexed. Turning back to Eda, I asked, “Shouldn’t there be guards? You said this was a prison.”
Eda chuckled and ruffled my hair, making me duck away with a squawk. “Silly human. Nobody escapes the Conformitorium, so they don’t need to have any guards. Now, any use of magic inside will set off an alarm, so stealth is imperative. I’ve done this before, so I’ll lead the way. Pay attention to your surroundings, 'cause if one of us gets spotted we’ll have to hightail it outta there. Got that?”
“I-”
“Great! Now let’s get going.” She opened a nearby hatch in the roof, climbing down the ladder and disappearing from view.
“Ah, fuck,” I muttered to myself as I started climbing down after her, “I’m definitely gonna regret this.”
We dropped off the ladder and into a narrow, dimly lit hallway. Eda took the lead, silently gesturing for me to follow. We wandered through the passageways, occasionally ducking out of sight as uniformed figures strolled past, obviously not alert nor expecting anyone. The winding corridors led us deep into the prison, though each new turn only revealed more grey tunnels. By this point, I was thoroughly lost. To my relief, Eda kept walking purposely forward, hardly hesitating at the many intersections.
Finally, we came to a large wooden door, and Eda stopped, carefully cracking it open and peeking inside. After a few tense seconds, she pushed it open wide, turning back and motioning me through with a grin. I entered cautiously, my jaw dropping as I looked around. We were now in a large, open room. The floor stretched out five more feet in front of us before sloping off, leading down a few more feet into a giant pit of stuff.
I heard the door clink closed behind me, and a couple seconds later Eda passed me, stretching as she headed for the pit. “Okay, kiddo!” she called back to me, “pick out whatever you want, the tab is on me.” With that, she started rummaging through the dump enthusiastically.
With a shrug, I moved to do the same. I walked carefully out into the pit, my arms out for balance as I meandered along, scanning the objects around me for anything of interest. For all the hundreds of thousands of items, I thought with a frown, there really isn’t much here.
After an hour of searching, I got bored, and decided to take a nap by the door while I waited for Eda to be done. The witch in question was still roaming around, stuffing objects into a sack. I started to drift back towards the exit, aimlessly eyeing the stuff I passed. My foot suddenly got caught on something, making me stumble forward with a yelp, windmilling my arms to try and catch my balance before falling heavily, my head bouncing off something hard. I flipped onto my back; my eyes closed tightly as I groaned in pain.
Eda’s laughter rang out from behind me. “Nice going, kid! You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied, rubbing my aching brow. “I hit my head pretty good though.” I could hear Eda’s footsteps draw steadily nearer, and I cracked open an eye as a shadow fell over me.
Eda stood above me, frowning. She silently reached out a hand, pulling me upright once I took it. Her eyes went to my head, and she winced sympathetically. “Oh, yeah. That looks like it hurts. Here.” She drew a spell circle, and the pain immediately dissipated, making me sigh in relief.
“Thank you,” I told her gratefully. Looking down to see what I landed on, I froze, reaching down and picking it up carefully. It was a small, grey, intricately carved wooden hawk. I turned, showing my find to Eda. “Is this a palisman?” I asked her shakily.
Her eyebrows rose at the sight of it, and she gently took it from me, turning it over to reveal an interlock on one of its feet. “Huh. It is,” she said, frowning, “we’ll have to take it with us. This isn’t a good place for this poor guy.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “But why is he here?”
Eda shrugged. “My best guess is that he got confiscated from a witch, and then got lost and thrown in with all this junk.” She carefully slipped him into her sack, turning back to me. “Alright. We’ll drop him off with the Bat Queen before heading home. She takes care of all abandoned palismans. Ready to go?”
I nodded, and we turned and headed to the door. We were only a few feet away from it when it suddenly slammed open, making both of us freeze. A guard stood facing us, equally frozen in his shock. Shaking herself into motion, Eda jumped onto her staff, grabbing my wrist and yanking me onto it as well before shoving the sack in my arms and taking off. We flew over the head of the surprised guard and out the door, but not fast enough. The guard came to his senses and jumped up, grabbing onto my ankle and dragging me off the staff. I fell with a pained yelp, dropping the sack and stretching out my arms to break my fall. I landed hard on my side, sliding a few feet from the guard’s throw. Before I could scramble up to escape, my limbs snapped together, not obeying my frantic efforts to move. I writhed around on the floor, trying in vain to break my magical bonds.
A low, empty chuckle sounded from the door, making me freeze. “Thought you got away, didn’t you?” taunted a male voice. Panic rose from a pit in my stomach, consuming any rational thoughts. “Well, you were wrong. Nothing gets past us. You’ll die for- ah! Stop it!”
Suddenly, I was free. I scrambled to my feet, backing away from the guard, who was swatting erratically around his face, clumsily trying to hit the grey blur that was mobbing him. Behind him, Eda came flying back towards me, body flat against her staff as she pushed for speed, teeth bared in a vengeful snarl. Owlbert hit the back of the guard’s head squarely, sending the man soaring gracefully through the air, only to land face-first in the dump, a spray of items erupting upwards at his impart.
Eda pulled to swinging stop beside me, her snarl fading as regret and concern overtook her features. “I’m so sorry, Luz. That damned hallway is so small, I couldn’t get turned around fast enough. Are you okay?”
I slowly nodded my head, my body trembling with nerves and adrenaline. “Ye-yeah,” I managed to stammer. “I’m alright. The palisman saved me.” As if I summoned him, the hawk landed on my shoulder, making me jump at the sudden noise and weight. I reached up slowly, gently petting his little head with a finger. “Thanks, carino,” I said softly, making him peep in response. I turned back to Eda, frowning. “That guard said he knew we were here. How could he have known that?”
Eda furrowed her eyebrows, thinking for a moment before slapping her forehead with a hand. “Oh, I’m so stupid. I cast that spell to heal you, it would have set off an alarm that told them exactly where we were. We gotta get out of here right now. This place will be swarming with those uptight assholes soon.”
I nodded, stiffly getting onto the staff behind her. Glancing at the bird on my shoulder, I said, “Hang on tight.” He peeped again, his talons digging into my skin, making me wince. Eda gave Owlbert a tap, and then we were off; flying swiftly through the maze of corridors, each turn a nauseatingly rapid change in direction. Every time we passed a guard, Eda blasted them with spells as we flew over, unwilling to have one of us pulled off again.
The walk that had taken us upwards of twenty minutes now flew by; the trapdoor coming into view after only a couple minutes. Eda turned sharply upright, barely straightening the staff in time as we hurled through the door, climbing a hundred feet in elevation before Eda finally leveled out her staff, slowing to half of the headlong speed we had been going. I let out a breath of relief, loosening my hands’ death grip on the staff and letting my trembling arms relax, aching from holding my body in place.
The hawk took off from my shoulder with a few loud flaps of his wings, steadying out to gliding along beside us. I marveled at him for a moment, the turned towards the horizon, where the sun was just starting to surface from the sea, its golden rays turning the dark sky vibrant with whirling shades of purple and orange. I suppressed a yawn, exhaustion crashing over me all at once.
After a few sleepy minutes, we descended into a dark forest, Owlbert slowing as we neared the yawning, black mouth of a cave. Once he came to a full stop, I gracelessly hopped off the staff, stumbling as I almost pitched onto my face before straightening. The hawk landed heavily on my shoulder and Eda came up to stand beside me, cupping her hands over her mouth and calling into the void.
“Bat Queen! It’s Edalyn Clawthorne. I need to speak with you, please.”
There was a long moment of silence, made longer by my tired mind. Then the sound of flapping resounded from the cave, and out flew the biggest bat I had ever seen. She was at least eight feet tall, and looked like a pale, human head with legs and purple wings, her black hair stringy with grease.
“Hello, Eda,” she spoke in a low, monotone voice. “What do you need?”
Eda gestured towards the hawk on my shoulder. “We found this palisman abandoned in the Conformitorium’s dump. Can you take care of him?”
The hawk flew off my shoulder, winging to the Bat Queen before dropping to the ground in front of her, chattering in a mix of peeps and screeches. This went on for a minute before he fell silent, the Bat Queen turning back to us with a sigh.
“She says her name is Tenebris. And she likes you for some reason, human.”
Tenebris flew back to my shoulder, running her beak my short hair. I smiled, scratching her chest lightly.
The Bat Queen continued, “if you are willing to take responsibility for her wellbeing, she would like to go with you, and be your palisman.”
My heart skipped a beat, and excitement began to stream through me. I whipped my head to the side to look at the hawk, my eyes wide. “Really?! You’d do that?”
Tenebris nodded, her striking yellow eyes somber. She peeped again and wiped her beak along my face, making me laugh.
I turned back to the Bat Queen, nodding vigorously. “Yes! I promise I’ll take very good care of her.”
The Bat Queen bared her teeth, snarling noiselessly at me. “Very well,” she said, barely restrained aggression in her voice as she took a threatening step towards me, “but if I catch word that you’re abusing her in any way, I will tear you limb from limb and feed you alive to my babies.” She eyed me for another moment, then turned and flew back into her cave, the unbroken blackness quickly swallowing her.
I turned to Eda, my eyes wide. “She seems nice,” I remarked shakily.
Eda shook her head with a chuckle, reaching around Tenebris to ruffle my hair gently. “That was her being nice. Now c’mon, let’s get home. You look dead on your feet.”
We got back on Eda’s staff, rising up past the constraining trees and into the early morning sky. I grinned happily as I watched the hawk glide in loops around us. I laughed suddenly, making Eda glance back. “I can’t believe I learned magic and got a palisman all in one night!”
Eda chuckled, shaking her head lightly. “I can’t either, really. You’re a witch now!”
I leaned back a bit, grinning stupidly at the rolling forest below. “I’m a witch,” I repeated softly, my heart full of glee. “A real witch.”