my non-ring hand, to touch the black stone of the Lady Witch’s prison. Steeling myself, I put my hand to the imprint on the rock.
Nothing happened.
I twitched my fingers. It was fairly obvious that twitching wouldn’t help, but I tried it anyway.
Still nothing happened, so I took a deep, frustrated breath and switched hands.
The second my cold skin made contact with the stone, which was just as cold, a light flared. As the black fire shot upward, I gasped and stepped back, but not too far back, because my hand stayed firmly attached to the rock. A moment later, the Lady Witch was there.
She was withered, with empty sockets for eyes, one of which had a scar over it, and lips that pulled inward, making her whole face look like it was caving in on itself. Her hat only increased the effect.
Beyond all that, I noticed details about her face that I hadn’t seen the first time around. She had a scar under her lower lip and a line of black dots above her right eye. I didn’t know whether they were some sort of beauty mark or a power tattoo along the lines of Lisabelle Verlans’s wand.
Above all, the witch looked crazier this time. Clearly, imprisonment didn’t agree with her.
“Yes?” she asked in a sort of singsong voice. She didn’t appear to be looking toward me, even allowing for the fact that she didn’t actually have eyes to look with. There were questions I had wanted to ask, but in the moment my mind was an utter blank.
To buy time I cleared my throat, and now she turned her head and empty sockets in my direction. Her eyelids fluttered several times and then widened.
“You are different from last time,” she said, some of the singsong fading from her voice. “You understand your power in a way in which you did not understand it before.”
I nodded. “Yeah, essence.” I glanced down at my ring as I felt it heat up. So did the Lady Witch.
“Ah, and you are a friend to power in a way you do not yet understand.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Have you brought me the Golden Rod?” She asked.
“Yeah, about that,” I said. “You said you would help if I got it for you!”
“Yes,” said the Witch, her face twitching into something that for her must have been amusement.
“You didn’t mention that it was lost forever,” I contended.
“You didn’t ask. Your fault, not mine, no take backs!”
“The Golden Rod and the Counter Wheel, what do you know about them?” I asked.
“Why should I tell you?” she sniffed. Her image drifted through the flames as she spoke.
I looked around, trying to think what could possibly convince her to tell a paranormal kid the secrets of the old paranormals, the secrets no one living still understood. But before I could come up with anything remotely plausible, she spoke again.
“Ah ha, you can’t come up with anything! I’m going to leave now!” The air started to suck away from me as the Lady Witch prepared to sink back into her prison. Then it struck me, it was so obvious it was almost laughable. She was imprisoned in a rock.
“Why not tell me just because you’re bored!” I blurted out. For a split second I didn’t think she had heard me, but then she paused, and the air stood still. She looked at me as if she were seeing me, the real me, Ricky, beyond the fact of my power, for the first time. Her thin, snake-like tongue dipped out and licked her cracked lips as if she was excited by the prospect. I tried not to cringe.
“You are attacking my weak spot,” she cautioned. “It is smart, but only smart once.”
“You can threaten me all you want,” I said. “This quest is more important.”
“Very well,” she sighed. “The Golden Rod is sought by all. The power you could have . . . Whoever possesses the first artifact and the last to remain will rule.”
“Completely?” I asked. “There’s one artifact in the paranormal world that trumps all the others, an ace in the hole kind of thing?”
“Why are you talking of
Nothing happened.
I twitched my fingers. It was fairly obvious that twitching wouldn’t help, but I tried it anyway.
Still nothing happened, so I took a deep, frustrated breath and switched hands.
The second my cold skin made contact with the stone, which was just as cold, a light flared. As the black fire shot upward, I gasped and stepped back, but not too far back, because my hand stayed firmly attached to the rock. A moment later, the Lady Witch was there.
She was withered, with empty sockets for eyes, one of which had a scar over it, and lips that pulled inward, making her whole face look like it was caving in on itself. Her hat only increased the effect.
Beyond all that, I noticed details about her face that I hadn’t seen the first time around. She had a scar under her lower lip and a line of black dots above her right eye. I didn’t know whether they were some sort of beauty mark or a power tattoo along the lines of Lisabelle Verlans’s wand.
Above all, the witch looked crazier this time. Clearly, imprisonment didn’t agree with her.
“Yes?” she asked in a sort of singsong voice. She didn’t appear to be looking toward me, even allowing for the fact that she didn’t actually have eyes to look with. There were questions I had wanted to ask, but in the moment my mind was an utter blank.
To buy time I cleared my throat, and now she turned her head and empty sockets in my direction. Her eyelids fluttered several times and then widened.
“You are different from last time,” she said, some of the singsong fading from her voice. “You understand your power in a way in which you did not understand it before.”
I nodded. “Yeah, essence.” I glanced down at my ring as I felt it heat up. So did the Lady Witch.
“Ah, and you are a friend to power in a way you do not yet understand.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Have you brought me the Golden Rod?” She asked.
“Yeah, about that,” I said. “You said you would help if I got it for you!”
“Yes,” said the Witch, her face twitching into something that for her must have been amusement.
“You didn’t mention that it was lost forever,” I contended.
“You didn’t ask. Your fault, not mine, no take backs!”
“The Golden Rod and the Counter Wheel, what do you know about them?” I asked.
“Why should I tell you?” she sniffed. Her image drifted through the flames as she spoke.
I looked around, trying to think what could possibly convince her to tell a paranormal kid the secrets of the old paranormals, the secrets no one living still understood. But before I could come up with anything remotely plausible, she spoke again.
“Ah ha, you can’t come up with anything! I’m going to leave now!” The air started to suck away from me as the Lady Witch prepared to sink back into her prison. Then it struck me, it was so obvious it was almost laughable. She was imprisoned in a rock.
“Why not tell me just because you’re bored!” I blurted out. For a split second I didn’t think she had heard me, but then she paused, and the air stood still. She looked at me as if she were seeing me, the real me, Ricky, beyond the fact of my power, for the first time. Her thin, snake-like tongue dipped out and licked her cracked lips as if she was excited by the prospect. I tried not to cringe.
“You are attacking my weak spot,” she cautioned. “It is smart, but only smart once.”
“You can threaten me all you want,” I said. “This quest is more important.”
“Very well,” she sighed. “The Golden Rod is sought by all. The power you could have . . . Whoever possesses the first artifact and the last to remain will rule.”
“Completely?” I asked. “There’s one artifact in the paranormal world that trumps all the others, an ace in the hole kind of thing?”
“Why are you talking of
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