Chapter 29
Star’s Rest
Raewyn
Pharis figured out on his own that Kem was the Evanescer who’d transported us to Stormcrest, but there was no time for reprimands.
Besides, he knew as well as I did that she had done the right thing.
And she’d done it for his sake.
He summoned her, and she scurried into the receiving room, giving a curtsy to Pharis and a deeper one to Stellon.
“My Prince. Your Majesty,” she said, sounding a bit breathless.
He smiled. “Stellon, remember? I think anyone who’s disassembled me down to the tiniest particles and reconstituted me again should be on a first-name basis.”
She blushed and smiled. “Stellon then.”
The sensation of traveling by Evanescing glamour was so strange, I doubted I’d ever get used to it. But we needed speed, and it was nothing if not fast.
No sooner had we all linked hands than the four of us were standing on the outskirts of Hill Town.
It was decided that as the most human-looking of our group and therefore the least likely to alarm the village residents, I would be the one to inquire about the location of Caitriona’s house.
I knocked on the door of the first cottage I came to along the main road into town. There was no answer. At the second one, a young mother opened the door, curious children crowding around her skirts.
“Hello, may I help you, miss?”
“Yes, thank you so much. I hope so,” I said. “I’m in need of an Earthwife. I wonder if you can point me to where your village mother lives?”
She smiled. “Certainly. It’s that house there, the one with the green door.”
I started to thank her, but she added more information. “She’s not at home right now though.”
“Oh. Do you know when she’ll be back?” I asked.
The woman shook her head. “No telling. She’s gone up top.”
“Up top?”
She pointed to where the village’s main road turned and began a winding incline, snaking up the titular hill, which from my vantage point, looked more like a mountain. Near the peak, a single fire burned, glowing orange against the dark backdrop of the mountainside.
“The top of Star’s Rest. That’s where they do the rituals, you see.”
“Oh. Well thank you. I’ll wait for her return.”
I walked quickly back to a nearby copse of trees that concealed my tall, obviously Elven travel companions.
“She’s not home,” I told them, pointing to the mountaintop. “She’s up there. The woman said that’s where they do their rituals, meaning the Earthwives I guess. Caitriona must have taken Turi there for some sort of initiation ceremony.”
The thought of it sent fear hurtling through my veins like a stone sliding across a frozen pond. Would something like that change my little sister? Would it be painful?
Then I took a deep breath and reminded myself of my own words to Pharis.
Have faith.
It was the only choice at this point. It wasn’t as if I was going to give up on my little sister now.
Pharis nodded and looked at Kem. “Can you fixate on that bonfire and transport us there?”
“Somewhere close but not too close,” he added. “Don’t want to wind up in the center of an Earthwife ring.”
Kem looked up at the distant fire. “I’ll do my best. Hopefully I can land us within the treeline nearby where there’s some cover. This whole long distance thing is still rather new to me.”
We joined hands, and Stellon and Kem both closed their eyes in concentration. Once again I experienced the disorienting sensations of the world around us blurring and then focus returning to reveal a whole new place.
Her aim was almost perfect.
We ended up in the clearing just outside the treeline— in plain sight of the group of Earthwives.
There was a shocking number of them gathered here on the mountaintop, at least a hundred. Pharis immediately cast a shadow around us as we ducked into the cover of the forest.
Do you think anyone saw us? I asked mind to mind, my heart thudding painfully.
There was no reaction from the women, no cries of alarm.
I don’t think they spotted us, Pharis said.
When I looked closer at the Earthwives, the reason became clear. Though their eyelids were open, their eyes were rolled back in their heads. All that showed were the whites.
A shudder went through my whole body, and the hairs on my neck and arms lifted as if there was an approaching thunderstorm.
The women stood in a huge circle around a roaring bonfire, linked arm in arm, chanting. Their matching red robes swayed side to side with their synchronous motion, and a strange hum filled the air.
My gaze darted around, searching for Turi.
There. Sitting in the grass, just inside the witch-circle at Caitriona’s feet.
My sister looked frightened, huddled in a ball with her arms wrapped around her drawn-up knees. She was whipping her head back and forth, looking from one Earthwife to another, clearly confused about what was happening.
I had no idea what they were doing either, but it stood to reason it had something to do with her, which meant we had to stop it.
The urge to dart out there and snatch her up into my arms was almost too much to resist, but obviously that was out of the question. There were a lot of Earthwives in that ring.
All of them together added up to some considerable power. We had to be strategic about this.
“What should we do?” Kem asked, sounding as dismayed as I felt.
Even Pharis looked a bit worried.
“Our first order of business is to get Turi out of there.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said. “But how?”
“Remember when you tried to impale me with your steak knife at Stormcrest?” he asked.
I nodded, recalling my surprise when the blade had left my hand and buried itself in the wall instead of his smug face.
“I’m going to do the same thing with your sister… only a bit more gently,” he said. “Stells, I’ll need your Exalting glamour. I’ve never attempted to levitate a person before. She’s a little one, but I want to get this right.”
“You got it,” Stellon said.
Pharis nodded, watching the witches through slitted eyes.
“Hopefully I can just float her over here, and then Kem can Evanesce us before they catch on and realize we’re here. As soon as Turi’s away from the firelight, I can throw a shadow over her, and they’ll have no idea which direction she’s gone.”
As he spoke, I watched my sister go still and her eyes roll up in her head until I could only see the whites of them.
Oh no.
“Hurry,” I urged. “Whatever they’re doing to her, it’s happening right now.”
My hands came up to cover my mouth as I watched Turi lift from the ground, rising over the heads of the gathered witches.
They continued their ominous chanting and swaying, and Turi, thankfully, stayed silent.
In fact, she didn’t even seem to notice, which was probably bad. She was under a spell or perhaps even connected to the group already in their deep trance.
As soon as her body left the circle though, the chanting stopped, and the Earthwives opened their eyes all at once, looking around.
One of them spotted Turi’s body hovering nine feet off the ground, moving toward the treeline. Pharis’ shadow glamour shot out and covered her, obscuring her from their vision, but the dark cloud itself was visible in the firelight.
“Elven magic!” one of the women shouted.
“They must be close,” another one said, and another yelled, “Where are they? I don’t see anyone.”
There was a bit of running around and chaos before one witch silenced the others.
“Gather round, quickly,” she said. “Form the circle again.”
The others did as she instructed, and the chanting and swaying began anew. Just then the breeze picked up, turning into a strong wind and then a gale.
Leaves and twigs and debris flew through the air. The grasses and wildflowers in the field whipped to and fro.
Saplings leaned in all directions as the strange wind blew not from north to south or east to west but outward from the circle of women in the center of the clearing.
I squinted instinctively to protect my eyes, and Kem bent her head, covering her face.
She started coughing, and then so did Stellon and Pharis. Beside me, Pharis began to wheeze.
“What is it?” I asked, alarmed. “Are you okay?”
“There are remnants of fireweed in the air,” he said in a strained tone. “The wind is carrying it.”
Whipping the kerchief out of my skirt pocket, I offered it to him, and he covered his nose and mouth.
Kem took off her apron and gave it to Stellon so he could use it as a dust mask. Then she lifted the front of her skirt and covered her own face.
For me, the wind was uncomfortable, but I was still breathing just fine, a benefit of my human half.
Stellon fell to his knees, struggling for air. Pharis was still standing, but he was obviously suffering and weakening rapidly. I prayed his Levitation glamour wouldn’t drop Turi.
“Can you compel them to stop?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Not from this distance. It requires eye contact and speaking to someone.”
“Where is Turi now?” I looked around in a panic. She was still cloaked in shadow glamour and blending in with the dark night.
“She’s almost here,” Pharis said.
Within moments, my sister appeared in the forest, still floating in the air but hidden by the tree branches and underbrush. Pharis gently lowered her to the ground, and I dropped to wrap my arms around her.
“I’m here, I’ve got you,” I said. “Turi, it’s Raewyn. Do you recognize me?”
She seemed groggy and confused but she nodded and hugged me back. Pharis knelt beside her, speaking between coughs.
“Hi Pollywog. You’re safe now. This is Kem. She’s going to get you and Raewyn out of here.”
I looked at him sharply.
“What about you and Stellon?”
He shook his head. “We can’t leave yet. They’ll only come after you and your sisters again. We have to end it.”
“But you can hardly breathe,” I argued.
“We’ll be fine, just go.”
“You’re not fine. How can you hope to defeat them in this state?” I demanded.
He started to answer but had to stop for a coughing fit. This was serious. He and Stellon were both growing weaker by the moment.
Mind to mind, he said, I’m not sure, but we’ll figure it out. Just go. Please.
Turning to Kem, I spoke silently. Please take my sister to safety.
What about you? she asked.
I’m going to stay and help Pharis and Stellon. They need me.
There was no way I could leave them here alone, not with the way the airborne Fireweed particles were affecting them. And the witches were strong together—I could feel their power even from here.
Prince Pharis will be angry, she warned.
I know. I don’t care, I told her. Just go.
She put a hand on Turi’s shoulder, and the two of them disappeared.
Pharis wore a look of shock at seeing me still there.
What are you doing? Why are you still here?
You need me, I said. I can help. I can detect their fears, and you could project a vision to match. Maybe that will break their connection and stop the spell.
Without waiting for permission, I knelt beside Stellon. “Do you think you have enough strength left to use your glamour?”
He lifted his head and met my eyes. “Yes. I’m weakened, but I can still help.”
“Okay, good. I’m going to focus my glamour on one of the Earthwives and try to read her fears so Pharis can exploit it and break the circle.”
He blinked. “Your glamour?”
“Yes. I’ve been training, but at this distance, it’ll need to be augmented. You ready?”
He nodded, and we joined hands. Then I projected my fear-sensing glamour toward the group of Earthwives, searching for one with a phobia that could be leveraged to our advantage.
Touching briefly on each of their minds, I realized they were all linked, almost as if they were the same person.
An incredibly powerful person.
It was a good thing I had Stellon’s assistance, because connected as they were, the hive mind was almost impervious to my glamour.
Almost.
I was able to get inside just enough to detect a single fear, and thankfully, it was a big one.
Releasing Stellon’s hand, I stood to face Pharis.
“Got something?” he asked.
My head bobbed excitedly. “Yes. Rats. One of them is deathly afraid of rats. They’re all connected, so if you project a frightening vision of rats at one, they should all be affected.”
“Rats coming right up,” he said and reached down to offer a hand to Stellon, pulling him up to stand beside him.
“I need your help, brother,” he said.
“You got it,” Stellon said and coughed.
I watched as the two of them stood side by side and closed their eyes, directing their combined powers at the Earthwives.