Black Wood (A Witch Rising) (12 page)

Emily raised her arms above her
head and closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts. When she opened
her mouth, her voice came clear and strong.

“Ostium, patefacio!”

The mirror creaked. The air
turned freezing cold. Dense, grey fog gathered around her legs. The
glossy surface disappeared, giving way to a narrow, dirty path with
thick, high trees to either side. Emily took a tentative step
forward when she heard Muriel’s hiss behind her. “What’re you doing
here? And don’t say nothing because I know you’re up to something,
you little toad.”

Emily knew she should have
listened to Aurelie and not do the flame spell. Without so much as
a look back, she jumped into the mirror and landed on the hard,
dirty ground. She rose to her feet and rubbed her throbbing elbow
when the faint laughter of a woman carried through the air. “Good
luck, dear. You’ll need it.”

Scowling, she turned to face
Muriel, but all she saw was a black hole where the portal should
have been. As it pulled together, dwindling before her eyes, the
hole creaked like dry, old firewood in a stove. Emily watched it
disappeared, the spot blending in with its surroundings.

Wow, that happened fast. One
step, and she was in another world. No turning back now. With
trembling hands she wiped her hair from her face and looked around.
It was dead silent. Just trees and bushes as far as the eye could
see. The moon hid behind a dark wall of clouds, but it wasn’t
completely dark. Thousands of stars littered the dark-grey sky.
Which way was the Black Tower? Aurelie never told her. And in all
the hurry, she had forgotten to ask.

Emily tried to remember her
dream. The troll had led her toward the hills, away from the main
path, through the thicket. She’d walk straight on, follow the damp,
jagged path, and see where it led her.

Half an hour later, she stopped
to wipe the sweat off her brows. The backpack was so heavy, it felt
as though she was carrying stones. A spell to lighten her burden
would come in handy, but, since she didn’t know one, she had no
choice than to keep on walking. She sighed and trudged forward,
turning her head left and right, straining her ears for any sound.
The silence in the wood was unsettling. No humming of bees. No
chirping of birds. No rabbit scurrying through the bushes. She
stepped on a dead branch and flinched at the sudden snap of wood.
Maybe the animals were hiding from her? But surely they’d sense she
came with good intentions. Uneasiness settled in her stomach as she
realised they could be hiding from something far more dangerous
than her.

The wood grew denser, the trees
higher. Emily halted for the umpteenth time to orient herself. Her
legs ached like she had walked for hours. What time was it? She
looked up at the moon peering through the heavy clouds. No sign of
a morning on the horizon. Then she heard the sound of rushing
water, faint but audible in the silence of the night. Aurelie had
told her not to drink any, but she didn’t say to keep away.

She sprinted through the bushes
toward the sound, twigs snapping under her boots, until she reached
a clearing. And there it shimmered like polished silver, a thin,
shallow stream, merely a few feet wide, but beautiful
nonetheless.

Emily stopped, staring in awe at
the clear water that seemed to reflect the soft, dark-golden light
of the moon. Black stones peered from underneath.

“Step nearer, traveller. Refresh
yourself, for the water is cold and sweet like no other you have
ever tasted before,” a melodious female voice, smooth as silk,
said.

Emily blinked and turned around.
“Who’re you?”
The same soft voice laughed gingerly. “You wish to see me? Come
closer and I shall reveal myself.”

Somewhere inside her mind, Emily
could hear Aurelie’s warning.
Trust no one and don’t step near
the water.
But the woman sounded so nice and she longed to talk
with someone. Maybe just ask for the directions to the Black Tower.
Her feet moved forward of their own accord. One more step and she’d
reach the edge where the water seemed deep, swallowing all light
like a black, gaping mouth.

“Do you know the way to the
Black Tower?” Emily asked.

“I not only know it, I can also
take you there.” The voice drew nearer until Emily glimpsed a
flowing, silver dress and long, white hair swaying about a round
face.

Emily squinted to get a better
look when the woman stepped into the soft moonlight. Her skin
shimmered like alabaster; her wide eyes were blue as the ocean on a
clear day. She was even more beautiful than Muriel.

In spite of Aurelie’s words,
Emily forgot her fear. “Do you live here?” she asked as she took in
the woman’s pale skin and long limbs.

“I do. Just over there.” The
woman pointed at a rise in the thicket Emily didn’t notice before.
It looked like a hut built out of tree branches and leaves. “Why
don’t you come in? You must be tired from your journey. Rest for a
while.”

Emily shook her head. “Thank
you, but I must reach the Black Tower as soon as possible. Which
way is it?”

The woman laughed. “It’s
impossible to find in the night, but I promise I’ll take you in the
morning.” She walked to the other side of the stream with movements
so fluent her feet seemed to float a few inches above the
ground.

Emily pondered for a second.
Would she be able to find the Tower without this woman’s help?
Could she trust her? Her shoulders ached. Her legs felt as heavy as
steel. She’d make sure not to fall asleep. Just rest a little
before she continued her voyage. No harm done. Besides, she really
longed to sit down if only for a second.

“All right. I’ll pop in but only
if you really show me the way in the morning,” Emily said. “What’s
your name?

“My name’s Neesha.” The woman
held out her hand as Emily balanced on a large stone over the
water.

“I’m Emily.” She ignored the
woman’s hand, lunged forward and jumped, landing on the other side
of the stream.

Neesha opened the door to the
hut and motioned her to step in. Inside burned a single candle.
Emily walked in and glanced around, taking in the tiny room.

A narrow bed stood near the
window, opposite from a chair made out of branches and held
together with what looked like pieces of shoelace. . Green leaves
covered the bare earth. There was no kitchen, just a hearth with an
old pot dangling from a metal hook

“I’ll get you a drink.” Neesha
grabbed the pot and left, closing the door behind her while Emily
sat down on the chair. She noticed the window had no glass pane.
The air was laden with the sweet odour of fish and something else,
sweet, putrid. Emily took a few careful sniffs and gagged, bile
rising in her throat. She forced herself to breathe through the
mouth.

The door burst open and Neesha
returned with the pot. She retrieved a chipped cup from under the
bed and poured in some water, then handed it to Emily. “This will
refresh you, traveller.”

Emily cradled the offered cup in
her hands. The silence of the night relaxed her and she felt her
eyelids grow heavy, the scent less overpowering now.

Neesha looked at her
expectantly. “Aren’t you drinking?”

“Sure.” Emily lifted the cup to
her lips but didn’t take a gulp. Neesha walked to the hearth and
raised her hands over the candle flame. Only then did Emily notice
the woman’s dress was dripping-wet, bones protruding where the
material touched her skin. There was something unnatural about the
young face with its soft features and white hair. In the light, the
cheekbones were too hollow, the skin too translucent.

Something felt wrong. Emily
lowered the cup as she eyed the door, ready to dart for it if need
be, but it wasn’t time yet. She’d stay just a little longer. Just
to rest a little.

“You can sleep on the bed. I’ll
take the chair,” Neesha said.

Emily tightened her grip around
her backpack, Aurelie’s warnings suddenly echoing in her head.
“What’re you and why did you invite me in?”

Neesha looked surprised. “I’m a
water nymph. You’ve surely heard of us. I offered you shelter for
the night because I’m lonely and seek your company. No one ever
visits this part of Black Wood.”

Maybe for a reason. Emily
frowned in concentration. Did Aurelie say anything about nymphs?
Her mind was so muddled she couldn’t remember a thing. “I don’t
know if I can’t trust you.” Even though she felt exhausted, she
forced herself to march to the door, unsure what to do.

Why don’t you stay a little
longer, said a voice inside her head.

Emily grabbed the handle, but
Neesha pressed a hand against the door, her eyes glinting with
something Emily didn’t notice before.

“Please, don’t leave just yet.
You’ve only arrived,” Neesha said.

“Sorry, I really got to go.”
Emily pulled the handle as hard as she could. The door wouldn’t
bulge.

“But look how tired you are.”
Neesha’s voice dripped with sweet honey as she nudged Emily toward
the chair. “And it’s so dark outside. You could get lost.”

Why did Neesha insist like that?
And why was Emily so tired and sleepy? She hadn’t been before. Her
eyes snapped wide open. She had to get out before she fell
asleep.

The sweet scent grew stronger as
Neesha lifted the cup to Emily’s lips. “Drink, you must be so
thirsty.”

Emily shoved her hand away and
the cup pummelled onto the ground, water spilling over dry leaves
and twigs.

“Now, look what you’ve done.”
Neesha dropped to her knees, her head bowed over the cup. “You’ve
wasted precious droplets. How dare you!”

With shaking hands, Emily opened
her backpack, pulled out her dagger and pointed it toward the
nymph. “Get away from me!”

Neesha rose slowly to her feet.
Emily watched in horror as the beautiful nymph changed into a
weather-beaten, leathery, old hag with a crooked nose and toothless
mouth. Her voice sounded still young and beautiful as she spoke.
“You won’t go anywhere!”

Emily took a step toward the
door, her heart hammering in her chest. “Get out of my way.”

“No one who enters my home ever
leaves.” Neesha stomped forward, her gaze fixed on the sharp blade,
her wrinkled face fierce with determination.

“You’re wrong there.” Emily
jumped to the side and kicked Neesha’s leg as hard as she could.
The nymph howled and lunged for her, but Emily held out the dagger,
its poisoned tip grazing Neesha’s skin.

The nymph cried out as her skin
turned black around the puncture, spreading across her pale skin
like a spider web until she was black as coal. Wincing, she toppled
over. “You cannot kill me. No poison can.”

Emily yanked the door open and
made a dash for the trees, jumping over stones to reach the other
side of the river. Panting, she turned to throw a glance behind her
when her foot caught in a loose branch that sent her flying into
the freezing water. She landed on her belly with a splash,
facedown
in the stream. Flapping about
like a fish, her hands tried to grasp onto something to heave her
up, but the water pulled her under.

The water closed over Emily’s
head, dragging her under. Her lungs burned from the effort to hold
in her breath. Floating, she opened her eyes wide and looked
around. Her foot had caught in something black. Its tight grip felt
like a hand clasped around her ankle. She kicked and pulled, but it
just wouldn’t let go. Panic rose in her chest. Where was the
dagger? She opened her mouth just a tiny bit to form the words.
“Flamma, appare!”

A tiny flame ignited in the palm
of her hand. In the soft light, something gleamed on the ground
between the blurry shapes of stones and plants. Flailing her arms,
she dived deeper and retrieved the dagger, then cut through the
floating, slimy algae wrapped around her foot.

Just as she thought her lungs
would burst from the lack of air, she reached the surface and,
holding on to a long branch, she crawled to shore.

Stay away from the water
,
Aurelie had said. Was it poisoned? Oh, why hadn’t she just
listened? Emily coughed and spluttered in the hope to spit out as
much of it as possible. But she knew she had swallowed quite a
bit.

Where was the hut? She peered
into the darkness but didn’t see the clearing. The current must
have carried her downstream. Better get away before the nymph found
her.

Her clothes were dripping-wet as
she clambered to her feet, put the dagger back into her wet
backpack and strode toward the forest. The trees grew denser here.
Their naked branches built a canopy high above the bare ground,
filtering the moonlight.

Shivering, Emily slumped down
near a bush and retrieved a water bottle and a tuna sandwich
wrapped in protective foil from her backpack. The piercing sound of
the foil as she removed it echoed through the silence and made her
flinch. Hopefully, it wouldn’t wake up the forest.

She bit into her food and chewed
as quickly as she could, her eyes darting about, looking out for
any approaching danger. It was so quiet, even her chewing sounded
like a drum in her ears.

As soon as she finished her
sandwich, she put the wrapping and water bottle away and started
marching straight ahead through the thicket. The path was near, she
knew it. The night had been stretching on forever. Morning had to
break soon, and then she’d be able to see farther ahead than just a
few steps.

Her cold, wet clothes stuck to
her skin, her bones felt stiff and tired. Just as she thought she
couldn’t go on, the trees to her right parted, giving way to a
narrow, stony path.

Emily jumped up. Yes, she’d
found it. Was it the same trail from her dream though?

“It’s got to lead somewhere,”
she muttered to herself, heading toward it.