Page 102 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts

“Is this it?” he asked.

Viktor leaned in to get a closer look. “It’s beautiful.”

Amelia nodded, mesmerised by the entwined serpent heads, symbolising light and dark, good and evil…

The necklace cracked and started to crumble in her hands, dissolving into sand. She clenched her fist to catch the grains, but they slipped through her fingers like water. In the next moment, a sheet of paper materialised in her palm.

Wincing, she brought it closer to her face and read aloud, “‘I sense you coming for the necklace. If you want it, earn it. Prove yourself worthy.’”

She glanced at Mikhail. For a split second, they stared at each other.

Something flickered across his features. He reached out and grasped her bare wrist. “Move!” he yelled, almost in a panic, pulling her.

Amelia wanted to, but her legs had frozen. In the next instant, a vacuum pulled at her feet and sucked her into theearth.

The room spun around her as her vision blurred. Mikhail’s iron grip was still on her wrist.

“What’s happening?!” she cried out.

“Amelia, drop the note!” Viktor shouted, reaching for her hand that clutched the paper, and shook her wrist. She wanted to let go of the note, but… she couldn’t.

The intensifying whirlwind swallowed Viktor’s next words. The world spun faster and faster until she could no longer feel Mikhail’s hand or her own. Everything dissolved into a blur of colours before darkness took her.

And then she landed flat on her backside in the middle of a green meadow. Pleasant sunlight warmed her face. Conversations and laughter drifted from afar.A hundred metres ahead, a sky-blue lake stretched out, with people strolling around its edges.

“I told you to wait,” a familiar voice growled behind her.

She blinked a few times. Mikhail towered over her, his modern clothes and boots replaced. A sleeveless brown tunic covered his torso, paired with tight black trousers and brown boots.

Amelia’s gaze travelled from his head to his feet and back again as she rubbed her sore backside.

He scowled. “The necklace was enchanted. I’m unfamiliar with witchcraft, but I suspect we passed through a portal. And before you comment on my clothes, look at yourself.”

Amelia glanced down at her attire. She wore a gown the colour of the night sky, cinched at the waist with a belt, its wide skirt reaching her ankles. Leather slippers graced her feet. As her gaze lifted, a new awareness settled over her – soft notes of enchanting music drifting through the valley, and lakeside stalls where figures moved among colourful displays.

Her focus returned to Mikhail, and she couldn’t hold back alaugh. Unlike her – who was a parody of a Disney princess – the clothes suited him.

“You look nice,” she said.

The manticore raised an eyebrow. “Judging by our outfits, we’re somewhere in the late Middle Ages. If I had to guess, these are witches and witchers, and we’ve landed at a witch gathering.” His expression became even more sour. “I’ve heard of magical traps like this. It’s a game that won’t end until we retrieve the necklace. Ifyouretrieve the necklace.”

Amelia scanned the lake again. “So, all of this is an illusion?”

He offered her a hand to help her up. “Quite the opposite. It’s very real. And if we don’t find a way out, we’ll be stuck here.”

She patted her dress. The watch was gone… She’d had it in the house…

“None of the clothes or items we had with us are here,” Mikhail said.

“Did the witch take them?”

“I don’t know.”

Prove yourself worthy, the note had said.

Mikhail’s eyebrows furrowed. “Stay close to me and don’t do anything foolish. Like lunging for a random object while I’m yelling at you not to.”

“I couldn’t stop it. As the Oracle, I feel an uncontrollable pull towards them—”