Page 18 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

“You know,” Sebastian said gently, “you don’t seem the type to curse a lake into luring townsfolk to their doom. I’m…assuming that was a mistake?”

At Sebastian’s assessment, Hattie’s pale, freckled cheeks turned pink. Kieran had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Socially awkward my ass. Sebastian could woo a wall if he smiled at it long enough.

Hattie nodded. “I’ve only been the Raven’s Roost village witch for a year or so. Before that, my dad oversaw helping all the townsfolk. He was the most talented potion maker this side of the Slicetooths. His brews could cure everything from cramps to baldness.

“He died unexpectedly—had an allergic reaction while he was out in the woods where no one could help. Suddenly, I was supposed to take over as village witch, but…I never wanted the job. I just wanted to work on my inventions in peace.”

“Inventions?” Kieran repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Just little things, mostly.” Hattie reached into her dress pocket and withdrew a small metal tube that had several joints soldered together so it could twist and bend.

As Kieran squinted at it, he realized it had a small triangular head with metal eyes.

It took him a beat to put two and two together and realize it was a tiny metal snake.

“I channel my magic through toy making,” Hattie went on.

She tapped the snake’s head twice, and suddenly it began to slither up her arm.

Delilah let out a shriek she was barely able to contain by slapping a hand over her mouth.

Briar, meanwhile, laughed with glee. Kieran, admittedly, was more on Delilah’s side—he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a rusty bite from a magically animated toy.

Sebastian pointed at the snake. “Fascinating. What’s its purpose?”

“Purpose?” Hattie blinked. “Um. Companionship, I suppose? It’s not sentient or anything, but it’s nice to feel like there’s something else here.” She looked down at her arm where the metal snake had wrapped around her biceps like a bangle. “I get kind of…lonely out here all by myself.”

“So you create children’s toys to fill the social void where friendship used to be?” Sebastian said, perhaps not realizing how cutting the words were. Hattie jerked back while Kieran had to withhold a laugh. Ah. His script ran out. Now I get it.

Before Hattie could try to defend herself, Kieran jumped in: “I think what he means is there’s a whole village on the other side of the lake. Why not go see them?”

Hattie hung her head, a few pieces of her auburn braid falling into her eyes.

“Well…I guess it makes sense to tell you. See, legend has it that there’s a benevolent spirit that lives in the lake.

Making an offering to the spirit is supposed to grant small wishes, so for centuries now, the townsfolk have been leaving things on the shore for the creature.

For generations, their wishes came true.

“When my father passed, I spent a lot of time wandering the woods, trying to walk off the grief.” Hattie’s fingers tightened where they rested atop her thighs.

“During one of those walks, I found the hilt of something embedded in the ground. I’d walked that path a thousand times and never once seen it until that morning.

The second I touched it, I knew it was very magically charged.

I decided it must be some sort of…good omen.

I thought maybe if I offered it to the spirit, I could wish to speak to my father one last time. ” She sniffled. “To get closure.”

“But something went wrong,” Kieran said, mostly to himself.

Hattie nodded. “The spirit came to take my offering and swallowed it whole. Suddenly, its entire body changed. It used to be a cute little thing, and now it was morphing into a monster. I barely got away.”

“So the Hilt is…inside the spirit’s stomach?” Briar asked. She withheld a gag and turned to Kieran. “Ugh. That’s gonna be nasty work. Glad it’s your problem.”

“Always appreciate the support, Briar.” Kieran sighed.

“Not inside,” Hattie corrected. She pointed to the center of her forehead. “It’s become something like a horn. If you could pull it out…there’s a chance the spirit might go back to normal. Stop all this pointless death I’ve caused.”

While tears began to shine in Hattie’s eyes, Sebastian nodded. “Pulling the Hilt out sounds easier said than done. We’ll need a way to block the siren-song thing Lila told us about, and a way to defend ourselves from attacks. Perhaps beeswax for earplugs and bait to distract it?”

“We won’t be able to get to it if it lives underwater, though,” Kieran pointed out. “Unless anyone knows a spell to give us gills.”

Kieran looked in Delilah and Briar’s direction, but both shook their heads. His shoulders wilted. Shit.

“I…actually may be able to help with that part,” Hattie said. She rose from her seat. “Hold on.”

She crossed to a wooden workbench tucked into a corner of the room.

Random wood and metal pieces were scattered across it, along with some leather strips and tools.

She opened a drawer and dug around for a moment before withdrawing a small device.

She brought it back to the others and held it out for them to see.

It looked a bit like a face mask, with a metal frame that could cover the nose and mouth and a leather lining to help it conform to the wearer’s face.

Another leather strip went around the back to secure it in place around the wearer’s head.

The front had a few small holes in the front, seemingly to let air in.

“It’s a little different from the toys I usually make,” Hattie explained, turning it over in her hands. “It’s a mask for breathing underwater. If you can attune your magic to it, it’ll transform the water you inhale through the front into air.”

Kieran’s and his friends’ eyebrows all shot up.

“Really?” Briar asked. “Have you tested it?”

“I mean—kind of.” Hattie rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “I…haven’t been brave enough to try it in the lake. B-but it worked when I stuck my head in the sink! Granted, I only took a few breaths, but…”

“Scientifically speaking,” Sebastian said, mostly to Kieran, “that’s barely more than a hypothesis.”

Kieran opened his mouth to agree, but just then, a loud commotion started outside.

It sounded like people screaming, though Kieran hadn’t seen any on their walk to Hattie’s home.

As he wondered where the sound might be coming from, thundering splashes echoed from the lake.

Instantly, everyone in the cottage jumped to their feet and ran to the windows.

Outside, two boats floated atop roiling waves, bobbing back and forth as a gigantic tail slapped the water beside them.

It was scaled and covered in frills. A few men dressed in skintight black swim garments were in the water.

They thrashed wildly, trying to get back to their boats.

One of them was only inches away from the boat ladder when a clawed hand the size of a car reached up, grabbed him, and yanked him underwater.

“Are those men mad?” Hattie squeaked, wrapping her arms around herself. “What in the world are they doing?”

“They’re not townsfolk?” Keiran asked.

“No—those have to be Elias’s mercenaries,” Sebastian said, voice cold. His eyes narrowed into a glare. “They’re here for the Hilt.”

Kieran’s throat immediately closed. They caught up? Does that mean Elias is here?

“There’s the spirit!” Hattie cried, pointing as the water began to ripple. “Look!”

At that moment, a huge head rose from the depths.

The creature reminded Kieran of an otter but had the scaled body of an aquamarine serpent.

Huge tangles of algae hung off it. It might have been sort of cute if it weren’t for the eight beady black eyes and the gnashing, serrated teeth.

It was impossible to tell how large it was with part of its body submerged, but based on what he’d seen, Kieran assumed it had to be larger than the aeroship.

And there, in the middle of its forehead, was a shining metal horn.

Kieran gasped, pointing. “That’s the Hilt!”

Just then, a tiny aeroship coasted by the spirit’s head.

It had a bubble-like glass window that revealed the pilot inside.

As she got closer to the creature, the glass split and retracted into the body of the ship.

The pilot reached an arm out of the cockpit, one hand on the wheel. Her fingers were inches from the Hilt.

The creature thrashed. Its head slammed into the ship, smashing its buzzing left wing to bits. Smoke burst from the machine as it began to tailspin. The pilot’s scream was loud enough to reverberate across the lake.

The ship crashed into the water, swallowed by the foaming waves.

With a screech, the spirit plunged its head into the lake. Its entire body arched above the waves as it dove, and Kieran saw several turquoise fins flash in the dawn light as it disappeared into the depths.

“Oh, no fucking way,” Briar said quietly. She turned to look at Kieran. “We’re not going out there—right?”

In any other situation, Kieran would have immediately agreed with her. That thing was hungry for blood and wasn’t going to stop until all of Elias’s men were dead. But then again…

They were serving as an excellent distraction.

Kieran turned to Hattie, heart racing in his ears. “How do I attune my magic to that breathing device?”

She stammered, “Y-you just hold it and channel your magic into it as you would a paintbrush o-or a ball of dough. You’ll feel when it connects.”

“Are you mad ?” Briar gaped, completely ignoring Hattie. “That thing is going to kill you if you go out there!”

“She’s right,” Delilah said, shaking her head furiously. “There has to be another way—”

“I’ll help you,” Sebastian cut in. When the girls spun on him in horror, he went on, pressing a hand to his chest: “Whatever you need, tell me. You saved my life before—let me repay the favor.”

“Oh, so you both have death wishes! Fantastic!” Briar met her twin’s eyes. “That thing will rip you apart, Kier. Just admit you’re out of your depth, and we’ll come up with a different plan.”

“Out of my depth?” Kieran frowned and shook his head. “If it were you, you’d charge in there without a second thought!”

“Sure, but that’s because I’ve been practicing combat magic my entire life, so I can defend myself! You, on the other hand, barely know anything about magic! What are you going to do if it attacks you, huh? Write a sad poem? Because that went swimmingly the last time.”

Kieran flinched as if she’d punched him in the jaw. He’d always known how little Briar thought of his competency with magic—she was, admittedly, right—but she’d at least had the decency to keep it to herself until now.

Voice gentle, Delilah started, “Briar, come on—”

“You know what?” Kieran took the breathing mask from Hattie’s hand, using it to point at his twin. “Screw you, Briar. I’m going to prove you wrong.”

With that, he stormed toward the door, leaving the others slack-jawed behind him.