Page 29 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

Each morning after, Kieran found himself at Sebastian’s door with fistfuls of spells he’d written the night before.

He needed all the help he could get with the Mirrorveil Woods creeping closer and closer with each sunrise.

Thankfully, Sebastian was more than happy to act as Kieran’s magical guinea pig and spell editor.

He would read the spells over, telling Kieran where the magic was most effective and where he might be able to tighten things like sentence flow and word choice to make his writing more concise and the spell stronger.

The more direct the writing style, the more easily the magic came through.

It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

It did also help Kieran’s stomach churn a little less, days later, as he watched the Mirrorveil Woods come into view from the window in the lower observation deck.

The forest below them was like nothing Kieran had ever seen before.

The pines were tall and thick with strange, shimmering silver bark.

At first, Kieran thought they had colorful images painted on them.

Then one of them moved, and a little orange fox darted in and out of the trees.

At the sight of it, Seaweed began to chirp excitedly.

The bark wasn’t colorful—it was reflective, like mirrors. The stripes of color he saw in the trees were the reflections of the descending aeroship and the cloudless blue sky. Incredible.

He withdrew his notebook from his pocket, itching to commit the image to writing.

He scribbled out a few sentences, speculating as to how he could leave marks on the trees to remember his path.

Almost immediately, he felt the warmth of magic begin to rise from his chest, asking to be poured into the words.

The silvery glow of it wove around his fingers, creeping toward the pen.

He hadn’t even had to try to summon it. In his memory, the only time he’d been able to cast so easily had been by accident when he wasn’t fully in control of his magic.

At the realization, Kieran felt the unexpected prick of tears in his eyes.

At his side, Seaweed stood on her back legs, gently pawing at his trousers with a flicker of excitement in her black eyes.

I’m actually doing it.

“Hey, Kier! Ariel and Santiago want us to meet in the control room!”

In an instant, the magic vanished. Kieran turned to find Delilah standing by the door to the staircase. She smiled and nodded toward the stairs.

He tucked the notebook back in his pocket. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

Delilah nodded and vanished up the stairs.

Kieran glanced back down at his hands, grinning.

Maybe there’s hope yet.

Ariel landed the ship in a meadow of silvery-green grass that fluttered in the breeze.

This far south, winter rarely yielded more than the occasional frost and gray skies, and even with the cold, tiny glasslike flowers poked up from between the grass.

They reminded Kieran of buttercups that had turned translucent.

After the ship was in place, the crew—excluding Sebastian—met up in the control room. While they waited for everyone to arrive, Kieran found himself staring out at the woods, his pulse beginning to speed up.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.” He glanced over at Delilah. “Have you been here before? We’re only a day or two from Kitfield.”

She shook her head at the mention of her hometown.

“No. This is super remote—I think it’s at least twenty-five miles from the closest town.

Though, growing up, I heard rumors about this place.

Mostly that the reflections make it hard to navigate, so people avoid it.

It’s easy to get lost when the only thing you can see is yourself. ”

“At least it’s not underwater,” Kieran muttered.

“You say that now, but I’ve heard plenty of stories about people who get lost in these woods and get trapped for so long that their own reflection starts to drive them mad.”

A shiver ran down Kieran’s spine. “Ah. How charming. Verbena really knows how to pick exciting locales, doesn’t she?”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was trying to get you killed,” Briar said.

“Let’s hope not,” said Kieran.

Just then, Ariel and Santiago entered the control room. Ariel said, “Good, you’re all here. I need to tell you something.”

“Woods are haunted?” Briar guessed.

“Hell if I know. The woods aren’t my concern.

” Ariel glanced at Santiago, who reached out and squeezed their shoulder as they explained: “After that last attack in the middle of the night, I called a few of my pilot friends to see if they’d be willing to update me on any sightings they might have of Elias’s ships.

” Ariel gestured to a map of Celdwyn they’d pinned to the wall beside the controls.

They took a tack and jabbed it into the text indicating an airfield not too far from their own location.

“One of them got back to me about thirty minutes ago—they spotted Elias’s mercenaries about half a day behind us.

They seem to be hanging back for some reason. ”

“Needed to refuel?” Kieran guessed.

Ariel shook their head. “That’s what I thought at first, but then I got another call.” They took a second pin and jammed it into the map even closer to their location. “There’s a smaller scouting aeroship right behind us. I saw it last night for a few seconds before it ducked into the clouds.”

“They’re…spying on us?” Briar asked. “So they can…what? Strike once we’ve rested? That seems stupid.”

The gears clicked into place in Kieran’s mind. He straightened and shook his head.

“No. They’re waiting to see if we can get the Stave.”

“What?” Briar blinked at him. “Why would they want us to get it?”

Kieran reached down to where Seaweed was curled up near his feet. “Think about it—they were totally unprepared back at the Lake of Whispers. Seaweed decimated them.”

The lake spirit trilled at the sound of her name, hopping up on the table before using Kieran’s shirt to climb his torso.

She wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

Kieran gently patted her head and added, “They went in blind and failed spectacularly. On the other hand, they did manage to sneak on board the other night. Even if we beat them, that was only a fraction of their manpower. If a scouting ship is watching us, they can launch an attack exactly when we’re not expecting it—and then finish what they started the other night. ”

“When we’re not expecting it? What are you talking about?” Briar asked.

“When Kieran gets the Stave,” Delilah realized aloud.

She swallowed. “If they wait to attack until we have the Stave, then they don’t have risk losing more men to the magic woods and they can take the Hilt at the same time.

From there, they just have to convince the Coven to give up the final piece, which I’m sure they feel confident about.

After all, Elias is a charismatic businessman—that kind of negotiation will be easy for him.

As long as they have the first two pieces when that happens, it’ll pretty much seal the win for them. ”

“Exactly,” Kieran said.

“I fear he’s correct,” Santiago said to Ariel, who had begun chewing their lower lip. “What’s our best chance to avoid them?”

“Speed,” Ariel responded plainly. Their eyes fell on Kieran. “It’s up to you, kid, but our best chance might be getting in and out of these woods before they can catch up. But that does mean rushing in without much of a plan.”

“These woods will eat us alive,” Delilah shot back, gesturing outside. “We need something to lead us back once we’re inside, otherwise we’ll get lost out there.”

“Screw that—we have magic!” Briar argued. “I’m sure we can figure something out on the fly. If time is of the essence, we should just go now.”

“That would be reckless,” Delilah reasoned.

Briar threw her hands up. “Maybe we need to be reckless!”

“It’s too much of a gamble,” Delilah shot back.

“Stop it,” Kieran said, holding up a hand to stop Delilah and Briar’s quarrel. “Arguing won’t help.”

“You still need to make a decision, though,” Briar pointed out. “You’re the leader here. What do you want to do?”

Kieran froze. If Elias’s men were on their heels and they waited too long, it would be his fault for not diving in immediately. At the same time, if they headed out now, they’d be totally unprepared. And my magic doesn’t work well on the fly.

“Well?” Briar pushed.

“I—” Kieran tried to swallow but found his throat dry. With all his crewmates’ eyes on him, he felt like their gazes were burning holes in him. It made him want to curl up in a ball and hide, but that wasn’t an option.

“Kieran…” Delilah started softly.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Ariel reminded him.

Briar started, “Which is why we should—”

Kieran slapped a hand against the table. “One hour!”

Everyone stopped. Kieran could barely contain his breathing, which wasn’t a good look for someone with limited time to decide.

He continued: “Give me an hour to think about it. That way, we’ll still have a few hours to find the Stave, and I might be able to come up with a plan so we’re not just winging it. Okay?”

The others all looked at each other, as if too stunned to speak after Kieran’s outburst. Finally, Delilah began to nod.

“I still think—” Briar started.

Kieran stood, cutting her off. “I,” he said, avoiding their gazes, “will be on the top deck figuring this out. We’ll meet back here in an hour.”

With that, Kieran turned for the door, exiting the control room before his panic consumed him.

Up on the top deck, Kieran did his best to quiet his racing heart.

I was not made for leadership, he thought as he counted to ten, trying to steady himself. Seaweed sat on his shoulders, nuzzling his throat. What I would give to still be rich enough to hire people to solve my problems for me.

He rested his chin on his arms as he gazed out at the woods.

He really didn’t have any ideas; he’d just wanted to get out of the control room before he panicked.

Listening to people argue always made him anxious.

Briar had inherited only a fraction of their father’s short temper, but—and he’d never say it out loud—she reminded Kieran of him when she dug her heels in, as she had before.

It wasn’t her fault, by any means—she certainly wasn’t anything like William Pelumbra in the areas where it mattered—but the reminder had been enough to make Kieran feel like the air was getting sucked out of his lungs.

I’ll figure something out, he thought. I have to. Just need to calm down first.

Kieran took a deep, cleansing breath. As nice as it was to have Seaweed to comfort him, part of him longed to have someone wrap their arms around him and tell him it was going to be okay.

For a moment, he thought of the way Ash used to tuck Kieran’s curls behind his ear and trace the shape of his jawbone with his finger.

He’d be so disappointed, Kieran thought with a sigh, knowing I can’t even come up with a simple plan.

Just then, a flicker of movement in the trees caught Kieran’s eye. Seaweed too stiffened and let out a low growl. At the edge of the meadow, someone stepped out into the open.

Kieran straightened as he realized he was looking at a child with a head of short blond curls and pale-pinkish skin. While he couldn’t see the child’s face, his size made Kieran guess he was only seven or eight years old.

The child glanced around, arms wrapped around himself. His shoulders were trembling, and Kieran got the sense it wasn’t from cold. Poor kid looks terrified. Plus, if what Delilah said about how isolated this place is true, he must be really lost.

“Hey!” Kieran cried, waving his hand in the air to get the child’s attention. “Up here! Are you all right?”

The child looked his way for a second, then yelped, turned on his heel, and sprinted into the woods.

“Wait—no! Come back! I can help you!” Kieran glanced frantically side to side, looking for some way to follow him.

He couldn’t let a child run deeper into these woods if he was already lost—that could be a death sentence.

He quickly spotted a coiled length of rope that had been tied to the ship’s rigging.

Oh, this is deeply stupid, Kieran thought. I’m going to regret this. Still, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t at least try to help.

Kieran grabbed the rope and tossed it overboard, then tugged on it to make sure it was tied solidly to the rigging. When nothing budged, he nodded.

“We’re going down,” Kieran warned Seaweed. “Hold on.” Hands tight on the rope, he hoisted himself over the edge of the ship, then slid down.

Aside from a bit of rope burn on his palms, Kieran landed unharmed on the silvery grass.

Seaweed leapt off his shoulders, landing beside him.

He could just barely see the reflection of the little boy in the trees up ahead, running away from him.

Kieran took off as quickly as he could, hopping to avoid a few rocks and a fallen tree.

He and Seaweed dove into the trees, Kieran shouting for the boy to slow down.

The boy either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him. Kieran chased after him, leaving the meadow behind. He caught sight of the blond curls up ahead, then took a sharp turn to follow them. A few steps later, he saw them again to his left.

No, he realized, staring at the tree. That’s a reflection. Gotta make sure I’m chasing the real thing in here.

Kieran kept going, breath turning ragged and muscles aching from exertion.

The cut on his neck throbbed. He rubbed the bandage with a wince, catching sight of his own reflection in the trees.

He looked a bit disheveled and sweaty but passable.

Certainly not scary enough that this child should still be running away from him.

Just then, he heard a branch snap.

Kieran’s head whipped around. Up ahead, the child had halted in a small clearing. Kieran’s hand dropped from his neck, and he jogged to close the distance.

Finally, he thought. The boy had his back to him, staring ahead into the woods. Kieran caught sight of his reflection in the trees, then paused. There were two of him.

“What in the world—?” he started to say.

At the sound of his voice, the child jumped.

He didn’t run this time, though. Trembling, he turned around, meeting Kieran’s eyes.

Instantly, Kieran froze. This wasn’t just any child lost in the woods.

Not with those mismatched blue and brown eyes, the pointed chin, round cheeks and long, straight nose.

And while it was clear that the child was at least ten years younger, Kieran knew exactly who he was looking at.

Himself.