Page 51 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

A beat passed. Kieran heard whispered cursing down the passageway. Sebastian met his eye, then crept toward the passageway entrance to peek in. Kieran followed. He was a few inches taller than Sebastian, which meant he could peer over the top of his head.

Around the corner, an older witch—maybe in his forties—was submerged up to his waist in the snow.

He had black hair and a dark beard, both dappled with silver, and pale skin.

Around his top half was a cage made of icicles.

When Kieran tilted his head upward, he saw more icicles hanging from the ceiling, each one glowing with more aurora light.

Each time the older witch struggled, he sank deeper into the snow, the icicles flaring brighter blue.

“It’s another trap,” Kieran realized aloud.

“How are we supposed to get by?” Briar asked, fighting to see around Kieran’s shoulder.

“Let me test something,” Sebastian said.

He bent down and scraped up some snow in his hand. Packing it into a ball, he turned it over once before he launched it at the ground near the trapped witch. The witch yelped in surprise. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, for a flashing second, the packed snow floor suddenly glowed with light.

Instantly, it was replaced with clear water.

The trapped witch cried out, managing to free an arm before another second passed and the ground turned back into snow.

As it did, more icicles fell from the ceiling where the snowball had fallen, creating another cage around the spot.

“Who’s there?” the trapped witch cried, trying to twist his body to see them. “Whoever you are, get over here and help me! I swear I’ll give you something in return!”

“He’s lying,” Sebastian muttered under his breath. “But unless you all have some idea of how to get past this without setting off the trap, we might need to find a way around.”

“Hold on,” Briar said, cracking her knuckles. She stepped out from behind Kieran, planting her feet firmly in the snow. She shifted into a ledrith stance, her eyes beginning to glow pale blue. “I can handle this.”

Briar took a breath, then swung her arms, blue light crackling between her palms. She kicked into the air, then slammed back to the ground, fist colliding with the snow.

Instantly, a thick green vine shot out of the earth.

It rocketed down the passageway before colliding with the wall, where it bit into the ice with teethlike thorny protrusions.

It was thick enough to act almost like a balance beam across the snow, resting about a foot above it.

Briar shot a smile at Delilah, who quietly offered her a round of applause.

“Wow,” Sebastian said. “That was incredible.”

“I try.” Briar hopped up on the vine, then gestured for the others to follow. It seemed solid under her weight, though, considering that she was tiny, Kieran found himself feeling less than confident. “Go slowly and make sure to keep your balance.”

“I can go next,” Delilah offered, seeing the hesitation on Kieran’s face. To Briar, she said, “If I fall, fish me out of the snow?”

“I can manage that,” Briar said.

With a nod, Delilah followed Briar, stepping up onto the vine.

Briar took a few more steps forward to allow Delilah enough room.

She was a bit shakier than Briar, clearly less sure of her own balance.

Briar held out a hand for her. Delilah took it, letting Briar lead her a few more feet down the vine.

“All right,” Kieran said. “Me next?”

On his shoulders, Seaweed chirruped before hopping down onto the vine, seeming ready to show her friend the way. She took a few steps forward before craning her neck to look at Kieran.

Sebastian nodded. “I’ll catch you if anything happens.”

Kieran felt himself blush. A swooning fall into Sebastian’s arms didn’t sound so bad. His arms were, after all, nicely muscled beneath his woolen trench coat.

Focus, Kieran, he chided himself. You can ask Sebastian to carry you around bridal-style when you’re not actively in danger of being assassinated.

“Right, okay.” He took a breath. “Here we go.”

Kieran stepped up onto the vine, testing it to see how stable it was beneath his boots.

It had a tiny amount of give but didn’t seem to be in danger of coming loose anytime soon.

He took a few tiny steps forward. His heart raced.

Blood rushed in his ears. He held his arms out on either side of him, hoping it would help maintain his balance.

Up ahead, Seaweed, Delilah, and Briar made their way past the trapped witch, ignoring his cries for help.

Sebastian stepped up onto the vine behind Kieran. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

The five of them continued down the vine, holding their breath with each small step. Almost as soon as Delilah and Briar passed the trapped witch, his eyes locked directly on Kieran. He waved his free arm, eyes wide and wild like an animal trapped in a snare.

“Hey!” he called, arm flapping wildly. “You there, young witch! You must help me out of here—please! I—I can help you find the crown; you just have to get me out of here!”

Kieran paused. Even though Sebastian had said he was lying, Kieran hesitated. Was it really such a bad idea to help a witch in need? Sure, this was a competition, but he had to be freezing. Kieran was almost next to the man now, the vine steady beneath him. Maybe if he just offered him a hand—

“Kieran,” Sebastian warned. “Don’t—”

Just then, the trapped man managed to jerk himself up enough to shove a hand through the bars of the icicle cage.

The hand went straight for Kieran’s ankle.

Long fingernails clawed at his pant leg.

Seaweed snapped her teeth at the man but was too far away to reach him.

Kieran yelped, nearly stepping off the vine as the man closed his fingers around—

A flash of silver shot through the air. Kieran gasped as the hand that had been about to grab him was pinned to the vine by a throwing knife. As blood bubbled from the wound, the older witch screamed loud enough to shake the icicles overhead.

“Damn you!” he screamed, fiery eyes landing on Sebastian, who stood with a second knife at the ready. “You bastard—”

Suddenly, a nearby icicle fell from the ceiling, exploding in a burst of icy shards. One stabbed the trapped witch in the shoulder. He cried out, and as he did, more icicles shook loose, hurling themselves downward.

Shards of ice exploded around them.

“Run!” Sebastian cried.

Immediately, the four broke into a sprint as icicles dropped from the ceiling.

Each burst on impact, glittering shards flying like shrapnel.

Briar nimbly ducked to avoid falling chunks of ice while Delilah ran after her, clumsily trying to repeat the same movements without falling.

Kieran barely dodged out of the way of one that sailed past him and embedded in the vine.

The impact was almost enough to throw him off balance.

His arms flapped in a desperate attempt to steady himself.

He managed it after a few steps. At his heels, Sebastian cursed as he caught a shard in midair that had nearly struck him in the eye.

Kieran had almost reached the end of the vine.

In front of him, Briar jumped off and landed, catlike, in the snow, where the passageway split into three more.

Delilah too stumbled but managed to leap her way to Briar’s side.

Seaweed was on their heels. Kieran was so close, just one step away. If he could only—

An icicle at his side plummeted to the ground, shattering. Kieran threw up his arms, protecting his face. He felt ice hit his sleeves painlessly. I’m fine, I’m fine—

Hot agony jolted up his leg as a shard flew past, slicing his calf.

Kieran yelped. His knee gave out. He grabbed at air, unable to find an anchor as he fell.

At that moment, something slammed into him from behind, knocking him forward. The next second, he was rolling over the snow, the cry in his throat fizzling out. When he finally came to a stop, he gasped, his vision slowly swimming back.

Sebastian looked down at him, and Kieran realized he’d tackled him. The sound of the falling icicles tapered off, leaving just the sound of their panting breaths. Sebastian reached out, brushing hair out of Kieran’s face. “You okay?”

“Ice spike,” Kieran managed, wincing. “Cut my leg. Hurts.”

“I think we can handle that.” Sebastian’s face moved to Briar and Delilah, a few feet away. “You two okay?”

“Yep.” Delilah groaned, rubbing a spot on her arm. Kieran wondered if she’d taken the impact of an ice spike there.

“Peachy,” Briar agreed, dusting herself off.

“Good.” Sebastian looked down at Kieran. “I’m gonna help you up, okay? You can lean on me for a bit while we get out of here. Then we can wrap it to stop the bleeding.”

“Okay,” Kieran managed. He could feel the cut, but it didn’t hurt as much as he thought it should. Must be the adrenaline.

Sebastian stood, then used both hands to help Kieran straighten.

Kieran winced at the hot pain, though it wasn’t so deep he couldn’t stand.

Especially as Sebastian pulled Kieran’s arm around his shoulders, letting him lean on him, and Seaweed brushed against Kieran’s leg as if offering to help support him.

“Come on,” Kieran said, meeting Delilah’s and Briar’s eyes. “We have to keep going.”

With a quick nod, the girls agreed, and they set off down the next tunnel.