Page 7 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

It was, indeed, not fun.

It took Kieran nearly two hours to reach the rendezvous point Klaus had told Delilah about over the phone.

In that time, he’d fallen twice. Both times he’d managed to divert into the snow, so while he’d avoided becoming completely mud-crusted, his pants and coat were damp.

If the last few days had taught him anything, it was that maybe, just maybe, he should consider moving to a more tropical locale.

Luckily, he soon came upon a tall, imposing man with familiar dark curls graying at the temples and a salt-and-pepper beard. He was dressed in outdoor gear that was clearly worn from use, and his hair was longer than it had been a few months ago. The rugged mountain-man look suited him.

“There’s the little Pelumbra princeling,” Klaus announced as Kieran came to his side, trying not to pant too loudly from the exertion. That he’d somehow done this hike six months ago when he was cursed and dying was beyond him.

“Don’t worry,” Klaus added, “you haven’t kept me waiting too long.”

Kieran hadn’t been worried about that in the slightest, but whatever Klaus needed to think to stay happy was fine with him. “Good to see you, Klaus. Delilah says hi and hopes you’re doing well.”

“Did she say that?” His brown eyes lit up a bit. “How kind of her. You’ll have to let her know I echo the sentiment.”

“Of course.” Kieran smiled. Delilah hadn’t actually said that, but Kieran knew how to play to rich men’s egos. He’d watched his parents do it nonstop for nearly seventeen years. While luck had been a big part of the Pelumbra fortune and reputation, their charisma hadn’t hurt either.

“Well, no reason to wait around here.” Klaus used his walking stick to point off into the woods. “Come with me and I’ll explain everything on the way to the vein.”

Kieran nodded and followed the older man, doing his best to listen as he launched into an overly detailed description of his last six months of work.

A solid amount of the lecture involved how he’d made himself comfortable and at home in the woods, which mostly amounted to the fact that he’d paid to have a cabin built near the vein.

Kieran did the usual wow-how-great-that’s-wonderful spiel while only half listening—at least until he moved on to the actual important part: the magic vein itself and its potential ability to create a panacea.

“While I know where it is, getting to the magic is much more of a challenge,” Klaus explained.

“It’s hidden underground, and anytime I get too close, the vein reacts by sending strange creatures after me.

And while I’m quite adept at combat magic—obviously—I’m only one man versus a sentient magic vein and its myriad unpleasant creatures. ”

Kieran glanced up—he’d been doing his best to watch his feet so he didn’t get caught in any roots or snowdrifts. “You think it’s sentient ?”

“Very much so. There are mushrooms around it, and if you inhale their spores, you start hearing odd whispers. I’ve taken to inhaling them on purpose, and I’ve started to get much clearer communications. Mainly being told to stay away, but it’s a good start.”

Kieran blinked. What is the likelihood that Klaus is high on mushroom spores all the time rather than the vein actually being sentient? To be determined.

“The other issue,” Klaus continued, not stopping to read the horror written all over Kieran’s face, “is that I’m not the only one out here trying to convince the vein to let me near it.”

That caught Kieran’s attention. “Oh?”

“There’s a man named Elias Barclay who found out about it and has been nearly as tireless as me in trying to extract the magic,” Klaus grumbled.

Kieran noticed a twitch in his jaw. “He’s the CEO of a company in the city—made a fortune off new and inventive magical cures for various illnesses.

I suspect he thinks that if he can gain access to the panacea, he can add it to his list of products and double his profits. ”

“It sounds like you don’t care for him much.”

“Not at all,” Klaus said, eyes narrowed. “On top of trying to steal the glory of my magical discovery, he’s also incredibly self-centered. Seems to enjoy the sound of his own voice over anything else.”

Kieran elected to ignore the irony of that statement. “Has he made any progress?”

“No more than I have. The only real move he’s made recently is hiring an assistant. Some kid from Shui City—I don’t even know his name. Seems to be more of a glorified bodyguard, if you ask me.”

As Klaus maneuvered over a fallen log, Kieran paused for a moment, boots crunching to a halt in the snow. “Humor me: You didn’t bring me along just to try to level the playing field with Elias now that he has an assistant, did you?”

“Of course not!” Klaus said, not looking back to see whether Kieran made it over the log or not. He simply pushed ahead, nearly snapping a tree branch into Kieran’s face by accident. “That’s absurd. I couldn’t care less about what Elias Barclay does.”

Kieran had to stop himself from laughing. Sure, Klaus.

“Well, enough about that—we’re almost there.” Klaus waved a hand ahead. “Brace yourself, Karen. This is powerful magic.”

“It’s actually pronounced Kieran —”

“Right, just as I said. Now, come along—we’ve business to attend to.”

Kieran hadn’t exactly known what to expect when they reached the vein, but it wasn’t the lush, summery tableau they came upon in the middle of the snowy forest.

Giant pinkish mushrooms stood tall at what must be triple Kieran’s height, colorful bunches of smaller mushrooms collected at their base.

Strange midnight-purple dragonflies with eight wings flittered through air that was shimmery with mushroom spores.

Bright-green moss covered the ground, and the snow on the trees around the edges of the vein was half melted: The branches that reached over the vein were still leafy while the others stood dormant and snow-dusted.

It was like an eternal spring contained within a small strip of land.

As he stared, Kieran thought he saw a flicker of movement from the ground, but when he turned his head to examine it, it was nothing but mossy earth. Strange.

“Impressive, right?” Klaus put his hands on his hips as he surveyed the scene. “The way raw magic impacts the environment is fascinating. To think how powerful it will be once I tap into it…it’s dizzying.”

Kieran tore his gaze away from the moss and shot Klaus a sideways look. “How, exactly, do you plan to create a panacea once you’ve tapped the magic vein? Have you done it before?”

“Well,” Klaus started, straightening his coat as he led Kieran to the moss-covered ground.

It was springy under Kieran’s feet, almost like walking on a plush blanket.

Klaus continued: “That’s a very good question.

It’s…something of a mystery. No one really knows what form raw magic takes.

Whether it’s some sort of liquid or perhaps a gemstone—all that knowledge has been lost to time.

So the real question is, what is it and how do we refine it?

But we won’t know until we reach the inner part of the vein. ”

Kieran cocked an eyebrow. “Which you plan to…dig up?”

“Theoretically,” Klaus said. He gestured to a particularly large clump of blue, green, and pink mushrooms that sprouted out of the ground in a grand bouquet.

“That’s the last place I tried to dig. I created a slim, handheld device that can bore a narrow hole in the earth, and my hope was to disturb the vein as little as possible.

Unfortunately, even with the addition of an invisibility spell, the vein’s creatures still found me and drove me away before I dug more than a few feet. ”

“How many ways have you tried to get to the vein so far?”

“Last week I reached attempt seventy-three,” Klaus said, sounding almost proud.

When Kieran’s face went pale, Klaus quickly justified, hands gesticulating wildly, “It’s all part of the scientific process!

And, well, now that you’re here to help me, I have the advantage of a witch who might be able to help fend off the vein’s creatures while I work. ”

Kieran did his best not to openly laugh at that. “You want me to fight off magical creatures?”

Klaus cocked an eyebrow. “Is that a problem? Your twin seemed quite adept at fighting, so I assume you had similar training.”

“Um. About that—”

Before Kieran could finish, though, a new voice boomed through the woods, calling, “Well, now, look who it is! My dear friend has returned.”

Kieran and Klaus turned to find a pair of figures approaching them.

One was a short, stout man with his arms outstretched as if he were going to embrace them.

He wore a clean, pressed pair of slacks and a crisp black coat—he would have looked more at ease having a martini at a five-star hotel bar than in the woods.

He appeared to be in his early fifties, with a light, ruddy complexion and gray-streaked, neatly trimmed brown hair.

He also lacked much of a neck, lending him the likeness of a posh turtle.

“Elias.” Klaus said his name like a chore he needed to cross off his to-do list. “What a surprise.”

“A pleasure as always, Klaus.” Elias’s eyes fell on Kieran. “And who is this?”

“This,” Klaus said, gesturing to Kieran with a flourish, “is my new assistant, Koren.”

Typically, Kieran would have quickly correctly the misnomer. But he hadn’t processed anything Klaus had said, nor Elias.

Because the boy standing at Elias’s side may well have been the most attractive person Kieran had ever laid eyes on.

He was a few inches shorter than Kieran—who stood just shy of six feet—with a slim, muscular build.

His skin was pale but gold-toned, his piercing eyes so dark brown they appeared black.

He had shiny jet-black hair parted in the middle and trimmed so it barely tickled the shell of his ears.

His face was a mix of delicate features—a straight, short nose and pinkish lips—paired with sharp cheekbones and a slim, angular jaw.

He wore a simple slate-gray woolen trench coat and had his hands tucked in the pockets.

Based on his stony expression, he had little interest in the introductions at hand.

Kieran’s heart thumped hard against his ribs.

Elias stepped up, blocking Kieran’s view of the other boy, and offered a hand to shake.

Kieran had to pause for a moment to remember what he’d been doing, then took the hand.

Much to his surprise, Elias yanked him forward.

Kieran stumbled just as Elias clapped Kieran on the back as if they were old friends.

The pat of his heavy hand felt more like a smack than a kind gesture.

Kieran tensed as Elias pulled back, a smile on his face. Nothing about it, though, seemed friendly. “Nice to meet you, Koren.”

“Oh, um—it’s Kieran. Kieran Pelumbra.”

“Pelumbra, hmm? Been hearing that name in the papers a lot recently.” Elias chuckled, trying to meet Kieran’s gaze even as his focus wandered back to the other boy. “So sorry about your family’s…misfortune. I will miss the estate parties.”

Realizing that Kieran was not paying attention to him, Elias added, “Ah, yes. This is my assistant, Sebastian Feng. Sebastian?”

“It’s a pleasure,” the boy said in a voice as smooth as silk.

For the first time, he met Kieran’s gaze, nearly making his heart leap from his chest. Sebastian bowed his head politely to both Kieran and Klaus, a greeting Kieran recognized as being more common in places like Shui City, where most people had ancestral roots in the neighboring country of Fenshi.

“How nice that you finally have some help for your experiments,” Elias went on, returning to his pissing contest with Klaus. “It’s been so sad seeing you alone out here on your knees in the dirt day in and day out.”

Kieran tried and failed to hide his bemused expression, his nose wrinkled and eyebrows furrowed. He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn that the corner of Sebastian’s mouth twitched towarda smile as he held in a laugh at the older men’s absurdity.

Kieran’s stomach fluttered. This guy is definitely not your average assistant.

“Well,” Klaus shot back, fingers twitching at his sides, “I’ve always been the sort of man who isn’t afraid to do things himself. I’ll have you know, I’ve made great—”

Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping cut him off. Sebastian stepped into action immediately, moving in front of Elias with his arm out. Kieran’s head snapped toward the sound just in time to catch a flash of movement. Not a small movement either.

That was all the warning they got before something massive crashed through the woods, claws aimed at their throats.