Page 9 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

Well, Kieran thought, no sense lying.

“I guess…I know how it feels to be helpless,” he explained, eyes wandering to his hands.

He remembered how they’d grown skeletal before Delilah broke his fatal curse.

He’d been able to see every vein and joint through the papery skin—an ever-present reminder that he’d been flirting with death.

“And for a long time, I dreamed about the day some hero would come along and save me.”

He looked up, meeting Verbena’s huge eyes.

He saw himself reflected in her spectacles, shoulder-length blond curls a mess and clothes stained with drying blood.

Still, he looked a thousand times healthier than he ever had before.

He wasn’t stick thin or gaunt as he was before his curse broke, and his cheeks had filled in.

His skin was no longer pallid and cold to the touch.

He just looked like a normal almost-eighteen-year-old.

He took a breath. “Not everyone gets that. But I did. So it seemed right to try to be that for someone else.”

“How brave,” Verbena mused. She rubbed her chin ponderously, staring up out of the corner of her eye. “Or stupid.”

Kieran sputtered a laugh, shrugging. “Maybe both?”

“Perhaps,” Verbena agreed. She drummed her fingers on her walking stick. “One more question, then: Why did you come to my vein in the first place?”

Kieran hesitated, gnawing on his lower lip. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off the witch who’d saved his life. But if she had the magic to do that, he probably couldn’t get away with lying. Besides, he was a terrible liar.

So, in an avalanche of words, Kieran explained the situation with Ash, his Calling, and the Witches’ Council. The old woman listened to every word with a look of mild interest, nodding along. Even when he admitted he wanted to use the magic for himself, she didn’t flinch.

After he was done, Verbena stared at him for a long moment, as if mentally mapping the expression on his face. He nervously tucked his hair behind his ears, averting his gaze. She’s probably not gonna like all that.

But to his surprise, Verbena said, “I could help you create a panacea.”

Kieran jerked back. “Wha— You can? Really?”

“Of course. I know more about this vein’s magic than anyone, don’t I?” She tapped her walking stick on the ground. “And you certainly seem more deserving than those other dreadful men.”

Kieran’s eyes brightened.

“But,” Verbena said, holding up a gnarled finger, “my help doesn’t come for free. In exchange, I need you to complete a little something for me. A quest, so to speak.”

“Quest?” Kieran blinked. He hadn’t heard of something referred to as a quest since the last time he borrowed one of the adventure novels Briar read under the breakfast table when she was taking a break from her usual smut.

Verbena nodded. “While I have an ancestral connection to this vein, the magic has become…unruly of late. I still have some power over it, of course, but nothing like I used to. You see, the magic will fully obey someone only if they wield a very special item: the Scepter of the Woods.”

Kieran’s eyebrows shot up. “A…scepter? Kind of like a magic wand? I haven’t heard of a witch using one of those since my great-grandparents were alive.”

Verbena shot him a sideways look, expression stormy. “Are you calling me old, Kieran?”

Kieran paled and stammered, “N-no, of course n—”

Verbena, however, immediately broke her glare and began to cackle, pointing at Kieran’s horrified expression. “Heh! Look at you. So concerned. I jest—it’s no secret that my joints ache and my eyes and ears have nearly given up on me. After all, that’s how I lost the scepter in the first place.”

“Oh—did you lose it around here? I know there’s a lot of snow, but maybe a tracking spell could—”

“Alas, it is not here any longer. I used to be able to patrol these woods day and night, concealing evidence of the vein’s power.

But in my old age, I’ve become far less adept at hiding the vein and its magic.

I missed a whole section of the vein that had become overrun by magic-infused mushrooms. After those were found, rumors of a vein began to spread among local witches.

As more arrived in the forest, it became harder to avoid them.

One day, when I thought I was alone, I used the scepter to channel the vein’s magic.

Unfortunately, I didn’t sense the eyes on me.

After that, the thief merely had to follow me home. ”

“A thief? Did you see who it was?”

Verbena barked a laugh. “Nosy, aren’t we?

The answer to that question is irrelevant—what matters is that I was forced to break the scepter into pieces in order to save it—and the vein—from my would-be thief.

I used the last of its magic to scatter the pieces throughout Celdwyn.

Since then, I’ve waited for a hero brave—or perhaps stupid—enough to look for them.

Once they’ve been reunited, they’ll return to their original form.

Whoever wields the scepter will be able to use the vein’s magic at will. ”

Kieran’s eyes widened. “So…if I can find the pieces and return the scepter, you’ll be able to make me a panacea?”

Verbena nodded. “Indeed. First, you must retrieve the Hilt from the bottom of the Lake of Whispers. Then uncover the Stave hidden in Mirrorveil Woods in the south. Finally, persuade the Iceweave Coven of the Slicetooth Mountains to relinquish the Crown. If you succeed in bringing them together once more, I will aid you in your Calling to break your lover’s curse. ”

Kieran’s head swam as he tried to remember all these details.

He’d have to travel all over Celdwyn to do what she said, not to mention how many complicating factors might come up while retrieving the pieces of a scepter.

He’d need transportation, money, moral support—all things hard to muster up in the six months allotted for his Calling.

But then again, this may well be the only way to create a panacea in, perhaps, the entire world. Really, what choice did he have?

“Okay,” Kieran said, mostly to reassure himself. “I accept your quest.”

A warm smile broke across Verbena’s face. She was missing a few teeth. “Then we’re in agreement. Return here once you’ve re-formed the scepter, and the panacea will be—”

Suddenly, she paused, her face paling as her eyes focused on something on Kieran’s shoulder. “Oh no. ”

“What?” Kieran glanced down at his shoulder, twisting it around so he could see the back. Just then, he spotted a small golden beetle on his back. It appeared to be made of clockwork parts, all of which spun as its wings began to buzz. “Ah!”

“That’s a listening bug!” Verbena growled. She gripped her walking stick and began jabbing it at Kieran. “Someone left it on you! Kill it! Before it can return to its master and tell them of this conversation!”

“Shit!” Kieran slapped a hand toward the bug, but it buzzed, darting out of the way. He hopped out of bed, trying to clap his hands around it as Verbena chanted for him to kill it over and over. “Shit, shit, shit!”

Kieran stumbled over the mossy floor as he chased the bug across the burrow, jumping to try to smash it between his hands. Before he could, it flew into the fire in the woodstove. Kieran watched in horror as it shot up the chimney.

As Kieran cursed under his breath, he suddenly remembered earlier when Elias had clapped him on the back. “That asshole’s trying to spy on me and Klaus!”

“You see why I do not trust easily,” Verbena said, wagging a finger at no one in particular. “This kind of power leads men to do terrible things, my young friend. It seems your quest just got a bit more complicated.”

Kieran cursed again under his breath. “I should find Klaus—maybe he can help.”

“Perhaps it is best to get going,” Verbena said, pointing to the trapdoor. “But please: I implore you not to let that man find my scepter. I suspect that his intentions are anything but pure.”

“You can say that again.” Kieran nodded to Verbena. “Anyway, thank you for saving me, Verbena. I promise I won’t let you down.”

With that, Kieran made his way to the ladder, said his goodbyes, and headed back up to the surface.