Witch, Wolf, Woods

CHAPTER 13: SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

Even though she was tired from making the bracelet, Katja headed to the library after dinner, as the sooner she removed the spells from the necklace, the sooner she could use the pendant as the basis for her enchanted wolf.

Tante Winola was in her usual position at the librarian's desk, only this time her head was resting against the back of her chair, and she was snoring gently. Katja quietly made her way past, setting up at a table in a secluded corner, and getting to work with renewed vigor.

She kept up this routine for the next several weeks—working during the day, eating meals as quickly as possible, then retreating to the library every evening after dinner to work on deciphering spells.

It had been every bit as tedious and difficult as she'd anticipated, but she'd also learned things about removing spells she likely otherwise might not have known.

For instance, when combining spells, it seemed the most powerful combination was the nine-layered spell, and while she hoped for fewer layers than that, she was also prepared for the eventuality of having to break through nine distinct layers.

In addition to needing to understand the sigils in order to decipher the spell, she also needed to know what mark served as the cornerstone, for you couldn't undo a spell without starting there. Once you identified the cornerstone, you could then pull on the mark and begin the process of unraveling the spell, much like undoing a tapestry by pulling away one thread at a time.

One evening during dinner, there was a commotion at the front gate, and Katja watched as Sprechen Adeline and several other witches ran out of the Essen Hall to address the interruption. While a few witches attempted to continue with the evening meal, the room eventually fell silent, and food was pushed back and forth across plates, the air turning heavy with worry.

When it became clear the Sprechen wouldn't be returning anytime soon, the witches slowly began to stream out of the Hall, most leaving in groups of two or three and whispering amongst themselves.

Katja waited until almost everyone else had left, then silently passed her dirty dishes across a counter to a cook and made her way towards the library. She hugged the side of the passageway as she walked and, as usual, no one noticed her, allowing her to overhear snippets of what had transpired as witches hurried past her:

" —Can you imagine? Being attacked like that?"

" —I know Nichts want a reliable map of that forest—we'd love one, too—but you'd think they would understand the dangers of going into the Schwarzwald by now!"

" —He's lucky he made it out of the forest! Imagine if that cave bear hadn't been forced to stay in the shadows and had crossed the border!"

" —Do you really think he saw those things? Half-dead creatures walking around and acting as if they were alive?"

By the time she reached the library, Katja had overhead enough to piece together what had happened. A group of Nichts had gone into the Schwarzwald, determined to create a reliable map of the region, but shortly after entering the forest, they'd been attacked, and only one man had escaped alive.

He'd made his way to the castle, on the verge of shock and begging for sanctuary, and while in the Medizinhalle, he'd spoken of things almost too fantastical to believe, including trees that had ripped their roots right out of the ground, then used them to drag members of his scouting party deep beneath the earth.

He'd also spoken of strange animals, creatures that appeared to be little more than bones and sinew, either kept on the edge of death or brought back to life by some sinister force...he himself had been chased by what he'd described as the skeleton of an enormous cave bear. He'd only escaped by managing to reach the edge of the forest, where he'd thrown himself out of the shadows and into the sun, while the creature had been forced to stop at the border.