"I thought you were a goner for sure." I climbed back up to my now-customary perch on Lycus’ head. His hair was still wet so there wasn't much to hang on to. I squeezed out some water from two clumps of his hair.
"Me too. The weird thing is I don’t think the troll even made a grab for me. In the water, I didn’t see him."
"Well-trolls are invisible in water," said Boris.
"I know that," snapped Lycus. "But that’s not what I mean. It’s not that I couldn’t see him. It’s that he wasn’t there."
"What are you saying?" I asked suspiciously.
"I’m saying that I don’t think the well-troll was in the water. I think the well-troll WAS the water."
"That means…"
A shadow cast by Boris’ torch and Will’s illumination revealed the looming form of a troll rising out of the puddle.
The troll grabbed Lycus with both claws, its huge maw filled with white teeth dripping water and saliva.
All Lycus managed was an "eep!"
Then the troll’s form shuddered. It contracted and twisted, warping as if it were a bladder full of air that had burst. A moment later a handsome man wearing princely garb stood where the troll once was, holding Lycus by the shoulders.
"Congratulations!" beamed the prince. "You saved me!"
Lycus looked back at me. "What?"
"You saved me! The only way to escape the curse was for me to be removed from the well. There’s no way anyone could drain the well fast enough without the help of magic. But thanks to that key of yours, you managed precisely that. Well done!"
"Uh…" said Lycus.
Boris bowed deeply. "M’lord! It’s good to see you have returned!" I put it together – this was Prince Gierig!
"Boris?" the prince blinked. "Sikkar’s teeth, it’s been years! Time hasn’t treated you well. Is that…mud on your face?"
"Your successor hasn’t been kind," said Boris with downcast eyes.
"Well we’ll have to fix that right away, shan’t we? The place is really falling apart. The rats have grown bolder too."
"Ahem," I broadcast.
"Oh that’s right," said Prince Gierig. "You’re the clever little rodent behind all these shenanigans. Well, I must certainly repay you. Boris, please place these two under arrest."
"What?" asked Lycus. "But we rescued you!"
Boris grabbed Lycus by the collar. Lycus was too stunned by the turn of events to put up much resistance. I, on the other hand, was simply too small to resist.
"Boris, I can’t believe you’re betraying us like this," I growled at Boris, but I broadcast the message to everyone. Boris wouldn’t look at me.
"Oh come now, don’t be mad at Boris. He understands the hierarchy of things. The prince runs the principality. In return his family is well-fed. Loyalty has its privileges, and he’ll be known far and wide throughout Carabas as my rescuer. You two, on the other hand, are outsiders. And it would never do to have tales told of a weak prince cursed by a wizard. So I’m afraid we’re going to have to cover this up. And we’re going to use your magic key to do it. Boris?"
Boris reached for me. I held onto the key as he picked it up.
"Don’t make this any harder than it has to be, little rat," said Prince Gierig. "Let’s not cause a scene."
I scampered up Boris’ arm, ran across his shoulders, down his other arm and reached the hand that held the torch. Then I bit him on the thumb.
With a yelp, Boris dropped the torch into the puddle of water at our feet. The torch flickered and died.
That’s when Will got very, very angry.
The response was instantaneous. "You killed my cousin!"
"Close your eyes!" I broadcast to Lycus. Then I closed my own eyes.
There was a brilliant flash, so bright I could see it through my eyelids. Will was literally burning up in rage.
The prince and Boris yelped and dropped to the floor.
I scampered over to Lycus, who had also hit the floor. Will was spinning around, practically bouncing off the walls. "Grab the key!"
Lycus grabbed the key from Boris, who was flailing around trying to keep Will from igniting his hair.
I scampered up Lycus’ leg and onto his head. "Grab one of the torches!"
Lycus grabbed one of the torches. I broadcast to Will.
"I’m all right! I’m over here, cousin!"
Will stopped his blurring. Prince Gierig stood in just his tights, every trace of gold that was on his person completely consumed. He had festooned himself with quite a bit of loot from the bottom of the well, and it carried over into his human form.
"Cousin?" asked Will. He zigzagged over to us. "Is that you?"
"Run," I said to Lycus. "We have to get out of here now!"
Lycus ran. Will zipped behind us, easily catching up. "That was close, cousin. I thought those filthy humans had put you out!"
"They nearly did," I broadcast back to Will. "They nearly did."
Chapter 6: Scrap and the Wicked Witch
"Now what?" gasped Lycus, exhausted from tromping through the swamp. The only saving grace was that Will’s illumination, added to the torch's feeble light, made it much easier to navigate. On the other hand, the insects that were drawn to his bright flame didn’t help.
"I’m not sure," I said. "I don’t think the Prince can gather a hunting party together at this hour of the night. They don’t even know he’s alive."
All around us, the sounds of the swamp made it clear that the swamp was not happy we were in it. My rat senses were going bonkers too; I could smell every predator lurking in the swamp. Most of them were afraid of Will, but some of them were hungry too.
"Boris sure did turn on us fast, though," said Lycus.
"Yeah," was all I could think of to say. I was really angry at Boris. I couldn’t believe he would betray us so quickly. But then, I had walked into a situation I didn’t really understand. Carabas was Boris' home. I was no more entitled to rule it than Ura was.
And that’s when it hit me: I had been no better than Ura!
Sure, I was only trying to survive. But in the end I was manipulating everyone to get what I wanted: to become a knight. And I was just going to run off and leave poor Lycus in charge of the whole thing.
I stewed in my funk as Lycus finally sat down. The torch dangled loosely from his hand.
"Whatever you do, don’t drop the torch!"
"I’m tired and wet and cold," muttered Lycus. "Why don’t you walk for a couple of hours and I’ll sit on your head?"
"Very funny."
"This torch is going to go out eventually." The torch had started to sputter. "What do we do then?"
"We’re going to have to find some shelter, soon. I have an idea." I turned to Will. "Will?"
Will was humming to himself. He was the happiest being I had ever met. He zipped closer to the torch. "Yes, cousin?"
"Where do you go when you want to rest in the swamp?"
"When we dim, you mean?"
"Yes, when you dim."
"Oh I can show you. We lure humans out to different places to eat their gold, but during the day we can get into trouble, so we go dim."
"But not this human," I said.
"Oh, bother! I forgot he was there. Well he’s keeping you company, so I suppose that’s a good thing. I do wish you’d drop him though, he’s just dead weight. We could leave him in the swamp…"
"No!" I said a little too vehemently. "He’s my friend. He stays."
Will turned a soft blue. "Fine. Have it your way. I can take you to my nest, but the human can’t go there, so we’ll have to drop him off somewhere in any case."
"Do you have somewhere in mind?" A thought occurred to me. "Are you familiar with directions?"
"Directions?"
"Yes, you know. North, south, east, west?"
"Don’t think so!" Will replied cheerfully.
"How do you find your way?"
"A wisp always knows his way," said Will.
"Don’t you ever wo
nder what direction you’re going in?" I tried another tactic. "When the sun rises in the morning, where does it come from?"
"The Great Will! Oh yes," he zipped in one direction. "He comes from there." Will passed over us in an arc, glowing brightly at the zenith and dimming as he touched down to the ground, "and ends there, where he goes dim."
"What the…what is it doing?" asked Lycus, watching Will.
I shushed Lycus.
"It is how we can be sure we’re safe—our greatest cousin of all watches over us when we sleep!"
Will saw the sun as just another will o’ wisp. But we were making progress; Will knew direction. And if he knew direction…
"Will, can you take us…" I told Lycus to wave the torch in a direction, "down this path from the Great Will?"
"Most certainly," said Will cheerfully. "In fact…" With a puff he rocketed up into the sky until he was a mere dot. A second later he returned in a streaking of flame. "There are humans not far from here! We can drop him off there!"
"Great, let’s go!"
Will zipped off. "Let’s go, pokey! Come on, come on!"
"Where is it going?" asked Lycus warily.
"To warmth and shelter," I said. "Get up."
Lycus groaned but got to his feet. He started shuffling in Will’s direction. "Is it far?"
"Hopefully not," I said.
"Is there food there?"
"Hope so."
Lycus suddenly got a spring in his step.
* * *
Will’s instincts were much better than I thought, given that he was a half-witted ball of fire. After slogging through a series of dangerous water-filled pits in the swamp, we came upon a clearing. A fence surrounded a curious-looking cabin. The fenced off area was large enough to accommodate more than a simple cabin, but that wasn't the strange part. The swamp around the fence had been recently cleared—the trees that were nearby had been smashed out of the way to produce the clearing, as if struck by a giant. And yet there it was, this cozy house, sitting in the midst of a swamp. Smoke curled merrily from its chimney and the doorway seemed especially inviting.
"Finally, he got something right!" said Lycus, hustling towards the fence.
"I don’t know, Lycus. I don’t like this."
"It’s warm. It’s dry. What’s not to like?"
It did look very inviting. Curiously, Will hovered by the opening but did not fly over the gate, although he could easily have done so.
"Well here we are!" Will addressed Lycus’ torch. "Drop him off and let’s go."
"We’d better reignite the torch," I said to Lycus. "Or Will’s going to get angry again."
"Fine." Lycus took the torch and stuck it in the muck just outside the fence. The flames were dimming to a dark blue. The torch would go out soon.
"I don’t think that’s such a good idea..."
Lycus was done talking. He pushed open the gate.
In the shadow of the moonlit hut was a huge dog gnawing on a bone. Judging by its skeletal appearance, it hadn’t been fed properly in a long time.
Lycus froze at the open gate.
The dog looked up. A low growl rumbled in its throat.
"Talk to it," said Lycus out of the corner of his mouth.
"Uh...hi?" I projected.
The dog cocked his head. "You can talk dog, human?"
"Err, not quite. It’s actually the rat on his head doing the talking."
"Now that’s a sight!" The dog chuffed. I took it as canine laughter. "And what are you doing here?"
"We’re weary travelers, looking for warmth and shelter."
"You’ll find both here, but you may not want them. The human looks like he’d be tasty though, and I’m quite hungry." The dog slowly roused itself to its feet.
"What’s going on?" asked Lycus, his voice rising.
"I’m negotiating, don’t make any sudden moves." I concentrated on the dog again. "Do you know Jacko?"
"Jacko? Jacko, the rat-fighting dog? I know of him. Fought a few rats myself in my days, before I came here."
"He’s a friend of mine. He says hello."
The dog sniffed the air in Lycus’ direction. "You have the faintest scent of him. And yet you survived. You must be special indeed."
"Will you let us pass?"
The dog circled the ground a few times and thumped back down with his back to us. "Sure," he said. "It makes no difference to me. I’ll get the scraps one way or the other."
Before I could ask the dog what he meant, the door opened.
* * *
The old woman who stood in the doorway smelled like freshly baked cookies. She wore a kerchief over gray hair that was braided down to her back. She was round and ruddy, shaped like a turnip, and her skin was weathered to a deep brown. Coal black eyes looked out at us from a craggy face, split by the gap-toothed greeting on her lips. Her teeth glittered in the torchlight.
I decided to stay silent. Better to let Lycus speak for us. I darted down his sleeve and hopped to the ground.
"Hello grandmother!" said Lycus respectfully. "I'm traveling with…" He looked around and realized I wasn't on his head. Will was bouncing around the torch in the ground behind him. "Myself, I guess. Would you have any mercy on a poor, starving, cold traveler?"
The old woman clapped her gnarled hands together. "Oh my, certainly! Yes, yes! I've something brewing right now, as a matter of fact! Do come in, do come in! My name's Yaga, but all the children call me Mama Yaga." She paused as she caught sight of Will, who was zipping around the dwindling torch. "Oh dear, what's that bobbing around the torch there?"
"That?" Lycus scratched his head. "That's uh…"
"Is that a will o' wisp? Here near my home!" She clapped her hands again and let out a squeal. "Delightful! Come here you darling little flame, come here."
She pointed at Will with a gesture that brooked no argument. Will didn't see the gesture, didn't understand it, or simply didn't care—it was hard to tell with wisps.
"Oh dear," she tsked and shook her head. "He seems to be confused by your torch. Well we can fix that." She flicked a long nail in the direction of the torch and it went out.
A wail went up from Will. He darted left and right, looking for the source. This would be very bad…
Will rushed towards the fence, the nearest source of light and warmth, only to rebound from an invisible shield that blocked his passage.
Mama Yaga chuckled as she caught Lycus flinching. "Oh, don't you worry dear, we're quite safe in here. Your new friend just isn't adjusting to his surroundings. I'm afraid he isn't very bright." She laughed at her own joke. "Bright! Get it?" She elbowed Lycus, who was staring wide-eyed at the looming fireball that was once Will.
"Oh Eliana dear!" called Mama Yaga in a singsong voice. "I've some work for you."
Will battered at the gates, sparking and sputtering flames. He was at it for a few minutes before a striking young redheaded woman stepped out of Mama Yaga's dwelling, rubbing her eyes.
"Yes, Mama?"
Lycus looked at Eliana, slack-jawed
"Oh, there you are dear!" Yaga smiled. "I'm sorry to wake you, I know you need your rest. But I'm afraid we have a situation uniquely suited to your talents. A wisp is outside our gate and he's very confused."
Eliana looked askance at the angry wisp. "I can see that. I'll take care of it."
Eliana went back into the house only to emerge a moment later with a bow and arrow. Will was whistling around the house perimeter so quickly that he had become a whirling blur of angry red glowing lines.
Eliana took careful aim with her bright red bow and arrow. Yaga watched in silence, hands clasped before her.
FWWWT! The arrow flashed through the air and speared right through Will, even though he wasn't made of anything material. It pinned him to a tree, which he promptly ignited in his rage.
Eliana produced a jack-o'-lantern from the inside of the entryway of the house. Then she made her way over to Will, passing through the force field without hesitation.
She gently cupped the wisp between her hands.
"There, there. I know you're very upset, but you can't go around setting Mama's place on fire now, can you?"
Carefully, she placed the much-diminished wisp in the jack-o'-lantern. To my amazement, Will calmed down and stayed inside it.
Mama Yaga turned to usher Lycus into the house. Eliana walked away from the blazing conflagration behind her.
Yaga cleared her throat. "Eliana, are you forgetting something?"
Eliana sighed. "Yes Mama." She turned and took a deep breath, and the flames were sucked right out of the tree and between her puckered lips. Eliana coughed, and trail of smoke spiraled upwards from the corner of her mouth.
Mama Yaga guided Lycus into the house, followed by Eliana. I sat at the entrance; a long heavy cloth acted as the door. After struggling to decide what to do, I snuck under the cloth and into Mama Yaga's house.
* * *
The inside of Mama Yaga's hut was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside. I was half-tempted to stick my head back outside to confirm my suspicions, but the big dog was outside and I didn't feel like taking the risk.
Eliana strode in ahead of Mama and Lycus. She let her hair down from the bun she had hastily done up for Mama Yaga's task. Red curls tumbled all around her, temporarily concealing her face. "May I go back to sleep Mama?"
"Oh yes dear, of course," said Yaga good-naturedly. She placed the Will-o'-lantern on the wooden table, which seemed to have been carved of the same material as the hut itself.
There was plenty to look at. The first thing I noticed in the hut was a veritable forest of potted plants tucked into one side of the room. They strained out of their pots with strange, protruding tree roots that were twisted and gnarled. Near the trees were piles of glittering stones.
The room was simple but large, and two other rooms curved off to the right and left, separated by hide-stitched curtains. A wooden floor of outwardly radiating logs ended in a corner of the room, placing the room we were in along the perimeter of a larger circle. The general structure of the place fit what I had seen from the outside, which was circular. The size still didn't match up, but there were more important things to worry about right now.
Spider webs hung from the ceiling of the room and wheat sheaves hung over the doors. Every inch of wall space was covered in shelves, all of them lined with books and bottles. Nets filled with roots and dried plants hung from the ceiling.
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