Hilda - The Challenge

by Paul Kater

  Hilda finished the show off by dropping the bucket on the boys head. Then she let him tumble over his two partners in crime, spreading the joy, the honey and the fish. After this feat she looked at William and made the two brooms shoot over to him. She walked towards the fish cart and maneuvered the brooms so that they stuck under the shirts of the boys, releasing their weight from William's arms that would by now hurt like crazy. Hilda was convinced of that.

  William, who saw the brooms coming, held his head pointed at them, making it look as if he was the one that directed their movement. The cooperation of the witch and the book salesman was excellent.

  As Hilda joined him, he slowly lowered his arms. Hilda made the brooms slowly rise at the same time, creating a magnificent dramatic effect that made many a person gasp for air.

  Whispers and secretly pointing hands and fingers were all around them.

  William let his arms hang down his sides, grateful that the weight was gone. His muscles had indeed taken a beating.

  Hilda turned towards him, he turned to her at almost the same time. She nodded. He nodded also. She held out a hand, and he copied her movement. The two boys with the fish still on their noses dropped to the ground and the brooms flew to their owners and gently settled into the extended hands.

  The owners of the apple cart stared at the two robed figures. "Thank you! Thank you for saving our merchandise!"

  "Don't mention it," Hilda said, holding her head in a near regal way. "Just be careful with your backs when you pick up the apples."

  William bit his tongue. He should not laugh.

  The two boys who had acted as distractions were already in the hands of six very capable men. "Honourable witch, honourable wizard... What about these two? What about the fish?"

  Hilda looked at William, the magnificent blue sparkles in her eyes, as if the witch was silently communicating with the wizard. Then she turned to the men. "The fish will rot away in time. They'll be fine then. Just..." She waved her hand in front of her nose. "You understand?"

  William bit even harder.

  A large crowd of people had gathered around them, keeping a respectful distance. Hilda walked ahead, William right behind her, and the crowd opened up a corridor through which they could leave. Stately they passed through the human gateway and walked away from the market place, turning into one of the more silentside-streets.

  "Up up, and hold on," Hilda said and mounted her broom. William followed, and then they shot upwards. They flew low over the market square, people ducking as the brooms approached. Hilda cackled her laughter over the crowd and then she set course for home, pushing the brooms to an exhilarating speed, making sure the wind got hold of their clothes just enough to make the robes beat around their bodies.

  23. Gurthreyn

  They landed at the house.

  "Ah. You are back," it aptly remarked.

  "Yes, we are, and did we have fun!" Hilda hopped off her broom and almost pulled William off the other. She jumped up and hugged him wildly. "You were great there, sweet man! I am so proud of you!"

  William held her close and twirled her round a few times until they both were dizzy. As he did so, he said: "I am proud of you, and grateful too. If you had not come to my rescue, I would have died, holding these guys up."

  Hilda planted a big kiss on his lips. "You looked magical, William. Awesome." She let out a shriek and kicked back her legs, to express her excitement, holding back on the shriek so the man that held her would not be completely deaf for hours.

  After another bear-hug, William put Hilda on her feet again.

  "Come, let's go inside. This afternoon calls for a glass of wine!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, the brooms following them as usual. As they entered the door that already had opened for them, William took the by now two arrows that were sticking from the wood.

  "Thank you, that is a relief," said the house.

  "You're welc-" said William. That was all he had time for, as Hilda kept pulling at his arm.

  "You know," said Hilda, "I am going to do this the old fashioned way. Such a great time calls for something special."

  William wondered what she called the old fashioned way, so he put the two arrows on the table and followed her to the kitchen, to see what she was going to do.

  Hilda went to the worktop and stared at the cupboards.

  "Right... glasses..." She opened a door. No glasses. She snipped her fingers and there were two glasses on the worktop.

  "Now... where did I put the wine..." A peek behind another door yielded no wine. Snip. "Ah, of course you were there," she said to the bottle in her hand. She then simply blew the cork away and filled both glasses. One with just wine and one for herself.

  William quickly retreated and sat down on the couch, looking very surprised as Hilda came in with the glasses of wine.

  "Here you are, sweet man, a glass of wine, all done by hand." She sat down next to him. "Did you have fun also?"

  "Oh, definitely. I had a lot of fun. It was stunning to see you in action and how you can handle your magic." He kissed her cheek. "Thank you again for coming to my rescue."

  "That goes without saying, but I would not decline another kiss," she said, the blue sparkles in her eyes again.

  William was more than willing to acquiesce.

  Hilda then put her hand on Williams arm. "I really was afraid that your arms would break, William, the way you held up these boys. But it looked great."

  "I could not let you do all the work alone, could I? I loved the thing with the fish that you did on them." He laughed at the memory. "I wonder if the fish monger will make them pay for those fish."

  "I don't know. These people always settle things like that among themselves. Not my business." Hilda sipped from her wine. "Hmmm." Her wand popped up and a moment later there was a very convenient table in front of the couch. She put her glass on it. "That's better."

  William also put his glass on the table, which for Hilda was the green light to sit in his lap.

  "You really find me very convenient to sit on, don't you?"

  She nodded. "Yes. And to lie on also."

  He laughed.

  "What! No laughing at the resident witch, do you hear me? There is a severe penalty for that!"

  "And what might that be?", William was curious to find out.

  "Hmm. Kissing me would be a good start."

  Gladly he took that part of the punishment.

  "Ooohhh...", sighed the witch after a while, "I could get used to this."

  William chuckled. "Maybe we should light some candles, otherwise I might be kissing the wrong parts of you." As he had expected, there were many blue sparkles in Hilda's eyes.

  "I may keep you to that sometime," she grinned. Lazily she waved around, and light spread through the already darkening room as more and more candles lit themselves. She slipped off his lap and reached for her wine. "Now to the real world for a moment. Did I see that you took in some arrows?"

  "You saw that, indeed, which surprises me," William acknowledged.

  "Oh, shush, you..." With her wine in hand Hilda walked to the table and started to unfold the first message. "Oh, this is nice. I think. It is for us."

  "For us??" William got up and went to see what she meant.

  "Yes. Not sure if this is a good thing, but..." She handed him the paper. It was a note from Calandra, wishing Hilda and William all the luck together. As William read the first note, Hilda unfolded the second one and tossed the arrows in the basket.

  "Oh... crap..." She dropped the paper on the table. "If ever there was crap, then this is it. I am now officially finished." She let herself fall onto the closest chair and drank down her remaining wine. "And I need another one..."

  William frowned. "Go easy on yourself, sweetheart, what's the big problem?"

  Hilda first downed the second glass of diluted wine, then she pointed at the paper. "That is the problem. See for yourself."

  The note read: Grimhilda. I have decided on th
e location for our small encounter to take place. It will be held at the labyrinth of Gurthreyn. Do bring your false wizard with you. I will even allow him to help you. But know that if he does, he will suffer the same fate as you will.

  "Does not look inviting," William said, putting the paper down on the table. "Hey, whoa, stop right there!" He saw that Hilda had conjured up a third glass of wine already and was aiming for her mouth with that. "I don't think that is the answer, Hilda."

  The wicked witch looked at him as he kneeled down and took her free hand. "You don't know Lamador, William. And you don't know the labyrinth of Gurthreyn. That place is evil. Going there is like voluntarily stepping into your grave after digging it yourself. Now let me drink. I don't want to remember this note."

  "If you are really set on drinking yourself silly, why do you take the diluted detour? If you want to have a painful head in the morning, then take this." He put his own glass in front of her. "And let me fill it up for you."

  Hilda looked at the glass in obvious horror.

  William took her face in his hands. "Hilda, listen. Getting scared is exactly what he wants us to do. And I am not going to let anyone do that to you, witch of mine, even if I have to learn magic myself, although I wouldn't know where to apply for a crash course."

  Hilda put her hands over his. "You really would, wouldn't you?"

  "Yes. That and more, if need be. Remember that I said I love you? That does not just mean fun and kissing and sex. That goes all the way for me. Because you matter."

  "You are so sweet, William, but also so innocent about this world. You have no idea what you are up against," Hilda said, slowly shaking her head a bit.

  "A good thing is that Lamador doesn't know either." William bent forward, touching foreheads for a moment. "Listen, woman. I am not going to sit by and watch you fall to pieces. Nor will I let you get yourself killed in a challenge with some oversized ego. No, listen," he added as Hilda tried to say something. He put a thumb over her lips for a moment, risking being bitten. "I am very much aware that he is powerful and he could wipe both of us away with a sneeze or so, but that is something we are not going to worry about now. That is something he will try on the third new moon from now, he wrote that himself. Until then we have time to prepare ourselves as much as we can."

  There were no sparkles in Hilda's eyes. After a while she slowly nodded. "Okay. We'll try it."

  "We'll do it," William corrected her. "Now you go and put these glasses of wine into the kitchen. And then we're going to bed and tomorrow..." He got up, taking her hands, and pulled her to her feet.

  Hilda looked at him. "Do you know that you are doing it all wrong? I am the wicked witch. I should be the one with the big mouth and the ideas and heroic attitude."

  "Perhaps," he agreed, "but there seem to be times that even wicked witches are a bit overwhelmed by events, and can do with some mental support."

  Her smile told him that she was giving in. For now. "Very well... I do maintain that you're an idiot, William. But you're my idiot. And I hope that makes a difference." She picked up the glasses and walked towards the kitchen. Just before reaching that, she frowned and turned around. "Suck an elf... how come I take the glasses when you tell me to?"

  "Must be my dazzling charm," William grinned.

  "Is that so..." Hilda threw the glasses into the kitchen, one by one. There was no magic that caught them, the sound of shattering crystal was evident. "Must be my impulsive character." The witch walked to the staircase. "I'm going to lie in bed and won't go to sleep until you wrap me in your arms. I am telling you this, because that is how it should be. The witch is in, remember that." Satisfied that she had made a point, she marched up the stairs.

  William grinned and put a hand on his special book for a moment, to find out if it would hit him again. It did not spark, it only wiggled a bit. As that was unusual, he picked it up. Beneath it lay the wand that had been Gerdundula's. Not in two pieces, but whole. He raised an eyebrow. "I thought she said..." With a shrug he picked up the red and white wand and put it on the book. It was too late for deep thoughts. He went around the room, blowing out the candles and then headed up to the bedroom, where Hilda was already sound asleep. He wrapped her in his arms anyway.

  24. Did I wand this?

  "Hey..." Hilda was awake. She also was tapping William on the arm.

  "Hey what?", the victim asked without opening his eyes.

  "Hey you. Wake up."

  "Any good reason for that?" William felt drained for no reason at all. His attempt to put an arm around Hilda was easily warded off by the wicked witch.

  "Yes, because I tell you to."

  "Okay. I am awake. Speak." He held his eyes closed.

  "Not like that, you won't."

  A few moments later a small trickle of very cold water ran down William's neck. It took him the better of two seconds to open his eyes and jump out of the bed.

  "Good. Now I know that is effective," Hilda said with a wicked grin. She held up what she had in her hand. It was the red wand with the white spirals over it. "I have a simple question, William. Who did this?"

  "I really don't know, Hilda. I found it like that under my book before I came to bed and wondered about it as well. You had said it couldn't be done, so it stumped me also." The salesman was still rubbing his neck, the water had been icy cold.

  "This wand woke me up, William, as it is screaming for an owner. I do want to get to the bottom of who put it together again, but for now I want to shut it up as it is driving me crazy. So I want you to adopt it." She held out the wand to William, who automatically accepted it, foggy-headed as he still was.

  "Uhm, adopt it? It is a piece of wood, how can I adopt it?"

  Hilda walked up to William and with one finger (and a bit of magic) she pushed him on the bed. She sat down on him, her legs on each side of his chest, and looked in his eyes. "This, my good man, is not 'a piece of wood'. It was, once. It now is a wand. It has magic. Okay? And I will help you in adopting it, but you will have to want it. So tell me, because I am getting very edgy about this and you do not want to have me around when I'm edgy. So say the word."

  It was clear that she was in a PMS mood.

  "Yes. I'd like to adopt it."

  "Do you want this wand?"

  "Yes. I want the wand."

  "You'll have to keep it with you for the rest of your life. Protect it, so it will protect you." Hilda looked very serious now, there was not an inch of her that was relaxed, William sensed. This was, as one might call it, serious shit.

  "I will do that. I'll protect it. With my life. As I would do for you."

  "Hold up your hands..." Hilda's voice, so strong and direct before, was now a whisper. As William held up his hands, she slowly put the wand in his right hand, closed it around the red stick and folded his left hand around that. She then held both his hands in hers again as she slowly murmured things in a language that William had never heard. It sounded gently, dreamy, enticing and pleading at the same time.

  The wand began to tremble. William knew that it was the wand itself, as he could not move his hands, Hilda's magic held them together, unmoving. A warmth spread through his palms, and Hilda knew it. This was a good sign, she knew, but she could not speak. It would break Williams attention, his concentration, and that was crucial at this point. The screaming of the wand faded from her awareness. A wand did not scream with sound for the ears. It would scream directly to the centre of being, from where magic came.

  She relaxed a little, releasing the pressure on Williams ribs also. He would not notice, as his face, his entire Self was taken over by the power of the red wand with its white spiraling lines. It was merging with him, she knew. Everyone had a magical centre, and the wand was now engraving its signature into William's. She just had to hold him, guide him and the wand to merge, to be forged together.

  The process was slow, but that was good, Hilda thought. The longer it took, the deeper the integration would be. Her magic would allow her to ho
ld William like this for hours without becoming tired or cramped.

  Time passed, and finally Hilda sensed that the more and more subduing sounds from the wand were fading, leaving nothing in her mind except herself, and the light sensation of William's presence. She would be tied to William in this way forever also, since she was the catalyst for the merging. She was irrevocably intertwined, and it felt good.

  William would feel awful the rest of the day. She recalled her own merging with the wand she had, and how bad it had been at first, being introduced to that new and at first so strange power. And perhaps it would be even worse for him, a thought flashed through her mind, as he was not a magical person. Hilda had heard of ordinaries being bound to a wand before, and she had never heard of problems. It would be a waste of the power of the wand, but at least the local witches would have peace. A forging like this was only done if there was no other way to silence the wand than to destroy it, and that was the worst thing a witch could do. But that too had happened.

  William was finished and empty in a way he had never been. He was barely noticing Hilda sitting on him, holding his hands. His mind was a whirlpool of stars, flashing lights, a strange power and vast expanses of nothingness.

  Hilda felt him go limp, as his hands started to sag down on his chest, the wand still in them. Gently as she could, she lay his hands down. She wiped the cold sweat from his brow and sat down next to him. She pulled the cover over the man she loved, making sure his hands clutching the wand were free.

  "Sleep, sweet man," she whispered as she kissed his forehead. "You've worked hard, even if you don't know it." Slowly she got off the bed, her eyes not leaving him. The wicked witch closed her eyes and located the feeling that was William and his wand. It was there, faint but available. She smiled. She'd know when he would wake up. On an impulse she took off her lemon-yellow nightgown with the golden stars, folded it up and put it under William's head. It might do nothing, but it made her feel good to know that something of her was close to him while she was taking care of business.