"Impressive," the witch murmured, genuine surprise crossing her features. "Perhaps my master was right about your potential."
Sam broke free, launching himself not at the witch's face but at the glowing amulet hanging from her neck. His tiny teeth clamped down, tearing away a jagged piece as the witch shrieked in outrage.
"Insolent creature!" She grabbed Sam by the scruff, her perfect composure shattered. "You'll pay for that!"
A violet portal swirled open behind her. As she stepped backward, Delilah caught a glimpse of something—someone—standing behind the witch. A larger, darker shadow that didn't match her slender form, with features that seemed to shift and blur.
"Who's pulling your strings?" Delilah called out, desperation making her bold.
The witch's expression flickered with something like doubt before hardening again. "My master rewards loyalty. You'll learn that soon enough."
She vanished into the portal with Sam, the swirling energy collapsing behind them just as Mac rounded the corner at a dead run.
"Delilah!" He skidded to a halt, his expression falling as he took in the scene. "I'm too late."
Delilah dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face. But there, gleaming in the dirt, lay the fragment of amulet Sam had torn away. It pulsed with violet light, coordinates briefly flashing across its surface.
"No," she said, snatching up the fragment. "You're right on time. We know where they're taking him."
Behind where the witch had stood, a faint melody lingered in the air—the same tune Elder Thornberry had been humming all along.
13
"Absolutely not." Mac's voice filled Zelda's reinforced cottage. "It's a trap, Delilah. The coordinates are too convenient."
Delilah paced the length of the room, the fragment of the witch's amulet clutched so tightly in her palm that its edges bit into her skin. "Of course it's a trap. But Sam's in there, and we're going anyway."
Zelda hunched over ancient texts spread across her dining table, muttering incantations that made the pages glow faintly. The cottage hummed with newly applied protection spells—barriers that rippled like heat waves across windows and doorframes.
"The Silver Witch is merely a puppet," Zelda said, not looking up. "These abductions follow a pattern. Throughout history, magical pairs have disappeared before major arcane disturbances. The Collector takes them, uses them, and discards them."
Fat Bastard strutted across the table, his gray bulk purposefully knocking Zelda's scrying crystal to the floor. "You's going about this all wrong. Direct approach." He batted a lamp off the side table with deliberate precision. "This is the witch's head when I's done with her. Boom."
"That was my grandmother's enchanted lamp, you gray menace!" Zelda lunged for the lamp, which had begun emitting purple smoke in the shape of tiny dancing elephants.
Boba Fett darted across the room, snatching up a collection of shiny spoons before arranging them in a precise formation on the floor. "Stealth missions," he purred, pushing the spoons into what appeared to be a tactical infiltration pattern. "The witch never sees us comings."
Not to be outdone, Jango Fett leapt onto the bookshelves, knocking volumes to the floor in what seemed like random chaos until Delilah realized he was creating a diversion scenario.
"Are they... helping?" Delilah asked, momentarily distracted from her worry.
"We's always helping," Fat Bastard declared, knocking another object off the shelf. "You's just too stupid to see it."
"If by 'helping' you mean 'destroying my home,' then yes, they're extremely helpful," Zelda grumbled, though Delilah caught the flicker of affection in her eyes.
Mac studied the familiars' arrangements with surprising seriousness. "The cats' approach has merit. A three-pronged strategy—direct confrontation, stealth infiltration, and diversion."
The map on the table suddenly quivered, its edges curling upward. Without warning, it expanded to three times its original size, displaying not just Assjacket but the surrounding counties. A glowing dot pulsed at the coordinates from the amulet fragment—an abandoned mansion on the edge of Brimstone Valley.
"Well, that's new," Zelda murmured as the map began drawing intricate pathways through the mansion's interior—corridors, rooms, and what appeared to be multiple escape routes. Strangely, every single infiltration path led through what was labeled "KITCHEN" in glowing letters.
"Why does every route go through the kitchen?" Delilah leaned closer.
Fat Bastard gave a dismissive tail flick. "Map knows what it's doing. Always time for snacks."
"The map's becoming more sentient," Zelda said, tracing a finger along one of the paths. "It's responding to our collective intention—to rescue Sam."
Delilah noticed a small notation appearing at the mansion's edge: "WARNING: PAIRED MAGICAL SIGNATURES DETECTED (4)."
