Not even the birds made noise.
“Here,” Lu said.She stopped on a rise with higher hills behind us to the north.“I think here.”
It was a good choice.We had a clear view for several miles, the ground spreading out in the distance to the west, south, and east.We’d be able to see Headwaters’ approach.
We’d have space to cast the spell that contained the beast.We’d have space to fight.
The sky was bruised gray and warm taupe, a flat, cloudless pre-dawn promising heat.
“Good.”Card strode off, quickly touching the scrub around us, whispering his magic to the plants, the stones, the soil.
Half-dryad meant he had a lot of sway with the magic and powers of the living world, growing things.I figured we could use their help too.
“I hear him,” Abbi said.
“Headwaters?”
She nodded.“He’s getting closer.”
“Which direction?”Lu asked.
Abbi pointed south.
Lula’s gaze searched for me, and I nodded.
“Let’s set up.”
I put the witch’s box on the ground and pulled the mirror out of my pocket.I removed the shadow cloth and opened the lid.
Lula knelt and lifted the book out of the box.
Abbi darted behind us, looking for cover.She crouched in the shadow of a boulder, Hado helping her fade even more into the dim corners of the morning.
“No talking,” I said.
“No talking,” Lu agreed.“No negotiations, no threats.”
“No negotiations, no threats,” I said.“As soon as we know it’s him, we unleash the spell.”
“Yes.”
“Card?”I asked.But even as the light spread like soft static through the darkness, I realized Card was gone, hidden.
Lu stood, and I stood beside her.We had practiced this—how she would hold the book so I could stand with my back to hers, the mirror positioned so I could see the page to cast the spell.
I didn’t want to take that position yet, though.Not until I saw Headwaters with my own eyes.
It felt like time belly-crawled through wet sand, an endless grinding pace.
It was cold enough, I wished I’d worn a hat, but still, sweat gathered at my hairline.
The wind picked up, and the eastern sky bloomed yellow, orange, rose, fading up to soft blue.
Moments later, the sun rose.
“He’s here,” Abbi whispered into the brutal silence.
Lu lifted her chin and squared her shoulders.I followed her gaze.
