“I don’t believe her,” Seda whispered to herself.
Luelle tilted her head and glanced at Seda. “Me neither. No one admits to using a love potion. That’s embarrassing, to say the least. And they also don’t last long enough to make a difference.” Luelle rolled her eyes and continued picking her nails. “You sure you want to go in?”
Seda nodded and tried to take a deep breath to gather the courage to knock on the door. She raised her hand, and the door swung open again. A short, wrinkly woman stood there, staring intently at Seda.
“Finally,” the witch said to Seda, looking up. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You have?” Seda asked nervously, fidgeting with her dress.
The older woman moved aside, and Seda bravely stepped in, closing the door behind her but not before glancing back at Luelle to ensure she wasn’t leaving her alone.
Chapter 8
Seda
The room was dark and musty, wrapping Seda’s exposed skin in a dense cloud of humid air, while a bubbling cauldron simmered with thick green liquid at its center. Tahti looked at Seda and grinned broadly, revealing sharp, stained teeth.
Trying not to be rude, Seda smiled back and averted her gaze as she looked around the room. Her eyes caught on disgusting bottles of brown liquid with floating body parts on the shelves. She tried to suppress her gag and covered her watering mouth with her hand.
“You are the key, young Seda.” Seda looked over at Tahti, and Tahti blinked, her eyes clouding to a milky white.
Seda gasped and took a hesitant step back toward the door, grabbing for the handle.
She felt the cool metal and took a deep breath to steady herself. She was here for questions. She could be brave and had seen worse before. She released the handle and quietly asked, “What do you know?”
Tahti watched as her hand retracted from the door, and a smirk formed on her lips. “You are the key to saving Xyberus. You’re the only one who can open the door.” She took a step closer to her, and Seda bristled.
“What does that mean? The Wisps told me I need to find stones and harmony. Would you know what I need?”
“I would know of the stones, but the harmony is up to you.” Tahti backed away from her and limped toward the boiling cauldron. She collected spit from deep in her throat and spat it into the liquid. A plume of green mist rose into the air, revealing images of four glowing stones, each with a different shape and color.
Seda lurched forward when she saw the stone from her necklace in the image. “I was right! My moonstone!”
“You will need the Stone of Protection.” She pointed to Seda’s stolen moonstone. “The Stone of Love,” she said, pointing at an anatomical heart-shaped ruby. “The Stone of Peace,” she continued, indicating the diamond-shaped sapphire. “And the Dark Stone. The Dark Stone is the Stone ofPower.”
Seda moved closer to the images, feeling the cool mist brush her cheeks and a foreign smell, not entirely unpleasant, filled her nostrils. She examined the stones. She had only seen one of these before. “Where would I find these?”
“One was already yours, but you still need to find the others. King Ael tried to get the Dark Stone for you but failed. That stupid fool.” Tahti crinkled her nose in disgust.
“Lord Mordred has it,” Seda replied.
Tahti furrowed her eyebrows as her blank eyes stared intently at her. “He does not, child. Mordred is not the abuser of the Stone of Power.”
For a moment, Seda thought she had misheard. Thoughts raced through her mind. If Mordred didn’t have the stone, then who did? “Who has it?” she asked.
“The Monster King,” Tahti replied as she raised her hand and touched the mist with her fingers, swirling it around in the air. Shewaited for Seda to part her lips to ask who that was before she cut her off. “Don’t know. Don’t ask.”
Where could the rest of these be? She needed to find Kalon and get hers back. Anger surged through her body, and her palms lit up when she thought about him stealing from her.
“Now, now, child…” Tahti looked at Seda’s palms. “You need to practice conserving that. It’s not unlimited, you know.”
“I didn’t know that.” Seda looked at her palms and drew her power back in, letting them return to their natural color. All her practice during the trip to the Wisps was paying off. She knew how to call on it easily. All she had to do was think about what made her angry. To pull the power back in, she needed to breathe calmly and stay grounded.
“All magic has limits. You must conserve and use only what you need. This is a good practice. The orbs you see flying around here can help you recharge quickly, but they do not exist in other parts of Xyberus. When you leave here, you’ll only have so much to give, and recharging your reserves without them takes time.”
“Why do they only exist here?” Seda asked. She remembered how the orbs moved around her and the sense of completeness they left behind.
“It was the Mother Goddess’s first gift to Umbrea before she created the Fae,” Tahti responded with a shrug.
