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Haltwhistle into his home? He is a very stern man and quite strict about some things.
 Do not worry, child, the Earth Mother assured her.  Mud puppies are fairy creatures. They come and
go when and where they choose. They cannot be kept out of any place they wish to visit unless powerful
magic is used. Haltwhistle will be with you wherever you go.
Mistaya glanced down at the mud puppy and smiled.  Thank you, Earth Mother. Thank you for
Haltwhistle. I love him already.
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 Good-bye, Mistaya. The Earth Mother began to sink back down into the ooze.  Remember what I
have told you, child.
 I will, Mistaya called back.  Good-bye. Then she shouted,  Wait! When will I see you again?
But the elemental was already gone, disappeared into the earth. The marsh shimmered faintly with small
ripples in the moonlight where she had stood. The clearing was empty and silent.
Mistaya was suddenly sleepy again. It had been a wonderful adventure, and she was looking forward to
more. She yawned and stretched, then smiled down at Haltwhistle.  Are you tired, too? she asked
softly. Haltwhistle stared at her.  Let s go back to sleep. Okay, boy?
Haltwhistle wagged his tail tentatively. He didn t seem all that sure it was.
But Mistaya was already walking away, so the mud puppy dutifully followed after. Together, they went
back through the woods toward the camp and the fate that was waiting for them.
Spell Cast
The crow with the red eyes, who in human form was Nightshade, sat high in the branches of a shagbark
hickory and watched Mistaya return out of the nighttime woods. The girl materialized abruptly, a silent,
stealthy shadow. Made blind to her presence by the Earth Mother s magic, the sentries did not spy her,
staring right through her as she passed, as if there were nothing to see. The girl moved quickly to her
blanket, wrapped it about herself, lay down, and closed her eyes. In seconds she was asleep.
The crow cast a sharp eye across the clearing and into the woods beyond. There was no sign of the mud
puppy. Well and good.
The presence of the mud puppy had upset Nightshade s plans. She had not anticipated its appearance
and still did not know its particular purpose. She was aware that it served the Earth Mother, of course,
but that did not explain what had brought it to the girl. A summons from the Earth Mother? Possibly.
Probably, as a matter of fact. But why had the Earth Mother summoned the girl this night? Did she know
of Nightshade s intent? Had she warned the girl in some way?
None of this seemed likely. Just as Nightshade could not penetrate the Earth Mother s magic to discover
why she had dispatched the mud puppy, neither could the Earth Mother penetrate Nightshade s magic to
reveal what lay in store for the girl. Either could gain a sense of what the other was about, but no more
than that. It was a stalemate of sorts. So any attempt to follow the mud puppy and the girl in an effort to
discover what the Earth Mother intended would have been quickly thwarted. Worse, it would have
revealed Nightshade s presence in the lake country, and that could easily have ruined everything.
In any case, the girl had returned alone, so the Earth Mother must have finished with her. The fact that
she had returned at all strongly suggested that she knew nothing of Nightshade s plans, so there was
probably no reason to worry. Not that the Witch of the Deep Fell would have worried much in any
event. Had the Earth Mother or her four-legged messenger chosen to interfere, Nightshade would have
found a way to make them regret the decision for a long time to come. The witch s magic was much
stronger than the Earth Mother s, and she could have sent the elemental scurrying for cover in a hurry.
The crow with the red eyes blinked contentedly. All was as it should be. The Earth Mother had
probably summoned the girl to pay her respects as a longtime friend and protector of her mother. Now
the girl was right back where Nightshade wanted her, sleeping amid her decidedly ineffectual protectors,
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blissfully unaware of how her life was about to change.
Nightshade had known that Holiday would send his daughter away when Rydall made his threat against
their family. She had known exactly what Holiday would do. The sylph s premonition the one
Nightshade had dispatched to her in her sleep, as black and terrifying as the witch could make it had
planted the seed for the idea. Rydall s appearance had brought the seed to flower. Whatever else might
happen, Holiday and the sylph would take no chances with their beloved daughter. Nightshade hadn t
known where the girl would be sent, although the lake country and the once-fairy had been her first
guess, but in truth it didn t matter. Wherever Mistaya might have gone, Nightshade would have been
waiting.
And now it was time.
Using not just vision but instinct as well, the red eyes made a final sweep of the clearing and the woods
surrounding it, a final search of the shadows and the dark where something might hide. Nothing revealed
itself. The red eyes gleamed. Nightshade smiled inwardly. The sleeping men and the girl belonged to her
now.
The crow took wing, lifting away from the branch on which it had kept watch, soaring momentarily
skyward, circling the clearing, then dropping down again in a slow spiral. They were in the last few hours
of the waning night, the ones leading into the new day, the ones during which sleep is deepest and dreams
hold sway. Darkness and silence cloaked the men and the girl and their animals, and none sensed the
presence of the descending crow. It passed over their heads unseen and unheard. It swept across them
twice to make certain, but even the sentries, watchful once more now that the girl had returned and the
Earth Mother s vision spell had been lifted, saw nothing.
The crow banked slowly left across Mistaya, then flew back again, its shadow passing over the small,
still form like the comforting touch of a mother s hand. On each pass a strange green dust that winked
and spun in the moonlight was released from the crow s dark wings like pollen from a flower and floated
earthward to settle over the sleeping girl. Four passes the crow made, and on each the greenish dust fell
like a mossy veil. Mistaya breathed it in as she slept, smiled at its fragrance, and pulled her blanket tighter
for comfort. Slowly her sleep deepened, and she drifted farther from consciousness. Dreams claimed her,
a conjuring of her most vivid imaginings, and she was carried swiftly away into their light.
The crow rose skyward again and circled back into the shelter of the trees. Now the girl would sleep
until Nightshade was ready for her to wake. She would sleep and be no part of what was to happen
next.
Descending by hops from branch to branch, the crow passed downward through the concealing limbs
until it was only a few feet above the ground. Then it transformed into Nightshade, the witch rising out of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]