The Pond – Part 6

“No! I will not do it!”

Varnya raised a brow. “When we began, you agreed to do whatever I asked of you.”

“Yes, but—”

“You have come too far to become the coward now. You crave power as much as I.”

Izolda was silent. She was thirteen now, her brother Matyei was ten and had completed his lessons in magic. Or rather, Andrei had decided his precious seventh son had grown as much as he was going to in magic. His disappointment was palpable.

Matyei and Izolda were no longer as close as they once were. Matyei was well aware his father found him lacking, and that Izolda would have made a better son than him. But though he could not help his resentment of her, he still kept the secret of her magic to himself. For now, at least.

“This is no small thing you ask of me,” Izolda said finally. “I must think on it.”

“Of course,” Varnya said.

Izolda left the witch’s cave, but she did not go home. Instead, she went to her favorite rock by the river to sit and think. And she had much to think about.

She had been studying with Varnya for three years now, and though she’d learned a great deal she knew that Varnya was holding back. The spells she was learning were minor. When she questioned Varnya about the greater spells she was told she was not ready. It was too soon. Was this really the case? Or was Varnya worried about the student outstripping the teacher?

They were supposed to be working together, yet Izolda was the one taking all the risks. She was the one to gather personal items to lay a curse, a lock of hair to create a hex. And yet Varnya hoarded the actual spells, telling her she wasn’t yet ready for the responsibility.

Izolda stood. Varnya was right about one thing. She craved power. She knew what she had to do.

Two days later she returned to Varnya’s cave.

“Tell me what I must do.”

Varnya gave a small smile of satisfaction, secure in the knowledge the girl was her devout follower.

“All you need do is lure your little brother to the river and wait. I’ll take care of everything else and his power will be mine.”

“Don’t you mean ours?”

“Of course,” Varnya said smoothly. “We will share it equally.”

It was easy enough to draw Matyei away from home without anyone seeing them. It helped ease her conscience that he was being particularly vexing.

“I never knew that father liked fish so much. Are you sure if I catch him some fish he’ll forgive me for my mistake with the garden?”

“Anyone could get that spell wrong, reversing instead of enhancing the beet crop.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Izolda sighed. “I noticed there are some large fish that like to collect in the river near the black rocks. All you need to do is catch them.”

They reached the river and Izolda watched dispassionately as Matyei cast his line. She felt Varnya’s approach and a shiver of anticipation went up her spine. The witch gave her a pointed look and Izolda stepped back from her brother. Before Matyei realized what was happening, Varnya raised her hand in a clawing motion and froze him where he stood.

“So young, such potential,” Varnya hissed. “You need to take a step now.”

Matyei had no choice but to obey. He stepped into the water. Neither of them noticed that Izolda had vanished.

“Witch!” Matyei forced the word past his lips.

“Why yes,” Varnya said with a wide, toothy smile. “You and I are going to have some fun before I drain you dry.”

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Izolda ran down the path as fast as her feet would carry her. It was not that she cared overmuch for her brother’s life, but she needed him to keep Varnya distracted. She reached the cave and was stopped by Varnya’s wards. Fortunately, like everyone else, the witch underestimated her.

She laid her left palm on the solid air of the ward and muttered a spell. The ward dissolved under her hand. Wasting no time, if Varnya was smart she would have attuned herself to her wards and know they were breeched, she went to the very back of the cave where Varnya kept her personal things.

The witch was not much of a housekeeper. Quickly, quickly, she rooted through the piles of books and papers, clothes and blankets. Nothing. Glancing around, she saw a small metal box on a wooden shelf beside several stoppered bottles. That had to be it!

Even as she reached for it she could feel Varnya approaching, and she was in a rage. Izolda fumbled with the box – it was locked. Frantically she searched her mind for the right spell, finding it just as Varnya reached the chamber.

“What are you doing?” Varnya screeched. She was in her true form – her tangled hair had a greenish cast to it. Her thin, grey skinned form was clad in dripping rags.

“It was always going to end with one of us dead,” Izolda said. She took the comb made of fish bone in her hand and snapped it in half.

Varnya screeched, a long, wailing sound, and turned to smoke. Izolda recited the spell she found in the cave two days ago, the one Varnya had intended to use on Matyei. The power slammed into her, and she knew no more.