Twice Izolda visited the pond in secret, but no matter what spells she used, she could not undercover the source of the disturbance. There was something there, something unnatural, but the what of it eluded her.
“I know you’re here,” she shouted in frustration. “Show yourself!”
Her only answer was the wind, a wind that could almost be mistaken for a woman’s laughter.
Things quieted down for a time. If there were any more sightings of bodies or strange beings, no one was reporting it. Summer slid into autumn and then the winter passed. Izolda was delivered of another child, this time a daughter whom they named Pavlina.
Any joy Izolda felt for her children was overshadowed by the knowledge that there was something not right in her world. The mysterious entity that attached itself to the pond was only part of it.
For one thing, none of her children showed even the smallest sign that they’d inherited any of her magic. It sometimes happened in families that one, maybe even two children were born null, but for all three? She’d never heard of that before. Was it because Nikolai himself had no magic?
And her own magic appeared to be . . . waning. Casting her mind back she realized that ever since she’d set foot on this land there had been an almost infinitesimal drain on her power. She scoured her books for a possible source of the drainage, and more importantly, for a way to block it from happening still.
Blocking it proved to be easier than discovering the source of the drainage. She infused a blood red ruby with a powerful spell of protection, and wore it suspended from a leather cord around her neck. But there was no way of regaining the power she had lost, and this was of great concern to her. It was possible to renew her power naturally, but without the aid of the magic in the land itself, it would take much time.
She thought back to when Varnya had first arrived in the cave near her village. Could there be another witch trying to encroach on her territory? But no, the energy did not feel the same. The source was magical though, of that she was sure. But there was no way of sharing this knowledge without exposing her for what she was.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
During the deepest heat of the summer, a party youths were cooling off in the pond when one of them began to shriek.
“Help! She’s got me!”
His head disappeared under the water. The water churned as he flailed his way to the surface again.
“Help me!”
After a stunned moment of inaction, two of his friends splashed their way over to him. They grasped his arms and pulled. It was obvious something held his legs, but whatever it was, it wasn’t a match for two young men filled with adrenaline. They pulled him free and made their way back to the shore where the others waited.
“What happened?” one of the girls asked.
“There’s something in there,” he said, gasping for air. “Some thing. I could feel its hands on my ankles, pulling me under.”
The others looked at each other, then at their friend, who lay on his back on the bank, still trying to catch his breath.
“You don’t believe me,” he said flatly.
“I’m sure your feet were trapped by something,” the oldest of the boys said carefully. “But could you not have just dived down a little too deeply and got your feet trapped in some roots. There are all manner of things beneath the water.”
“No! I—” He broke off and looked at the sympathetic faces around him. “I guess that must be what happened. I just panicked when I couldn’t get free.”
He said this, but he didn’t believe it for a minute. He saw the ghostly face just under the water, he felt her hands wrapped around his ankles. There was something evil in that pond. Even if no one believed him, he knew it to be the truth. He never set foot near the pond again.
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