Season of the Witch part 18

Calla felt a sudden stirring of hope.  If Tristan could find the soul of Koschei, then he could get Kladenets, and then they could go home.  The problem, of course, was getting the information to Tristan once they had it.  This scrying glass only appeared to be a one-way model, so she could see Tristan, but couldn’t communicate with him.
Or could she?
Thoughtfully, Calla pushed on the edges of the glass, using it to zoom in on the detective’s face.  And, despite her hesitation, on his eyes.
There was no way it would work.  At least, it didn’t seem possible, since she’d only ever thought she could do it while in close contact with the other person.  But somehow, she was suddenly sharing thoughts with Tristan.
Naturally, she felt his alarm and instant attempt to escape what he assumed was an attack.  But she hurriedly thought at him, Tristan, it’s okay!  It’s me!
...Calla?  How the blazes-
I’m using a scrying glass.  Apparently this...thing I do can work through that.
Interesting.
They spent a moment immersed in each other’s thoughts, looking at what had happened to each other in the last few days.  Calla was shocked and affronted by seeing how Koschei had tortured Tristan, and when she examined the physical and mental state he was in.  Then she caught a glimpse of a memory of his reflection that he’d seen in a window.
You look terrible.
Thanks. At least his sarcasm was still intact. 
Sorry.
Don’t be.  Tristan saw that apparently Xen and Morgan wanted to help.  You think they’ll find out how to find the soul?
Hey, if we find something it’ll make your job easier.  And it’s better than just sitting and doing nothing.  Xen’s been researching the different stories about Koschei’s soul, where it’s kept.
Tristan scanned the results thoughtfully, then gave a mental nod.
I’m thinking the best place to start looking might be the oldest part of the forest.  I’m going to head over there, look in any hollow trees I can find.
Good idea.  We’ll keep you posted on anything we find out-
The scrying glass shattered itself into hundreds of pieces.

***

Calla?  CALLA!
She was gone.  There had been a crashing sound, and her presence had vanished from my mind.  A lot of words ran through my mind, making it possibly for the best that she was no longer there.
She must have gotten caught.  Confound it all!
I hated that witch.  Hated Baba Yaga and Koschei and the whole bloody pack of Russians who were making my life miserable right now.  Especially when I opened my pack to try using the glasses which would help me decipher the types of spells present here, and found that the lenses had been conveniently removed.
Right then.  I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.


With a growl of frustration I made my way (silently, though) into the oldest part of the forest, where the smell of magic was the strongest.  It had to be here.  Somewhere.

***

Slowly, Calla looked up from the remains of the glass.
Baba Yaga glared back, her hair billowing wildly, even though there was no wind in the hut.  Her eyes glittered with red fire, and her iron teeth gnashed in a snarl.
“No fair helping Chernobyl,” she said softly.  Even though it wasn’t a shout, the words chilled all the way to Calla’s marrow.
“That wasn't in the contract.”  Calla surprised herself with her own boldness.  “There’s nothing in there against my offering him assistance or information.”
The witch looked like thunder, and for a moment Calla thought that she was about to be smited (Smitten?  It was hard to tell which word was more appropriate under the circumstances) into ashes.  Instead, after a second, her bony shoulders relaxed, and she smiled.
“Too bad the imp that controlled the glass is gone, then,” she said with a bit of a chuckle at the end.  “Good luck helping him now, myshka.”
And she went into her room for her afternoon nap, shutting the door behind her.


Calla sat there for a second, perfectly still.  Then a fire lit in her stomach; a hot, burning coal, that rushed up her back and into her arms and through the veins of her neck into her brain.  She was about to explode.  She needed to do something-anything-to make it stop, before she let it loose and seriously hurt someone like last time don’t think about it you might make it happen something needed to happen NOW-
She leaped to her feet, and her hand slammed onto the witch’s table, sending the raging magic fueling her at the moment into the wood and everything on the table, blasting it with what felt like the strength of a nuclear blast in concentrated form.
A moment later Calla was standing next to a pile of ash.  She dropped to her knees into it, heedless of how it affected her jeans, slamming her fists into the floorboards.  As soon as the anger came, though, once it was purged it was replaced by cold, numbing-defeat.


It wasn’t like she knew how to summon an imp and trap it in a scrying glass; that was something she had never really wanted to learn, since it was basically slavery.  And sure, there were other ways to send a message, but she needed something that would do so quickly.  Tristan didn’t have much time left.  Even if Morgan and Xen found the information now…


Finally Calla stood up again, and used a spell to repair all the damage she’d done.  Then, feeling that* blanket of numb complacency and resignation covering her again, she slowly walked out the door, climbed into the mortar, and methodically began paddling her way into the air.  Part of her considered trying to go to wherever Tristan was, but had the feeling Baba Yaga would stop her somehow.  So she just steered blankly into the sky, not caring where she went.  She should probably get used to this thing, just in case.  Even though it continued to be uncooperative.

*Eerily familiar

TANSTAV part 29

Chapter 8 part 3

At about 11 a.m. I woke up.  I groggily opened my eyes, and saw Xen setting the table, her back to me.  Quietly, I started to get up, and sneak up on tiptoe.  Hey, I can never resist that sort of thing.  I was about a foot away, when Xen spun around and demanded, "When were you planning on telling me about Calla's other vision?!"

Needless to say, the query caught me slightly off guard.  After a moment of nervous hesitation, I asked, "Why'd she tell you?"

"She didn't mean to," she replied.  "It happened to be in her thoughts at the exact moment when I accidentally looked her in the eyes."  She sighed.  "Tristan, why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid to.  I didn't want to upset you.  And we already had that thing of you being potentially captured on our hands."

"And you didn't think that I'd be upset when I found out?"

"Well, actually, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't.  Find out."

"Oh, I would have, one way or another," she said, smiling grimly for a moment.  Then, serious again, she took my face in both hands, and forced me to look at her.

"Tristan, don't do that.  Don't try to hide the truth from me.  That hurts me even worse than if you'd just come forward with it right away.  I love you.  If something bad's going to happen to you, I want to know about it."

"But what about if I'm trying to hide your birthday presents or something?" I protested, after a moment.  Somehow, I'm never able to keep up the seriousness of situations for long.  It's a gift and a curse.  However, it did the trick.  Xen smiled.

"Okay, in that kind of situation, then I give you permission.  But only then!"

Then, staring me in the eyes, she demanded, "Promise?"

"Yes, dear."

"Tristan!"

"Yes, I promise.  Cross my heart, liver and kidneys, and hope to be smashed if otherwise."

Satisfied, Xen's hands transferred themselves from my face to the back of my neck, as she hugged me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"From what I saw, her vision sounds pretty bad.  She thinks it means you're going to die."

"Hey, her last vision didn't turn out like she thought.  Sure, I don't like the sound of it, but I'm not going to let it affect me too much.  I hope.  Where is Calla, by the way?"

"Hiding in her room.  She's scared that you'll be mad at her for accidentally showing me."

I sighed.  You'd think after so many weeks in my company, she'd know she had nothing to fear from me.  Then again, her life had been pretty screwed up until now, so maybe she couldn't help having a little paranoia.

I went to her door, bearing some of the French toast Xen had made.  I knocked: DUM-dum-dum-DUM-dum!  After a small, hesitant second, I heard the reply: dum DUM!  I opened the door, and held out the French toast; Calla timidly took the plate.

"You're not mad?"

"Nope.  It was inevitable."

"I'm sorry I didn't hide it better.  I know you didn't want her to worry.  She doesn't want you to die."

"Kid, we'll worry about it when it happens.  Now, eat. You're about to shrivel up like a broom straw."

Smiling at the impossibility of my simile, she tucked in.

Upon analysis, we at the station discovered that the blood sample on the palette knife was O negative (which means the person could give some to everyone-how sweet!), belonged to a mage, and whoever it belonged to had no prior records, since we couldn't match it with anyone in the files.  In short, a whole lot of nothing.  Sure, I didn't expect a name and address, but it would be nice if we could get something to go on!  It would also be nice if we could get some better forensics people, and could solve world hunger, but we can’t have everything.  I paced the lab, racking my brains for answers.  Calla and Xen, who had accompanied me, sat at the table where the evidence was placed and watched me silently, though I could tell they wanted to know the answers just as much as I did.

How does this fit together? I asked myself.  If Jessup's not the one who kidnapped those people, who did?  And what was he doing there, if not kidnapping the senator?  And why would someone who could kidnap a senator want a homeless Fonin, anyway?  How-

"Something's not right about this."  Calla's voice interrupted my thought process.  I looked up, and saw that she was holding the surveillance tape, frowning.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There's something in here," she replied.  "It's blocking out part of the tape.  If I can just-"

Placing her hand on top of it, she made a pulling motion, sending in part of a spell at the same time-and something came out of the tape, clinging to her hand!  It was a clump of magical aura, red and black!  Calla pulled, and tugged, until finally, she had a gigantic handful.  She scrutinized the tape, which she held in her other hand, and gave a nod of satisfaction.

"There, that's better."

I was temporarily dumbfounded (no comments from any of you wise guys reading this).  Then, regaining my composure, I went forward, and scooped Calla up in a bear hug!  At first she went stiff with fright, but upon realizing I meant her no harm, she relaxed.  Then, setting her down, I snatched up the tape, and hurriedly put it into the player.

This time, a few minutes before 8:30, something definitely happened.  Jessup was lying on his bunk, staring up at the ceiling, when suddenly, who should appear in his cell but our old friend, Mr. Shadow.  To my surprise, when Jessup looked up and saw the shrouded mage standing there, there was no delight, or even anticipation, on his face.  He looked surprised; maybe even a little frightened.

"Who are you?" he demanded.  "What-"

The shadow man waved one of his cloak sleeves, presumably his hand as well, and the demon was cut short.  His eyes were suddenly glazed over, and he got up from the bunk.  He slowly walked over to the shadow man, who grabbed him by the wrist.  Then they vanished, soundlessly.

For about five minutes, the tape showed an empty cell.  Then, finally, both the demon and his captor rematerialized.  Jessup still had that glazed-over expression; the shadow made a gesture with his sleeve, and the demon slowly staggered back to his bunk.  He sat down, and stared fixedly at the shadow man.

"You will remember nothing," the shadow hissed at him.  "You will think you have done nothing but lie there all morning, napping."

Slowly, Jessup nodded.  Then he lay down on the bunk, and shut his eyes.  The shadow glanced up, and though he was wearing a hood, I could tell he'd seen the camera.  He gestured at it, and then vanished.  I presumed that was when he'd put the spell into it concealing part of the tape.

Everything was becoming clear to me.  Whoever that was must have taken Jessup, and after hypnotizing him, made him step on the grass, in order to set up a blind!  Unless, of course, this was another trick by Jessup, to throw me off the track; I wouldn't put it past him.  But as I've said before, I think I'm a pretty good judge of character.  This time, it hadn't looked like he was faking things.  I looked at Xen and Calla, and I could tell they saw the renewed determination in my eyes.

"Calla, can you do something else for me?"

"What?"

"Can you touch this knife, see if you can tell who the person is whose blood is on it?"

"I-I'll try."

Reaching out, she picked up the knife, touching one finger into the by-now dried blood, and began to concentrate.  She didn't have to concentrate long.  Her eyes widened, and she looked me in the eyes, showing me who it was.

I said, "You have got to be kidding me."