For Hexegot, he did not wish to share any magic of the goddess. Therefore, where he and his children had wept, the god pressed his finger into the earth and produced a fountain. He charged his oldest daughter to release the waters, providing fertility to the valley below.
But Hexegot could not be tricked and was jealous of her siblings. She went to her father in his sleep and sliced his throat with a dull blade. After arranging his bones around the fountain and burning incense, Hexegot recited an incantation. She drew the same dull blade across her palm and defiled the Water of Life with drops of her own blood.
A cursed fog escaped from the mouth of the font and provided Hexegot with the power of illusion. Atop Glass Mountain, Hexegot practiced her wicked transformations.
After the earth froze and thawed many times, Hexegot’s evil heart softened toward a handsome man. Their affair occupied her mind and kept her from the darkness. That is, until she caught him looking at her sister, Bergot. With jealousy roiling inside her chest, Hexegot summoned her evil forces and struck the man’s heart, bursting it into a million pieces. The evil goddess vowed never to love again and to exact revenge on her family.
Hexegot visited her sister in the form of an elderly woman. When Bergot bent over to help the old hag, Hexegot stole the crown of bones and vanished into a plume of white smoke.
Next, Hexegot stalked her brother as he ushered migrants through a mountain pass. In the form of a beastly dragon, Hexegot attacked the humans. When Stargott attempted to strike her with his magical staff, Hexegot clutched it in her talons and flew away. A small piece of bone broke off into Stargott’s hands—which he sharpened into a needle.
Possessing both relics of her mother, Hexegot’s powers grew, and evil spread to the far corners of the earth. The only place left untouched was the valley. Hexegot demanded Offerings from Bergot in exchange for its safety.”
At the end of the singing bone’s story, Brahm and I stare at each other, bewildered.
He shakes his head. “Who’s Stargott?”
The singing bone begins again, “Once upon a time, a god and goddess created the world and everything in it. From—”
“No, no, no. We get it, he’s the brother.” I look Brahm in the eyes. “In the Sanctuary, Hexegot mentioned the Staff of Stargott—she even held it in her hand.”
“But what does that mean? How does this help us get into the castle and kill Hexegot?”
“I am Hexegot’s father, and this is my bone. This key shall bid you entry to what once was my home. Possessing the relics three, defeating the witch-goddess shall not be easy.”
The Castle of Bones
BRAHM AND I PRESS ON UNTIL we reach a rocky clearing at the top of the mountain. In the distance, a huge iron gate surrounds the castle grounds. The bright sunshine on the snow reflects like glass, and a lovely castle stands at the top. It’s an idyllic shade of grayish-blue with tall towers, majestic arches, and sparkling windows.
We reach the gate, the spires of which are molded into snakes and twist to the sky with spiderwebs hanging between, a chill spreads goosebumps over my skin. The handle has the face of a lion, whose roaring mouth contains the lock.
“You should stay out here and wait for Bergot. Maybe she’ll show up?” I whisper. “That way, if it’s dangerous, only one of us has to die. It’s me Hexegot wants.”
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” Brahm turns to me and cups my cheeks with his hands. “I’m with you all the way. I can’t imagine a life without you, Freckles.”
Brahm kisses me, sweet and slow, making my heart flutter. When he releases me, I take a deep breath.
“Here we go.”
I retrieve the singing bone and skeleton key with my shaking hand. Brahm holds my wrist steady as we place the key inside the lock, giving it a turn.
Stepping inside the grounds, what was bright, gleaming, and beautiful from the outside is haughty, vile, and gray. No snow covers the mountain. Instead, the rocks are ragged and dusty. In the air, ashes fall from the sky like a dark rain blotting out the sun. The castle is made of bones, and the crooked towers are capped with skulls. Inside each flying buttress is an entire skeleton, hanged by the neck. Black, spider-web drapes blow from the broken windows. Body parts flow through a bubbling moat of crimson blood.
When we cross the drawbridge and reach the entrance, the tall doors to the castle are already open. I take Brahm’s hand, and we enter. Stepping through the threshold, our boots find a bumpy floor made of skulls. The entryway is dim with only a few candles on a chandelier made of bones to flicker light around the room.
A giant roar comes from the hallway before us. My heart stops in fear, and I grab Brahm’s arm as a lioness appears from the shadows. She bends low, ready to pounce like a giant cat preying on field mice.
Brahm shakes my shoulder, pulling me. “Let’s go back outside.”
I turn to look behind me, but the fog hangs thick at the castle doorway. “No. We can’t.”
“Well, look who finally made it.” Ferdinand scoffs as he descends the grand staircase, spinning my dagger in his hands. As if possessed, his eyes are completely black. “Let me escort you to Hexegot, Red. This will all be over.”
“No! Give the lion the bread,” Brahm shouts as the creature approaches.
“Sorry, lover boy, she already ate the bread. How do you think I’m still alive?” He turns to the lioness and commands, “Feast.”
The lioness crawls toward us with her large paws thumping against the brittle skulls of the floor. Brahm and I back against the wall. I’m terrified of the lioness and Ferdinand with his black eyes, but I must think of something. We’ve come too far.
We may not have the bread, but I do have something else. I reach into my satchel and roll the poisoned apple toward the animal. With one chomp, the lioness swallows the apple whole and then sets her sights on us again. She dips low on her front legs and pounces. Brahm and I turn, prepared to run outside when the lioness falls with a massive thud at our feet. A sensation of triumph swells inside my chest.
“You cheated!” Ferdinand barrels down the steps and springs toward me.
I ready my fist, but Brahm steps in the way and punches Ferdinand in the face. As if Ferdinand feels no pain, he smiles and hits Brahm in the chest, sending him flying across the room.
“Brahm!”
I dart his way, but Ferdinand comes at me with the dagger raised in his hand. The hand that killed, attacked, and tormented the other Offerings. The hand that almost took Brahm away from me.
I hate him.
Intense pain shoots through my head, and I charge forward, knocking Ferdinand to the ground with ease. We roll around, both hitting, kicking, and punching. I grab his hair and straddle his hips as he brandishes my dagger in the air.
With more power than I’ve ever felt before, I easily force his wrist to the skulls and pry my dagger from his fingers. Ferdinand’s eyes return to blue as he shrieks and squirms beneath my new-found strength. With delight, I watch the fear flash over his face.
“No, Red! Please! Let me go!”
I trace the tip of my dagger across his hairline, slicing a few blond locks. His erratic breaths and desperate pleas only fuel the fog inside me. Almost on its own accord, my dagger dances around Ferdinand’s cheek, jaw, and throat before landing above his rapidly beating heart.