Had Willow looked down at the StoryPass in her hands she would not have been a bit surprised to see that the needle was currently indicating ‘Turning Point’. But she was far too busy staring at Moreg and the Brothers in horror.
‘What? No!’ exclaimed Willow.
The High Master stepped forward and quickly fastened the glowing manacles on to Moreg’s wrists.
‘Y-you can’t let this happen!’ Willow shouted.
The Brothers were clearly wary of Moreg, and she’d just turned the world dark and made thunder and lightning strike! How could Moreg Vaine – the most powerful witch in all of Starfell – allow herself to be captured?
Willow shook her head. ‘I’ll come with you – maybe we can break out? I doubt they could keep us there long …’
‘No! I will be going – you will not,’ said Moreg, her voice fierce, brooking no argument.
Moreg bent down and whispered into her ear. ‘I’m sorry, I’d hoped we had more time. Find the Sometimes house in the Ditchwater district; it’s one of the oldest magical houses in the area. They have moved on now, as all oubliers do, but look for clues to where their son, Nolin, has gone.’
‘How can you be sure?’
Moreg’s eyes were hazy for a moment, then they focused on Willow, and she blinked. ‘Trust me. Look for the house with the yellow door; find the strange garden … It’ll lead you to him, I’m sure.’
‘Now, witch!’ called the High Master.
Moreg nodded. She looked at Willow and said, ‘You can do this,’ and she started to walk away, followed by the Brothers.
‘Wait!’ cried Willow, her heart thudding painfully in fear as she rushed after her. ‘I can’t do it without you!’
Moreg lifted a hand to pat Willow’s shoulder, and one of the manacles popped off her wrists. ‘You’ll be fine.’
A Brother behind Moreg gasped. Moreg looked at him with what almost seemed like sympathy, shrugged, then popped the manacle back on where it remained unfastened. ‘Never mind, I can just hold it in place.’
Willow’s mouth fell open. ‘They don’t even work on you!’ she gasped. ‘Why are you going with them when you could fight this?’
‘Sometimes you just have to do what’s right,’ said Moreg.
The High Master seemed to inflate with pride at this. ‘Quite right.’
‘But this is wrong! It’s their stupid rules, not ours! We hadn’t even entered Beady Hill yet, so it’s not like we broke any rules! How can you just agree to this? How can I go on without you?’
‘Don’t worry; it’s how it should be. Remember, Willow: practical makes perfect.’ She looked up at the sky and nodded. ‘And, when you think of it, a little rain is essential for uncovering what you might need.’
Willow looked up but there was no rain. Was this really the time for the witch to lose the plot?
Moreg looked at her. Her face was very serious and Willow thought for a moment that now the witch would say something wise, something that explained why she’d decided to abandon their mission and allow herself to be imprisoned by a bunch of crazy, fanatical priests, priests who Willow was sure the witch could fight off if she tried, despite their number – she had made lightning strike!
‘The pantry,’ said Moreg.
Willow’s eyes popped in disbelief. ‘The pantry?’
‘Yes, whenever I feel truly lost I go there. There’s something about it that just brings the answer to light. Perhaps it’s the presence of food, which can be rather soothing. I daresay it may help you too in the end, if you give it a try.’
Willow blinked. The witch truly was mad. How on Starfell was that supposed to help her?
She whirled round, facing the High Master. ‘Where are you taking her?’ she demanded.
For a moment she thought he wouldn’t answer, then he gave her an odd look as if it were obvious and chortled. His plump cheeks pink with pleasure at the idea of taking Moreg Vaine there. ‘Wolkana, of course.’
Willow paled. The hidden monastery of Wolkana was a fortress, the stuff of legend. It was created thousands of years before to safeguard the Brothers from those with magic. People said it had been built by Wol himself so that a person with magic in their veins couldn’t find it, even if they were standing directly across from it. How would she be able to save Moreg from there?
Willow watched in horror as the Brothers and Moreg walked on, growing smaller and smaller as they went past the gates and down the hill and out of sight.
Willow set the carpetbag down on the ground and fought the urge to scream. An hour ago she was on a mission to save the world with the most powerful witch in all of Starfell. Now the witch was gone, and she had no idea how to get into the forbidden city all by herself, and all she had with her was the monster from under the bed for company.
She didn’t even have her new shiny broom, Whisper, as it was stowed away in the witch’s portal pantry, which meant that if by some miracle she did find out where the forgotten teller was, and that seemed like a big if, it wasn’t like the witch had a real plan, aside from looking for clues at an old house. He could be anywhere on Starfell …
She put her head in her hands and groaned. ‘This isn’t tricky, Moreg. It’s impossible.’
Oswin stuck out his green furry head from the hairy carpetbag, blinking his orb-like eyes against the sudden daylight, and asked, ‘Wot house was she going on about?’ Clearly he felt more confident when it was just the two of them. Though as a creature that liked the dark, he preferred to stay inside the carpetbag most of the time.
Willow sighed, then stood up. There was no point in falling apart; it wouldn’t bring the witch back. ‘The Sometimes house, apparently. The old family home of the forgotten teller.’
His shaggy green coat turned from lime to carrot instantly. ‘An’ it’s in there – the city that yew was almost locked up fer entering?’ he said, pointing a fluffy paw at the granite-coloured wall.
‘Yes.’ Willow looked at the StoryPass, which was still in the palm of her hand, the needle pointing to ‘One Might Have Suspected as Such’, and shook her head.
7
Amora Spell
Willow picked up the carpetbag with a sigh. ‘Maybe there is some gap in the city wall that is unguarded?’ she muttered, her eyes scanning the perimeter.
As she inched closer she saw, however, that there were a lot of soldiers milling about overseeing the exodus of witches and wizards. Not to mention the guards keeping an eye out on the ramparts. It was impenetrable.
‘This is bad.’
From within the bag she heard Oswin sympathise. ‘I knows. She never even left you ’er cloak … Wot we gonna nibble now, eh?’
Willow rolled her eyes. She’d meant it was bad that they were doing checks. ‘Thank you, Oswin.’ Clearly the fact that Moreg had taken their access to food with her was of far more consequence to the kobold than the real problem – that they somehow needed to get inside a heavily fortified city undetected.
As she sank deeper into despair Willow noticed a donkey cart piled high with clothing approach the entrance. It was driven by a portly man with an impressive handlebar moustache. He stopped a few feet in front of them, almost blocking their view.