To Kill a Witch (ONC 2024 SHORTLIST)

Chapter 10

Almost numb with shock, Thea rose. The footprints glowed eerily against the rock. She checked the watch still in her hand and it told her she had three hours till dawn. The night had elapsed fast. "It doesn't matter," she said. "We still need to find her."

She gestured to the new formation of footprints. At least now I know she won't kill me, Thea thought in vain as Wilf and Ceridwen got to their feet. And maybe she really will be able to help Ridoc. Though, a nasty voice in the back of her head reminded her, if she could have stopped this suffering by now, surely she would have done? Instead she had run. Like a coward.

And even if they did find her, and she couldn't help her, what was Thea going to do then? Could she really kill her own blood for a crime she hadn't meant to commit? Thea knew how to break a curse. But without revenge to drive her, could she follow through? She, who had cried as a young child and refused to check the snares, who could no longer eat meat without her stomach turning, she, who had seen death and was paralysed in fear at it?

For Ridoc.

She turned to Ceridwen. "You can perch on my shoulder, if you wish."

The crow regarded her for a moment, and then slumped forward, not meeting Thea's eye as she let her pride drop. "That would be... helpful." She conceded, and allowed Thea to scoop her up gently, cradling her in one hand, and propping her up on her shoulder. She was worried about the state of Ceridwen, and could tell she was in more pain than she wanted to let on — she was quivering slightly, her feathers lifted.

The footsteps led down an even darker passage. They afforded some light, but not much as the moonlight faded in their wake as they set off, leaving behind the helpless body of the Night-wolf. Thea couldn't tell whether the passage was taking them deeper into the mine or out of it — but she trusted the magic to lead them to the Witch. It had led her to answers so far.

Her emotions were still running too high. Her fingers were numb at the tips and her forehead fevered and still bloody, her coat felt stiflingly warm and bulky. Her arm was fizzing and throbbing in turns, despite the willow bark. She needed to calm down. The Night-wolf had found them last time because of her fear — down here, there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, nothing to save her.

But they encountered nothing but a few abandoned miners tools, boards and, once, an upturned cart surely once used to send coppers to the surface. Remnants of a better time, left to rot where they stood. Thea couldn't imagine the last time these tunnels had been crawling with people. Devil's Corner stayed alive only because of what the farmers grew in their fields, and the long summer months when it was safer to step out past the fence for lucky few.

The deeper they walked, the narrower the tunnels grew. Stalactites clustered along the ceiling, stretching down like the fingers of a clawed beast, and before long their pointed tips could scrape along Thea's scalp. Every so often, she heard the sound of running water. The air smelled – wrong. Still. As though waiting for something to happen.

Thea shook herself. She was letting fear get to her. She sought for the strange numbness that had helped her take her first steps into the Wood, but it slipped her grasp. There would be no solace here.

Soon, the shaft grew so narrow she was forced to shuffle along on her hand and knees, Ceridwen hopping along in the cradle of her arms, Wilf slinking through the grime with his ears pressed back, her hips dragging across the stone floor, the blade digging into her skin. Water soaked through her clothes and a chill had started to settle into her bones. She found herself thankful for the glow of the purple footprints – without them, it would be a sorry journey in the dark indeed.

The shaft began to slope, tracing a path downwards. When it was so steep she was digging in her heels to stay upright, Wilf pressed himself down and slid, disappearing from sight – and then yowling as a loud splash! announced his landing.