Spells in Silence

Chapter 26: The Hunter

Hazel sat with a chair pushed against one of the outside walls, her eyes lazily following the course of all the snowflakes falling from the sky. The storm she had braved the previous day had clearly moved overnight, and she could only imagine that they would be seeing the full brunt of its power later in the day or early tomorrow at the latest. Hopefully the hags' cabin was sturdier than the cottages in which the werewolves lived, otherwise she would have to pit her repair powers against a storm and see which one ran out first.

She really, truly hoped the cabin was sturdy.

"Hazel?" She glanced over her shoulder to find Hedwig standing in the entryway to the bedrooms, currently dressed in thick clothes appropriate for the coming snowfall. Was she planning on going outside and trying to preempt the worst of the storm? "Oh dear, is she that much worse than I thought? I was about to head to Stuttgart for a couple of errands. We need some groceries and ingredients. Do you want to join me? How am I going to convince her if she says no? I really need to get her out of the house and her mind off things."

Tilting her head, Hazel just looked at the hag in confusion for several seconds. Get her mind off what things? 'I do not have any plans. Sure, I will come along.' She turned to Morgan and asked, Want to come along?

Her feathered friend looked at her, looked back at the falling snow, looked at her, and then puffed himself up in a fat ball before nestling deeper into the fabric of the chair.

'I guess it will just be me.'

Hedwig gave her a smile, her mind still focused on something else entirely. "Go ahead and get outdoor clothes on then. We will be popping in and out of shops for most of the morning."

Only after Hazel was wearing her boots and heavy coat did they move to the fireplace. Just as she had seen Hedwig do previously, the hag reached into a shallow pot that sat upon the mantle and withdrew a handful of glittering grey powder before casting it into the fireplace. "The Galloping Griffin," she commanded, and the fire that had been burning low suddenly gushed upwards in a curtain of green flame. "Head on first, and I will be right behind you."

Facing the fireplace with trepidation as she remembered what happened the last time she stepped into colored fire, she took a deep breath and walked forwards. The flame swallowed her up and set her spinning around and around like a demented teacup, and just as she had before she needed to squeeze her eyes shut so she could keep her breakfast where it belonged. A minute later, she blasted out of the fireplace on the other side of this awful portal with the force of a cannon and tumbled over and over before sliding and rolling to a stop. She sighed in relief as everything finally stopped spinning, only to then huff a moment later when Hedwig stepped out calmly without any hint of suffering the same indignity.

'How are you supposed to use that thing?!' she demanded after staggering to her feet. 'It just throws me around.'

"Yes, it does that. Practice. That's the only advice I have, practice," Hedwig replied with a small smile that she did not bother trying to hide. "Unfortunately, that is the only way we have to get here. Short of walking, that is."

'I could have just jumped us here directly.'

Hedwig opened her mouth before shutting it again. "I am still not used to that," she admitted after a moment's pause, "and that alone would be a good reason to be proud of your mixed heritage. Regardless, there is no reason for us to stand around here. We have places to be and things to see."