Night Witch

Chapter 34

An unease crept into Karina's stomach as she tried to let sleep take her. She slept during the night, unlike Baba Yaga, who only seemed to take short naps during the day. The yaga would plant a cushion on one of the tree trunks she used as chairs, scoot another tree trunk behind it with a separate cushion on it, and lie, stiff as a board, for an hour or so. Her wrinkled lips would move in her sleep, like she was murmuring words to a spell that only she knew.

Karina didn't do that. Instead, she slept on a pallet in a long, dark hallway that seemed to lead to nowhere. Baba Yaga had given her a cushion for her injured shoulder, which--oddly enough--was healing more quickly than she could have possibly expected. It felt as though being at the strange little hut had helped her somewhat, though she couldn't say how. 

And today, it felt like it had stopped.

The monster lived in the basement. It seemed almost childish to think, a silly thing she would tell her mother when she got scared of the dark. But he did, and with him lived a cauldron of uncertainty that she wished wasn't brewing so thickly in her mind.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

And heard a creak. 

And felt a cold.

She shouldn't have been surprised to see a creature un-melting from the shadows of the hallway. She shouldn't have been surprised to see dark talons click their way in front of her face. But her blood had still run cold as ice.

The figure moved swiftly, down the hallway and turning the corner that led to the main room where Baba Yaga presided. From the short distance, she could hear clipped, hushed voices forming indecipherable words.

Karina stood up, trying not to groan with her injured shoulder, and tiptoed down the hall, careful to avoid the yellow patches of chicken feet so that the house wouldn't move and give away her position. She stood in the sharp corner, shielded by shadows, and pressed her back against the wall.

Karina could hear the voices better now--one soprano, clear, and musical, and one bass, gravelly and deep. Their words both seemed carefully pronounced, but she still couldn't understand it.

I want it. I want it.

The soprano voice said something that sounded sharp and clipped, and for a moment silence fell upon the small house. Then, the two started talking again, this time in a language that didn't make Karina feel desperate with want. A language that she could understand.

"I don't understand your fascination with the human language, Baba Yaga." The bass voice, which sounded oddly familiar--almost like Nyx's--veered towards threatening. Karina's stomach clenched even as a high, bright laugh rang through the air. 

"Yes, you do, and that's why you're fluent," the soprano--whose voice was far to high to be Baba Yaga's, surely--snapped. "Don't look for disloyalties where they aren't. There are plenty to be seen by looking for some that are there."

"But you took a prisoner of war."

"I took nothing."

"Then how do you explain the warlock in the basement?"

Karina's blood ran cold.

"I don't. Not to you."

There was a tapping noise, then a sigh. "What about your protege, then?"

Me. He's talking about me. She sucked in a breath and didn't let it escape.

"You sent her to me. You clearly know all you need to."

"I don't. She's to be trained for--"

"Recruitment. You told me the same thing with her sister, and look at where we ended up."

Sister? Karina's face was a map of confusion. I never had an aunt.

"She's successful now."

"She's a queen now, who went crazy because of a Darkness Magnet that tore in two. Mara will not side with anyone, boy."

Mara. At the name, Karina felt something quiver inside her chest, though from fear or excitement, she wasn't certain. This--this was the mystery Nyx had introduced to her in that twisted fantasy. Mara Hedge, who--who--something with Russell Pinkerton?

"Ha!"

"You never knew her, boy."

"I knew her better than you did, Baba."

The conversation felt involved enough that Karina dared a peek at the room. The woman in there didn't look anything like Baba Yaga, though she had the same regal stance and piercing eyes. This woman's hair was dark and long, her back was straight, and her skin was smooth and young. She had a slender hand perched on her hip, and she was wearing Baba Yaga's dark robes. In the dim light, Karina could almost see symbols sewn into the fabric.

She glanced over to the man and nearly swore aloud, quickly drawing herself back against the wall. It was Nyx, and from his tightly bunched shoulders he was angry. The tension that radiated off of him was fierce.

"You may have." Baba Yaga clucked her tongue. "I don't like it when you toy with humans because you want to be one."

"She wasn't a toy." His voice broke on the last word. "And I only live in bird form, now. I've stopped trying." She could hear his voice break. "Mara Hedge wasn't a toy."

"No, she wasn't, until you experimented on her to get the Darkness Magnet out of her. Mara Hedge is now broken beyond repair because of you." Another tongue cluck, another sigh. "When will the battle be?"

"Eclipse."

"Naturally. Is there anything you want to happen to Karina?"

There was a pause. A creak in the floor. "She has the other half of the Darkness Magnet," he said, so low that Karina almost didn't hear it. But she did, and so did the voice inside her head.

My...other half...

Baba Yaga muttered something in the other language. Then there was a crack, and the house shook a little more than it usually did, and soon enough Nyx was hurrying past her and sinking back into the wall where he came from.

He didn't even notice her.