The Library

Allina's Wand

"Please tell me what's going on," Allina said. She flailed the stake around; the half-men jumped away from it, as if they were afraid of such a simple weapon.

"These, young Allina, are the creatures trying to kill witches." Alejandra cast spells left and right, repelling or wounding the half-men.

"Why?"

"They think the magic we use is wrong and demonic."

"Is it?" Allina looked down at the white crow's wing.

"No, dear girl. They simply wish to be the only ones that can wield magic." She took a deep breath and cast a spell, which pushed away all the half-men nearby in a sudden gust of wind. "That is why they tracked me here, and that is why they killed her."

"Juana?" Allina started up the stairs.

"Yes, though it's impolite to call an adult by their first name. You read my journals, didn't you?" Alejandra kept looking over her shoulder, so she could see if any half-men were following them. It made Allina nervous. As they reached the circular room, she cast a final spell that kept the half-men from coming any closer.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine! I meant for you to. Now, we have an important task ahead of us, young Allina: we must defeat the king of the half-men. If he is not defeated, he will continue to harm witches everywhere, and animals as well. Though the half-men claim a connection to nature, they harm the ecosystems of the places they inhabit."

"Oh." Allina stopped once she reached the top of the stairs; all this news was certainly a lot to take in.

"Now, we must make you a wand."

"How?"

"You need simply a magical object, a part of yourself, and something for the handle that'll make it easy to hold." Alejandra took Allina up the spiral staircase to the main room, and from the main room to the marble statue. Allina got to look at the statue for the first time: it was of an enormous mountain lion with the legs of a goat and the wings of a bat. It connected to the wall just where its ribcage ended, and it was covered with moss.

"I have the crow wing. That's magical, right?" Allina put the stake on the floor.

"Yes," Alejandra said, then ripped a bone out of the wing. She wiped it off on her dress. "And this moss will make a good handhold. Now, a piece of yourself..."

Allina pulled a hair out of her mouse tail.

"What in the—" Alejandra looked at her tail in shock, but took the hair regardless.

"I did a spell! To turn myself into a mouse, but I didn't turn all the way back," she explained.

"You attempted Juana's spell? Allina! It's only a matter of luck that you didn't die!" She crossed herself and kissed her hand. "Still, that is an impressive feat for a novice. You will always have the tail, I'm afraid."

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, dear girl. Now, let's make you a wand." Alejandra handed Allina the bone, the fur, and a piece of green moss with yellow flowers growing all over it. "Hold the narrower part outward, wrap the moss around the handle, push the hair under the moss."

Allina did as she was told, almost dropping the bone a few times. Even with the magical blockade Alejandra had put up, she was worried someone might sneak up behind her.

"Good, dear girl. Now! Say this." Alejandra said a phrase in a language Allina recognized.

"That's ancient Greek!"

"Yes, there were many witches in ancient Greece, and they were the second to invent the wand-binding spell."

"Who was the first?" Allina did her best to translate the ancient words in her head.

"Some folks from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico wrote a wand-binding spell a while before the Greeks did. Problem is, the script is so old that not even the descendants of the people that wrote it can figure out how to say it."

"That's neat," said Allina, and she repeated the Greek phrase. As she did, the moss grew into the bone, and the handle curved so that it was somewhat like that of a rapier. Flowers from the moss grew in swirls over the bone. The room began to smell of the ocean and deep forest.

"Now, young Allina, let's go. And take your stake—I don't know why, but half-men are terrified of enchanted metal.

Allina led the way down the spiraling stairs to the throne room. In all the madness, no one had bothered to close the great ivory doors, so they walked right in.