Description: A story about a little girl captured by an evil witch, who has an extraordinary Spell Book.
The Witches' Spell Book.
My name is Louhi. I live in a little village where no one ever goes, called Candlewick. I'm sure you can tell that by name alone we have a long history with witches and wizards. Not recently, mind you, but I'd been told in school that hardly a generation had gone by when a wizard or witch hadn't lived in Candlewick 300 years or so ago. But most people you asked around town would tell you they distrusted witches and wizards profusely.
As for me, I was still quite young, and I'd never met a wizard or witch, but my mother always told me that not all witches and wizards were evil. My mother was more objective than some of the townsfolk. She always warned me never to be nasty to witches. Not only because they could turn me into a frog, but because she said they were humans who could use magic and that didn't necessarily make them evil. It wasn't the magic that was evil after all; it was what the individuals did with the magic.
But a short while ago, really when my story begins- it was this past winter when everything was wet and dreary- we had a serious problem.
On the hill by the village there stood a cottage that looked like a castle. This multi storey stone building was a curious thing. Instead of being small and stocky like most cottages, it was tall and narrow. There were two little sticky up rooftops very close together, one a storey higher than the other, each wearing pointed red tiled 'hats'. That's what made the building look almost like a castle.
That's where I'd gone in the middle of the night. The adults said little children like me were being gobbled up by a horrible witch, the first our town had seen in over 300 years.
Not understanding what she meant, or realising the power of witches, I had decided to rescue any children left in her gangly abode.
But apparently, witches owned pets too. I met her three pets, giant crows that they were, on the blackened hill on the way to her house. They were towering and clawed and when they moved dead feathers fell from their bodies. Their red orb like eyes stared at me longingly. They were like black vultures.
"Where are the missing children from the village?" I asked shakily, pointing at them for emphasis.
"Scree-hee-hee! Ooh, a lovely little girl! I am so hungry!" the smallest crow poked his tongue out, making me step back with fright.
Instantly I was cut off by the largest crow, which landed with a thud behind me. Now I regretted my choice to come alone. I hadn't even told anyone where I was going.
"Now, now, let's be patient. Madam said we'd be having a feast tonight! Do you want to fill up on just one scrawny girl? No!" it snapped at the two smaller crows, which shrunk down in shame.
"Then, let's take her back- you never know! Might need some special ingredients!" the middle sized crow chattered happily.
"N-no!" I cried, as they surrounded me and pounced.
They snatched me up in an instant and I fell unconscious. When I woke up, I was crushed inside a cage placed on the floor under a cabinet. Stored like meat. I could just about grasp at the dirty bars in front of me. I was a small girl, which was just as well for the cage was only two and a half feet high, which gave me just about enough room to crouch uncomfortably.
I managed to pull myself forward and look up at the room above me. What I saw came as quite a shock. It was a circular room with a cauldron in the middle. No windows and two doors opposite one another. I could smell the boiling pot and see the broth brewing at its rim. What I saw next was terrifying. I followed a hunched over shadow with my eyes, saw two buckled boots and finally there stood the witch, with her deformed face and covered in black and purple robes, chanting over her cauldron. She took a pinch of powder from a bronze cup and threw it into the concoction, laughing as she did so.
It made a sharp "bang!" and simmered down into a green mist that slowly filled the room. I managed to look around me. There were no bones of little children in sight- was she really going to eat me? My question was answered immediately as screaming came from my left. I had to really bend my head, but I just about saw a boy outside of the cage. He was quite a big child- and he was being held by those dastardly crow-creatures!
"Let me go!" he tried to scream, as the witch dipped a little silver cup into the brew and held it up to his lips.
Frozen with horror, I watched the witch force the potion down the boy's throat. And then snapped my head back and watched the boy's slightly rounded shadow instead. No sound came from him now. Instead his shadow began to shrink faster than I could blink. Then I heard his clothes fall to the stone floor. My mouth hung open as the witch bent down to pick him up. But he wasn't a "he" any more. He was an "it".
"This will do nicely!" the witch grinned from ear to ear.
I watched as she placed the former boy onto a counter top. He was now a sweet little apple, deep green and juicy looking. But what horrified me was where the witch sat this little apple. On the counter top was a basket filled with fruits and vegetables. The realisation of what they were made my stomach sink. Those were all the other children from the village, just recently turned into produce.
"This is all I need for now," she decided, turning in my direction.
I shrank back into the cage, but not far enough. A black boot kicked my cage and caught my mouth. I cried out in pain but was drowned out by her cackle.
"Think yourself lucky! You can live a little longer child," she huffed.
"Why did you turn those children into fruits and vegetables?!" I demanded, suddenly filled with rage.
"Why you ask? WHY?! Because they're easier to CHOP UP that way!" she was very amused now. "After a while they'll turn back, but by then they'll be in a million pieces!"
I heard her take something from the counter top above my cage and carry it over to the basket of her victims. And when I heard the first chop, I began to cry. The chopping never ended, her hand smashed down on the produce and cut it to ribbons. When she turned, she had the fruits and vegetables in a pile on a wooden board. Now they were in pieces they would never again be children.
She threw them all into the cauldron and began adding other ingredients from other pots in the room. The walls were full of shelves with jars, pots and boxes resting on them, and the witch could expertly reach them all by hopping or jumping to them. Soon the cauldron was ready and the witch began serving her meal to the crows. When she brought it out, there were no vegetables or fruits. The children had turned back. It was now a human child stew.
This is when I must have feinted from the smell and noises of the crows gobbling up their meal.
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Thankfully when I awoke, I was alone. The room was pitch-black. I ached all over from lying down on the floor for so long in such an awkward position. Only one thought crossed my mind now- ESCAPE.
Outside the weather played to my advantage. The rain was battering against the tall cottage- and every now and then the thunder clattered. I realised that if I turned myself round and kicked the cage door as the thunder clattered that I could avoid being heard. Positioning and moving in such a tight space proved more difficult than the force needed to bash open that old unstable door. After freeing myself, I put the door back in its place. The cage was so low that perhaps no one would notice I was gone until it was too late.
Then I stood in the witches' spell room. Or perhaps this was her kitchen. I couldn't tell. My mother's warnings about witches being both good and bad were no help to me now. As far as I was concerned, witches were the most evil things in the world.
I crept over to the door on the left and tried to open it, but it was locked. Deciding to take my chances, I tried the door on the right- and it was open. But the stairs behind it lead up- not down. As snapping noises came from behind me, I ran up them and closed the door behind me. I pressed my ear against the door and listened to them.
"Mm, that was lovely," one voice bragged.
"Indeed! Madam knows how to make a good child stew! What do you think we should eat now?" another asked greedily.
"Well, I suppose there's still the little girl!" another laughed.
My heart stopped in fear. Would they discover I was missing and come after me?
"No!" a loud voice boomed- the largest of the crows clearly showing his dominance again.
"You should wait for Madam to wake up! Otherwise she will be very cross!"
"Oh yes..." came the small voice.
As I listened to them leave I sighed in relief. I carried on up the stairs as the sound of arguing crows faded further and further downstairs.
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The stairs stopped on the top floor. I could see two doors and a large window behind the stairs that revealed the rim of the little red rooftop. I looked down at the drop beneath the window and gulped. I clearly couldn't jump to my safety. I would have to find some other means of escape.
I opened the right door very quietly and peered inside. My eyes fixed on er at once. Lying down, with only her black and white stripy socks showing from under her thick covers, was the sleeping witch. Her snores vibrated through the covers. I closed the door again quietly and opened the other door on the top floor. This led to a very curious room.
It was like an Aladdin's Cave, with magical looking objects and walls of books everywhere. In the middle of the room were a set of steps leading up to a pedestal, and on the pedestal was an ancient looking book. I approached gingerly. Nothing in this room looked like it was used for anything good. Not if it was owned by that horrible witch.
"Heeeelp meeee!" came a whisper from in front of me, sending me back quite a ways. My eyes darted about the room. Where had that sound come from? "Help!" it came again, and my pinpoint eyes moved down to stare at the book on the pedestal. It couldn't be. Could it? "HELP ME! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT! FOR GOODNESS SAKE, I'M A BOOK IN DISTRESS!" the book yelped.
I leapt over to it instinctively. "Shhh!" I whispered. "The witch is asleep! Don't wake her up!" I found myself talking to this book.
"Well, EXCUSE me!" the book huffed. "Perhaps if you'd been stuck here for God knows how many years, forced to help an evil witch, then YOU'D be a bit emotional too!"
"I'm sorry..." I gulped, noticing now that the book glowed with a purple colour. "But wait- aren't you that witches' spell book?" I asked.
"Indeed I am- but not by CHOICE!" the book replied. "She's the meanest, horriblest witch in the world!"
"There's no such thing as the word 'horriblest'. I tried to use it once when the teacher gave us more homework," I sighed.
"Well there's nothing wrong with making up your own words sometimes dear," the book comforted her. "How do you think spells are made?"
"Thank you... book..." I hesitated.
"Book? BOOK? That's not my name!" the book complained.
"Sorry again. What is your name then?" I asked.
"It's Sageworth Ruminous Technicallla Magic Book IV,"
"Sageworth.... something... something... oh, please could I just call you Sageworth?" I asked, adding quickly after. "That's the best name of them all,"
"Very well. What's your name?" He asked me, trying not to sound pleased by my compliment.
"I'm Louhi," I replied, smiling and wondering if the book could see me. But I didn't dare to ask.
"Good! Now we've gotten all that out of the way- I'd best ask you what you're doing here. Please say you're not working for that nasty witch?" Sageworth was optimistic.
"No- God no! She wants to feed me to her crows! She just fed all these other poor children to the crows. I couldn't save them..." my head sunk sadly.
"Oh no. Well dear, don't despair! It's not your fault! She's an insult to the grand title of witch!" he explained.
"But aren't all witches evil?" I asked.
"What? Oh no little lady! Witches started out being very respected by the people of this country. They were called witches because it meant wise and intelligent one. They gave advice to great leaders- Kings and Sultans! They used their knowledge of nature and accomplished astounding things! They healed people and helped grow crops. Then they got a bad name- all because of a witch of old who started using her magic for evil. Then people assumed all witches were like that. It's been a long time since then, and people are starting to trust good witches again, but unfortunately in that time many other witches have turned bad too. It all depends on who gets the powers, you see. That's where I come in!" Sageworth explained. "Want to know more?"
"I do... but I really should be getting out of here. The witch could wake up at any minute!" I was really quite frightened, even if the old book was very pleasant company.
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that! She uses a special Lavender and Peppermint spell on page 257 to help her fall asleep. She's out like a light for hours and hours!" Sageworth explained.
"Alright..." I nodded.
"Good, now pay attention! Not just anyone can be a witch. First, you have to be female- or else you become a mage or wizard. Secondly, you have to have a spell book. That's me. The first witches were hugely talented, and wrote down all their secrets into books like me. Without books like me, it'd take you until you were old and grey to learn spells normally. I'm a fourth generation spell book out of the 30 generations there are, so I contain some pretty potent stuff!" Sageworth claimed proudly. "But some even rarer spell books are first generation. Those old fogeys have very powerful magic in them indeed. Of course, you can just add information and pages to me if you wish- I have an unlimited number of pages," Sageworth stopped suddenly, as if sensing my confusing.
"An unlimited number of pages?" I blinked. "What do you mean by that?"
"Why don't you open me up and have a look?" Sageworth sang temptingly.
I walked up to the pedestal and found it lowered to my height. This made it much easier to look at Sageworth for the first time. He was a brown leather bound book with golden corners. The purple energy that surrounded him died down whenever he was not speaking. I opened the book at a random place and my face fell. I opened another page a few dozen sheets along. Nothing.
"I don't understand... you're empty!" I gasped.
"Hehe, clever, huh? Now, think of a spell!" Sageworth insisted.
"But I don't know any spells..." I stammered nervously.
"Well, think of something you want!" Sageworth prompted.
"Well, what about a spell to vanquish the witch?" I asked.
"Ooh, powerful stuff needed. Hang on a second..." Sageworth paused, and then to my surprise his pages started moving all by themselves, as if he were looking through himself for the right spell. "Transformations... conjuring spells... herbal tea recipes... ah! Here it is!" he stopped short on one page.
I looked at the page in question curiously. "What is this?" I asked.
"This is the 3 fold spell," Sageworth explained. "The number 3 is very powerful to witches. The magic they used is designed for good! And thus the old ones decided that if it was ever used for evil, that magic would return to the witch in some negative way 3 fold! Unless the witch chooses something to sacrifice in order to get what she wants- and it has to be something very valuable to her," he added.
"So what do you think the evil witch chose?" I asked.
"Well I can tell you. She chose her grace, her wisdom and her beauty. Three very valuable things in return for being able to do some pretty evil things. If you ask me, it wasn't a good trade, but that's the point. It's supposed to stop evil people using the magic of witches evilly. It's a pretty good system. Wizards and mages have no such rules- they could do whatever evils they wanted and get away with it. But witches have to want evil so bad they'd make huge sacrifices for it. If they're willing to do that, nothing you or I could do would have stopped them," Sageworth was sad now.
"Are you okay, Sageworth?" I checked.
"Hm? Why yes Louhi, very much so! I shant dwell on how my warnings to that evil witch fell on death ears! I shall move on and adapt. With the 3 fold spell!" Sageworth refocused himself.
"Okay, so what does it do?" I asked.
"Well isn't it obvious? It looks into a witches' heart and find all the evil things she
has done. Then it returns it to her 3 fold. So if she'd kicked someone in the knee once, she would feel 3 kicks to the knee,"
"And the damage is real?" I asked.
"Very much so," Sageworth confirmed.
"So if she'd chopped living beings into little pieces, even if they were fruit at the time- she would be stabbed all those times too?" I asked.
"Indeed she would," Sageworth nodded.
"Will the spell still work from far away?" I asked.
"It should do, as long as there's the presence of the person you want to cast the spell on," Sageworth glowed very brightly now."Oh, I should be enough! That awful woman uses me every day. There should be more than enough of her aura around me to cast the spell. Isn't that handy?" he mused.
"It definitely is. Okay, then let's do that spell later," I decided. "We should get out of here first. You're sure it's alright for me to take you? It's not stealing?" I asked.
"My girl... if you took me with you, you'd be rescuing me and any of that witches' future victims!" Sageworth told me.
"Okay then. How do I get out of here?" I asked.
That's when I heard it, a clattering sound. I knew what it was instantly and my heart leapt into my mouth.
"SCREEE! SHE'S GONE! ESCAPE! ESCAPE! ESCAPE!" came a shouting from below me.
"Oh no!" I panicked. "They found out I was gone! What do I do?!" I cried.
"Don't worry! First, pick me up and head for the window outside! Quickly!" Sageworth exclaimed.
Obeying, I lifted the heavy tome from his resting place and carried him outside. I could hear the crows lumbering up the stairs. I was trapped.
"To the window!" Sageworth instructed, and I obeyed again.
"But they'll see me here!" I fretted.
"Shh! Just crouch down and keep quiet!" Sageworth ordered.
When I saw their heads rise from the stairway in front of me I froze. I was sure they'd turn round to that little gap between the window and the staircase. But they didn't. They ran straight from the staircase and burst into the witches room.
"Wake the Madam!" they cried as the door swung shut behind them.
"Now!" Sageworth whispered to me. "Open me up!" and I did, as fast as I could.
I didn't have to do anything. The mighty- the brilliant Sageworth flipped open his pages and rested on something about transformation. He began to glow purple, bright purple.
"What? What is it?" the groggy witch moaned.
"Madam! The child is GONE!" the crow sounded very frightened.
"WHAT?! Did she get by you?" the witch demanded angrily.
"No Madam! No one passed us!" the next crow realised.
"You FOOLS! Then she must be- in my SPELL ROOM!" the witch thundered.
"Please Sageworth!" I begged, as the door swung open.
The witch looked at me with eyes filled with hatred. She pointed a bony finger at me and screeched in a horribly high voice, "GIVE ME BACK MY SPELL BOOK YOU ROTTEN LITTLE GIRL!"
"NOW Louhi!" Sageworth instructed. "Put me under your coat and jump out the window!"
"But-!" I cried, as the witch ran forwards screaming 'you treacherous book!'
"Trust me! Please, now!" Sageworth shouted.
I must have been out of my mind, but when faced with a red faced vengeful witch and an eight floor drop, I chose the drop. I leapt out of the window and felt something strange. I don't quite remember the experience now, but since then Sageworth has told me I transformed.
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One minute I was screaming looking down at the fast approaching ground, and then I was fine, sitting on the ground against the front of the witches' cottage. Looking above me I saw no witch glaring out the window, I heard no crows. And as for my surroundings, for a moment I had to gather my bearings. There I was, after falling eight floors, with barely a scratch on me. It was no longer raining and outside it was bright as day.
I reached into my coat and pulled out Sageworth.
"Sageworth?" I whispered. "Sageworth? Are you okay? SAGEWORTH!" I called loudly.
There came a familiar faint glow. "Shh! Yes... I'm fine. Quick... hide... the boxes..."
Sageworth could barely speak. Looking behind me I saw that indeed there were a few boxes.
I did what I was told and hid behind them. After all, this book had just saved my life!
Seconds later a crow flew by mere inches from the ground. It was quite a feat to fly so close to the ground- I would have been impressed by it if it didn't repulse me. Those crows had eaten several innocent children!
"I know... you're upset... please calm down," Sageworth asked, and at the sound of his measly voice I did so.
Moments later we heard voices from by the front door.
"Madam will be most displeased with us. We couldn't find that girl or Madam's spell book!" the smallest crow's voice quivered.
"I- I'm going to blame the two of you!" the middle sized crow decided.
"Coward! You dare blame me and I'll kill you myself!" the largest crow squawked.
Following this stalemate they clambered back into the cottage. I could hear their heavy bodies and clawed feel scattering across the wooden floors. The door slammed shut behind them. I waited a few moments until their movements could not be heard; until I was satisfied they were far away enough not to hear me, before talking to the spell book Sageworth again.
"What happened?" I asked, still making sure to be quiet.
"Just... let me rest... a while," Sageworth asked. "Oh... so little energy..." he moped. "Need..."
"How do I get you energy?" I asked eagerly.
"I need... it from my... owner... but... the old witch wouldn't..." he panted.
"What about me?" I asked. "Can you take it from me?"
"If I take... from you... you become a witch..." Sageworth explained.
I thought about this. The only witch I'd ever known killed innocent children; tried to kill me- and had doubtless done other horrible things in her life. But now I held Sageworth in my hands, and remembered what he'd told me about witches, I remembered my mother's words too. It's not the magic that's evil, but the actions of the one who uses it. Who said I had to be an evil witch? I could be the greatest, kindest witch that ever lived! And I would help people, defeat evil witches and wizards and restore the good name of magic everywhere!
"Louhi?" Sageworth strained to say, his pages growing dark.
"Okay Sageworth! Do it!" I agreed.
Slowly and with quite some effort, Sageworth opened himself up, but only his cover. As he did so, words appeared on the front page that had not been there before. Skim reading it I knew I had to say the words. They seemed quite complicated to me, but as I spoke them and held onto the bind of Sageworth tight, their meaning became clear.
"I acknowledge and swear to uphold the laws of the Wiccan Rede:
Bide the Wiccan laws ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust.
Live and let livefairly take and fairly give.
Cast the Circle thrice about to keep all evil spirits out.
To bind the spell every time, let the spell be spake in rhyme.
Soft of eye and light of touchspeak ye little, listen much.
Deosil go by the waxing Moonsing and dance the Wiccan Rune.
Widdershins go when the Moon doth wane, and the werewolf howls by the dread wolfsbane.
When the Lady's Moon is new, kiss the hand to Her times two.
When the Moon rides ar Her peak, then your heart's desire seek.
Heed the North wind's might galelock the door and drop the sail.
When the wind comes from the South, love will kiss thee on the mouth.
When the wind blows from the East, expect the new and set the feast.
When the West wind blows o'er thee, departed spirits restless be.
Nine woods in the Cauldron goburn them quick and burn them slow.
Elder be ye Lady's treeburn it not or cursed ye'll be.
When the Wheel begins to turn, let the Beltane fires burn.
When the Wheel has turned to Yule, light the Log and let Pan rule.
Heed ye flower, bush and tree by the Lady blessed be.
Where the rippling waters go, cast a stone and truth ye'll know.
When ye are in dire need, hearken not to others' greed.
With the fool no season spend, or be counted as his friend.
Merry meet and merry part bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Mind the Threefold Law ye should three times bad and three times good.
When misfortune is enow, wear the blue star on thy brow.
True in love ever be, unless thy lover's false to thee.
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill an ye harm none, do what ye will,"
As soon as I finished the final verse, I felt a connection form between Sageworth and I form. I could feel my energy going to him, and yet I felt no worse than I had done. It was an amazing feeling, like making a thousand new friends all at once. I would later be told that the connections I felt were all those who had owned him before. And then I knew that I had nothing to fear, for they had all been wise and good, and abided by the correct laws. I did not feel the presence of the evil witch who had imprisoned me. Perhaps she could never have done such a thing as this, and by forcing Sageworth to do her bidding she had never really been connected to him.
Whatever the case, I was now a young witch. A good witch.
"Ahh! That's better!" Sageworth was now as peppy as ever. "Now what was it you asked me? Oh yes. Here's what happened. I transformed us into a drop of rainwater. As a liquid you could not be harmed- you fell safely and were hidden by the other thousands of raindrops falling around us. Thw dastardly witch never suspected I had cast such a spell. She might have thought I'm flown us away, or made us invisible. But NEVER this! The spell would only last a few hours, hence why it's early morning now. And no one suspected a thing! They must be looking for you EVERYWHERE!" he beamed proudly.
"That's brilliant Sageworth!" I praised him, highly astounded.
"Well, t'was nothing dear. Oh, alright, casting such a spell by myself was a risky move, and it's only ever used by spell books as a last resort because it drains out energy so, but I'm alright now. Well, now you're a witch, why don't we try a few spells out?" Sageworth grinned.
"Let's start with finishing off that wicked witch and her beastly crows!" I suggested.
"Alright, that should be easy enough. They've all gone back inside now. First, let's trap them inside," Sageworth flipped his pages and landed at a certain spell. "Read this!"
This would be my first every spell! I was very excited, but worried it would fail. Feeling a warm glow from the book, no doubt sent by Sageworth to encourage me, I felt heartened.
"Bind the doors about this place,
Let no key be the right shape,
Windows shut and tight they be,
Let no one enter or escape!"
As the last word left my mouth, something shot up from my heart thorough my body and out of my right hand, which had pointed to the building by itself. Instantly I heard many a slamming and locking. Would the occupants of the house have noticed? Before I could find out, Sageworth's pages flicked open again. It rested on a page that had no words, but a great fire leapt from it. I could feel myself controlling this fire, as I wanted to it rose and fell. And holding the book up I willed for it to leap up into the air and spin around the base building as fast as it could. The fire spread quickly as the flame I controlled danced upwards.
Now I knew those inside were wary. I heard them banging against the door to escape, but my magic had forced them shut. I heard them throwing things against the windows, but my magic saved them from shattering. Soon there was no noise. The flames burned brightly and I could hear the crows screaming in agony. I almost felt sorry for them, but I remembered the way they'd gobbled up those poor children, and I turned my heart away from them. Soon their cries died down and I knew they were dead. But what of the evil witch?
After a moment of silence, with nothing but the creaking of weakening wood, a piercing scream filled the air. I looked up to the top window. It was the witch. Briefly horrified by this sound, I lost concentration and all the windows shattered at once. Then, reflected in my eyes was a ball of fire hurtling right at me.
I started to run but it followed me- and then crashed to the ground just ahead of me. Blinking hard, I decided to approach it. The rain was dowsing the fire- and revealing something beneath it. As I got closer, I recognized the charcoaled form. It was the evil witch, burnt to a crisp.
"Get back!" Sageworth warned me- too late.
The seemingly defeated pile leapt up and grasped hold of my spell book, yanking it from my hands and holding it up into the air. "It is MINE!" she cackled. "And now you'll die!" she announced, pulling at Sageworth's back and front cover. But he did not open. "What?! How dare you defy me wretched book! Open up before I throw you into a bucket of water and watch you dissipate!" she commanded.
"No!" Sageworth refused. "I will do your bidding no longer! Louhi is my owner now!" he struggled tp keep himself shut. "Louhi! Remember the three fold law!" he called, as if that was supposed to mean something to me.
I watched helplessly as the evil witch and gallant book struggled against one another. What could I do? My mind raced, I thought about the Wiccan Rede on the first page, and then I had the shock of my life. The image of Sageworth in my mind began to change- I was flipping through his pages, somehow connected to him mentally. Finally, the page rested on '3 fold spell'. This was it- what I needed to defeat this evil hag once and for all. But wait-! In order for this spell to work, it appeared I would also have to be subject to its effects. I also needed to know her name.
I realised that if I called out to him, she would know of my plan and attack me instead! I knew I was a witch now, but I was still only a little girl! I then had another idea. If had such a strong connection with him that I could see what was inside him using my mind surely I could talk to him that way too? I decided to give it a try. I spoke in my mind, as simply as you do when you are talking to yourself, and I asked Sageworth what her name was. I kept an image of his open pages in my mind. Surely enough, letters appeared above the spell. Griselda.
"'Griselda, Griselda, Griselda!" I shouted, and she was so shocked she dropped Sageworth on the floor.
"Wait!" Sageworth began. "Before it was an option, now you've cast fire on her-!" he started to cry, but I already knew what would happen, and I knew what I had to do. I carried on with my spell.
"You hurt me, I hurt you
As you see, as I see
Be a thee,
three by three,
mote it be."
"N-NOOOO!" Griselda screamed, as Sageworth flung open, and a strong purple energy surrounded us both.
Even now I don't regret what I did. Even as the flames poured down on me and surrounded me- burning my skin, I don't regret it. Because I could hear Griselda dying, and I knew justice was being done. When I came to I was being doused with water- Sageworth was dousing me with water from page 125. I screamed in pain and went to clutch my right arm, but was stopped by pain shooting through it.
I knew then that I had suffered burns down the right hand side of my arm and the left hand side of my face. My legs and back were also burned, but for some reason I didn't feel like my life was in danger. Still, the pain was excruciating.
"It- it hurts..." I whimpered.
"It's alright Louhi, draw strength from me!" Sageworth asked. He had been using quite a bit of energy to float over to me by himself and use magic on his own again, but calling up the elements wasn't nearly as exhausting as changing them into something else, so he seemed to be managing. "You gave your energy to me; I have enough left for us to get back to the village!"
"What about Griselda?" I asked, as I felt energy fill my body.
I stood up and let Sageworth fall into my hands.
"See for yourself," he glowed knowingly.
Looking to where Griselda had stood I winced uneasily. Clearly I had returned all she had done to me to her threefold- she had squashed me into a two and a half foot space. Therefore, Griselda had been squashed into that space herself in seconds, giving her no time to move. She was crushed and killed instantly. Now she looked like a large lump of black coal stuck to the ground.
So there you have it. That's how I became a witch and met the witches' spell book Sageworth. I bet you're wondering now how the townsfolk reacted to me- and if I ever did become the world's greatest good witch. Perhaps next time I'll tell you that story. Until then remember: ye harm none, do what ye will!
The End.