Page 38 of A Witch Out of Time
Vasilisa
My harrowing descent ended with a landing on surprisingly soft grass. A moment later, I heard Nox curse as he fell to the ground beside me, immediately reaching for me to check for injuries. I batted him away and took in our surroundings, my intuition screaming at me to stay vigilant. As we’d been deposited in front of eleven skulls atop twelve fence posts, it didn’t take long to realize where we were.
My helpers—herhelpers—methodically lit the skulls for the evening, creating the only illumination in the moonless night. Of course, I’d already recognized the enchanted clearing as the one belonging to my mentor, the former Yaga. The witch who betrayed me.
Which means my last quest will be most unpleasant.
The hut suddenly spun and lowered itself to the ground, the door materializing to swing open, as if welcoming us inside. This was all part of the trap—a false promise of hospitality for weary travelers that hid the horrors waiting inside.
“You are not fucking going in there without me,” Nox growled, and I smiled at his protectiveness.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I cooed, allowing him to help me to my feet so we could approach the hut together. My inner knowing was going haywire, heightening my senses, as if I didn’t already know we were in danger. Besides the obvious, something felt extremely familiar about this night, but I steadied myself and reconnected to source, trusting all would be revealed.
Nox and I passed through theseniand entered the main living area to find a scene both familiar and disorienting. I had redecorated quite a bit since inheriting the hut, but I still remembered the placement of every item in this long-ago version of my home. My instincts immediately called my attention to the far corner, where an old woman sat in a rocking chair, hunched beneath layers of blankets in a way that accentuated her deceptively frail form.
“Have you come here of your own free will or at another's bidding?” A familiar voice hissed, scratching at my eardrums like claws across glass.
“I am doing a deed, not fleeing a deed,” I replied in the rhythmic way I’d been taught.
Her beady eyes snapped to focus on me from beneath the scarves hiding her terrifying face. “Vasilisa? Where have you been, my dear? You wouldn’t want to be late for your own initiation.”
Ah, so this is the night I must now relive.
The Yaga was suddenly standing before me, blankets discarded to reveal her hideousness as she stretched to her full height. I suppressed a shudder at being so close to my mentor again, knowing what she had done to me and what was in store. Interestingly, she didn’t acknowledge Nox looming behind me, which made me wonder if she could see my Rider at all.
“Be hasty, child,” she chirped, smiling so her iron teeth caught the lamplight beneath her grotesquely long nose. “Gather the supplies we will need and transport everything to the grove.”
I smiled as pleasantly as I could before turning to the worn wooden table to begin my task. My gaze immediately caught on the curved knife that would be used in tonight’s ritual—weathered by time but still deadly sharp.
There must be some way to counteract her spell!
“That’s the knife that killed you?” Nox snarled, dark brown eyes fixed on the witch, now busy with her own chores. Nodding imperceptibly, I slowly reached for the hilt.
“Leave the blade for me, Vasilisa!” The Yaga’s voice rang out, filling the small space and causing me to jerk my hand away in surprise. “I still need to finish preparing it for the ceremony.” Gritting my teeth, I dutifully finished filling my basket and led Nox out of the hut and toward the nearest sacred grove.
“She can’t see me, can she?” Nox muttered. “I wonder why...”
“I’m not sure,” I replied. “With my first quest, Asa was visible to my stepfamily and my mother. Even when we were in the palace, the midwife could see all of us.” I paused thoughtfully before continuing. “Something feels different about this, however. It feels morerealisticthan the last two visions.”
Nox insisted on taking the basket from me—a move so gentlemanly I had to smile. “Well, we were just sucked into a bottomless pit by a magical wind,” he smirked. “Maybe it was a wormhole and we’ve now traveled back in time.”
I scoffed as we entered the clearing, glancing at the Yaga’s makeshift mud dwelling on the far side before leading Nox toward the altar in the center. “I doubt that, but at least I’ve figured out what the ‘blessing’ is I need to find. It’s the doll my mother gave me on her deathbed. During my first quest, she revealed she was once a priestess in the service of Mokosh, so I’m guessing the doll was actually blessed by the Great Mother herself.”
“But didn’t you bury the doll with your…with Nadia? We didn’t see it at the gravesite...” He trailed off as he noticed my eyes filling with tears at the mention of my daughter’s name. Surprising me again with his softer side, he leaned down and sweetly kissed me, bringing me back to the present. “See, Idolisten. Sometimes.”
Huffing, I brushed away my offensive tears and refocused. “I agree, the doll should have been there. Ithasto be the doll, right? Goddess! I wanted none of this.Fatedecided I should cross paths with the Yaga—twice—with horrible repercussions each time. And fate ensured I would have nowhere else to go except this very path. My life has never been my own!”
I angrily threw a handful of stones against the towering willow behind the altar, sourly noting the grove my mentor chose featured the tree of Veles himself.
That traitorous witch!
Nox was observing me silently, patiently waiting until I had calmed some before speaking. “Do you want to know something, Vasilisa the Beautiful? Of all theskazkismy grandmother used to tell me, my favorite was always the one about you.”
I gaped at him in confusion. “Why would that one be your favorite? Don’t little boys prefer the tales of brave heroes vanquishing their enemies and saving the princess?”
He shrugged dismissively. “Those were always so predictable. But you, Vasi,you changed your fate.”Placing a finger under my chin, he forced me to look up at him as he continued. “You outsmarted a powerful witch, earned the tools you needed to escape your horrible circumstances, and forged a better life for yourself. To a kid trapped in middle-of-nowhere Russia—convinced he was destined for something greater—your story was the shred of hope I held on to. Little did I knowthistrain wreck was where my fate was leading me but, hey…”
“You ogre!” I hissed, playfully swatting his arm before turning back to the altar to arrange the various bones and crystals before the Yaga arrived. The story of Vasilisa the Beautiful had always simply been my life, and I had given little thought to how the tale resonated with others. Hearing Nox describe it now made me sound like a master of my own fate, which gave me the courage to face what I knew was coming my way.
