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The dragon hovered seemingly effortlessly. It watched them approach and they were all nervous as they reached the bottom of the sand hill.
‘Now might be a good time for that protective spell,’ Tess suggested.
Jaxon recited the spell but it shimmered reluctantly, barely holding together.
‘I guess I’m too tired,’ Jaxon said with a sigh and tried as hard as he could. The spell worked this time and they walked slowly towards the cottage.
‘Maybe this isn’t the Desert Witch’s house,’ Tess said and stopped walking. She looked unsure of herself and Jaxon was surprised as he had never seen her like this. ‘I think we should just carry on looking for bushes.’
‘We have to at least take a look,’ Jaxon pointed out but he too stopped going towards it. ‘If it is her place and we go past we won’t reach Dragon’s Breath in time.’
‘It looks deserted,’ Sef commented, ‘and the roof is falling apart.’
Even from here it was obvious that the cottage had seen much better days. The roof was old thatch that had more holes in it than Jaxon could count and the walls were rotting wooden planks that looked incapable of holding up the greying roof. It seemed to be leaning against the rock face of the mountain.
Jaxon felt himself half wishing that it was deserted and that the Desert Witch was long gone, but then their quest would fail. He looked at the cottage once more and sighed heavily. ‘Well, we’re not going to do any good if we just stay here.’
The three of them began walking slowly towards the cottage. Their hurried pace of before had vanished and they all seemed as reluctant as each other to reach their destination now. Time seemed to slow down again as they walked across the hot desert sand. Jaxon’s heart was beating so loudly that he was sure the others must be able to hear it.
They stopped about twenty paces in front of the cottage and stared at it. The door was closed and the windows were so dirty it was impossible to see through them. The single chimney that poked through the thatch showed signs that it had been used for many years but no smoke rose from it just now.
‘Do you think she’s there?’ Tess asked in a whisper. ‘Should we just go up and knock on the door?’
‘And what do we say?’ Sef asked quietly. ‘Excuse me we need some sand.’
Jaxon continued to stare at the house and ignored their questions. The old wooden palings were so weathered that they had faded to a dull grey. He stared at a stack of wood to the side of the cottage. He was sure he saw a movement but now nothing stirred.
‘What did Wizard Argus call the Desert Witch?’ Tess asked, this time prodding Jaxon in the side to make him take notice of her.
‘Eira,’ Jaxon said without taking his attention from the woodpile. He was sure there was something there.
The huge black dragon still hovered over the cottage and a long jet of flame belched from its black mouth. Jaxon tried to ignore the threat as could just make out something by the wood but couldn’t tell what it was. The huge black dragon landed directly in front of the house. It glared at them and hissed another long flame, then settled down to a menacing crouch.
‘I prefer not to be called a Desert Witch,’ a croaky voice said suddenly and part of the woodpile detached itself. A grey-clothed, grey-haired, and very grey-skinned old woman stepped out in front of the black dragon and patted it on the head. Jaxon could see why she would blend into the woodpile so easily with her shades of grey and wiry hair that looked like knots in the wood. Even her skin was so creased and wrinkled that it made her appear to be made from pieces of badly split timber. Her face turned towards them and she stared at them with piercing eyes that were bright yellow. ‘Why have you come to see me?’
‘Kramar cast a spell...’ Jaxon began to explain but the old witch cut in.
‘I thought it might be him,’ she said impatiently and her catlike eyes flicked from one to the next and then back to Jaxon.
‘And we need your help to stop it before it destroys the entire world,’ Tess said, stepping forward slightly.
The old woman flicked her attention to Tess briefly and then returned once more to Jaxon and the intensity of her unusual gaze made Jaxon shiver. ‘But here is the mystery. Why can this boy cast a spell when the fool Kramar has stolen all the magic? And he’s wearing null-magic bands too!’
‘He’s the Seventh Son,’ Sef said nervously when nobody else answered.
‘Really?’ The old hag suddenly seemed interested and she took several hobbling steps towards them. ‘You do not rely on the magic around you.’
It was a statement, not a question, and Jaxon made no attempt to reply but he felt his protection spell dissolve as her gaze unnerved him.
‘We came to search for the Fount of Magic,’ Sef told the old woman.
‘Without the sand we cannot stop the spell,’ Tess added.
‘People only come here when they want something,’ the old hag said in a suddenly snapping tone. ‘Nobody ever comes to see me.’
‘We don’t have much time,’ Tess said urgently, obviously not sensing the same danger signs that Jaxon was. ‘We need to go there straight away.’
‘Argus used to visit,’ the old hag said, and she looked a little sad. ‘Until the other wizards stopped him coming. I went to the edge of the desert to his castle but he was gone.’
‘He was banished from the Wizard’s Vale a long time ago,’ Jaxon told her.
‘After several hundred years living here alone even I was beginning to tire of talking to myself. Argus took a lump of charcoal from the fireplace and carved it into the shape of a dragon. Then he breathed life into it and it grew huge,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Now Shadow is my only companion.’
‘Argus said that one day he would find a way to free me from this desert and let me see the world again,’ she snapped, suddenly back to her irritable self. ‘But he left without even saying goodbye.’
‘You want to go and see the world?’ Tess asked a little hesitantly. Jaxon could well imagine her dismay at the thought of this old witch roaming around free with her ‘pet’ dragon. Not many people would welcome her into their village and trouble would be sure to follow. Why would Argus have promised her that?
Jaxon felt dizzy from the intense heat of the noon sun and he almost fell over.
‘You should get out of the sun,’ the old hag said, frowning, and the edges of her mouth turn down almost to her chin. ‘Come inside where it’s cooler.’
The three of them exchanged a brief look of doubt about the wisdom of following the desert witch into the cottage. Eira had already turned her back to them and was hobbling slowly to the old grey door.
‘We can’t stay out here in the sun,’ Jaxon pointed out.
‘And we need the sand,’ Tess added.
‘I’m hungry,’ Sef said, earning him a glare from Tess.
‘So we go inside,’ Jaxon said, wiping more sweat from his forehead, knowing it was the only thing they could do.
The old hag had stopped by the door and looked back at them. ‘Are you coming in or not?’
Jaxon finally made his feet move forward and he grabbed hold of Sef’s shirt sleeve and pulled him. Tess was putting on a brave face as she too walked towards the cottage but her eyes showed her nervousness.
The huge black dragon watched them but made no attempt to stop them. They reached the door and the desert witch held it open for them, waving her hand to get them to go in ahead of her.
Jaxon wasn’t sure what he had expected to see inside the cottage but even he was surprised by what the grey planks had been hiding.
‘Why is it empty?’ Sef asked, looking around the cottage.
Shafts of light streaked through the many holes in the roof and dust danced thickly in the dim, empty shell of the cottage. There was no furniture, no dividing walls, nothing on the sandy floor.
‘At least it’s cooler in here,’ Tess muttered.
Jaxon felt a shiver run down his back as the coolness of the sand underfoot seeped into his body. He felt like he could lie down and sleep for a week but then the old grey door banged shut and most of the light vanished, plunging them into semi-darkness.
‘Well, keep going. There’s no point in stopping here,’ the old hag said.
‘Go where?’ Jaxon asked, looking around as his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness.
‘Through that door,’ Eira told him, pointing to the back of the cottage. A door, this time a rich dark brown colour, was set into the hard rock of the mountain rock face. ‘You don’t think I’d live in a dump like this do you?’
The last lingering heat from the desert vanished as Jaxon stepped through the door into a tunnel and he breathed a sigh of relief to be out of the draining heat. It was also dark and he took a few shuffling steps and then stopped, wondering how he was supposed to tell where he was going. The chances of him creating a light ball for them to see by were slim considering how tired he was.
‘Where’s that tinderbox?’ the old woman said with a sigh. ‘I must have left it down by the study.’
‘Do you need to light something?’ Jaxon asked, already opening his knapsack, eager to show someone his invention.
‘I can’t light this torch without my tinderbox,’ Eira said, waving a short stick just in front of his face.
Jaxon knew he could have lit the torch with his magic but he wanted to prove a point here. He handed the old woman the broken section of the fire poker. ‘Just strike the torch twice with this,’ he told her.
The old woman did so and a second later Eira was holding a flaming torch that smelled of rotten eggs.
‘I call it a firestick,’ Jaxon said proudly but the old woman was scowling at it.
‘You stored magic in it?’ she asked in an accusing tone.
‘No,’ Jaxon replied hastily. ‘I just enchanted the poker. Just like an enchantment on a crystal ball, or a door to keep it locked.’
‘It could be a useful thing to have,’ the old woman said, examining the poker in the yellow light from the torch. ‘Have you any more of them?’
‘I wasn’t allowed to make any more,’ Jaxon admitted, looking embarrassed. ‘I didn’t do it properly the first time.’
‘Looks like it works perfectly to me. Anyway, it’s a fair walk to my home,’ she said as she handed the poker back to Jaxon and hobbled slowly down the tunnel. ‘I usually fly in on Shadow’s back but he doesn’t seem to like you and won’t carry you.’
Jaxon didn’t think he wanted to get close enough to the huge black dragon to ride on it and even though he was footsore and weary he preferred walking.
The tunnel floor was strewn with rocks and rubble and the rough looking walls had been carved by hand. Their footsteps echoed through the darkness, making it sound as if they were not alone. The odd smell from the torch soon became a bitter taste in Jaxon’s mouth and if he had any water left he would have tried to rinse it out.
The distance to Eira’s home was not as great as Jaxon expected, it just took a long time because of the old woman’s slow pace. After fifteen minutes the narrow tunnel opened out into a small cavern and they followed Eira into it.
‘This is part of my home,’ Eira said, waving her arm around with a proud smile.
The cavern was round and at least two dozen paces wide and as high as two grown men standing on top of each other. The floor was soft, warm sand and brightly coloured rugs and cushions were scattered around on it.
It was then Jaxon noticed the walls were lined with bookshelves, except for one part where a small fire burned steadily in a deep fireplace.
The tables, covered in parchments, but weighed down by shells - not candle stubs, convinced Jaxon that this was a wizard’s study. Smokey peered out of Jaxon’s shirt and, seeing a familiar looking room, he flew out and curled up on a red rug near the empty fireplace.
There were two other exits from this study. One was a door on the far side of the cavern and the other was a large open area, big enough for even the black dragon to fit through. A second later the flapping of wings told Jaxon that it was exactly what the huge opening was used for. The huge bulk of the black dragon settled to block the gap
‘You’re a wizard aren’t you?’ Tess asked moving closer to one of the bookshelves and looking at the writing on the spines of the books.
‘I was,’ Eira replied with such sadness in her voice that all of them looked over at her. Jaxon suddenly noticed the copper bands around the old woman’s wrists. Eira saw where he was looking and held up her arms. ‘Yes, I have worn them for so long now I forget they are even there.’
‘Will we ever get to take ours off?’ Sef asked, tugging at his copper bands for the hundredth time since they had been put on.
‘I doubt it,’ Eira said with a shrug. ‘They can only be removed by one of the council of wizards, and then only if they all agree. What did you do to deserve the bands?’
‘Nothing,’ Tess told her. ‘Kramar knew one of Argus’ apprentices was a Seventh Son, but he thought it was Sef at first.’
‘So how am I supposed to help you stop him? I can’t do magic any more,’ Eira asked, sitting on the one chair in the room. She looked weary from the walk down the tunnels and her eyelids drooped a little lower.
Jaxon brought out the charm box and flipped open the lid. He walked over and tipped it slightly for the old woman to see. ‘Some of the sand from Argus’ charm box needs replacing.’
‘That should have lasted him for a hundred years or more!’ Eira exclaimed, peering into the box in surprise. ‘Who used it?’
‘I did,’ Jaxon admitted with a small blush. ‘I was trying to show off to prove I was good at magic.’
‘Did it work?’ the old hag asked bluntly.
‘Not really, but I did make the firestick,’ Jaxon replied with a crooked smile. ‘And we’ll need a little extra of the green sand too so we can stop the spell Kramar used.’
‘I’m too tired to walk out and get some right now,’ Eira said quietly. ‘I’ll just have a little rest and then I’ll go and get it.’
Nobody dared to argue, even though she didn’t have magic, for she could still refuse to help them. The old woman’s eyes flickered shut and her breathing slowed. Jaxon put the charm box down on the nearest table and went back to the others.
‘How long do you think she will sleep?’ Tess asked nervously. ‘We’re in a hurry.’
‘Can I look at the spell books?’ Sef asked as he looked wide-eyed at the shelves. There were easily double the amount that Argus had at Pinehill and they were all yellowed with age.
‘I don’t think she’d like that,’ Jaxon said with a shake of his head, but even he felt the itch to look at them.
He wandered over to where a spell book lay open on a table and looked at the page it was open to. It was a spell for enchanting a crystal ball and the edges of the page were dogeared and torn. It was obvious that the old woman had been looking at this page a lot over the years. He glanced around the room, looking for her crystal ball, but couldn’t see one. Argus’s was kept on a small purple cushion, always in a direct line with the morning sun. Here there was no sun of course but it still should have been easy to see.
‘They took my crystal ball away from me,’ Eira said suddenly, making Jaxon jump with fright. ‘I miss not seeing what is going on in the world.’
Jaxon read the words of the spell again. There was nothing to say it had to be a crystal ball that received the enchantment.
‘Do you have a glass bowl or something similar?’ he asked, getting an idea. He felt sorry for the old woman, stuck out here all alone. ‘I could try to enchant that instead.’
‘You could?’ Eira almost leapt to her feet and stared at him with a look of hope and desperation that made Jaxon wonder if he should have got her hopes up. It might not work as he was still exhausted from the protective spell.
She hurried over to the second wooden door, seeming to forget to limp, and went into another room.
‘What are you doing?’ Tess snapped quietly at him as soon as the old woman had gone. She came over and looked at the spell then shook her head in disbelief. ‘It’s an advanced spell and you’ve barely mastered the simple ones!’
‘Do you really want to just walk away from here knowing the old woman will probably not see another person for years?’ Jaxon asked without looking up. He was reading the spell over and over, trying to get the rhythm of the words just right. ‘I have to try.’
Eira came back into the study just then and Tess said nothing but shot Jaxon a glare that said he had better to it properly. The old woman handed Jaxon an old fishbowl and he raised an eyebrow at such an odd item in the desert.
‘I had several fish when I was sent here but they died a long time ago,’ Eira explained.
‘It’s not very shiny,’ Jaxon said with a sliver of doubt needling at him ‘You’ll need to be able to see a reflection.’
‘Put some water in it,’ Sef suggested helpfully.
‘That might actually work,’ Jaxon agreed, ‘but I don’t have any left.’
Tess and Sef shook empty water bags as well so Jaxon turned hopefully to the old woman. ‘Is there any water nearby?’
‘I only have a small amount for drinking. I can’t really spare it,’ she replied with a frown. Then her face lit up and she grinned, stripping the old hag look away in seconds. ‘But if we don’t need to be able to drink it there is plenty.’
‘Is it far away?’ Jaxon asked. He knew this was holding up their quest and Tess would be sure to voice her concern before long.
‘No, just a few levels down from here,’ Eira said, hurrying towards her black dragon. There are some steps just through here. ‘I’m too old to manage them, but just follow them down until you reach the lake. I’ll meet you there.’
Without waiting to see if they were coming she clambered up onto the dragon’s back and lifted off into the darkness.
‘This is taking too long,’ Tess muttered as she snatched the bowl from Jaxon and marched off in the direction of the steps.
Jaxon picked up the spell book and followed without arguing the point. Sef took hold of Smokey then picked up the charm box and hurried after them.
The steps were steep and winding and led in a spiral down through the mountain. They were quite wide enough to descend safely but the sheer drop off to one side made them travel much slower. They passed by several other rooms before the sound of running water echoed up to them.
The steps finally ended on a plateau bordering a simmering, dark lake. The rock underfoot was warm and Jaxon knew it would become too warm if they stayed in one spot too long. Eira and her dragon were already standing by the side of the deep lake and the old woman was pacing impatiently.
Tess walked over and handed her the bowl and she dipped it in the lake. The water that came out looked odd in the flame from the torch which hung on the wall.
‘It’s got little colours floating in it,’ Sef said, peering into the bowl.
‘It’s straight from the Fount of Magic,’ the old woman said, and handed it to Jaxon who tucked the spell book under one arm.
‘This is the Fount of Magic?’ Tess asked, looking at the lake again and for once not complaining about how long it was taking.
‘It is, and if Kramar’s spell wasn’t sucking all the magic away you’d be able to see a rainbow of colours swirling up out of this volcano,’ Eira replied a little vaguely. Then she prodded Jaxon with a bony finger. ‘Are you going to enchant the bowl or not?’
‘I need a bit more light,’ Jaxon explained and moved closer to the yellow light from the torch. He had become used to the odd sulphur smell now and it didn’t bother him as much. He placed the bowl on the ground and lay the spell book open next to it. He took a deep breath, concentrated as hard as he could and spoke the spell softly but firmly. He shut his eyes as he spoke the last word, hoping with all his heart that it would work.
