Hero

The woman smiled at the choices Saturday laid before her. “Well done,” she said, and leaned over them. Saturday had no idea what the woman was looking for. Hadn’t she said they were in a hurry? Curious, Betwixt leaned in too. The woman gently reached out a hand as if to pat his dark ears reassuringly, but she grabbed a whisker from his muzzle and pulled it out instead.

The catbird screeched, hissed, and flapped his wings. He unsheathed the wicked claws on his right front paw and snapped at the woman with his beak. She held his head down. “Tears,” she said to the chimera. “Don’t waste them.”

Betwixt stopped struggling. The woman placed the gauntlet under the cat’s beak and coaxed the tears from his eyes with the finger-claw. She did not touch the tears herself.

“You deserve to be pecked,” Betwixt said from beneath her arm.

“I could have told you a sad tale and waited, but your friend is in quite a bit of danger,” said the woman. And then, to Saturday, “Hold his arm still.”

Saturday placed her hand in Peregrine’s, turning his arm so that the festering cut on his wrist pointed heavenward. There was little blood, but the skin was red and angry. Around the cut, the veins ran black and blue and green.

The woman tilted the gauntlet and let the tears fall—one, two, three—directly onto the wound. Almost immediately the blood dried and the redness began to fade. The flesh turned pale again but for a thin blue line of scar marking the original cut. His shivering stopped, but not in a bad way. Saturday placed her other hand on his chest and felt his breathing, slow and deep and even.

“Was there a need for all that?” asked Betwixt. “He ca

“Just because a man ca

“Thank you,” said Saturday. Her lips still felt swollen, but the pain had stopped.

“Who are you?” asked Betwixt.

The woman sat back on her haunches, crossed her legs, and rested her folded hands on her belly. “I have many names,” she said. “In these mountains I am usually known as Vasilisa. Here, the lorelei calls me Cwyn. That will serve.”

Saturday gave a half-laugh. “No one else in this cave is what they seem. Why should you be any different?” She felt a gentle squeeze and realized that she was still holding Peregrine’s hand. She let it go immediately and leaned away from him. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice.

His eyes were open now, staring at the blue woman. “Is that . . . ?”

“Yes,” Betwixt finished before he could bother asking, just as Peter would have done if Saturday had posed the question.

“Smart bird. Never did that before.” Peregrine sounded euphoric. Either a gryphon’s tears also reduced the amount of oxygen to one’s brain, or the cure had somehow rendered him drunk.

“I did not have the power before,” said Cwyn. “It takes much for me to resist the geis.”

“Before what?” asked Saturday.

“Before you,” said Cwyn. “Don’t worry. It will not last long.”

What an odd thing to say. What cause would Saturday have to worry? “Are you a goddess?” she asked.

“You flatter me, daughter. You are closer to the gods than I.”

“You’re a demon,” said Betwixt.

“Another witch,” said Peregrine. “Bah.”

“I’ve been called worse things.” Cwyn brushed her hair back to reveal two small horns protruding from high on her forehead.

“Tooo many bluuue witches,” slurred Peregrine.

“I am not a lorelei.” The witch said the word as if it were a curse. “I am a pyrrhi, a fire witch. I’m only blue because the lorelei’s imposter daughter cured my wounds with a salve made from rancid cave mushrooms.”

Peregrine giggled guiltily. “Oops.”

“A healing for a healing,” Cwyn said to Peregrine. “My debt has been repaid.”

“Bad mushrooms dye your skin?” asked Saturday.

“The ones up here do,” Betwixt answered. “As they wither, they change colors.”

“Like leaves in the Wood,” said Saturday.

“Like leaves that run the spectrum of the rainbow,” said Betwixt. And then to Cwyn, “How can you stand to be her familiar?”

“How do you stand it?” Cwyn shot back. “Her need drew me here, amplified by the dragon’s power. She summoned me from the Earthfire at the heart of this mountain.”

“S’not very good at spells,” mumbled Peregrine.

“Indeed. Acquiring a familiar to restore her vision was what she intended. Acquiring me wasn’t.” She looked pointedly at Betwixt. “Nor do I plan to enlighten her about my true identity. While I act as her eyes, she sees only what I want her to see.”

“Understood,” said the chimera.

“I don’t think you do,” said Cwyn. “The lorelei must be stopped. She is attempting to open a doorway back to the demon world from which our ancestors came. If she succeeds, it will rip this world apart.”

“Never happen,” said Peregrine. “She’s rubbish. No worries.”

“Jack took her eyes to slow down her progress,” said Betwixt. “Peregrine and I have been doing what little we can to sabotage her, but mostly, she sabotages herself.”

“Your efforts have not gone u

“Me?” asked Saturday. “But I don’t have any magic. You must have me confused with another sibling. It’s a common occurrence lately.”

“You were not born with magic, nor can you create it,” said Cwyn, “but you are a vessel. You can cha

Cwyn was talking too fast, saying impossible things quicker than Saturday’s mind could process them. “I’m not fey,” she told the fire witch. “All my brothers and sisters are. Not me.”

“It isn’t fairy magic she’s talking about,” said Betwixt. “This is godstuff.”

Erik had said that exact same phrase back at the towerhouse. Godstuff. Saturday remembered the taste of Trix’s stew on her tongue and resisted the urge to vomit. She stared at her hands, large and unwieldy and never good for more than hefting an ax or a sword. Now she was supposed to believe that those hands could throw lightning bolts? Impossible. And yet, she’d already called an ocean and endangered—or ended—countless lives. She could not deny what she had witnessed with her own eyes.

Poor Trix. He should never have been burdened with a sister like her.

“No more killing,” said Saturday. “These hands have done enough damage on behalf of the gods. I won’t be used as an instrument to kill the witch who holds you prisoner.”

“If you don’t kill the lorelei, she will destroy the world,” said Cwyn.

“And if she does kill the lorelei, the dragon will wake and this mountain will fall,” argued Betwixt.

“Save a few, or save the world.” Cwyn kissed Saturday’s hands and released them. “The choice is yours.” The outline of her human form was already begi

That was no choice for a mere woodcutter; it was a choice for a hero.

“What do I do?” Saturday asked no one. What would Jack do?

Have faith, the pyrrhi said inside Saturday’s mind. With the last of her energy, the witch’s familiar lifted her raven wings and flew from the cave.

“Did she answer you?” asked Peregrine. “What did she say?”

“Nothing helpful,” said Saturday. “Are you all right?”

“I—” Peregrine’s eyes widened and his face softened dreamily. “You’re beautiful.”