"I came here for advice, not to be imprisoned,” I growled. “Don’t think that Stormy won’t have your crow for breakfast!”

“Wrrrrrrrrrwrrr,” Stormy growled from my shoulder, staring at the empty air to my right side, her tiny black paw bravely raised, tiny claws out.

"I am trying to help you two, damn it!" Yaga insisted. "You're heading down a path straight to the heart of void!"

"Safe, maybe. But not free," I rebutted. “It would be a golden tree cage of your design.”

"Your domain will never grow," Grandhilda repeated. "You can't see spirits, can't speak to them. The blood contracts between you and the beast-girl are clawing at your soul. Every time you order the Arcanicx into obedience with blood magic, you step closer to Chernobog, phalanx by phalanx. Remember what I told you - death begets death, control begets control, blood magic begets only more spilling of blood! By fighting with your Master’s wisdom… you're following in the footsteps of my sister. I already know quite well where they lead!"

I could feel the air growing thicker, heavier, the grating sparks around me intensifying their pressure against me.

"You can't hope to match my domain’s power, Ioan," the Yaga said. “This is the safest place for you to be!”

“And you can’t hope to match my Understanding,” I said.

“What?” the Yaga blinked.

“See it in your future,” I said, swinging the knell-blade through the air to disrupt her green feelers. “See what I’m going to do if you keep me here by force.”

Yaga Grandhilda’s eyes turned white for a second.

I slid a Voicecast rock and a few pearls onto the tea table separating us from my bag.

“You…” She sputtered as her eyes became blue once more, face turning pale. “You would…?!”

“I absolutely would,” I said sharply, my voice as cold as ice. “I would understand exactly what you are and then tear your entire domain asunder. Here’s a voicecast stone for future communication between us. When I’m less… annoyed with you, I’ll call you.”

I picked up Cali, draping the passed out Arcanicx over my shoulder.

“She…”

“Cali belongs to me,” I said. “And nobody is going to take away one of my kittens. Not you, nor your bog-sister. You’re stuck here, entrenched, just waiting to be engulfed and ground down by the glaciers. I’m not. I’m going out there to understand the world.”

My fingers on the Knell-blade, I began to retreat away from my Master. The Yaga’s blue eyes looked sad. She was a truly ancient being by 21st century standards. She was old and… very tired.

"You're making a mistake, Ioan," she called after me, her voice echoing through the hollow tree. "The path you're choosing will only lead you to ruin."

I paused at the entrance, looking back at her. For a moment, I felt a pang of doubt. Was I truly making the right choice? But then I felt Stormy's reassuring weight on my other shoulder, heard her “Mrrrrrr” and my resolve strengthened.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "But it's my mistake to make. Goodbye, Master."

I pulled the invisi-cloack over myself and Cali and twisted the activation knob, vanishing from sight. Hopefully its charge would last all the way back through the fog.

As we made our way out of the Shalish wood, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. The trees seemed to lean in closer, their branches reaching out like grasping fingers. But whether it was Yaga's influence or simply my imagination, I couldn't say.

. . .

Perhaps because Cali was asleep, Jotun Aclard did not bother us on our way back through the fog. In less than an hour of very brisk running mixed with some walking and chugging of witch-water for refreshment, we were back in Svalbard.

Slamming the heavy wooden door of the pub behind me, I dropped Cali onto my pile of violet earth and exhaled. Then, I pulled out the waterskin and poured it into Cali’s mouth.

The ocean-blue eyes of the Arcanicx slowly opened. She stared at me.

“W-what?” She asked, looking left and right. “We’re back at the pub already? What happened?”

"How are you feeling?" I asked, scanning her body with the Astralscope for unexpected side effects of being pecked in the neck by a magic crow.

Cali sat up, rubbing her head. "I... I'm not sure. Everything's a bit fuzzy. Did we meet the Yaga? I remember seeing the green moss beneath my feet and some very big trees, and then... nothing."

I nodded, taking a seat across from her. "Yeah, we met her. She knocked you out for a bit with her magic. Apparently, you're not as welcome in witch territory as I am."

"Oh," Cali said, her ears drooping. "I suppose that makes sense. Did you... did you learn anything useful?"

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I learned a few things," I said carefully. "About George... and about you."

Cali's eyes widened. "About me? What... what did she say?"

“The same diagnosis as Stormy’s,” I replied. “Ol’ uncle George is going to give you a forced swamp-bath which will turn you into a… Johnny.”

Cali opened her mouth, intent on chiding me.

“You were doomed from the moment you stepped in Svalbard, Cali,” I said. “It wasn’t my fault. According to Yaga Grandhilda you got a face full of magic spider web that George wove around Svalbard… she got you the moment when you disembarked from your sleigh."

I watched as Cali's face paled. The gravity of the situation seemed to be sinking into her feline brain.

"I'm… I’m going to be turned into that… that thing we saw in the fog?" she swallowed.

"Not if I can help it," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "The Yaga thinks that you're beyond saving, that your soul already resembles cheese or whatever, but I'm not convinced. There's got to be a way to break George's hold on you."

Cali looked up at me. "Why... Why would you even try? After everything I've done and what I will still do when I break the contracts, why would you want to save me?"

I paused, considering her question.

Why did I want to save her? Was it just because Stormy said we needed her? Or was there something more?

“I don’t like being told that I can’t do something,” I said simply. “I don’t like being limited or being trapped in someone else’s web.”

“I don't understand!” Cali's ears twitched, her tail swishing nervously. "If... if I am doomed, why waste your time, why risk your life for someone like me?"

"I've already died once, it's not so bad," I shrugged. "And you're a living, breathing example of how magic changed the females of this world. And I want to understand it. All of it. The Arcanicx, the Star-Shards, the Nordstaii witches, Uncle George, the way your sorcery and Iridium society works... it's all connected through six degrees of separation. And you, Cali, you're my key to unlocking so many juicy mysteries."

Cali didn't say anything to that, simply batting her white lashes at me.

"Go sit on the table and try to pour magic from your Aura in a specific direction," I said, pulling out the Hexometer. “I’ll tell you what spells to picture.”

----------------------------------------

The next few days flew in wild preparations with me using Cali’s nose and Stormy’s future-sense pathfinding to their maximum.

“Why are we in this smelly cave?” Cali asked with a frown, looking at the shovel in her hands.

“Bats,” I said, pointing at the ceiling.

“What are you, a witch’s fetch boy for potion ingredients or something?” She asked.

“No,” I shook my head as I began to shovel guano into a barrel. “I’m definitely not bringing bat poop to the Shalish wood. Yaga and I had a bit of a disagreement over safety. Said I’m much too reckless. Am I too reckless, Stormy?”

The kitten let out a “Mrrrr,” from my neck, confirming that I was indeed packed full of recklessness, but that she also didn’t mind.

“First you take me to a foul smelly puddle to scrape yellow gunk off the rocks and now you’re collecting bat shit?” Cali hissed, trying not to gag.

“Less talking, more digging,” I commented. “We still have to ride back before dark.”

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“You… want how much of my blood?” Cali blinked at me, looking horrified as I presented her with a sharp needle and a one liter glass pitcher.

“You heard me,” I said, wiping her finger with alcohol.

“Why?” She choked.

“Science,” I replied simply.

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I spent the morning emptying Cali's sleigh.

When it was fully emptied of her things, I hung Zemy’s banners across its interior and began filling the rest with barrels of water, wood planks and earth from the pub. I shoveled pile after pile of the violet-tinged soil into the vehicle, packing it tightly and adding plants to the windows.

Cali aided me with a stupefied expression on her face.

As we worked, I couldn't help but ponder over Yaga's words. Was I truly doomed to a minuscule domain, unable to grow or expand? The thought was a tad disheartening, but I pushed it aside. I'd find a way around it, just as I'd somehow find a way to keep Cali from Jotunification.

When the sleigh was nearly full, I left an open space in the middle, enough to fit two people and a kitten. Then, I carefully hung nets from the ceiling and walls, suspending my collection of crystals and various tools throughout the interior, making use of the fact that a 3x3 meter sphere around me would be constantly influenced by my domain. Each gem and tool glinted in the dim light, a constellation of magical potential. Then I hung Zemy’s banners on each of the horses, securing the banners tight.

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“Are we… leaving?” Cali asked as the sun began to dip behind the distant glaciers.

“What does it look like? Obviously we are leaving!” I declared loudly, noticing that silver trails of fog were creeping steadily from the North forest into the village.

The Avoidoscope’s arrow spun on my wrist, pointing straight at the suspiciously creeping fog, warning that there was something horribly magic about it, best to be avoided.

Cali stared at the fog too, her entire body trembling.

“T-they are coming… t-the Gygr k-knows that we’re trying to get away!” she stuttered. “I… I can feel their approach in my head! W-we are out of time, Ioan!”

A spine-tingling howl echoed across Svalbard just as I finished checking over the horses. The large animals neighed anxiously, stamping their hooves on the ground.

“W-where are we e-even going?” Cali cried. “There’s no road out of this place, the river is still not frozen!”

I shoved Cali into the sleigh, handing her a wooden straw.

“W-what?” She blinked at me.

“Into the magic water barrel,” I said. “Now please.”

Cali stared at the barrel filled with dark water.

“Get into the damn barrel or so help me god, I will sink you into the earth,” I growled.

Cali leapt into the barrel with a splash.

I slammed the lid over her, snapping it closed. Then, I poured a bunch of witch-blessed rocks and a layer of soil atop it, leaving only a small wooden tube open, where the breathing hole was carved in the cover.

I urged the six horses forward with a clucking noise and the swing of the reigns, my heart pounding as the howls came closer.

The sleigh lurched into motion, gliding over the snow as its contents shifted slightly. Stormy wrapped herself around my neck, emitting a deep growl as her claws dug into Zemy’s banner on my shoulders.

The howl of the Jotun from the North sounded closer and this time it wasn’t alone.

Another howl resounded from the East. There were two of them, aiming to trap us in the bend of the rushing whitewater river, a small cliff directly past the river barring the way South.

They, as well as I, knew that there was no way out of Svalbard for the sleigh.