THE OLD WOMAN hobbled down the darkened street. Cramped brick and cobblestone structures lined both sides of the street with torches and lanterns giving enough light to prevent monsters spawning in the deep dark. An untamed wolf barked loudly somewhere in the distance, and on the cobblestone street, the old woman’s shadow stretched grotesquely, several times larger than the stooped figure that tried to make its way to its unspecified destination.

As the old woman passed by an industrial building, Knight Master Ward poked out of a set of trash and random wood blocks. Several pieces of paper, floating above the ground, went straight for the knight once he poked out of his hiding spot. The old woman didn’t notice and continued to hobble out on the street.

Knight Master Ward watched her with keen interest.

A witch.

That’s what she was. He finally guessed the old woman’s true identity when, to his surprise, Elmyra told him that there weren’t any old women at the Arrival Ceremony. At first, he was surprised. How could that be? Then, after returning to his office in Castle Wardland, in the jail section of the castle just above the dungeon, he finally solved the mystery. The old woman must have cast a spell or drank a potion to make her true form invisible to some people.

With that solved, now he was going to find out why she was here. The old woman’s form began to recede further up the street. It was time to move.

Knight Master Ward made his way out of his hiding place, and in the shadows, he trailed the old woman. With hurried steps, he began to catch up to her.

Getting closer and closer, he could hear her steps scratching on the cobblestone streets. He was so concentrated on her that he didn’t notice the stick on the ground. It snapped upon stepping on it.

Hearing the sound, the witch turned around. Her ugly wrinkled visage scanned the street, but, apparently, not seeing anything, she turned back around and hobbled once more.

Knight Master Ward held his breath. He had hidden in a side alley and thanked his lucky stars he wasn’t noticed. With the coast clear, he set out once more to tail the witch.

He followed her for some time in the industrial quarter until he saw her enter a brick building that looked to have seen better days. Some of the windows had blown out, the door was damaged, and the trash surrounding the building added to its unkempt appearance.

The door closed behind the witch, and Knight Master Ward snuck up but stopped to figure out his next course of action. He couldn’t follow her in. He didn’t know what was inside, and the chance of discovery was way too high. The witch could be waiting for him right at the entrance for all he knew.

And then his eyes went up to the roof. Noticing a brick outbuilding on the roof, he knew what to do. He went up to the alley beside the brick structure and began his ascent. He’d done this a million times before.

One by one, sand blocks taken from his inventory stacked atop one another, with Knight Master Ward gaining one block up with each. Finally, a tall tower of sand formed, and he reached the level of the roof. He followed it up with a single jump onto the roof of the brick building, finishing his attempt to scale it.

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There was no time to waste, however. It was darker up here than on the street, but Knight Master Ward made his way to the brick outbuilding. Situating himself, he peeked into the window where, below, the witch was already hard at work doing her evil deeds.

Like he guessed, the inside was as unkempt as the outside. Stacks of furniture and other random miscellaneous stuff like ovens, crafting tables, and blocks were all around the witch as she whisked a potion in her hand. Then, she threw the potion off to the distance. The potion bottle broke and hissed. Knight Master Ward tried to see what had happened, but from his vantage point, all he could see was the witch, who only stared intently ahead as if she could see someone else in the room. For the first time, he noticed slight fear on the witch’s face.

“Oh, great king,” the witch said slavishly, holding out her hands as if in supplication. “I have done as you have commanded!”

Knight Master Ward couldn’t see the mysterious stranger, but he could definitely hear him. He felt chillier now, even inside his iron armor.

“Why have I not been released?” the mysterious voice, a low guttural sound of deep malevolence, said.

The witch widened her eyes in fear. “I thought he would have opened it by now, my lord!”

“Yet, he has not . . . .”

“He will, my king!” the witch replied back. “He will open the book. The Diary of Lost Souls!”

Above, Knight Master Ward watched with increasing concern. The Diary of Lost Souls?

Something darkened inside the building for a moment and then flickered back to torchlight. “Do not fail me . . . .”

Out of the corner of his eye, Knight Master Ward saw a black cat hop up on the edge of the brick building, and he slowly turned his head towards it.

The cat slanted its head. “Meow!”

Oh no. It’ll blow his position! “Shoo,” he said quietly, waving it away. “Shoo.”

The cat was undeterred. “Meow!”

He had to think fast now. What could he do, though? Think, Knight Master Ward, think! An answer came to him.

He got a raw fish from his inventory and held it high up in the air. The cat perked up its attention at the delicious snack.

First waving it in the air, he then threw it over the building. The cat bounded to it and hopped down some wood rubbish at the side of the building, headed to its catch.

The cat gone, he turned his attention back to the witch and her mysterious guest below.

“—Release the Diary and you will release me!” the mysterious voice finished. The witch looked back eagerly, a malicious sneer on her face.

The dark sky above, there was only a look of grave concern on Knight Master Ward’s face.

***

The voices would not stop.

In his room in Castle Wardland, Knight Steve lay squirming in his bed. Outside the window, night gripped the city of Wardland, and above was a crisp night with a full moon clear in the dark sky.

Open me . . . Open me . . . .

He tried to sleep, but the voice, that voice consumed his full attention. His face contorted in pain.

Everything told him he shouldn’t do as the voice commanded, that something bad would happen if he did. Yet, he wanted to—he wanted to open the book.

Knight Steve suddenly sat up on his bed in a cold sweat. He panted with his chest heaving up and down. His head turned to the double chest where inside he knew the book the old woman gave him lay.

Why is it telling me to open the book? Maybe he should open it, do as the voice says.

No he won’t! There was the expedition tomorrow—he shouldn’t waste his time. The thought of getting away from Wardland, getting away from that book, calmed him. His breathing became more and more normal. Besides, it was all in his head. He’d been working too hard the past few days. Must have messed him up somehow.

Knight Steve lay back down on the pillow and pulled the blanket around him. He snapped his eyes shut. Tomorrow is another day, he kept telling himself, Tomorrow is another day.