you can throw me if you want

[truthwright]

It turns out that there was really not much point to making a schedule. Kas and Helen visit the witch clan whenever Helen feels like it, and stay as long as she wants, and go when she wants to be somewhere else, and it all adds up to plenty more time spent with the clan than away.

After the aquarium jaunt with Ranata, it's a little more than a month before they visit the clan again.

Comments

[alicornucopia]

"Well, if he is, he will soon stop," says Kana. "All done with the book?" She tucks it away again. "Do you like magic? Are you studying old languages?"

[carillons]

"I love magic!" says Helen. "It's so much fun! I can count to fifty in Svaaric, but I don't know real words yet."

[alicornucopia]

"Counting is a fine place to start," says Kana.

They land in a little cottage in the middle of nowhere, and Kana helps her off the cloud-pine. An osprey daemon is peering out the window at them.

[carillons]

Kalavar perches on Helen's head and becomes a gorgeous violet dragon with black-edged scales and blue-striped wings.

[alicornucopia]

In they go. Loviisa starts setting up a complicated spell diagram, with lots of runes and lines, out of dark wine.

[carillons]

Helen peers thoughtfully at it. She doesn't really understand it, but it's interesting anyway.

[alicornucopia]

It takes a long time to set up the spell. The osprey - Loviisa's - keeps murmuring to Kana's bluejay softly, not near where Helen can hear. Kana summons an animal to sacrifice; the pigeon takes a while to arrive and doesn't look happy about it when it shows up. Loviisa scatters a great many different herbs around the diagram.

And then she recites a verse in Svaaric.

[carillons]

Helen listens, but there aren't any numbers, or any words she vaguely sort of recognizes. Or any goddesses.

She waits to see if they have found him or not.

[alicornucopia]

"Now we wait," Kana tells Helen. "Would you like a snack?"

[carillons]

"Okay!" says Helen.

[alicornucopia]

Kana makes her a little plate of fruit with frosting to dip it in.

[carillons]

Om nom nom.

[alicornucopia]

And then there is tea, and Kana has more books.

[carillons]

Tea! Books!

Helen settles into a comfortable chair near an open window, and she waits.

[truthwright]

She hardly has time to get comfy; only about five minutes after the spell was cast, a raven flies in the window and turns smoothly into a naked witch.

[carillons]

Helen jumps up and claps her hands. "Petaal!" she exclaims. "You got unlost!"

Kalavar launches herself from the back of Helen's chair into Petaal's arms.

[alicornucopia]

The witches peer at this scene.

They are very confused.

[carillons]

"Where's my spinach?" says Helen. "I wanna hug him! Was he worried?"

[truthwright]

"He's back at the hotel, button," says Petaal, cuddling the now chincilla-shaped Kalavar. "I'll fly you back, c'mon."

[alicornucopia]

The witches start whispering to each other.

[truthwright]

Petaal leads Helen out of the cottage.

[carillons]

"Thank you for finding my daddy!" says Helen, waving to the two witches. "Bye now!"

[alicornucopia]

The witches decide not to follow them.

[carillons]

It's a much shorter flight back, for some reason. Maybe Petaal's cloudpine is faster. Anyway, after only a few minutes Helen can see the city in the distance.

[alicornucopia]

Back in the cottage, another small animal dies.