Hilda - The Challenge (19 page)

After another bear-hug, William put Hilda on
her feet again.

"Come, let's go inside. This afternoon calls
for a glass of wine!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along,
the brooms following them as usual. As they entered the door that
already had opened for them, William took the by now two arrows
that were sticking from the wood.

"Thank you, that is a relief," said the
house.

"You're welc-" said William. That was all he
had time for, as Hilda kept pulling at his arm.

"You know," said Hilda, "I am going to do
this the old fashioned way. Such a great time calls for something
special."

William wondered what she called the old
fashioned way, so he put the two arrows on the table and followed
her to the kitchen, to see what she was going to do.

Hilda went to the worktop and stared at the
cupboards.

"Right... glasses..." She opened a door. No
glasses. She snipped her fingers and there were two glasses on the
worktop.

"Now... where did I put the wine..." A peek
behind another door yielded no wine. Snip. "Ah, of course you were
there," she said to the bottle in her hand. She then simply blew
the cork away and filled both glasses. One with just wine and one
for herself.

William quickly retreated and sat down on the
couch, looking very surprised as Hilda came in with the glasses of
wine.

"Here you are, sweet man, a glass of wine,
all done by hand." She sat down next to him. "Did you have fun
also?"

"Oh, definitely. I had a lot of fun. It was
stunning to see you in action and how you can handle your magic."
He kissed her cheek. "Thank you again for coming to my rescue."

"That goes without saying, but I would not
decline another kiss," she said, the blue sparkles in her eyes
again.

William was more than willing to
acquiesce.

Hilda then put her hand on Williams arm. "I
really was afraid that your arms would break, William, the way you
held up these boys. But it looked great."

"I could not let you do all the work alone,
could I? I loved the thing with the fish that you did on them." He
laughed at the memory. "I wonder if the fish monger will make them
pay for those fish."

"I don't know. These people always settle
things like that among themselves. Not my business." Hilda sipped
from her wine. "Hmmm." Her wand popped up and a moment later there
was a very convenient table in front of the couch. She put her
glass on it. "That's better."

William also put his glass on the table,
which for Hilda was the green light to sit in his lap.

"You really find me very convenient to sit
on, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yes. And to lie on also."

He laughed.

"What! No laughing at the resident witch, do
you hear me? There is a severe penalty for that!"

"And what might that be?", William was
curious to find out.

"Hmm. Kissing me would be a good start."

Gladly he took that part of the
punishment.

"Ooohhh...", sighed the witch after a while,
"I could get used to this."

William chuckled. "Maybe we should light some
candles, otherwise I might be kissing the wrong parts of you." As
he had expected, there were many blue sparkles in Hilda's eyes.

"I may keep you to that sometime," she
grinned. Lazily she waved around, and light spread through the
already darkening room as more and more candles lit themselves. She
slipped off his lap and reached for her wine. "Now to the real
world for a moment. Did I see that you took in some arrows?"

"You saw that, indeed, which surprises me,"
William acknowledged.

"Oh, shush, you..." With her wine in hand
Hilda walked to the table and started to unfold the first message.
"Oh, this is nice. I think. It is for us."

"For us??" William got up and went to see
what she meant.

"Yes. Not sure if this is a good thing,
but..." She handed him the paper. It was a note from Calandra,
wishing Hilda and William all the luck together. As William read
the first note, Hilda unfolded the second one and tossed the arrows
in the basket.

"Oh... crap..." She dropped the paper on the
table. "If ever there was crap, then this is it. I am now
officially finished." She let herself fall onto the closest chair
and drank down her remaining wine. "And I need another one..."

William frowned. "Go easy on yourself,
sweetheart, what's the big problem?"

Hilda first downed the second glass of
diluted wine, then she pointed at the paper. "That is the problem.
See for yourself."

The note read: Grimhilda. I have decided on
the location for our small encounter to take place. It will be held
at the labyrinth of Gurthreyn. Do bring your false wizard with you.
I will even allow him to help you. But know that if he does, he
will suffer the same fate as you will.

"Does not look inviting," William said,
putting the paper down on the table. "Hey, whoa, stop right there!"
He saw that Hilda had conjured up a third glass of wine already and
was aiming for her mouth with that. "I don't think that is the
answer, Hilda."

The wicked witch looked at him as he kneeled
down and took her free hand. "You don't know Lamador, William. And
you don't know the labyrinth of Gurthreyn. That place is evil.
Going there is like voluntarily stepping into your grave after
digging it yourself. Now let me drink. I don't want to remember
this note."

"If you are really set on drinking yourself
silly, why do you take the diluted detour? If you want to have a
painful head in the morning, then take this." He put his own glass
in front of her. "And let me fill it up for you."

Hilda looked at the glass in obvious
horror.

William took her face in his hands. "Hilda,
listen. Getting scared is exactly what he wants us to do. And I am
not going to let anyone do that to you, witch of mine, even if I
have to learn magic myself, although I wouldn't know where to apply
for a crash course."

Hilda put her hands over his. "You really
would, wouldn't you?"

"Yes. That and more, if need be. Remember
that I said I love you? That does not just mean fun and kissing and
sex. That goes all the way for me. Because you matter."

"You are so sweet, William, but also so
innocent about this world. You have no idea what you are up
against," Hilda said, slowly shaking her head a bit.

"A good thing is that Lamador doesn't know
either." William bent forward, touching foreheads for a moment.
"Listen, woman. I am not going to sit by and watch you fall to
pieces. Nor will I let you get yourself killed in a challenge with
some oversized ego. No, listen," he added as Hilda tried to say
something. He put a thumb over her lips for a moment, risking being
bitten. "I am very much aware that he is powerful and he could wipe
both of us away with a sneeze or so, but that is something we are
not going to worry about now. That is something he will try on the
third new moon from now, he wrote that himself. Until then we have
time to prepare ourselves as much as we can."

There were no sparkles in Hilda's eyes. After
a while she slowly nodded. "Okay. We'll try it."

"We'll do it," William corrected her. "Now
you go and put these glasses of wine into the kitchen. And then
we're going to bed and tomorrow..." He got up, taking her hands,
and pulled her to her feet.

Hilda looked at him. "Do you know that you
are doing it all wrong? I am the wicked witch. I should be the one
with the big mouth and the ideas and heroic attitude."

"Perhaps," he agreed, "but there seem to be
times that even wicked witches are a bit overwhelmed by events, and
can do with some mental support."

Her smile told him that she was giving in.
For now. "Very well... I do maintain that you're an idiot, William.
But you're my idiot. And I hope that makes a difference." She
picked up the glasses and walked towards the kitchen. Just before
reaching that, she frowned and turned around. "Suck an elf... how
come I take the glasses when you tell me to?"

"Must be my dazzling charm," William
grinned.

"Is that so..." Hilda threw the glasses into
the kitchen, one by one. There was no magic that caught them, the
sound of shattering crystal was evident. "Must be my impulsive
character." The witch walked to the staircase. "I'm going to lie in
bed and won't go to sleep until you wrap me in your arms. I am
telling you this, because that is how it should be. The witch is
in, remember that." Satisfied that she had made a point, she
marched up the stairs.

William grinned and put a hand on his special
book for a moment, to find out if it would hit him again. It did
not spark, it only wiggled a bit. As that was unusual, he picked it
up. Beneath it lay the wand that had been Gerdundula's. Not in two
pieces, but whole. He raised an eyebrow. "I thought she said..."
With a shrug he picked up the red and white wand and put it on the
book. It was too late for deep thoughts. He went around the room,
blowing out the candles and then headed up to the bedroom, where
Hilda was already sound asleep. He wrapped her in his arms
anyway.

"Hey..." Hilda was awake. She also was
tapping William on the arm.

"Hey what?", the victim asked without opening
his eyes.

"Hey you. Wake up."

"Any good reason for that?" William felt
drained for no reason at all. His attempt to put an arm around
Hilda was easily warded off by the wicked witch.

"Yes, because I tell you to."

"Okay. I am awake. Speak." He held his eyes
closed.

"Not like that, you won't."

A few moments later a small trickle of very
cold water ran down William's neck. It took him the better of two
seconds to open his eyes and jump out of the bed.

"Good. Now I know that is effective," Hilda
said with a wicked grin. She held up what she had in her hand. It
was the red wand with the white spirals over it. "I have a simple
question, William. Who did this?"

"I really don't know, Hilda. I found it like
that under my book before I came to bed and wondered about it as
well. You had said it couldn't be done, so it stumped me also." The
salesman was still rubbing his neck, the water had been icy
cold.

"This wand woke me up, William, as it is
screaming for an owner. I do want to get to the bottom of who put
it together again, but for now I want to shut it up as it is
driving me crazy. So I want you to adopt it." She held out the wand
to William, who automatically accepted it, foggy-headed as he still
was.

"Uhm, adopt it? It is a piece of wood, how
can I adopt it?"

Hilda walked up to William and with one
finger (and a bit of magic) she pushed him on the bed. She sat down
on him, her legs on each side of his chest, and looked in his eyes.
"This, my good man, is not 'a piece of wood'. It was, once. It now
is a wand. It has magic. Okay? And I will help you in adopting it,
but you will have to want it. So tell me, because I am getting very
edgy about this and you do not want to have me around when I'm
edgy. So say the word."

It was clear that she was in a PMS mood.

"Yes. I'd like to adopt it."

"Do you want this wand?"

"Yes. I want the wand."

"You'll have to keep it with you for the rest
of your life. Protect it, so it will protect you." Hilda looked
very serious now, there was not an inch of her that was relaxed,
William sensed. This was, as one might call it, serious shit.

"I will do that. I'll protect it. With my
life. As I would do for you."

"Hold up your hands..." Hilda's voice, so
strong and direct before, was now a whisper. As William held up his
hands, she slowly put the wand in his right hand, closed it around
the red stick and folded his left hand around that. She then held
both his hands in hers again as she slowly murmured things in a
language that William had never heard. It sounded gently, dreamy,
enticing and pleading at the same time.

The wand began to tremble. William knew that
it was the wand itself, as he could not move his hands, Hilda's
magic held them together, unmoving. A warmth spread through his
palms, and Hilda knew it. This was a good sign, she knew, but she
could not speak. It would break Williams attention, his
concentration, and that was crucial at this point. The screaming of
the wand faded from her awareness. A wand did not scream with sound
for the ears. It would scream directly to the centre of being, from
where magic came.

She relaxed a little, releasing the pressure
on Williams ribs also. He would not notice, as his face, his entire
Self was taken over by the power of the red wand with its white
spiraling lines. It was merging with him, she knew. Everyone had a
magical centre, and the wand was now engraving its signature into
William's. She just had to hold him, guide him and the wand to
merge, to be forged together.

The process was slow, but that was good,
Hilda thought. The longer it took, the deeper the integration would
be. Her magic would allow her to hold William like this for hours
without becoming tired or cramped.

Time passed, and finally Hilda sensed that
the more and more subduing sounds from the wand were fading,
leaving nothing in her mind except herself, and the light sensation
of William's presence. She would be tied to William in this way
forever also, since she was the catalyst for the merging. She was
irrevocably intertwined, and it felt good.

William would feel awful the rest of the day.
She recalled her own merging with the wand she had, and how bad it
had been at first, being introduced to that new and at first so
strange power. And perhaps it would be even worse for him, a
thought flashed through her mind, as he was not a magical person.
Hilda had heard of ordinaries being bound to a wand before, and she
had never heard of problems. It would be a waste of the power of
the wand, but at least the local witches would have peace. A
forging like this was only done if there was no other way to
silence the wand than to destroy it, and that was the worst thing a
witch could do. But that too had happened.