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Beatrix nodded in agreement. "Even if they found safety wherever they are, it's only a matter of time before they are weakened. If hunger and deprivation doesn't kill them, something else might."
"We can't forget that we have an unwelcome intruder on Nebulae. If our forces haven't managed to drive them away, I don't know who will," Helena added.
"I can," I asserted. "They taught me how. Even if I can't do it myself, I have a multitude of patrol forces in Shadow World that I can send to occupy Nebulae until I can retrieve my men. That part's simple. But getting them back from an unknown destination would be a far bigger challenge."
"We'll help you either way," Summer said.
I gritted my teeth, determination filling me by every passing second. "Let's try the replication and then I can work backwards from there."
"And then after that, you'll just need to construct the reversal," Summer offered.
“May I?” Helena asked, holding out her fingers. I knew what she wanted. She wanted a vision—a memory of the moment the brother’s disappeared.
I nodded.
After dipping her fingers into a translucent potion, she placed them to my temple as I funneled her the events in slow motion.
She warped out of my vision breathlessly. “I think I get it,” she said. “Your aunt’s globe was the anchor. That anchor wasdrawn to dark entities, like the vampire it was intended for and like…”
“Altair, Morpheus, and Dominik,” I finished.
She nodded. “When that fledgling vampire girl hurled the anchor, she activated the spell and energies within the globe at the precise moment she destroyed it by throwing it to the ground and shattering it to pieces. The magic—with nowhere to go—latched onto the mirror, making it the new anchor, sending all three into another dimension. The spell was failsafe. Your aunt was smart.”
One of the other witches brought Helena a thick book, she placed it in my lap and sat next to me and started flipping through the pages. As she called out the ingredients, the witches brought them to us and placed them on a table in front of us.
"Quickly. Let's do this. Next, I'll unleash a spell that will banish the new threat," I urged.
We carefully executed the spell from the knowledge in the book.
“Now choose the anchor," Helena instructed, pointing to a few elements on the table.
I picked up an icicle shard, which was frozen in time using shadow magic, from the table. All the other objects, except the shard, lost luster. I channeled all the energy into it.
"It's done," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
The leader of the coven approached me, "You have just created your own anchor just like Aunt Naima did with the globe. Take it. Now that you know how it's done, you can work on the reversal. Be careful with that, Sadie."
"I've learned my lesson." I nodded, feeling a sense of determination rise within me. "Now as for that murderous demon lurking about, I have just the thing for him. I just need something that belonged to the witch he killed."
Summer placed a small iron box of jewels into my palm. "Here. These hair combs belonged to her."
I closed my eyes and cupped my hands together. My lips moved as I uttered words in shadow language that seemed to take shape and form around me. Memories of Altair's teachings came flooding back - the intricate hand motions, the inflections in my voice, the strange symbols that seemed to move in the air. I hadn't learned everything just yet, but just enough to banish threats at the drop of a coin.
I steadied my hand, ready to cast the final spell that would banish the new threat. Suddenly, I felt a surge of dark and oppressive energy. Every hair on my neck stood on end and I heard a deep howl echoing in the cave. Instinctively, I dropped to the ground, narrowly dodging an icy blast that left a smoldering crater in its wake.
"Shadow demon!" I yelled.
The demon's laughter filled the air, a cacophony of evil glee.
"Ah, you think you can banish me!" it cackled. "It's far too late for that!"
A magical force seized the box of hair combs from my grip and with a sudden crash, hurled them against the cave wall and shattered them into a hundred pieces. Fear and shock froze me in place as I watched in horror.
I muttered a spell under my breath, feeling a surge of power as the fog began to clear. I could feel something present, but I couldn't place it.
"It was your magic that led me here, girl," a voice said from the shadows. "I know this magic all too well."
My heart raced as I stepped closer, my hand still outstretched, but I was both intrigued and scared by the mysterious presence. "Show yourself," I demanded, mustering all the courage that I could.
