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“Ellie, don’t you dare! It has to be seven full circles or it won’t work.”
He was right, but I didn’t like admitting it.
He finished the circle and ran for the tree, tossing the salt container to the ground. He’d made it to the first branch when red eyes became visible in the woods. The badgers were on opposite sides of the clearing, hunching down amidst the trees.
Ukinim stepped out first. “Witness to creation, you brought me a snack.” His right eye glowed bright red, but the left one was noticeably paler. Was physical harm permanent to them? Did that mean they could die?
The wind picked up and clouds began to form on the horizon.
“An eye for an eye.” Ukinim sniffed the ground. “Or in this case, an eye for something of worth.”
Fear gripped my chest. “No!”
David was on the second branch when Ukinim bashed his head into the trunk, shaking the tree.
David lost his foothold and hung from a branch, his legs hanging over the badger. Ukinim’s claw made a large swing, digging into David’s thigh.
David cried out and pulled himself up onto the branch.
“David!” I moved to the edge of the table.
“Ellie, no!” David shouted. “Stay where you are!”
I tried to catch my breath. I had to keep my wits about me, but this wasn’t going according to plan.Iwas supposed to be the bait, not David. I needed both badgers to be close for this to work.Ifit worked.
Ilena appeared from the opposite side and bolted for the tree. She threw her body into the trunk, shaking the branches so hard that David began to slip.
I fumbled to turn on the flashlight and started reading the text, my voice faltering as the pages fluttered in the gusts.
“Louder, Ellie!” David shouted over the wind. “Start over.”
Ukinim leapt for the first tree branch, pulling himself up by his claws.
I started over, reading the ancient words in a booming voice.
The clouds billowed overhead and lightning shot from cloud to cloud, casting an eerie glow on the re-created village.
“That’s good, Ellie! Keep going.” David scrambled to the next branch, barely out of Ukinim’s reach, but the badger was on the move again even as his wife smashed the tree trunk.
I held the book vertically so I could keep an eye on David over the top of the pages.
A splitting sound filled the air. I forced myself to keep chanting. David had climbed up to the smaller branches at the top of the tree. Soon they wouldn’t support his weight.
I was more than halfway through the chant and nothing was happening. The vortex always started to manifest as soon as I started to recite the words of protection. The weather had changed, but it seemed to be the work of the wind gods rather than my own power. Were the wind gods here to protect me for Okeus? If so, that didn’t mean they’d protect David. In fact, it was in their best interest if he wasn’t around to help me.
Ukinim laughed as Ilena continued to ram the tree trunk. The splitting sound rent the air again, and the tree bent a few inches to the side.
All I had to go on were my instincts, and my instincts told me this wasn’t working. Even if I finished the chant, David would be dead—either by the claws of the badgers or the power of the wind gods. I threw the book down and jumped off the table, stepping over the first two circles of symbols. I needed to protect David from the most immediate threat first. “Hey, Ilena. Don’t you wantme?” I walked over the third circle. “Come and get me.”
“Ellie!” David shouted, fumbling to get his backpack open. “Get back in the bloody circle.”
I had managed to attract Ilena’s attention. She sniffed the ground, eyeing me with wary suspicion and greed.
Ukinim’s nose lifted into the air.
“That’s right.” I held my hands out higher. “I’m out in the open. Don’t you want me? Won’t it piss Okeus off when he finds out you’ve killed his precious treasure? He cares way more about me than he does about that guy.” I stepped over the fourth circle of candles.
Ukinim jumped to the ground.
