Epilogue

Look through the forest and see an ugly bone cottage on chicken legs. Clack, clack! goes the loom that the iron-toothed witch works with her withered nimble hands. She whispers the words of power, adds the threads, and tries to find what she is looking for.

Slowly she dips her hand into her ratty robe and pulls out a glowing firebird feather. Magic beats and pulses through the cottage and out into the forest. Birds screech overhead, and ground animals hide deeper in their caves and burrows. She weaves the feather seamlessly into the pattern.

Baba Yaga moves her bony arms up and down, her fingers moving deftly as she hums. With special care, she takes out a single strand of fair hair.

"Oh, Anya," she sighs. "If only you weren"t so stubborn like Yanka. Things could be so different."

Into the weave, the hair goes. It glows softly against the dark threads. The firebird"s feather lights up at the same instant. The strand starts to glow, and like magnets, they shoot through the weave towards each other.

"No! No, no, no," Baba Yaga screeches with fury. As the objects finally meet, white light explodes, throwing the witch across the room like a pile of rag and bone. The light burns and sears deep inside of her. Finally, it stops, and she feels like she can breathe again.

With a groan, Baba Yaga rolls over. The weave, which has taken so much power from her, is now ash. Her magic loom still stands, good as new. The feather and the hair are gone. She stares at the smoldering mess of her weave for a long while.

In the corner of the room, the crate that holds the ancient game begins to pulse with power, and she backs away from it until it settles. There was only reason for it to behave like that.

"At last!" Baba Yaga shouts, her mad laughter echoing in the world around her. The war she has been dreaming about and longing for with her shriveled black heart was finally beginning.

Needto know what happens next? Anya's adventure continues in ‘Ashes of the Firebird.' Click here to learn more, or keep turning for a sneak peek!