Chapter 11

Paige gasped, her eyes going wide at the line. She read it again, certain she'd comprehended something incorrectly.

The notebook slipped from her lap as heat washed over her. It smacked off the carpeted floor and landed facedown.

"You okay?" Dewey asked as he snapped a book shut and tossed it on the floor.

"Yeah, sorry," Paige answered, leaning over to collect her pad. "I just… This wand thing can split Earth in half!"

"Yeah, I told you it could split buildings and stuff."

"So, we really need to find three things, not just the wand. Because we don't want any of these power add-ons on the street."

"Probably would be prudent, yes," Dewey said with a nod.

He rose, balancing on the air mattress as he stretched his arms up in the air with a groan.

Paige let her head fall between her shoulder blades with a groan. "More research."

She slapped her hands against the chair's arms and pushed herself up.

Dewey fluttered into the air, rolling his head around to ease the tension in his neck. "Same. I think I've got a solution. I'm going to put it together and test it on the worm I wrangled from your back as soon as I grab all the ingredients."

Paige flashed a set of crossed fingers. "I hope it works."

Dewey tore the top sheet from his notebook and scanned it. "We have most of this. The only thing I need to find is bark from a Witchlock tree."

Paige lifted her arms overhead and bent sideways, easing the kink in her back. "Witchlock? Never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised. I don't think this is a standard earthbound tree like an oak or a hemlock."

Paige snatched her notepad with the list of items she needed more information on and wandered to the door with Dewey. "Not earthbound? Then where does this thing grow?"

"Another realm, most likely. The better question is where do we get it? Does someone keep stock of Witchlock bark on Earth or will we need to track it down ourselves?"

Paige crinkled her nose and shoved her glasses up higher. "Knowing my luck, we'll be traipsing around another realm and chopping bark off a tree."

"Let's hope not. This will be far easier if we do not need to realm hop. We'd probably need a RealmWrangler for that."

Paige slogged down the circular staircase wrapping around the tall nest. "A what?"

"RealmWrangler. It's a device that allows the user to hop realms safely and easily."

Paige gazed from side to side as she tried to make sense of the statement. "Somehow, hopping realms and the words safely and easily do not seem to go together."

Dewey chuckled as he hovered next to her. "It's a pretty simple process. And the RealmWrangler makes it a snap. You just program it, and away you go. You can easily control when you leave, also. No need to find an exit point or wander back through the Realm Space."

Her feet hit the concrete floor, and her flesh turned to goose bumps as she considered searching another realm for a way out. Visions of molten lava flowing down the stone walls of an underground cave popped into her mind. Sweat beaded on her forehead as the heat rose high enough to blister her skin. Her fingers searched for a black hole to slip into and return to Earth.

"Paige! Hello?" Dewey waved a teal paw in front of her, snapping her back to reality.

She adjusted her glasses and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, just picturing myself trying to escape from molten lava in another realm. So, do we have this Wrangler thing?"

They wove through the shelves, heading for the BookTron.

"No, the Grand Archive has one. So does the library in London, Venice, Beijing, and Riverside, Iowa."

Paige's steps ceased, and she snapped her gaze at Dewey. "Riverside, Iowa?"

Dewey flung his paws out to the side. "Yeah. Don't ask me. No one knows how they got that."

"So, we'd need to borrow one."

"Yep. And good luck with that. London's our best option, probably. They're pretty friendly. For Brits."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Paige asked as they reached the desk.

She tapped on the keyboard to wake the device.

"You know how British people are. Stuffy."

"That's not true," she said with a chuckle as she typed in the first add-on in the search bar.

"Yes, it is." Dewey perched on the edge of the desk, his legs dangling over and his back stick-straight. He mimed holding a teacup, his pinky finger pointed in the air. "Let's go to the countryside and have tea with the queen."

Paige chuckled despite herself, jotting down a reference for the Crystal of Increased Energy before typing Holigramium into the search bar. "They are not like that at all."

Dewey flitted into the air. "Yes, they are. You'll see. If we have to go to London for the Wrangler, I bet you a month's pay they'll first want to have tea and chat about the weather."

"A month's salary that a Brit offers us tea? No deal. Of course they'll offer tea." Paige lifted her chin as she peeled the sticky note from the pad and stuck it to her finger. "And I happen to like tea."

"I like a good cuppa, too. But I'm not stuffy," Dewey said as he replaced her at the keyboard.

Paige shook her head at him before wandering to the bookshelves against the wall and seeking out the three books she'd identified. She heaved the heavy volumes into her arms and snaked her way around the desk, heading for the nest.

"Meet you back upstairs," she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

"Okey-doke," Dewey shouted, flitting over to the magical bookcase floating near one of the artifact shelves.

Paige sucked in gasping breaths as she climbed the stairs with the three books spread between her arms. The corner of one poked into her elbow until it hurt. "Ugh, why do they make these so heavy?"

She shouldered through the door and back into her temporary home, skirting around the air mattress and dropping the thick tomes on the armchair before shaking her arms to relieve the strain.

"Find out magic exists, and still have to lug books around to learn about it," she murmured as she shuttled the books from the cushion to the carpet.

With a sigh, she plopped into the chair and pulled the first reference onto her lap. After an index search, she found the entry for Crystal of Increased Energy. The short chapter devoted to the crystal explained that many existed, some with varying degrees of strength. Purple crystals provided the most energy, while yellow provided the least.

Crystals that worked with the Wand of Division must be fuchsia in color to provide additional energy boosts for object division.

Paige scanned the remaining paragraphs in search of the origins of a fuchsia crystal. Only one existed and was controlled by the ogres of Tipult Canyon.

She grabbed her phone and searched for the location after jotting a note to find another reference book about the ogres. Did they still have the crystal?

After studying the map, she tapped into the SupNet app and performed a few searches. She scrolled through the posts that appeared and found one that made her heart skip a beat.

A Shrieking Pixie pointed one black nail at a photo of a magenta-colored crystal. The caption read Increased power, anyone? Found one! Just gotta retrieve it #sp4thewin #soon

"Oh no," Paige groaned.

"Oh no, what?" Dewey said as he flew through the door, his arms flapping up and down as he struggled to control the thick, leather-bound book in his paws.

Its gold-trimmed pages gleamed in the light as it fought for independence from Dewey's control. A gold lock bounced around on the front cover, keeping it from opening.

"The Shrieking Pixies already have a lead on the Crystal of Increased Energy!"

Dewey's shoulders slumped. "Oh crap."

The book took full advantage of his limp arms and tugged him toward the ground.

"Whoa! You okay?" Paige asked, leaping to her feet.

"Yeah," Dewey said with a tight jaw. "This stupid book has a mind of its own."

"Maybe we shouldn't use it," Paige said, shoving her glasses higher on her nose as Dewey set it on the kitchen counter and held it down with a hand.

The book pressed back against him, hopping up and slamming into the surface again.

"It's the only reference I found to the bark," Dewey said. "It should be fine. I'm not sure why it's being so ornery."

He grabbed the key dangling from the book's spine and tugged it toward the golden lock. The moment he inserted the key into the keyhole, the book ceased its movement.

"There we go," Dewey said. "Must have been nervous it was being stolen."

Paige arched an eyebrow, still trying to come to terms with the idea of a book being nervous. Dewey turned the key, and the lock sprang open. He slid it off the cover and tossed it to the side before opening the latch.

He tugged the pages open, causing a plume of dust to rise. They both coughed, waving their hands to clear it before staring down at the book.

A few illustrations covered the inside pages. Dewey narrowed his eyes at them, searching for any reference to the bark they sought. He pressed a finger against the parchment.

The book seized, jerking away from him before fluttering its pages open to the middle.

A pair of red lips protruded from the thick, yellowed paper. "What do you seek?" they said in a crisp British accent.

Paige stumbled back a few steps, tripping over a stack of books and landing hard on her rear. "What the hell?"

Dewey fluttered over and offered her a paw. "You okay?"

She shook her head as she climbed to her feet. "No. The book just talked."

"Yeah. A lot of them do that."

Paige raised her eyebrows as she ventured back toward the talking book and stared down at the lips on the page. "That's creepy."

"Think of it like an old-fashioned Siri," Dewey said. He turned his attention to the book and said, "Witchlock tree bark."

"What do you seek?"

"Witchlock tree bark," he tried again.

Silence filled the room for several breaths before the book spoke again. "What do you seek?"

Dewey's paws curled into fists, and a puff of smoke escaped his nostrils. "WITCHLOCK TREE BARK," he shouted at it with a slow, emphatic pace.

A ruffle of the pages gave them a moment's hope, but the paper settled back, and the book spoke again. "What do you seek?"

Dewey let his head fall back between his wings. "Come on, lady. What did I tell you about Brits?"

"Maybe we should ask it about the weather or offer a cup of tea," Paige suggested with a shrug.

Dewey shook his head, another puff of smoke escaping his nostrils. "Witchlock."

No answer.

"Bark of a Witchlock tree."

No response.

Dewey raised his fleshy eyebrows. "Witchlock bark."

No answer.

"Let me try." Paige leaned toward the book and carefully enunciated the words, "Witchlock tree bark."

Another pause before the book repeated its usual question.

They both flung their arms in the air.

"This is useless," Dewey huffed. He twisted toward the book. "You're useless!"

"We're doing something wrong." Paige crossed her arms and chewed her lower lip before approaching the book. She flipped it to the back cover and scanned it. "Are there instructions somewhere?"

They spent a few moments going over the inside and outside of the cover in search of directions on its use but found none. They settled the book back on the counter and stared at the red lips.

"What do you seek?" it asked again.

"WITCHLOCK BARK," they both shouted at it.

"What do you seek?"

Dewey snarled at the book, his fangs protruding in a menacing fashion. He balled his paws into fists and pounded them against the counter with each iteration of his request. "Witchlock bark, Witchlock bark, Witchlock bark."

The pages of the book fluttered, and a massive crack resounded throughout the room, shaking the floor.

Paige threw her arms out, desperately trying to balance herself as the room blurred from the extreme movement.

"Whoa! Is this an earthquake?" she shouted over the loud clanging and creaking.

With wide eyes, Dewey shot her a glance, reaching out to clasp her hand in his. "I don't know. I'm not sure what's happening."

Paige squeezed his paw and closed her eyes, wincing as a gust of wind swept past them. She experienced the sensation of falling for a brief second before everything settled.

Silence filled the air around them. The room no longer shook. And the wind died down.

"What the hell was that?" she questioned as she opened her eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat when she failed to recognize her surroundings. She slid her gaze over the new landscape, her jaw agape.

She reached Dewey, who hovered in the air on her left, and her eyes went wider. She stumbled back a step, a yelp escaping her lips.

"What is it?" Dewey asked, spinning to face her.

They stared at each other for a moment before they both opened their mouths in wide screams. "AHHHHHHHH!"