The Witch's Apprentice: Chapter 14
Sky Whales
Hello, and welcome to The Hermit’s Pen! If you are new here, click the button below to start reading from Chapter 1. Otherwise, welcome back!
In chapter 13 Sarah and Lix went to Meltwater Loch to search for Slime Shells for Bás Báta’s cracked tooth. While searching, they met a ghostly pirate ship and were invited to dinner. Here they listened to the pirates’ song about the Cursed Coast and the witch who lives there. Before departing, they were offered to harvest slime shells from the ship’s hull— a small victory before returning to the cottage for some much needed rest.
Chapter 14: Sky Whales
When Sarah woke up, sunlight filtered through the curtain, painting warm stripes across the bed. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the Lix who lay curled up on the windowsill, his tiny chest rising and falling, a soft snore breaking the silence. How had she gotten so lucky to have him as a familiar. They’d only been together for days, but it was already hard to imagine what she would do without him in this strange world.
Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes, trying to shake off the last remnants of sleep. The movement stirred Lix, who cracked open one bleary eye, shot her a groggy look, and flopped over with a huff.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Sarah teased, swinging her legs out of bed. “There’s a dragon with a toothache waiting on us.”
Lix fluttered his wings halfheartedly and perched on the back of the chair where Sarah’s clothes were draped. “Fine,” he muttered, his voice heavy with morning grumpiness, “but breakfast first. I’m not saving the world on an empty stomach.”
Laughing, Sarah pulled on her boots. “Breakfast first, then it’s off to the Cloud Isles for Ambergris.” She wrinkled her nose. “Apparently, it’s some kind of excretion from a sky whale.”
Lix perked up, both curious and skeptical. “From a sky whale?”
Sarah nodded. “Ever seen one?”
“Nope,” Lix said, shaking his head. “I don’t usually fly that high. There are things up there that might consider me breakfast.”
“Well, today’s your chance,” Sarah said, grinning. “But first—actual breakfast.”
After a quick meal and a few last-minute adjustments to their gear, they were airborne. The morning air nipped at Sarah’s cheeks as they soared above the world, the landscape below shrinking into a patchwork of greens and browns.
“According to the journal, the Cloud Isles are these mystical floating islands that drift on a sea of clouds. Some are no bigger than a kitchen table, but others are massive—like entire forests just hovering up here.”
Lix darted ahead, his wings humming as he scanned their surroundings. “My mom’s told me about them. She said that there were harpies and air sailors and even gods up there. Sounds like quite a party, but also like a lot of trouble.”
“Let’s hope we find the Ambergris quickly and avoid the trouble,” Sarah said, squinting into the misty expanse.
Lix nodded, keeping close. “Yes, but you need to watch above and below. It’s easy to forget when you’re not used to flying.”
As they flew through a thick patch of fog, a shadow moved below them. Before Sarah could react, something shot upward—a massive shape of mist and scales with jagged, translucent teeth.
“Sarah, look out! It’s a cloud shark!” Lix shouted, his voice sharp with panic.
The creature lunged, its massive form slicing through the mist like a knife. Sarah yanked hard on the broom’s handle, twisting to the side, but not fast enough. Teeth grazed her arm, and a searing pain followed as blood welled up, staining her sleeve.
Her heart raced as she twisted and turned, the shark close behind, its teeth snapping dangerously close. Lix clung to her shoulder, his tiny claws gripping her jacket.
“There! Dive into that cloud!” he yelled, pointing.
Sarah tucked low, steering into the thick cover of the cloud. The shark hesitated, its ghostly outline circling before it disappeared back into the mist. Breathing hard, Sarah slowed, her arm throbbing with pain.
Lix peeked out from behind the cloud. “Are we still alive?”
“Barely,” Sarah muttered, her voice shaky. She glanced at her bleeding arm. “And we still need to find that Ambergris.”
Breathing hard, Sarah checked her arm. The scrape was deep enough to sting, but she’d manage. Lix looked at her, his small claws gripping her shoulder. “You okay?”
“I’ll live,” she said, catching her breath. “But we’ll need to hurry.” She adjusted her bag, getting ready to jump back into the search. “We need to find the ambergris and Shieldcaps from the forest today to help Bàs Bàta.”
After catching her breath, Sarah drifted slowly from behind the cloud cover, rubbing her injured arm. Lix, sat perched on her shoulder, scanned the sky warily, but the air seemed clear. As they continued upward through the soft mist, Sarah spotted two shadowy forms drifting in their direction.
As the figures drew closer, the mist parted to reveal two elderly harpies lounging on a patch of drifting cloud. Their wings were folded comfortably around them like feathered shawls, and they seemed completely unbothered by the wild expanse around them. One wore a faded scarf wrapped around her head, while the other clutched an old wooden walking stick, using it more as a perch for her gnarled talons than as actual support.
“Well, would you look at that,” one of them squawked, her voice as scratchy as gravel. She peered over her crooked nose, eyes narrowed with amusement. “A little witch and her pet come to visit us in the high skies.”
Sarah offered a polite smile, nudging Lix as he shifted uncomfortably on her shoulder. “We’re looking for Ambergris,” she explained, feeling like she was interrupting a private outing. “It’s for Bàs Bàta’s tooth, actually. He’s got a nasty crack, and—”
“Oh, we know where you can find Ambergris,” said the other harpy, waving a hand dismissively. “But more importantly, we’re on our way to the Aurora Lighthouse. Big show tonight—the Northern Lights are going to put on their finest. Brighter than they’ve been in a lifetime.”
“Yes, and it’s a sign,” added the first harpy, eyes brightening. “The veil between the worlds is thinning—”
“Oh, not this again,” the other harpy interrupted, rolling her eyes. “It’s just an old wives’ tale. You can’t honestly believe all that nonsense about the veil thinning.”
“Rena, you’ve never had any imagination.” The first harpy cawed. She turned to Sarah with a look of mock exasperation. “She always was skeptical of the multiverse. But trust me, child, there’s more to this world than meets the eye. Hundreds of worlds, in fact, all separated by the thinnest veil of magic.”
Sarah felt her curiosity tugging at her. Other worlds, she thought, her heart beating a little faster. Could that be how she had ended up here? Was there some link between the veil and the strange project the old witch had been working on? She opened her mouth to ask, but the thought of explaining herself, of admitting that she came from somewhere else, felt… wrong.
The harpies watched her for a moment, as if they sensed her unspoken question, but then the one with the scarf gave a shrug. “Well, enough of that,” she said, straightening up and ruffling her wings. “Ambergris, you say? It collects near the highest isles, where the sky whales pass. Right around dusk, you should find some without too much trouble.”
“Bring a wand next time,” added the other harpy, her beak tilting into a sly grin. “The mist from the Aurora’s worth a small fortune down in your lands. You could earn a decent penny.”
The two harpies flapped their wings, lifting off the cloud, still nestled close together like a pair of old friends. They hovered for a moment, glancing back.
“Good luck, little witch!” called the one with the stick. “Watch out for cloud sharks!”
The harpies’ laughter lingered in the air, carried off by the breeze before vanishing into the mist.
Sarah shook her head. “She thought harpies were supposed to be dangerous, but they had seemed like a couple of gay aunts. For some reason they made her think of Patty and Selma from the Simpsons.
Well, gay aunts or not. Hopefully their information about the ambergris was good, she thought as she started climbing past the clouds. Gradually, the the air grew around them grew thin and still, and above the sky shifted from blue to twilight indigo, speckled with the first hints of starlight. And there, flying even higher, were the sky whales.
They glided through the air like giant shadows against a field of stars, each one as long as a ship and graceful as a feather. Their sleek, iridescent bodies caught the starlight, casting faint rainbow glimmers across their scales and fins. They moved in slow, rolling motions, their long tails sweeping behind them, giving the impression of swimming through water rather than open sky. Every so often, one of them would open its mouth, a yawning cavern of light, and a low, haunting song would rise from deep within, the sound echoing across the night like a memory of the ocean.
The song was low and mournful, vibrating through the air, and it resonated in Sarah’s chest like a distant heartbeat. She was mesmerized. For a moment, she forgot her mission, lost in the sight of these enormous, otherworldly beings gliding above her. She felt small but connected, as if she were sharing in a piece of something ancient, something that had floated through the skies long before she was born and would continue long after she was gone.
Lix perched silently on her shoulder, his usual chatter replaced with quiet awe. The little creature’s eyes shone with reflections of the stars and the whale’s ghostly glow, and for once, he seemed as lost in wonder as she was.
“There,” he whispered, his voice barely more than a breath. He lifted a claw and pointed to a dense cluster of clouds below. Sarah squinted, following his gaze, and saw it—tiny pale shapes scattered like stones across the mist. As they descended, the faint sheen of the objects became clearer: Ambergris, scattered like forgotten treasure among the clouds.
Landing softly on the dense cloud, Sarah knelt to inspect the strange material. She picked up a piece, its surface smooth and waxy under her fingers, with a musky scent that carried hints of salt and age. It was a strange substance, but not icky, and there should be more than to cure Bás Báta’s tooth.
Above, the whales continued their slow, graceful dance, their songs resonating in the stillness. Sarah looked up as one passed overhead, its massive shadow drifting over her. The stars outlined its form, catching the shimmer of its scales and fins. The whale let out another deep, sonorous note, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of distant worlds and unseen places.
Sarah paused, the last piece of Ambergris in her hand, and stared upward. The moment felt delicate, like speaking might shatter it. She tucked the Ambergris into her satchel and whispered to Lix, “Let’s go.”
Lix nodded, his wide eyes still reflecting the faint glow of the whales above. Without another word, they lifted off, gliding back down through the clouds. The whales’ song followed them, soft and haunting, a melody that lingered in Sarah’s mind long after the great shapes vanished into the mist.
Thank you so much for joining me for another chapter of Sarah’s adventure in High Rannoc—it really means a lot to me. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss the next chapter. And if you’re enjoying the story so far, please leave a like and tell a friend who might enjoy it, too. It will help more people find my little corner of Substack, and I will greatly appreciate it.
My writing here on Substack will always be available for free, but if you enjoy what I write and would be willing to, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. If that’s too much commitment, you can also just buy me a coffee.