The Witch's Apprentice: Chapter 40

Dorian

Hello and welcome back to The Witch’s Apprentice. if you’re new here, I recommend starting from chapter 1. Otherwise, welcome back!

In the last chapter, Sarah, Lix, and Radley returned from the Wild Lodge where they met Morgana Le Fay, who’s about to bring the Wild Hunt to New York.

Their best chance of stopping the fae lies in returning to Earth, so their first goal is still to find and enter the Tower of Thalnor inside the Gardens of Ynn.

Unfortunately, Radley’s master, the old wizard named Walmund, has not been able to repair the Talisman of thought protection they need to safely enter the gardens. So before they can continue their search for the old Witch, and hopefully a way home, they must first travel to a strange realm beneath Hero’s Hollow to retrieve something called wyrd water for the repair.

We pick up the story with Sarah, Lix and Henry standing outside the dungeon.

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Chapter 40: Dorian

Sarah pressed a hand to her temple, trying not to be sick. A light drizzle came in from the loch, cooling her face and easing the spinning in her head, but she still felt unsteady.

The skull loomed above them, its hollow eyes dark. Even in daylight, it looked ready to swallow her whole. A shiver ran down her back, though she told herself it was only the wind.

Henry stretched his arms with a grunt, the leather of his coat creaking. “It’s been a while since I was last here,” he said, eyeing the mouth. “Place doesn’t look any friendlier.”

“If that’s how teleportation works, I’m not doing it again,”Sarah muttered. She still felt a trace of the wizard’s spell, the way the world had melted and left her weightless. It hadn’t lasted more than a blink, but her head still hadn’t caught up.

“It’s a lot faster than walking,” Henry said, though he looked a bit green in the face.

Sarah took another breath and stepped toward the entrance. “Can you believe the children of High Rannoc dare each other to go in there,” she said studying the jawbones.

Lix fluttered up beside her, wings humming. “Don’t worry. It’s just a hole in the ground. Do you think Dorian is still here?”

“I’m sure he’s still hanging in there,” Sarah said, a laugh slipping out despite the knot in her stomach.

“Ha ha. Very funny,” Lix groaned, landing on her shoulder.

Henry shot them a look, one brow raised. “Who’s Dorian?”

“He’s a door,” Lix said while preening his scales.

“A door?” Henry snorted and crossed his arms.

“We’ve met him a few times,” Sarah said. The memory of the carved stone face flashed through her mind, its blinking eyes and slow, sighing voice. “When Lix realized he didn’t have a name, he decided to call him Dorian.”

“Ahh,” Henry said. “That’s a good name. He used to be pretty dour. Maybe he’s lightened up now that he has a name.”

Sarah smiled, feeling her queasiness fade as she looked at the skull. “Let’s go find out,” she said stepping into the cool dark, her torch flickering in the wind.

Water dripped somewhere ahead, each drop echoing through the shadows, as the walls pressed close on both sides, slick with moss that soaked her sleeves. Beneath her boots, the steps were damp and slippery, forcing her to slow down and watch her footing with every step.

Henry led the way, his boots scuffing against the uneven stone. Lix darted ahead, wings glinting in the glow of Sarah’s torch, then circled back to hover near her shoulder.

After a long descent, the passage leveled out and opened into a low chamber. In the gloom, she could just make out the outline of the door, its carved face resting in the stone with closed eyes.

As they came closer, the door’s eyelids fluttered open, and its mouth curled into a deep frown. “Oh. You’re back,” Dorian sighed, his voice raspy from disuse. “I am glad to see you. I so rarely get visitors these days. No one interesting to talk to. Days and days of silence. Weeks. Years. I can’t even tell anymore.”

“Hello to you too,” Sarah said, her tone wry.

Lix zipped forward until he was nose to nose with the door. “We missed you,” he chirped.

Dorian’s eyes brightened a little. “Truly? You came back just to see me?”

“Not exactly,” Sarah admitted, stepping closer. “We’re looking for the Dark Ruler of the Underlands. Do you know where we might find him?”

The door’s carved brows drew together. “The Dark Ruler,” he repeated slowly, as if tasting the words. “I’m afraid I can’t be sure. No one really knows where he wanders. He comes and goes as he pleases. Sometimes he’s here, sometimes deep below, sometimes nowhere at all.”

Henry let out a quiet groan. “That’s helpful.”

Dorian sighed, the sound deep and weary. “I wish I could do better. But it has been so long since I had anyone to talk to. Down here it’s only bats and skeletons. No fun at all.” His stone eyes moved from one of them to the next. “At least tell me what you’ve been up to since you last visited. I do love stories about the world beyond these walls.”

Sarah glanced at Lix, then back at the door. “It’s been… a lot,” she said with a small smile. “We’ve been helping a young wizard who was lost between worlds, and the Wild Hunt is back.”

“A lost wizard and the Wild Hunt.” Dorian’s mouth curved in interest. “Isn’t that the one…”

“Where the elves come to our world to hunt for humans,” Lix finished for him.

“Oh. That does not sound good,” he murmured while struggling to keep his eyes open. “Not good at all.”

“No,” Sarah agreed. “It isn’t.”

Dorian let out another long sigh. “Well. If that’s the way of things, I suppose you have more pressing matters than chatting with an old door. But don’t be strangers. Come back and tell me how it all ends.”

Sarah nodded. “We’ll do our best.”

She reached out to open the door, but at that moment his eyes snapped open again. “Hold on just a moment,” he said sharply. “I almost forgot. You must answer a riddle to proceed.”

Sarah closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. “Do we have to?”

Dorian didn’t answer right away. His eyes moved from one of them to the other, slow and deliberate. Then he said, “I truly wish I could help. But I cannot break the rules.”

“It seems like everyone has their rules around here,” she said rubbing her temple. “And while they’re all different, they always seem to make my life harder.”

“I’m terribly sorry, m’lady,” Dorian said. “But I cannot let you through without a riddle.”

“Come on,” Lix said, landing lightly on her shoulder. “Riddles are fun.” His tail curled around her hair. “In fact, I’m known to be quite good at riddles.”

Sarah gave him a look, but then sighed. “OK then. Hit me with your best riddle, Dorian.”

“All right. Let me see. It has to be a good one,” Dorian murmured. His eyelids slid shut, and they could see the stone shifting behind them, like he was searching through old memories. A long pause followed, broken only by the quiet drip of water in the dark.

Then his eyes opened, bright with interest. “Oh. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one.”

He cleared his throat, the sound echoing off the walls.

“I am gutless, but not spineless
Brainless, but not ‘armless.
What am I?”

Henry rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s… creepy.”

Sarah frowned, repeating the words under her breath. “Gutless but not spineless… brainless but not ‘armless.”

“It has arms,” Lix said, peering at Dorian’s mouth as if the door might give something away.

Henry let out a breath. “Could be a worm. They don’t have much of a brain.”

“But a worm doesn’t have bones,” Sarah said. “And it says not spineless, so it has a backbone.”

“And arms,” Lix chirped.

“All Right, all right” Henry agreed. “So it’s not a worm. But then what?”

“It has no guts, and no brain, but it has arms and a spine,” Sarah said, ticking the list off on her fingers. “That sounds like… Anything, really. I don’t know.”

Lix’s tail flicked. “It has eyes and a spine, but no brain…” he muttered. Then he suddenly brightened, his wings giving a little hum. “I’ve got it!”

Sarah turned to look at him. “What?”

“A skeleton,” Lix said, almost bouncing on her shoulder. “No guts or brain, but it still has a spine and arms.”

Dorian let out a long, happy sigh. “At last, someone who appreciates the classics. That is correct.”

Sarah smiled. “Well done, Lix.”

Lix puffed out his chest. “Told you I was good at riddles.”

Dorian’s eyes closed again, and with a slow groan of stone, the door swung open. “Good luck in there. And please mind yourselves. Some things beyond this door do not take kindly to outsiders.”

“I hope he wasn’t talking about the Dark Ruler,” Sarah said as she stepped through the door.

“Probably not,” Lix said. “I’m sure old Walmund would have warned us if the Dark Ruler was dangerous.”

“Let’s hope so,” Henry muttered as he followed behind. “Walmund can be a bit unpredictable.”

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