Black Wood (A Witch Rising) by Jayde Scott Page B

she
entered Black Wood, there’d be no proper sleep for her.
    Soon, she drifted off into an
uneasy slumber with hundreds of thoughts haunting her troubled
mind. When she rose to Solace nibbling on her toes, she felt more
tired than before.
    Emily switched on the bedside
lamp and looked at the watch. It was a few minutes after midnight.
She hurled the covers aside and jumped out. The room was cold as
ice. Luckily, she had gone to bed with her clothes on because she
didn’t fancy getting dressed in this chilliness.
    She noticed a tray with last
night’s dinner on top of the clutter on her grandmother’s desk. The
delicious scent of fish and chips hung heavy in the air. Her
stomach rumbled, but she didn’t lift the cover. She wouldn’t have
any of it, just in case Muriel poisoned it. After throwing the
heavy backpack over her shoulder, she climbed up the ladder to the
attic.
    The cawing began as soon as she
opened the trapdoor. Emily forced her feet to move one step after
another, but her heart hammered in her chest and her legs turned
into jelly. The attic was pitch-black. Should she use her magic to
ignite a flame in the palm of her hands? Wings fluttered and a
sudden gust of wind blew to her right. Aurelie had strictly warned
her against using magic inside the house until she opened the
portal.
    Emily turned on the spot,
peering into the darkness around her. The cawing seemed to come
from every direction. Nothing fancy like a bonfire, just a tiny
flame in the palm of her hands. Aurelie would never know. She drew
in her breath and muttered the magic words. “Flamma, appare!”
    The heat rose in her palm almost
instantly. And then a faint spark, no bigger than a bud, appeared.
Emily smiled as it grew stronger, illuminating the vast space to
her left and right.
    A croak to her right. Her heart
jumping in her throat, Emily snapped her head toward the sudden
noise. The large eyes of a black crow glared back at her. The bird
opened its beak and let out a shrill caw. Emily gasped and took a
few steps back until she bumped against the mirror. She tried to
calm her racing heart. It was just a bird. Nothing to be scared
of.
    The mirror looked as black as
the room. The flame in her palm flickered toward the shiny surface,
illuminating Emily’s reflection, the crow’s beady eyes following
her. Should she blow out the flame first and then open the portal?
The crows cawed again and Emily flinched. She wished they’d just be
quiet for a moment so she could focus. But they kept staring at
her, as though they were watching her every move, waiting for
something to happen.
    Emily raised her arms above her
head and closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts. When she opened
her mouth, her voice came clear and strong.
    “Ostium, patefacio!”
    The mirror creaked. The air
turned freezing cold. Dense, grey fog gathered around her legs. The
glossy surface disappeared, giving way to a narrow, dirty path with
thick, high trees to either side. Emily took a tentative step
forward when she heard Muriel’s hiss behind her. “What’re you doing
here? And don’t say nothing because I know you’re up to something,
you little toad.”

Chapter 19
     
    Emily knew she should have
listened to Aurelie and not do the flame spell. Without so much as
a look back, she jumped into the mirror and landed on the hard,
dirty ground. She rose to her feet and rubbed her throbbing elbow
when the faint laughter of a woman carried through the air. “Good
luck, dear. You’ll need it.”
    Scowling, she turned to face
Muriel, but all she saw was a black hole where the portal should
have been. As it pulled together, dwindling before her eyes, the
hole creaked like dry, old firewood in a stove. Emily watched it
disappeared, the spot blending in with its surroundings.
    Wow, that happened fast. One
step, and she was in another world. No turning back now. With
trembling hands she wiped her hair from her face and looked around.
It was dead silent. Just trees and bushes as