A/N: Yeah, we're back with the sequel! And trust me- it's only going to get better than it was last time. As like last time, this is a collab between Night and myself. She still writes the odd chapters, and I the even- so this was written by her. Next chapter is my time to shine. Now, with that said- enjoy!
Sunny Hannah Silver was not living up to her title. For three weeks (though it felt more like years) she and her companions had been holed up in the boarding house in Avery's Court, healing and planning — or in other words, doing nothing except arguing. Hazel and Haley had nearly come to blows on several occasions, and Hannah was about ready to do the same — it didn't matter with whom. It was in this mindset that she threw open the door to her room and stormed past a very surprised Destiny who seemed to have been standing right outside.
Dashing Destiny Donnely, though a year younger than Hannah and a fairly recent acquaintance, was nevertheless Hannah's closest friend, and seemed flabbergasted when her fellow witchdoctor stomped past her without even glancing her way. "What's wrong, Hannah?"
Hannah glanced back but continued walking. "I'm fed up with waiting."
Destiny scrambled to catch up with her. "So you're just leaving?"
"I never said that. Besides, where would I go?"
"But then where are you going?"
Hannah let out an exasperated huff. "I need some air, okay? I'm going up Skull Mountain to try and actually get something done. Come if you want, or I guess you can stay here and argue with everyone else. I don't really care."
"I'm coming." Destiny looked hurt, and Hannah softened a little.
"All right." The older witchdoctor quickened her pace, striding up the rope bridge that connected the main Skull Island to Skull Mountain. Before long, the two blondes were pushing their way through trees, wading across streams, and shoving vines out of the way.
"Why in the Spiral do you want to be up here?" Destiny asked, slapping at a mosquito.
"Helps me think," Hannah replied a little breathlessly as she scaled a large rock.
Before long, the duo broke through the trees and were met with sunlight that seemed blinding after the dimness of the jungle and an impressive view of the whole island, as well as much of the skyway, laid out before them. The place itself was not much to look at — it was simply a secluded hollow that smelled of ash and spellcasting.
Destiny swiped at a tree with her finger, coating its tip in a layer of black soot. "Is this where…"
"Yep," Hannah confirmed before Destiny could finish her sentence. "Where I tried to summon Holly."
Destiny fell silent, and Hannah walked out away from the forest to the precipice on the other edge of the hollow, careful not to fall as it was also the edge of the island itself. "I just wish I knew where she was," she murmured to herself, gazing at the horizon.
"Have you tried that listening spell?"
Hannah nodded slowly. "No luck. I haven't been able to reach her."
"What about a location spell?" Destiny suggested.
Hannah turned. "Do you know any?"
A little smile lit Destiny's features, and her blue eyes gleamed. "Yes, actually. I went to Madame Vadima this morning and asked her to teach me a few. That's what I was coming to talk to you about before you snapped at me."
Slight heat rose to color Hannah's face. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Destiny assured her. "Do you want me to show them to you?"
Hannah nodded, and her friend drew her staff from her back. "So, this first one is called Allsight. It basically gives you a view of the whole Spiral, and if you picture a certain person or thing, it should give you a close-up picture of that person or thing and help you find where it is, though it's hard to keep up for very long. Watch."
Planting her staff in the ground, Destiny turned away from the shaft of vine-carved wood and began a fairly basic spell chant. Hannah listened carefully to the incantation so she'd be able to repeat it and watched as Destiny spun around and stomped her left foot with the last word of the chant. Nothing seemed to happen.
Instead of saying anything or trying again, Destiny pushed an errant strand of honey-colored hair from her face and stared intently at the top of her staff. After a moment of this, she smiled and said, "Now you try it."
Understanding dawned on Hannah. "So only the caster can see the Spiral?"
"Right," the younger girl confirmed. "Go on, give it a try!"
Dubiously, Hannah pulled out her own staff, a length of polished wood with several bones tied fancifully at the top, and planted it in the ground the way Destiny had, repeating the words of the spell. As she spoke, her vision began to grow dark, and was completely black by the time she spun and stomped. A second after she finished, her vision cleared, only now instead of the hollow at the top of Skull Mountain, she could see as if from a distance the entire Spiral spread out beneath her.
As Destiny had instructed, Hannah summoned to mind an image of Stormy Holly Everret, picturing an unusually tall girl with long black hair, intense blue eyes, and a pair of wickedly sharp daggers. At this, her vision swooped, making her stomach drop as her sight rushed rapidly inward toward the Spiral. Just as suddenly, her sight went black again, and all the breath rushed out of her, forcing her to her knees.
Destiny cried out in surprise. "Hannah! Are you all right?"
Gasping for air, Hannah blinked to clear her vision and found that the spell's effect was gone — rather than the Spiral, she could see her best friend looking down at her anxiously. "Think… I'll be fine," she panted, trying to draw in enough breath to make her lungs stop burning.
"What just happened?" Destiny extended a hand, and Hannah gratefully took it and clambered to her feet.
Hannah shook her head in bewilderment. "I don't know. The spell was working fine, but when I envisioned Holly like you said, everything went black and I got the wind knocked out of me."
She swayed a bit, still light-headed, and Destiny reached out a hand to steady her. "That makes no sense. I know you did everything right."
"Like I said, I could see the whole Spiral, but when I tried to focus on Holly, it backfired on me."
Destiny shrugged. "Well, maybe we could try a different spell. Seeking Stone isn't as precise as Allsight, but it should be more reliable."
"How come I've never heard of these?" Hannah complained.
In response, the younger witchdoctor grinned at her. "Do you want to find your friend or not?"
Hannah let out a soft chuckle. "Yes. Fine. How does it work?"
"You pick a small object you can carry, like a stone." She bent and picked up a fist-sized rock, then continued. "You say the incantation, followed by the name of the person or thing you want to find, then tap the stone with your staff." She sang a high, lilting spell poem, then said, "Hannah Silver!" and tapped the stone with the end of her staff. The stone began to glow blue. "Once you've done that, the stone will glow if you're going in the right direction, and the closer you are, the brighter it will glow." To demonstrate, Destiny turned away from Hannah, and the stone immediately reverted to dull grey.
"Seems simple enough." Hannah repeated the process Destiny had demonstrated, enjoying the rhythm of the incantation. The stone retained its grey color, so she began to turn slowly to try and find the right direction. When she had made it a little less than halfway around, the stone suddenly grew very hot, glowing bright red. Hannah yelped in surprise and dropped it — fortunately for her. Moments before it could hit the ground, it exploded, blasting both girls' feet and lower legs with stinging shards.
Destiny shrieked in pain. For the second time in as many minutes, Hannah dropped to the ground, this time to try and pick out the chips of rock that had embedded themselves in her shins, wincing each time she removed one. "Here's a thought: let's not try that again."
Destiny crouched beside her, removing her left boot and shaking out a slightly larger bit of stone. "I don't understand it. At least one of those spells should have worked! Unless…" She trailed off, looking thoughtful.
"Unless what?" Hannah prompted.
"Someone might not want us to find her," Destiny replied cryptically.
Hannah nodded thoughtfully. "If she's spell blocked, there might be a way around it, or at least a way to find out for sure."
"It wouldn't surprise me," the younger witchdoctor agreed.
Hannah's mind whirled. "I know a spell that lets me detect whether a thing or person is enchanted. It might not work at a distance, but I can try."
"Go ahead, if you think it will help," Destiny encouraged.
Hannah gave a brief nod and passed her staff from hand to hand close to her face. Turning slowly in a circle, she held her staff vertically at arm's length in front of her and quickly chanted the spell, closing her eyes for focus. She felt her power building and the spell beginning to work, but it was like running uphill. She took a deep breath, pushing her power out and into her staff as fast as she could summon it. Even through her eyelids, she could see the brightness of her staff's glow, waiting to be used, but she couldn't push it over the edge.
Hannah's breathing grew ragged as she tried to accumulate enough power. She was very close to reaching her limit, but she couldn't stop now - if she let go, that much power might backfire and fry her. Her arm began to shake, and her staff grew warm in her hand — never a good sign. She distantly heard Destiny shouting something but couldn't comprehend what it was. "Help," she whispered through gritted teeth, barely able to get the word out.
A hand closed around Hannah's staff, just above and slightly overlapping her own. She gasped involuntarily as a tingle ran down her spine, magic like she'd never felt before flowing through her, strengthening her. Her power stabilized, and she gave a final push, this time with the power of two witchdoctors. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the spell take effect.
The way the enchantment worked, Hannah instinctively knew what spells, if any, were cast on the subject, and because of the extra power, it had worked across a vast distance. Sure enough, there was indeed a spell block on her friend preventing seeing and finding spells from working on her. More troubling, though, was the other spell that had been cast on the Storm Captain.
Hannah ended the spell and opened her eyes. "She's under a sleeping curse."