Note – This is a brief but important interlude. I'm already at least 6 chapters ahead of this point so I would love to know what you think of how things are progressing.
xoxox
Deep in a cave in the forest, evil was celebrating. Looking at the surface of the water in her scrying bowl, Pandora chuckled to herself as she saw the image of two unconscious figures slumped on the hospital floor. "Perfect," she commented to herself, "even the magic-wielder didn't realise that I was using magic to keep my Emma alive until help reached her." Centuries of solitude had encouraged Pandora to talk to herself as a way of staving of loneliness.
Waving a hand over the still water of the receptacle, Pandora muttered a brief incantation and then commented, "Once they have stabilised her, the magic will now fade away. Nobody will ever be able to tell that it had been present. Everything is going to plan."
Stepping away from the bowl, Pandora walked over to where a pile of dream-catchers lay on a stony outcrop. Idly picking one up to examine it, the witch said. "Well, the bait is all ready. Good." She dropped the dream-catcher back on top of the pile. "Irresistible, even if I do say so myself."
Nearby hung a wooden spherical framework which consisted of a series of ribs enclosing a small seemingly-metallic sphere. Crossing over to where it hung Pandora grinned wickedly, "And now, the piece de resistance, the trap itself." Picking up a spindle of thread, She mused, "It was certainly most fortunate that I talked Arachne into giving me those weaving lessons all those years ago." Humming contentedly to herself, Pandora resumed working on her masterpiece.