Oh my goodness! Wilhelm very nearly made it out of the castle didn't he? Not to worry though. He's a very determined sort of person and you know he will try again. Have no fear of that. Now then, where did I leave off with Jakob? What? Oh yes, in the well of course. Alright then, as you will see Jakob is about to go to a place that will try his heart and his soul. His only way to the other side will be...

The Blue Light

Jakob awoke in despair to still find himself at the bottom of the well. He couldn't remember if he had cried himself to sleep or simply passed out from the bump on the back of his head. How didn't matter really nor did it matter how long he had been asleep at this point. He knew it had been awhile for when he looked up all he could see was a circle of bright stars in the silken blackness.

Sitting up, his head throbbed and he gingerly touched the lump on the back of his head. "Ouch!" His voice echoed in the stone well making his headache worse. 'Shouldn't have done that', he thought as he winched and sat still for a few moments waiting for the pain and nausea to die down a bit.

It certainly was pitch black down there making it impossible for him to see anything. He slowly crawled in one direction until he could touch the side of the well and felt his way up the wall as he stood. He walked slowly around as he touched the sides of the well and he felt around for handholds that might be used to climb out, but found that the stones had been worn down nearly smooth and what ever grip he could have gotten was impaired by the fact that a fairly slippery moss or slime had woven his way among the cracks making the act of climbing out impossible.

Jake sat back down and leaned against the mossy wall. He was having a somewhat difficult time thinking past the headache and a means of escape was eluding him for the moment. A small twinkle of blue light near the bottom of the well caught his eye and he blinked and adjusted his glasses trying to focus in the pitch blackness with little success. 'Oh, now I'm loosing my mind and seeing things! Must I be tortured in my last hours as well?' However, the longer he looked at it, the brighter it became.

Crawling slowly over to the opposite side from where he sat, he peered at the blue light that was now shining quite brightly as it poured out between the cracks of two stones. Jakob forgot everything as curiosity got the better of him. He ran his fingers around the stones and finding them to be somewhat loose, continued to dig in attempt to remove the two stones from the wall of the well.

Finally one of the stones came loose and pulling it away, the light poured brightly in illuminating the inside of the well. Before removing the stone next to it, Jakob thought it best to check and see if the wall was steady enough to pull that one out as well. It wouldn't do to have the well collapse in on him. That would certainly be insult to injury at this point. Seeing that it was safe, he removed the other stone and set it aside. After removing enough stones to make a space large enough for him to crawl through, he could see the blue light was filtering through the wall of dirt that had sat behind the stones, so he carefully began digging away the dirt around light. His fingers hit something hard in the dirt and hoping it wasn't a rock, he went fishing around in his satchel until his fingers found a small knife that he used to trim the ends of his quills and he proceeded to pry the object out of the wall.

A small glass box tumbled out onto the ground. Jakob picked it up and examined it carefully with awe and wonder at the beautiful blue light that shone inside. Something told him this trinket was going to be of a great help to him, but he wasn't yet clear as to how. He sat back and crossed his legs taking his time looking it over very carefully. He noticed a small gold latch on one side that he had sworn wasn't there before. He began to lift the latch, but stopped. He knew full well magic like this could be good, but at the same time he knew it could also be very bad and things could go horribly, tragically wrong. At this point however, he didn't think things could go much worse for him than they already were. So he held his breath and opened the latch.

There was a bright blue flash that made him turn his head away and wince. When he looked back he couldn't believe what he saw! There stood a little man only two feet tall. Somehow he reminded Jake of a garden gnome he'd seen once in front of someone's house. The little man was dressed completely in black from the tip of his hat down to his tiny pointed toed shoes, a long black straggly beard hung from his chin and long black hair poked out from under his pointed hat. However, the most striking thing about him was the fact he was ugly as sin! It made it very difficult for Jakob to look at him without grimacing in disgust, but he held his decorum as best he could for fear of offending the little man.

"How may I serve you, Master?" asked the little man, bowing respectfully.

"Beg pardon?" replied Jakob looking around and then pointing to himself. He couldn't imagine it was he who was being called Master. He then felt rather stupid for looking about all the while knowing he was the only one there. "Don't be such a ninny Jakob, of course he's talking to you!" he whispered to himself as he covered his face with the palm of his hand.

"I'm sorry, but what do you mean by 'how can I serve you'?"

"You are the one who has freed me from my prison within the blue light", the ugly little man explained, "You have freed me from the witch's spell that kept me trapped inside and now it is my turn to help you. For your kindness I shall serve you and grant you three wishes. You shall be my Master for that time until they are all used, but use them wisely and I will serve you well. Just remember to keep the glass box with you at all times and if you ever need me, all you have to do is open the box."

"I see", Jakob replied. Thinking this over carefully, he thought the first order of business was to get out of the well. However, Jake knew the wishes must be very specific or they could sometimes turn out horrifyingly wrong. He asked politely to be freed from the well, but phrased it properly so as not to end up someplace much worse.

"Of course", said the little man and he turned and walked toward the hole in the side of the well that Jake had made removing the stones. "Follow me." With that he disappeared into the hole.

Jakob placed the box into his pants pocket and crawled forward towards the hole. He wondered where the little man had gone considering that only solid earth lay beyond the stones, but to his surprise there was indeed a hole there large enough for Jake to crawl through rather comfortably. The hole came out at the end of a very long hallway that was tall enough for him to stand up and walk in without bumping the top of his head. The little man was up ahead of him walking along, carrying a bright lantern. By the lantern light he could see the hall was lined with the same kind of stones that lined the well and a stone archway lay at the end. Jakob was glad to be out of the well, but at the same time very cautious about this whole business. So much was happening at once he really didn't have time to think about any one thing and how it could be happening.

As they passed through the archway at the end of the hall, Jakob was astounded by what he saw there. They had stepped into a great chamber dimly lit by candlelight from sconces on the walls. The walls themselves were covered in heavy, ancient tapestries depicting every sin man could commit in horrid detail, the roof was supported by numerous stone columns that were covered in gargoyles of various shapes and sizes with ugly twisted faces. Jakob shivered from the cold air that filled this place as well as the dread he felt at being there. The dust was thick in the air making it hard for him to breathe and tattered cobwebs hung from everything. Something brushed his face, he jumped and cowering looking up at the ceiling. The long dark roots from the trees above hung down from the ceiling like long, bony, black fingers and it felt as if they were reaching out to grab him with every step. Even as a child, Jakob had never felt as frightened as he did in this place.

What he saw next made his blood run cold. The room was filled with row upon row of glass coffins. Jakob moved toward one to inspect it more closely, almost terrified at what he might find inside. There he found a young woman dressed in a black velvet gown. She looked as if she were only sleeping, her cheeks still rosy and her full lips still red, but as far as he could see she wasn't breathing. He noticed she was wearing a gold necklace with a tiny charm made to look like a small golden cage with a tiny bird inside. In fact every one of the glass coffins contained a young woman dressed in the same way. Wondering how all these dead maidens had come to be here, he thought how sad it was that they were all entombed here where on one could visit their graves or ever leave flowers in remembrance of their passing.

"This is where she keeps them", said the little man, "the girls she enchanted and turned into her birds."

Ah, so they weren't dead! These were the enchanted maidens and that could only mean one thing. Even in this desperate and horrible place, Jakob's heart leapt for joy as he scurried around the room moving from case to case. Then he saw her. "Kate!" he called as he ran to her coffin and threw himself against it. "Kate, wake up! Can you hear me? Kate!" He beat on the top of the coffin with the flat of his hands a few times as he called her name, hoping at any moment she would open her eyes. Desperately he ran his fingers around the edges trying to find some way to open the case and free her, but found none.

"She cannot hear you", the little man said, "For these are only their earthly bodies that you see here. Their souls are trapped inside the birds she conjured, trapped inside the golden cages that hang in the tower of the castle high above ground and far away."

Jakob's heart sank in despair. The look of sadness on his face was immeasurable. There he was so close to her he could almost touch her, yet he could do nothing to save her. She lay just inches from his arms that were wrapped around the glass case, in all her deathly beauty. Turning his face and placing his cheek against the cold hard glass he closed his eyes and let go a shuttered sigh. It wasn't fair, she was gone and he had just really begun to love her!

"If you truly wish to save her, we must continue on. There is no hope here in this place, but up above you may find all that you need."

Jakob looked at her one last time and stood up tall squaring his shoulders. "All right then, lead on!" he nodded at the little man with a renewed determination and followed as he lead the way toward the archway on the other side of the great room.

As they entered another long hallway, Jakob noted that this one was quite different. It was very narrow with a low ceiling so he had to stoop down to avoid hitting his head. Instead of stone walls like the one before, the walls were lined with bones and skulls, their creepy smiles glaring out at him in a morbid clown-like way, their hollow eyes staring. Set on the left side of the narrow hall were seven doors each with its own unique markings.

"These are the bones of those the old witch has seen set before her at her table", the little man explained, "A great many young men have fallen to appease her appetite. Consider yourself lucky not to have been among them."

Jakob frowned and pouted, hanging his head and holding his own arms tight against himself in an effort of self comfort and to not touch the bones themselves as they past. He was quite curious about what was behind the doors though.

"Do not consider looking at what's behind these doors. There are things beyond them that you really have no wish to see."

Jakob shivered. It was unnerving the little man knew what he was thinking and he didn't dare try to imagine what lay beyond those doors. However, when they came to the last door, the little man stopped.

"This one you may enter. This room contains the witch's fortune, her hoard of gold and jewels for she has sworn she will never be poor again."

Jakob cautiously approached the door and turned the knob. It didn't quite feel like a trap, but he still didn't quite trust the little man. The little man followed and held his lantern high as he entered so Jake could see the contents of the room. He was amazed at what he saw. It was filled with chests, boxes and bags brimming with gold coins, cups, plates and statues and woven throughout were stings of pearls, emeralds and other precious jewels.

"So she never wants to be poor again and these things as precious to her, yes?" asked Jakob.

The little man nodded and Jakob became lost in deep thought. He had an idea brewing in the back of his mind. After a bit of working things out, he knelt down and stuffed two large handfuls of gold coins into his pack. 'These may be very useful late on', he thought. Then something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. There buried under a mound of gold and jewels was a hand mirror. He pulled it out and examined it. The hand mirror looked very old and was delicately fashioned out of pure gold. The back of it was encrusted with a half dozen kinds of jewels and the handle encrusted with small pearls. With half a thought, Jakob put this in his pack as well. It was a crazy idea that it might have some use, but somehow it made him feel a bit safer and in control having it.

Leaving the room and closing the door behind them, they continued up the hall. Entering a small alcove they began to climb up a long stone stairway. The stairs seemed to go on forever and Jakob was getting quite out of breath, but the little man didn't seem bothered at all even though his short legs had to step up quite high to make each step.

At long last they passed out of a doorway that was cut into a hillside that was covered with vines that bore flaming red and orange leaves. When Jakob looked around, he couldn't believe where they were. They had come out no more than twenty paces from where the well sat, but the house and garden were now gone! Jakob had definitely lost track of time. He hadn't any idea how long he had been asleep at the bottom of the well nor did he know how long they had been underground. He did know that when he found the box that contained the blue light, it was night and the stars were visible through the top of the well. Now it was broad daylight and the bright sun hurt his eyes and made him squint.

"What day is it?" Jakob asked, beginning to panic about lost time. He feared he might be too late to save Will if he had been gone too long. "How long…?"

"Do not worry Master. It is the same day in which you fell to the bottom of the well. You have lost no time in your quest, I have seen to that. After all, you are my Master and I must see to your well being until the three wishes are fulfilled."

"But how…?" Jakob began, but knew there wouldn't be any answer other than the crooked smile on the little man's very ugly face.

Thanks for all the support with your reviews. I really appreciate it. This story is a little over halfway done and your feedback is really keeping me going on this. I really am having a great time writing this and I'm glad you like reading it! Keep the reviews coming and I'll see you next chapter.