Stephen dug himself into his research. Across the living room table, he had papers that surrounded his open journal. As he tapped the eraser side of his pencil at his face, a knock was heard at the door.
"Let him in, Hooty." Stephen said.
"What's the magic word?" the house demon asked.
"Decapitation?" Stephen asked with irritation.
"All right. All right. Wouldn't kill you to be polite, you know." Hooty opened his door allowing Wong to enter.
"Hey, Wong." Stephen said.
"Hey, Stephen. Clea said you wanted to see me. Also, what's up with her hair?"
"It's a long story." Stephen said. "Anyway, I was hoping you could help me with deciphering these riddles the Ancient One left behind."
"Why me?"
"Well, Willow's off studying plant magic with her dads, Gus isn't exactly the most focused person, and Clea's grounded until the school year begins. Apparently, Mordo thinks her new hair is a sign of some kind of rebellious phase."
"And what about Luz?"
"She's off getting back her book that Amity borrowed. Besides, I showed her this riddle here and she somehow thought it had something to do with Eskimos."
"What are Eskimos?"
"Not important." Stephen cleared his throat before reading from the passage of the current page.
"Atop the white plains of the frozen joint
You'll find the Wand of Watoomb near the high point
Show the Snow Guardian you're a champion of the Ancient One
And he'll present the prize. Your journey done"
"The Wand of Watoomb?" Wong asked.
"Yeah. According to this book, it's a magic channeling relic. It's able to absorb, redirect, and amplify any magical energy."
"Whoa." Wong said full of surprise. "That's quite powerful."
"That's why it was hidden." Stephen said. "But other than this riddle, there's no clue on where it can be. So you got any ideas?"
Wong stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb and began pacing. "Hmm… Frozen joint… Snow Guardian…" He pondered to himself before finally stopping. He raised his head and dropped his jaw. "Hold on. I just thought of where it can be found."
"Really? Where?"
But before Wong could answer, Luz burst right through the front door and ran right past the two boys. "EDA!"
"What the heck was that?" Wong asked.
Stephen sighed. "Sounds like Luz got herself in another mess. Might as well." He and Wong followed Luz to the kitchen were Eda was preparing an enchanting stew.
"Eda, you have to teach me a new spell right now!" Luz said desperately.
"Sorry, Luz. These vegetables won't cook themselves… yet." Eda said before pouring a blue liquid on all the vegetables. They then spontaneously grew arms and legs. "All right. Everybody in the pot." Instead of the pot though, all the walking veggies ran out the door. "Why do I always think that's gonna work?"
"What's going on now, Luz?" Stephen asked.
"It's Hexside!" Luz said. "Amity told me that I need to master two magic spells to get into decent classes. If not, I'll be sent to the baby class!"
"Just two spells?" Stephen asked. "That cannot be right."
"Actually, it is." Wong said. "To us older kids, it seems like a piece of cake, but to a younger witch, they've yet to develop minds disciplined enough."
"Well, I know is making light glyphs." Luz said. "But at the end of the day, that's the only spell I know."
"And whose fault is that?" Eda asked.
"Yours!" answered Luz and Stephen simultaneously.
"…Ha! Yep. Got me there."
"Stephen, can you teach me?" Luz asked. "I've seen you in action. You can do way more than two spells. You gotta give me some tips."
"What? No, Luz. I don't think it works like that. Remember, I'm just as lost as how I do it as much as you."
"Wait…" Wong said raising his head. "Maybe there's a way for us all to get what we want."
"What's your idea?" Eda asked.
"A field trip to the Knee."
"The Knee?" Stephen asked.
"Yes. It's the bent leg of the Titan that reaches so high in the sky, that it's basically a cold mountain. Which means…"
Stephen gasped. "A frozen joint. So the Wand of Watoomb must be there."
"And if that's not enough," Wong said, "Back in the Savage Ages, witches would go there to develop their magic. If there's a good place to learn a new spell, it's there."
"Yes!" Luz leaped in glee. "Can we, Eda? Please?"
"Hmm… Well, it seems I have to take Stephen and his buddy there anyway to find the Wand of Watoomb." Eda said. "Might as well put you through magical boot camp while we're there."
"Did someone say boot camp?" King asked as he suddenly appeared. "I agree to run it. We'll rise at dawn. You'll carry me on your back as I yell hateful things about your performance."
"Nope. You'll have no part in this." Eda said. "Luz needs to focus on her studies and Stephen needs to focus on his treasure hunt. I can't have either of them go all weird when you do something adorable."
"I AM NOT ADORABLE!" King stomped.
"Awwww. He stamped his little foot." Luz said cutely.
"It is pretty adorable." Stephen admitted with a small chuckle.
King screeched as he ran out the kitchen. He slammed the door on his way out, but it just creaked open again. He slammed it again, but with the same result. One more time, and it stuck there.
"Is he always like that?" Wong asked.
"It's like a cute Napoleon complex." Stephen said.
"Now, no time to waste." Eda said. "You three have to follow my instructions exactly."
The four of them were all packed with winter gear as they planted their feet on the snowy fields of the Knee. Stephen looked out in the distance for a clear view of the Titan corpse that made up the Boiling Isles.
"You know, it's easy to forget that we're basically walking on a dead thing." Stephen commented.
"Come on, kids." Eda said as she began her trek.
Along the way, Luz looked out and saw an area of stone ruins, remnants of ancient buildings covered with ice and snow. "It's beautiful."
"Maybe the Wand of Watoomb is somewhere around here." Stephen asked.
"Hey, if you're lucky, you could find Kamar-Taj." Eda said.
"Comma what?" Luz asked.
"Kamar-Taj. It's like an ancient site where the most sacred secrets of wild magic were held and where wild witches were originally taught to control their magic. It's also where the Sorcerer Supremes of the past would do most of their work."
"Sorcerer Supreme?" Stephen asked. "Then should we be worried about running into Emperor Belos?"
"First of all, the guy's as deserving to be a Sorcerer Supreme as I am an honest civilian." Eda said. "And secondly, no one's seen Kamar-Taj in ages. Sure, the knee was the original home of the place, but after the Ancient One croaked, the whole place disappeared into thin air. No one knows what happened to it. The most likely person to know would be that guy down there."
Eda pointed down to the bottom of the hill where a large beast sank its fangs into a tree trunk. Other than its mouth, the only things seen are its white fur and purple claws.
"What's that?" Stephen asked.
"The Slitherbeast." Eda said. "Don't worry. If you don't mess with him, he won't mess with you."
Luz couldn't help but blow a playful raspberry at its direction, but as soon as the Slitherbeast broke its tree trunk in half seemingly in response, she ran off nervously.
"Here's where we'll set up camp." Eda said as she and the gang reached the top of the hill. "Good natural feel of the ancient ruins and it's a good base of operations for the treasure hunt."
"I'll definitely learn my second spell here." Luz said. "Gorgeous views. Magic in the air. And best of all, we're completely alone."
"LOOK OUT!" Wong cried out as he tackled Luz to the snow. He pushed her just in time to avoid a purple fireball that flew in her direction.
"Sorry, whoever's out there!"
Stephen looked on over and dropped his guard when he noticed the Blight children. "Amity? Edric? Emira?"
"Hey, Stephen!" Edric waved along with his twin. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Oh, we're just…"
Luz interrupted Stephen and pulled him down. "Please! Don't tell them I'm trying to learn a second spell?"
"Why? What does it matter if they…" Stephen gave his sister a judgmental glare. "You told them you already had a second spell, didn't you?"
"Is it that obvious?" Luz asked. "Look, if they know I haven't mastered two spells, they'll think I belong in the baby class."
"What's that about the baby class?" Amity asked as she approached.
Seeing Luz's puppy-dog eyes, Stephen sighed. "Luz was just warning me about the baby class."
"Why?" Amity asked. "I already know you're not going there. I saw you use fire magic, and I've heard how you used illusion magic to get Mattholomule in detention."
"That was cool." Emira said.
Wong groaned. "What are you all doing here?"
"I'm here to train." Amity said. "I'm trying to beat Ed and Em's highest score on the exam."
"Oh, Mittens, that's impossible." Emira teased.
"You still need to use a training wand to learn new spells." Edric said.
"Well, if you do beat their score, send me a picture." Wong said.
"What, do you have a problem with us?" Edric asked.
"Yes. I work at the library, same as Amity." Wong said. "But every time you two show up, you make a big scene and an even bigger mess."
"Oh, that was you?" Emira asked with a slight chuckle. "Sorry. We were just having a bit of fun."
Wong sighed. "Just try not to mess with us."
"Why? What are you working on? Something powerful?" Edric asked.
"Actually, we're… looking for the Wand of Watoomb!" Luz said before covering her mouth in instant regret.
"Luz!" Stephen and Wong shouted.
"The wand of what-now?" Edric asked.
"Sorry, guys." Luz whispered. "It was the first thing I could think of."
Stephen sighed before turning to the Blights. "Okay. We're looking for an ancient artifact that we think is buried somewhere on this mountain."
"Luz!" Eda yelled as she appeared with a bag full of snowballs. "I shall now teach you how to identify different types of snow. By taste!" He pulled out a snowball and tried to press it onto Luz's mouth. "Go on. Eat the snow."
Edric and Emira stared curiously. "Is this some kind of special magic?" Emira asked.
"It's a special something." Stephen answered just as Eda filled her whole mouth with snowballs. She swallowed them all and got a bad case of brain freeze.
"Well, good luck with your wand searching." Emira said. "Let's hope it does better and Mittens' training wand."
"I heard that." Amity said.
As the Blight siblings walked away, Luz turned to Eda. "Can you please take this seriously?"
"You need to take me seriously." Eda said. "Go taste snow without my guidance. See where it gets you. Don't worry, kid. If you listen to me, soon you'll be casting fireballs like a pro. And it won't be with some wack training wand. It'll be the real deal. But you have to trust me, okay?"
"Okay. I trust you." Luz answered.
"We've covered snow." Eda said. "So now, it's onto smelling moss."
"Well, good luck with all that." Stephen said. "Wong and I will start searching for the Wand of Watoomb."
"K. Your loss." Eda said.
"I seriously doubt that." Wong said.
Throughout the search in the woods and ruins of the old village, Stephen and Wong searched around every nook and cranny.
"Remind me what we're looking for." Wong said.
"The book said we'll find the wand as soon as the find the Snow Guardian." Stephen said. "Normally, it's some kind of insignia or a totem or something that obscure. Is there any Snow Guardian in old folktales?"
"There are a few ice creatures with many names," Wong said, "But I don't think I've heard of any of them being called a Snow Guardian before."
"Then maybe it's like a stone sentinel or something." Stephen said. "Like the Black Knight was."
"Ugh. Don't remind me." Wong said. "I was thrown around when we fought that thing. Thankfully, I've been preparing myself ever since."
"You've been preparing yourself?" Stephen asked.
"Yes. I've been learning defensive magic so I can prepare for the next big danger we might come across. So if this Snow Guardian does want a fight, I'll be ready."
"That'll be a sight to see." Stephen said before noticing the lack of sunlight. "Whoops. It's getting dark. Let's call off the search and head back to camp. We'll continue searching in the morning."
"All right."
BOOM!
A loud explosion sound was followed only by a snarling roar.
"What was that?" Wong asked.
"I don't know," Stephen replied, "But I have a bad feeling, that Luz is somehow involved in this."
Stephen and Wong raced on over back to the campsite where two girls had frightened looks on their faces.
"Luz! Amity! What happened?" Stephen asked.
"Stephen!" Luz gasped. "It's the Slitherbeast! It took Eda and the twins!"
"What?" Wong asked in surprised. "How? Eda said it wouldn't do anything as long as we left it alone!"
"Well…" Luz said nervously.
Amity groaned. "Luz stole my training wand and shot a fire spell at it!"
"By accident!" Luz defended.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Stephen asked.
"I'm sorry! I just got tired of Eda's silly training! I thought it wouldn't get me anywhere! But enough about that! What do we do?"
"Me, Stephen, and Wong will go after them." Amity said. "You are staying here."
"But the beast has Eda." Luz said.
"And because of you, it also has my brother and sister." Amity replied. "Now stay put. You'll only get hurt." With a wave of her finger, Luz was suddenly surrounded by a high wall of purple beams covering all sides like a cage.
"Wait!" Luz turned to her brother. "Stephen, tell her to let me out of this!" Stephen lowered his head. "Stephen?"
"I'm sorry, Luz, but I'm with Amity on this." Stephen said. "All you know is that light spell, and it won't do anything against that creature. Without any other magic, you'd only get yourself hurt. I'm sorry."
"Me too." Wong said as he ran off with Stephen and Amity.
"Guys!" Luz shouted before being left all alone. It wasn't long before she got her epiphany.
The three kids followed the Slitherbeast's tracks into a spiky cave at the base of a cliff. As soon as they entered, they stayed at the shadowy walls. They looked on over to see Eda and the twins attached to the wall covered with blue sludge keeping them in place.
"Where's the Slitherbeast?" Stephen asked.
"Probably preparing for its meal." Wong said. "We've got to save Eda before it returns."
"What about my brother and sister?" Amity asked.
"…Sure. I guess them too."
"What can I do?"
"Well, you can… Luz?" Amity asked.
"Hello."
"What the?" Stephen asked in surprise. "How did you get past the barrier?"
"You won't believe it! I finally learned my second spell!"
"You have?" Stephen asked.
"Yep! And now, I can help you save the others. I have a plan."
"Well, this should be good." Wong said.
The Slitherbeast returned to where it held its prisoners. It covered each of their heads with seasoning, which made Eda sneeze.
"I hate garlic."
"Hey, you big idiot!" Luz declared from the cave entrance. She got the Slitherbeast's attention. "Over here!"
The Slitherbeast growled before chasing after Luz. While they ran, Amity went over to Eda and her siblings to cut them down.
Luz lead the Slitherbeast outside where Stephen and Wong were waiting. From its side, Stephen shot a large fireball right at the Slitherbeast. It was stunned just enough for Wong to attack. After a running start, Wong jumped up and quickly projected a platform made of brown light. He hopped on it to deliver a spinning roundhouse kick at the Slitherbeast's face.
After Wong landed, the Slitherbeast tried to strike him, but the young witch evaded and slipped underneath. Once he reached its belly, it sent several strikes up at it when Eda and the Blight's ran out of the cave.
"Whoa!" Eda gasped. "Where'd the kid learn to do that?"
"Wong did tell me he's been taking defensive magic classes." Stephen said. "Didn't think it meant he'd be fighting like a magical Bruce Lee."
"It's kinda cool." Emira said.
"All right, Wong! That's enough!" Luz cried out.
Wong rolled out from under the Slitherbeast leaving the demon to stumble on top of an area of snow with a writing etched into it.
"Gotcha!" Luz said before stomping on the big glyph she made. At that moment, a pillar of ice carried the Slitherbeast from the ground and tossed it into the air. It roared before it crashed down to the ground.
"Whoa!" Stephen said. "That's some glyph."
"Yeah. Looks like Eda was right about looking at nature." Luz said.
All of a sudden, the Slitherbeast returned to its feet and rushed over to the Blight twins. Out of instinct, Wong jumped up in front of it with magical glowing boots and kicked it away. It was forced to turn around right at Stephen who held out his hand. All of a sudden, the Axe of Angarruumus appeared in his grip and he prepared to strike. However, instead of just attacking, the Slitherbeast just stared at the axe with a calm expression confusing the human boy.
"Uh, is it okay?" Stephen asked.
The Slitherbeast stood up straight and walked over into its cave. It stopped for a moment before turning to the others.
"I… think it wants us to follow it." Luz said.
"To where it tried to eat us?" Edric asked.
Curious, Stephen followed. It wasn't long before the others walked right behind him with Edric in the far back.
Once inside, the Slitherbeast moved the snow from a certain spot on the ground revealing a stone ground. It raised its purple claws and struck hard on the ground. It did so again and again until it stopped. It picked up a cement box and placed it at Stephen's feet. After that, the Slitherbeast curled up to rest.
Slowly and carefully, Stephen opened the box by its lid and picked up what was inside. It was a metal cylinder with two demon heads on each end. Stephen instantly realized what it was as soon as held it.
"It's the Wand of Watoomb. That means… the Slitherbeast was the Snow Guardian the whole time."
"Whoa." Eda said. "Guess that should have been obvious. But wait, why did it decide to just give us the wand?"
Stephen gasped as he realized the magical axe in his hand. "'Show the Snow Guardian you're a champion of the Ancient One. And he'll present the prize. Your journey done'. That's it. All I had to do was show it that I was sent by the Ancient One by presenting one of the relics I found before. As soon as the Slitherbeast saw the Axe of Angarruumus, it knew I could be trusted, so it gave me the Wand."
"Yowza, wowza." Luz said. "Thank goodness we didn't think of coming here before we could find any other relic."
"So that's your ancient wand?" Edric asked. "Pretty neat."
"You have no idea." Amity said.
"Well, I guess we all got something out of this." Eda said. "Stephen found his new relic and Luz learned her second spell. Nice work, kiddo."
"So it looks like we'll be in the same class." Amity said.
"Azura Book Club? Azura Book Club?" Luz asked excitedly.
"As long as it's a secret club." Amity said with a little blush.
"Not a secret!" Edric said.
"We're gonna tell everyone." Emira added with a laugh. She then turned over to Wong. "Hey… Wong, was it? Just wanna say thanks for helping us. Gotta say, those were some nice moves. Also… sorry for always messing with your job. Ed and I have been working on it."
Wong sighed. "Well, as long as you don't cause too much of a commotion in the future."
"No promises." Emira replied with a playful wink.
After that, Luz drew a new ice glyph into the snow with everyone on top. "Stephen, would you like to do the honors?"
"Don't mind if I do." Stephen replied before slapping on the glyph. Just then, the two of them along with Eda and Wong were thrown over the forest by the ice pillar they made.
When Luz, Stephen, Eda, and Wong returned to the Owl Sanctum, they came across the last thing they expected. No, it wasn't the white-drawn body on the door. No, it wasn't the stuffed toy felt scattered across the living room. It was King and Hooty hugging.
"I don't even want to know." Wong said.
"You'll never understand what we've been through together!" Hooty said. "Never! Never!"
"Moment ruined." King said turning away.
"I will be haunted by my actions forever." Hooty said.
"Riiiiiight." Stephen said. "Well, Wong, see you at Hexside?"
"Sure." Wong said before leaving.
As Stephen place the Wand of Watoomb on a nearby shelf, he thought about the upcoming school day he was about to start. In a couple more days, not only were he and Luz about to be students at Hexside. He was also ready to continue searching for the one relic that's been elusive.
The Book of Vishanti.
Author's Note: That's the end of the adventure at the Knee. So far, our team has gathered Sling Rings, the Axe of Angarruumus, and now, the Wand of Watoomb. Coming up next is the continuing search for the Book of Vishanti along with their first day at Hexside. Any and all comments are welcome.