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“Babe, you’re going to have to let me help!” I insisted. “If we don’t take care of it now, it’s going to get infected.”
“Fine,” he conceded.
Lucas held out his hand, and I saw that he’d sliced the side of his pointer finger. Blood poured from a huge gash. I didn’t think he needed stitches, but it was going to get bad if the cut got infected. I grabbed a few pieces of gauze and soaked up the blood, then slathered antibiotic ointment over it. I unwrapped more gauze and pressed it tight to the bloody wound.
“Press on this firmly,” I told him, before frantically turning back to my first-aid kit to search for supplies.
“Is there anything I can do—?” Grant started to ask, but Talia cut him off.
“I see it!” she screamed.
I glanced over to her to see she was gazing into the hole we’d burned. She had a look of wonder on her face, and my already racing heart jumped. Lucas grabbed the bandage I was holding and said, “I’ve got this. You worry about the Wand.”
I didn’t want to leave Lucas alone, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Talia. Miles, Grant, and Cooper quickly gathered around her.
In the middle of the hole we’d burned away, I could see the swirling designs of a wand embedded into the tree. Like the spiral handle of the Alchemy Wand, which had a cauldron symbol carved into it, the Seer Wand contained the carving of an eye. Everything else about it was different, though. Where the Alchemy Wand had a bulb on the end and a smooth blade, the Seer Wand had delicate swirls expertly carved into it. The handle of the Seer Wand twisted in a more intricate way than the Alchemy Wand. The embers didn’t touch the Wand, because it was indestructible and impervious to fire.
“We found it!” Grant cried.
“Hallelujah!” Miles shouted.
Talia picked up the scythe Lucas had left resting against the tree. Using the tip of the weapon, she chipped away at the last bit of embers surrounding the Wand. She wedged the tip of the scythe between the Wand and the tree, prying it free. It fell into the bed of embers, but didn’t burn. Carefully, Talia reached for the Wand.
The tree began to sway above our heads, and a heavy wind swept through the air. Leaves swirled around us, and embers scattered across the forest. Talia screamed as her hair whipped around her face.
“What’s happening!?” she shouted.
The tree groaned, and before our very eyes, the glowing embers faded. The hole we’d burnt through the tree shrank.
“No!” I screamed. I lunged for the Seer Wand inside, but the hole slammed shut, and my knuckles slammed into solid wood.
“We were so close!” Grant cried.
“How is this possible?” Miles demanded. He clawed at the bark, as if he could get through, but it was no use. The tree had sealed the Seer Wand inside.
Talia shivered as the wind died down. “The tree must be magical.”
“I can break a protection spell.” I stepped up to the tree and splayed my palm over the bark. I tried connecting with the magic inside of it. If I could twist the magic to my will, we could retrieve the Wand. But the magic didn’t respond to me.
I stepped back. “Something about this magic is different. The spell must be sustained by the Seer Wand.”
“There has to be a way to get it,” Talia insisted. “If the tree is magic, then we have to fight it with magic.”
Talia slammed a battle orb into the trunk, but it fizzled out. She hammered her fists against the tree, smashing magic into it over and over again. The tree didn’t respond.
Talia fell to her knees in defeat. “Please,” she begged the tree. “We are good people. The coven is losing magic, and we intend to restore it. We will use the Seer Wand for good.”
Silence filled the forest.
Grant knelt beside Talia and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s not going to work, Tal. We’ve tried everything.”
“So that’s it?” Miles asked. “We give up?”
“If you have any other suggestions, I’m open to ideas,” Grant bit at him. “I see only one option left, and that’s to return to the top of the stairwell and pray for a miracle. We’re not getting out of here with the Seer Wand, but we still have a chance the stairwell will open up again.”
I didn’t want to admit it, but Grant was right. We’d spent days trying to get to the center of that tree. We’d tried to get through via magic. If we stayed any longer, we’d be out of food, and Grant could fall severely ill. I needed my dialysis treatment. Being upstairs when the doorway opened was our only option.
“Grant’s right,” I said. “We should gather our things. Let’s fill up our water and go.”
