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My gaze lingered on the area where Charlotte had disappeared, before I turned toward Stella. “You can move on, too.”
She shook her head. “I’m afraid the demon banished me here.”
I recalled how her spirit disappeared during our trial, and we suspected Professor Leto had cast a spell to force her out of the courtroom. I never imagined his spell had forced her here.
“The demon is dead,” I told her. “He holds no power over you now. You can choose to leave.”
“I can, but make no mistake, the demon may have banished me here, but I have stayed by my own volition,” Stella said. “I understand now what I must do, but I’m not there yet. I have much to sort out before I ascend to Alora, but I will go when I am ready.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Grant asked.
Stella shook her head. “Only I can make the decision to ascend, but perhaps I can give something back to the coven the way Charlotte has given you that Wand. If there is anything you need here in the Abyss, I will do my best to help you.”
“Actually, there is one thing,” I said. “You can provide us with information. We’re looking for a reaper named Edgar Nowak.”
“Yes, I know Edgar.” Stella pointed down a muddy path. “He lives in a cabin just down there. If that is all the information you require, then this is where we must part. I must prepare for another trial.”
It was sad to see she wasn’t ready to move on, but I had faith she would get there soon.
“Thank you for your help, Priestess,” I said. “We wish you the very best.”
“Good luck on your journey.” Stella waved us goodbye as the townspeople started gathering for the next trial. We weren’t about to stick around for it, so we hurried off.
We followed the path in the direction Stella had pointed us, until we came upon a small cabin with a scythe leaning against the front of the building. This had to be Edgar’s house. My friends stayed behind me as I nervously approached the cabin and knocked.
The door creaked open, revealing a dark figure behind it. The cabin was so dim that the man appeared as nothing more than a shadow. He wore a black cloak that concealed his features.
I peered inside cautiously. “Edgar Nowak?”
“Oh, it’s you,” he sneered. “I knew you’d be back.”
“Then you know who I am,” I replied.
“You are Lucas Taylor—the Reaper’s Apprentice. I could never forget the man who sent me here.”
My bones seemed to rattle at the accusation, though it was not a false one. Edgar was here because of me.
Edgar took a step forward and stopped in the doorway. He dropped his hood, and I noticed he looked vastly different from the last time I’d seen him. The night of the Reaper Moon, he appeared to me as a skeleton in long robes, with nothing but bony fingers and empty eye sockets. Here in the Abyss, pale skin covered his body, and dark eyes stared back at me. He looked old, with wrinkles across his skin, as if evidence of the wisdom he’d collected over the years. It shocked me at first, and I took a step back.
Edgar crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. He wore a bitter expression, like that of a cat that had just gotten wet. “Am I not what you expected?”
“You look different than the last time we met,” I remarked.
“I take the form that you expect of me,” Edgar explained. “On Earth, my skeletal form is an omen of death, a confirmation to confused spirits that they have passed. Here, the people are already dead, and so I look like them.”
“You’re not able to leave, are you?” I wondered.
Edgar shook his head. “Recall that reapers can take other reapers’ powers. It is why you summoned me at the Reaper Moon. When we fought that night, you overpowered me. You took control over my sentence and sent me through that reaping portal. The magic bound my soul to this realm, and I’m unable to escape the Abyss. I am a reaper—a master of death. Reapers are not meant to be reaped.”
“I never intended to trap you here. There has to be a way we can get you out,” I insisted.
“The only one who can free me of this place is the one who sent me here, and that’s you, Lucas. You must be the one to lead me out of the Abyss.” Edgar glanced at my friends behind me. “But you didn’t come all the way to the Abyss to save me. You are still living. You’ve come here for a purpose greater than my soul.”
“We’ve come for the Oaken Wands,” I admitted. “The coven is breaking apart, and the Wands are powerful enough to restore our magic—and our hope. We know that you possess the Mortana Wand, and that it’s passed down among members of the Reaper Order. I know about the Warlock’s Trial. It’s a trial of death, so I have to demonstrate to you my Death magic.”
Edgar frowned. “I cannot give you the Mortana Wand as you wish.”
I certainly didn’t like that answer, and I was desperate. I didn’t come all this way to the Abyss just for him to tell me he wasn’t going to hand it over. We needed those Wands to save the coven. This was bigger than any resentment we may hold towards one another.
