A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(102)

But to Conner’s surprise—he woke up. His eyelids slowly opened and his blurry vision took a moment to adjust. He was lying on a cot in a small and cluttered cottage. A large wooden table and an iron cauldron were in the center of the cottage and a thick stack of mirrors had been placed between them. The walls were filled from floor to ceiling with shelves of jars: jars of dirt, sand, plants, flowers, colorful liquids, insects, small reptiles, and pieces of bigger animals, like pig ears and cow hooves. A small fire of peach-colored flames burned in a tiny brick fireplace.

“Where am I?” he asked himself. He felt a tingling on the side of his torso and looked down to see his entire left side was engulfed in the same peach-colored flames. “AHHH! I’m on fire! I’m on fire!”

Conner screamed and looked around the cottage for something to extinguish them. He didn’t see anything and beat the flames with his sleeves. He figured his whole body was in shock since he didn’t feel any pain.

A woman appeared from another room in the cottage and rushed to Conner’s side.

“Calm down,” the woman said, and grabbed his hands. “You’re doing more damage than the fire is,” she said. The woman was middle-aged and wore dark red robes. Her hair was the same color as her robes and she had bright green eyes.

“What’s happening to me?” Conner yelled.

“You broke your ribs in the fall,” the woman said. “The fire is healing you.”

“The fire is healing me?” he asked.

The woman walked to the fireplace. “It’s a magic fire. Look,” she said, and held her hand over the flames. They flickered around her hand but didn’t burn her. “See? Are you satisfied?”

Conner stopped panicking but he was anything but relaxed. Seeing his body covered in flames was incredibly unsettling, however helpful they were.

“Did you see us crash?” Conner asked the woman.

“Yes,” the woman said. “You were all hurt pretty bad. I brought you back here to heal your wounds before they got worse. You’re in the Dwarf Forests, but don’t worry, you’re safe in my cottage.”

“Where’s my sister? Is she all right?” Conner asked.

“She’s banged up worse than you but she’s coming around,” the woman said.

The woman moved her cauldron out of the way so Conner could see his sister resting peacefully on a cot behind it. Alex’s leg and wrist were covered in flames healing her broken bones.

“Who are you?” Conner asked. “Are you a witch?”

“My name is Hagetta,” the woman said. “I prefer the term healer these days, but yes, I’m a witch.”

Her name instantly rang a bell. “Hagetta?” he repeated. “Any relation to the witch named Hagatha?”

Hagetta nodded. “She was my much older sister,” she said. “Hagatha taught me everything I know about witchcraft. But I was never interested in dark magic like she was, so we parted ways shortly before she died.”

Alex stirred to life and slowly sat up. She looked around the cottage as her eyes adjusted. “Where am I?”

“You’re safe, dear,” Hagetta said.

“Hey, Alex, heads-up—you’re also on fire! But don’t worry, it’s helping your leg and wrist heal,” Conner warned her.

Alex’s eyes grew twice in size as she saw the flames engulfing her wrist and leg. “Okay,” she peeped. Nothing could make her entirely comfortable with this. “Sooo… what kind of fire am I on exactly?”

“They’re healing flames from the breath of an albino dragon,” Hagetta explained. “The albino dragons were very rare and just as awful as regular dragons, but their flames had unique healing qualities. My great-great-great-great-grandmother acquired some of those flames during the Dragon Age and my family has kept them burning from generation to generation.”

“Wow,” Conner said. “I can’t even keep a Chia Pet alive.”

Alex became less anxious knowing this information but she was still uneasy from waking up in the strange cottage. She couldn’t stop staring at Hagetta—she could have sworn their paths had crossed in the past.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” she asked.

“Her name is Hagetta and she’s Hagatha’s younger sister.” Conner filled her in.

Alex was shocked. “You’re Hagatha’s sister?”

“I am,” Hagetta said. “But I believe we saw each other at Jack and Goldilocks’s wedding.”

“You’re right!” Alex said, putting the pieces together. “How do you know Jack and Goldilocks?”

Hagetta laughed at the thought. “I’ve known Goldilocks since she was a very little girl and started her life on the run. We first met when I caught her trying to rob me. I scared her off and thought I’d never see her again, but then a few weeks later I found her in the woods—she had been attacked by some creature and barely survived. I brought her back here and healed her wounds but she refused to stay any longer. She insisted she didn’t need my help and told me she could take care of herself. I knew she was too stubborn to convince, so I gave Goldilocks her first sword. I told her she would have to learn to defend herself if she was going to live on her own.”

“You gave Goldilocks her first sword?” Conner asked, tickled pink by the story. “That’s like giving Shakespeare his first pen!”