Last week, dear reader, Eldritch finally triumphed over the wizard Athow! With a spear made of light she stabbed him in the back, now all that remains is tallying the victory and-

“Duck!” Blind Justice shouts as he hurls his sledgehammer through Thorm Athow!

Unthinkingly, Eldritch drops to the floor. She moves just in time to avoid a sweeping black blade cutting through the air right where she stood!

From above, Athow’s voice cuts through the air. “So. You can see through the illusions of the Book of Deception. This is new.”

“I told you,” Blind Justice intones as he picks up his hammer, “I see everything.”

“Eventually,” Athow drily replies. “But I suppose it is impressive enough that a non-magical can see through these spells. I once hid Atlantis for a month using this book.”

Eldritch stands, a slight tremor in her legs. “Your trick will only work once, Athow. Next time I won’t miss!”

Athow replies with a roll of his eyes, “Obviously. But I know better than to simply take him at his word.” Then a contemplative look falls across his face, “Still… if you see everything then you should enjoy this.”

With that, Athow raises his hand and a familiar vortex begins to take shape.

Eldritch throws her hand up to hurl a spell in response but fails to conjure even a tiny spark of magic! “Look away!” she cries out in vain while the swirling bridge takes shape.

Confused, Blind Justice begins to say, “Why wha-”

With a smile, Athow tosses the spell at Blind Justice as the vortex expands into the familiar shape of the Inscrutable Bridge!

“This time,” Athow says, “it goes straight to the Edge and Beyond. To where The Things That Lurk exist outside Existence. Look at that and see them, Blind one, and if your will is as strong as mine you might retain your sanity, if not much else.”

Screaming and clutching his head, Blind Justice drops to his knees poleaxed. Gibbering in half-formed words his fingers dig into his skull as he begins to crawl toward the Inscrutable Bridge, dragged forward by some unearthly sound. As he moves, the ground begins to fall upward toward the tiny hole, only stopping when he reaches it and curls around the tear in reality. Blind Justice seems to sprout several heads, some with eyes, some with his sockets, and some with the blindfold he wore prior to the fight back in place. These heads grow and die in seconds, some hideously deformed and others arguing endlessly with invisible opponents in gibberish.

As Eldritch tries to reach for the trapped hero and drag him away, one of the heads with no eyes or blindfold turns to her and shouts, “No! Give me/us time! We will see their way free, stop her wizard!”

“You have problems of your own to worry about, girl child,” Athow says with a sneer as he slices with his palm and sends another black blade swinging at Eldritch who narrowly dodges.

Eldritch glances over at Blind Justice who is rocking the Inscrutable Bridge like a baby, several extra arms sprouting out of his back and holding onto the edges of the portal even as some of his limbs fall into the Bridge and vanish as if they were never a piece of him.

Lips twisting in contempt, Thorm Athow claps his hands together and forms a pair of black spears in the air around Eldritch. Then he swings them together hurling the pair at Eldritch before she can dodge!

Ducking under one spear, Eldritch appears poised to be impaled by the other when a flowing barrier of metal surges up from the ground and into the path of the weapon!

Huffing from the exertion of racing across the battlefield so quickly, Ginger snaps her fingers and pulls her makeshift barrier back into her suit.

“Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?”

“Nothing much,” Eldritch replies. “I’ll catch you up after we get rid of this pest.”

The edge of Athow’s mouth curls into a confident smile as he looks at the two girls. Then he asks, “How will you manage that, once I silence you again?”

Before Eldritch can reply, Athow closes his hands into fists and the area falls into the eerie silence it had before.

Silently communing with her partner, Eldritch asks, “Bel. Things aren’t looking good. Do you think it’s time for you to teach me that spell, the one you keep telling me not to use?”

“No!” Belinda retorts sharply. But what she says next carries an aura of far more uncertainty. “No… the cost is too high so long as a chance of victory remains.”

“Alright then. But to be honest, that last spell took a lot out of me. I’m can keep it from showing, for now, but it’s pretty much all on Ginny right now.”

At that thought, Eldritch shudders.

Seeing her move, Ginger turns and shoots her a questioning look that Eldritch waves away. Eldritch then points toward Athow and smashes her fist into her palm. Ginger nods firmly in assent and turns back toward the wizard. Eldritch puts a hand on her shoulder and pulls her back for a second. Then she points to her wrist, miming a watch and then toward Blind. The message, however crudely conveyed, is clear; buy time for the superhero to fulfil his promise and return to the fray.

Seeing the girl’s gesture toward Blind, Athow’s eyes narrow and with a flick, he sends several blasts of flame at the incapacitated Blind Justice.

Seeing him move, Ginger moves in response. In between Blind and Athow several walls of flowing metal appear as Ginger takes the forefront of the fight!

Scowling, Athow slices his hand in a downward motion and several black holes appear swallowing the metal walls. As they sink, Ginger pulls them back into one larger barrier with a spread out base that covers the ground and props it above the holes.

Seeing the pair embroiled in this back and forth, Eldritch gives up her façade and drops roughly to her knees. With a groan, she forces herself in a cross-legged position and closes her eyes, regulating her breathing carefully.

“I don’t think meditating will be enough.” She sends the thought to Belinda along their connection, even her mental voice sounding weary. “That spell left me weak, Bel. Like, day three of a juice cleanse weak,” Eldritch says with a wan smile. “Seriously, you need to teach me that spell.”

Across the shattered warehouse, Athow raises a hand and a series of pillars shoot from the ground narrowing into spears as they hurl toward Ginger who transforms into a giant bird and narrowly flies above them. Transforming again as she descends, Ginger turns into a mechanical spider, scurrying delicately atop the butts impaled spears toward Athow who throws his hand down, conjuring a matching giant hand that grabs for Ginger. She evades, curling into a ball and rolling under the sweeping fingers in the form of a pangolin.

Seeing all of this from her scrying pool in the Starry Realm, Belinda chews at her lip in agitation. “No, child! The price is too high.”

Scowling in irritation, Athow raises both his hands in clawlike motions tearing open portals and plucking one of the books from the air. Opening the book, he begins leafing through.

Seeing him moving, Ginger transforms into a kangaroo and tries to leap toward him only to become caught in a series of black nets Athow conjures with a contemptuous backhand. Sprouting blades in her praying mantis form, Ginger begins slicing through the net as Athow pauses, tapping a page in triumph.

Suddenly, sound returns in a rush!

Immediately, Athow begins chanting in a guttural language that causes both Eldritch and Ginny to shudder involuntarily. His voice rises above the sound of Blind Justice arguing with himself in sped-up words and the panting noise of Eldritch trying to catch her breath as she struggles with magical fatigue.

“Got you!” Ginger howls as she shreds the last of the nets and transforms into a knight carrying a large broadsword. Hefting the weapon around, she hurls herself into the air, slicing in a wild motion.

Seeing the same opportunity, Eldritch snaps into motion as well. Quickly, she brings her dagger around in an arc, transforming it as she swings the weapon turning into a javelin that flies toward Athow!

Just as the edge of the blade cuts a hairsbreadth away from Athow’s face, he stops chanting and everything freezes!

“Time stop,” he says, looking at Eldritch. “One of the ultimate spells of the books, just like your friend’s curse.” Leisurely closing the book in his hands, he taps the cover and adds, “Not something I can cast again, unfortunately, and limited in both duration and effectiveness. Still, I applaud the three of you for pushing me this far. Bypassing the physical components of the ritual alone is… demanding.”

Delicately, he steps around Ginger’s blade and loops a rope of magic around her body. Frozen, Ginger does not react as he secures her.

“Notice that she remains immobile?” Athow asks Eldritch with an instructive air. “The flaw of such a spell, it places everything but the caster in stasis. Rumor has it that this is how one of the witches met her end. Tricked by a demon and frozen forever in a single instant, unable to die, unable to affect anything, unable to escape for all eternity.”

He pauses by Blind, carefully avoiding the sluggishly swirling Bridge, inside which Blind remains partially trapped.

“Of course,” he says as he stares down at the man, “time has different meanings in different places.”

“Child,” Belinda says, urgently, “the spell, I will teach it to you if you promise me-”

“Anything!” Hailey interrupts, “Just teach me! We don’t have time for this!”

Athow leisurely continues walking toward them, pausing only to pluck the javelin out of the air.

Gasping in agony, Belinda feels the insidious magic of Athow begin to corrupt the Starry Realm. Frantic, she looks around as the endless stars begin to darken and the careful constructs of mist that make up her home start to swirl in agitation.

“You must promise!” she says, slamming her hands down in agitation, “Never use this spell except today!”

“Just teach me already!” Hailey shouts.

The mists begin to turn a sinister red as Athow murmurs some incantation over the dagger turned javelin.

“First promise me!” Belinda shouts, “This spell destroyed my ancestor, it drove her mad, it cost her soul! I will not let you use this foolishly Hailey!”

Frozen in place, Hailey screams her reply through their connection.

“I promise!”

The words ring out through the Starry Realm, pushing back against the mist and encroaching dark for a few precious seconds. As they do, Belinda leaps into her scrying pool and through the connection between the two, severing it as she flees. Behind her, the Starry Realm takes on a horrid aspect, the dread magic of Thorm Athow infecting the dagger like a cancer that grows unchecked and unquenchable.

Pausing, Athow narrows his eyes for a moment, staring at the inert metal before turning to Eldritch.

“I had planned on going alone, but…,” he says, pondering the immobile girl. “There is something here… something I do not understand and I will not have it slip away.” Making a decision, he reaches through the same miniature portal as before and switches the book in his hand for another. Then he opens the new one and begins to incant a spell.

As his voice reaches its peak, Ginger and Eldritch feel themselves starting to move again. As if she were a bug trapped in amber, Ginger’s blade slowly arcs through its swing. Just as she begins to turn, however, Athow reaches out and places a hand on Eldritch. Then, as Ginger starts to feel the binding Athow threw on her collapsing around her, the air suddenly cracks and with a loud bang, the spell breaks!

Whirling around, Ginger struggles for a few seconds to break free of the magical ropes, throwing them off and staring around in confusion, for just her, the detective, and the guard remains in the warehouse!

Athow, Eldritch, Blind Justice, and Belladonna have all vanished!

Where has Athow taken them, and for what purpose, dear reader? Find out next week in… “The Final Book!”