The Moorwitch

by Jessica Khoury

I Weave a cat’s cradle to summon water, then, shutting my eyes, I relax my mind and draw on the green energy around me. It fills me like a flash flood, and I must quickly close myself again before I’m swept away. Then I focus on redirecting the energy inside me, through my heart, releasing it into the thread stretched between my fingers.

How curiously cruel you humans are, that you must first kill your gods before you worship them.”

Threads of his magic entwine with mine, until they are indistinguishable from one another. But I can feel his energy tingling on my hands, featherlight and warm. It makes a shiver run down the back of my neck. The sensation is as intimate as feeling his breath on my skin.

The Dwirra Tree isn’t in Elfhame. Elfhame is in the Dwirra Tree.