I was expecting everything and nothing on the other side of the hill, but the landscape remained unexceptional phantom fields of grass. The cobblestones came to an end at a gleaming silver cube.
'What is it?' asked Newt.
'The heart of a world that doesn't exist,' I replied.
The shape of Soulless Gustav's face pressed through the shimmering surface. 'You should be honored. You'll be the first to glimpse the beautiful fate that shall replace this universe.' He glanced to my companions. 'I expected you alone.'
'The duck is my familiar. The fox is merely an observer.'
'For posterity, eh? An excellent idea. Enter and witness my glory.'
His face melted into the cube, and I stepped into its impalpable surface. It wasn't so much that I entered it as it expanded around my perceptions. First came the illusion of time to distinguish one moment from another. Then came the fantasy of space. Then came the other details of Soulless Gustav's creation. The countless lesser particulars that make up a phantom universe fell into place. I stood on the threshold of a miniature cosmos. Dozens of tiny planets swirled amid an endlessness of stars. Neither Newt nor the fox were with me.
Soulless Gustav stood at the center of his universe. 'Beautiful, isn't it?'
I remained properly inscrutable. 'I suppose it is. In much the same way a painting of a flower can almost be as beautiful as the flower itself.'
He glowered. Then sighed and smiled in a passable imitation of good humor. 'Forgive me, witch. I've forgotten that you lack the vision to see what I've shown you.'
His solar system wound to a slow halt. A tiny planet ceased its orbit before me that I might glimpse its continents and oceans. If I looked close enough, I could no doubt see mountain ranges, forests, and deserts as well as villages and cities teeming with millions of phantom inhabitants.
'Mine is a flawless re-creation. This is the universe, my universe. A small thing now, but it shall grow like a seed. And one day, mine will overthrow that flawed jumble you call reality.'
I slapped the planet and started it spinning again. 'How sad that you think this is a dream worth fighting for. You have my pity'
His worlds twirled faster. He walked forward between the speeding spheres. 'You have courage, witch. I'll grant you that. This isn't your reality. Nor is it even that impure realm of sorcery outside this cube. This is my power, pure and undiluted. Here, I am a living god, and you are absolutely nothing.'
'Perhaps. But I am a good witch, even here. And you are still a very poor sorcerer, even here.'
The only sign of Soulless Gustav's rage came in a clenched fist. 'Your bravado doesn't fool me, woman. I sense your fear, your awe.'
'You've lived too long among glass and shadows. You sense only those illusions you desire.'
He raised his hand. An inch-high double of me stood in his palm. He waved his other hand over them, and it writhed and dissolved into moldering paste amid tortured shrieks.
I smiled. 'Most impressive. If I were a phantom, I would be most terrified.'
'How dare you...'
'I dare. I confess to once having some dread over facing you, but that disappeared the moment you showed me your dream.' I reached out and plucked a passing moon. 'All that power at your disposal, and this is the best you could do.'
'All that I can do!' Soulless Gustav snarled. His voice echoed from one end of eternity to the other as his civility crumbled at the edges. 'I have remade a universe!'
I shook my head and balanced the moon on my fingertips. 'There is already a perfectly good universe out there. Remaking it is a waste of magic, an exercise in futility'
The orbit of his worlds grew erratic. They zipped about, barely missing one another.
'You dare mock my power.'
'Your power, never. It is awesome without question. It is your vision that I find lacking. You have the gift to create whatever your will desires, to make the unreal real. Yet you choose to make something that already is. You lack the one thing every great sorcerer should possess: imagination. Without that, all the magic in this universe and a thousand others counts for naught.'
Soulless Gustav's anger was a cataclysm on his creation. Worlds smashed into each other. Stars flashed, only to burn away in moments. The moon on my fingertips cracked in two.
'You don't honestly think you can defeat me?' he said softly through clenched teeth.
'Probably not,' I agreed, 'but even if I lose, what difference does it make? Even if you succeed in your dream, what does it matter? Either way, this universe continues. Whether genuine or unimaginative illusion, I fail to notice the difference.'
Soulless Gustav drew in a deep, calming breath. 'Mine shall have one less accursed witch.'
'Details. Unimportant trivialities. Pity though.' I smiled wide. 'I've heard accursed witches can grow on you.'
Soulless Gustav's universe exploded. I didn't think it intentional, but this cosmos was a reflection of his will. I understood now why he'd allowed me into the heart of his madness. He wanted my approval in the shape of fear and wonder. I was flattered my reaction meant so much to him, but it wasn't because he respected me as a witch. It had been so long since he'd been criticized, I don't think he could've taken it from anyone. Such was the price of living in an empty dream. He'd forgotten that reality wasn't always to one's liking.
We hovered among the glittering shards of unreality for but a moment. They collected together. An ocean of sparkling blue water formed under our feet. A soft red sky grew over our heads. We stood on the surface without sink ing. Thousands of colorful fish swam beneath us. An immense, black eel parted the rainbow schools and sent soft waves across the ocean. Nothing serious enough to disturb our balance.
Soulless Gustav folded his arms tightly across his chest. 'What do you think of my sorcery now?'
I knelt and pushed my hand through the depths. A fish swam right into my grasp. I pulled it out, holding it by the tail as it twitched. Its gills gulped for water as its mouth gaped. 'As impressive and pointless as before.' I threw the phantom back into its home.
Soulless Gustav scowled. 'You are starting to try my patience, witch.'
'To be honest, mine is wearing thin as well. Shall we get on with it?'
'Eager to die, are you?'
'If death means leaving behind your vainglorious chatter, I welcome it.' A witch rarely is so direct, but I couldn't resist jabbing at his narcissism. It was such an easy target.
'You can't win, you know. Would you like to know why?' he asked.
'Not really.'
The ocean churned and bubbled, forcing me to shift to keep my balance. Dark things with lumpish shapes surged beneath the waves.
'The magic told me that I had only one person to fear,' he said. 'Only one who might pose any threat to me. A witch, ironically enough. It even told me where to find her. So I struck her down while she was unaware.' He grinned. 'Very easily too, I might add.'
Now I understood those mysteries I'd almost given up on. Ghastly Edna had known what was happening that final day because the magic had spoken with her too. She could've saved herself, but she chose instead to be killed. She'd given her life to protect me. A witch was to die there that day. It wasn't unavoidable, but it was the most practical solution. Even in death, Ghastly Edna had been a great witch.
I wiped the beginnings of a tear from my eye. 'Did perhaps the magic mention something of two witches living in the same cabin?'
Soulless Gustav's smug grin fell away as his ocean grew deathly calm. The shapeless things ceased their swimming.
He squinted. 'What?'
'You killed the wrong witch. You took away the most precious thing in my life, and for that, I will kill you. But you have also given me a most precious gift, even if unintentionally.' I smiled. 'And for that, I shall kill you quickly.'
I reached out with my magic and found the two pieces of reality floating in Soulless Gustav's madness. They shone like beacons. I plucked them from wherever they were and drew them to my side. Newt and the gray fox materialized beside me.
