It was a very tired Ratface that greeted the next day. She picked at her breakfast of bacon and eggs with all the urgency of someone who’d been fed well every day of her life. She could practically hear the part of her that had lived in a garbage pile screaming at her in disappointment. She put more effort into eating in its honour.

  Abigail was watching in concern but said nothing. Kryssa swept down the stairs and sat next to Ratface.

  “Well, you look like death, I thought you went to sleep early?” she asked. She smiled at Ratface’s dead eyed look.

  Ratface for her part was looking at the mana swirling in the glamour. Kryssa was a mix of so many different people’s contribution that she was like a tapestry to look at. She could even find the part that was from the jellyfish mana she’d stolen. Her stomach clenched. Was Kryssa partly made of magic like the goblin glamour had used? The thought hurt. She went to push her food away before she remembered how hungry she’d been in the past. She kept shovelling the food in but she wasn’t enjoying it.

  “Where’s the rest of our group?” Kryssa asked.

  “That Fulgora girl came and invited them to tour the town with her,” said Abigail.

  “You didn’t go with her?” Kryssa asked Ratface. Ratface shook her head. Fulgora seemed like a nice girl, but she wasn’t mentally prepared for dealing with someone new right now. She was barely managing with Kryssa. At least the girl hadn’t been too upset when Ratface had said she wasn’t feeling well. She’d nodded in sympathy and Ratface had to wonder just how pathetic she looked today. She definitely wasn’t feeling great.

  “I suppose we’ll go searching for your armour when we’re done,” said Kryssa. She leaned back into her chair and pulled a still sleeping Halmir from her pocket. That explained where he’d spent the night at least. Ratface and Kryssa coaxed the little rat awake with food. Ratface could feel some of the dark of last night leaving as she did so.

  “I did hear of someone that might help,” she said, “apparently there is a witch who may able to help.”

  “Where did you hear that?” Abigail asked.

  Right, as far they were all concerned, she’d gone straight to bed. She fed Halmir some of her bacon while she came up with a response. He must be having a very lazy day if he wasn’t getting his own breakfast.

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  “Some people were talking about her when I went up to order breakfast,” she said eventually.

  She could feel Abigail’s gaze boring into her, and she knew she hadn’t got away with the lie. The knight relaxed, deciding not to push it.

  “We’ll go once the three of you finish breakfast.”

  They finally ordered something for Halmir, and he switched into his noble form to scarf it down. At least there was no concern he’d forget about being hungry.

  After that they went searching for the witch and Ratface got a chance to look at the city a bit more. The water still twisted through in the air and she watched people zip through it to their destinations. It made the walkway a lot less crowded. The only people wandering around on the ground were either foreigners like them or people out for a stroll. She watched as two people nearly crashed in the water before being pulled apart. Neither had used any spells, it looked like the water itself was doing the guiding.

  It did make getting directions difficult. Most people didn’t know who she was talking about and the people that did know gave her suspicious looks. It seemed the witch wasn’t well loved.

  Ratface could tell they were in the right area when the amount of people died down. It was also getting colder, and she wished she’d worn a jacket out. Kryssa nudged her and gestured at the waterways.

  They weren’t water, someone had frozen them all in place. They sparkled like strange sculptures crawling through the sky. It wasn’t a perfect, small bits of water still dripped from the ice. It felt like they’d walked into a localised rainstorm. Ratface shuddered. It was a blatant display of power that reminded her how little she could do if a mage truly wanted to crush her. Abigail at least didn’t seem too concerned. The knight was a powerhouse herself even if she didn’t display it as blatantly as this person did.

  They finally got to a house in the middle of the storm. Ratface had expected a cottage, or a mansion or something odd. Instead, she was treated to one of the townhouses she’d seen around the area. It wasn’t even one on its own, it just had a sign on it saying ‘witch services’. Underneath it was a woman drinking tea. She seemed incredibly bored and perked up when the group of them appeared.

  “Oh yes hello, how can I be of assistance?” her voice was bubbly and welcoming.

  “We’re here for the witch?” Ratface asked.

  “Well look no further valued customer, you’ve found her.” The woman drew herself up in pride and gestured at herself. She was dressed just like a normal shopkeeper apart from a big wide hat that sat on her head. Ratface wasn’t sure if it was for her profession or to stop her getting wet.

  “Welcome to the shop of the Lady’s favoured witch. We do bits and bobs, and even this and that if you ask nicely.” She grinned at them like she’d shared a private joke and Ratface was beginning to wonder if they’d come to the right place.

  “Now how can I help a goblin in a human city?” the witch asked. Her eyes shone with knowledge as she looked past Ratface’s armour and straight to her face. She could feel the witch tracing it in her mind.

  Well, at least she knew she was in the right place.