The Ragwitch Read Online Free PDF Page A

suddenly went cold. A voice came to her mind, chill and biting—the voice of the Ragwitch.
    “Ah—you have found your way to the globe. But where do you think you are, little Julia?”
    “I don’t know,” shouted Julia, half-angry, but afraid to show this to the awful creature who spoke into her mind.
    “You are inside me,” whispered the Ragwitch maliciously. “Your essence has been consumed. But I will let you live a little longer, for my amusement…and other things. Perhaps they will amuse you too, my little Julia, who loves her dolls. Look into the globe…”
    Julia promptly somersaulted away, deciding not to do anything the Ragwitch wanted—though she felt more scared than ever. But even as she straightened out to swim away, a force gripped her, holding fiercely to the muscles in her arms and legs, twisting them back and forth, rippling them spastically under the skin. Then with a sudden wrench, her head twisted back towards the globe, and the rest of her body followed painfully.
    Julia closed her eyes, but the thing inside pushed them open, making her look at the globe. Again, Julia forced them closed, only to have her own hands rise up to keep them prized open. Open—and looking directly into the swirling colors of the globe, colors that seemed to swarm out, enveloping her in a mist, suddenly going from rainbow-colored to adull, choking grey.
    It swept her up, and dashed her down into the globe. Falling, she felt her body become weightless—and then nonexistent. Without any physical sensations at all, Julia fell into darkness.
    What might have been days or years later, Julia felt her senses returning. She could feel pain, and sense a glimmer of light emanating from somewhere. But her body felt strange and cumbersome, and her lips felt cold and leathery to her clumsy tongue.
    Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the light. They hurt at first, but slowly came into focus. She seemed to be in a rocky cave which was bathed in a dim reddish light. Eagerly, Julia looked around, hope welling up inside her. Escape from the Ragwitch?
    Then she took a step forward and, looking down, saw her feet—long, leathery feet, that somehow seemed to be stitched, and were leaking a yellow, wet straw stuffing…
    Julia’s scream was the first and last time she had control of the Ragwitch’s mouth. Even as it echoed, it was overlaid with a grim cackle, and Julia was paralyzed. She could still see, and hear, and feel, but could no longer move even the most insignificant muscle.
    “For your amusement,” said the Ragwitch out into the cave, though it was solely for Julia to hear. “For your amusement I will let you see through myeyes, hear through my ears, feel what I touch. But you will never inhabit your body again.” Then the Ragwitch laughed, an obscene cackle, echoing out in the dark underground chamber. Still laughing, She began to run through the black tunnels, heading upwards towards the light.

3
Awginn/The Spire
    A FTER THE M AY Dancer dumped him on the edge of the forest, Paul spent an uncomfortable few hours trying to sleep in a leaf-filled hollow, but he kept waking at the slightest noise, so he spent the remainder of the night awake and listening. Fortunately, dawn came before too long, promising something better than a cold hollow frequented by ants.
    In the bright new sunlight, Paul saw that the lands ahead were clear, and obviously populated. Green fields stretched as far as he could see, gently climbing over small hills, or around the occasional small wood or copse—each full of trees quite different from those in the dark, crowded forest.
    The forest lay quite high on the hill behind him, so Paul went straight down, delighting in the ability to run free of vines and clinging roots. Everynow and then, a rough stone wall barred his progress—proof that these pleasant green hills were inhabited.
    Then, as if further proof were needed, Paul spotted a flock of sheep and, more importantly, a