Eva evergreen and the cu.., p.1
Eva Evergreen and the Cursed Witch, page 1
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by Julie Abe
Illustrations copyright copyright © 2021 by Shan Jiang
Cover art copyright © 2021 by Shan Jiang. Cover design by Karina Granda.
Cover copyright © 2021 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Abe, Julie, author. | Jiang, Shan, illustrator.
Title: Eva Evergreen and the cursed witch / Julie Abe ; illustrated by Shan Jiang.
Description: First edition. | New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2021. | Series: Eva Evergreen ; 2 | Summary: Young witch Eva Evergreen embarks on a journey to find the source of the powerful magical storm known as the Culling and put an end to it once and for all.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020028155 | ISBN 9780316493949 (v. 2 ; hardcover) | ISBN 9780316493901 (ebook) | ISBN 9780316493925 (ebook other)
Subjects: CYAC: Witches—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | Fantasy.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.A162 Er 2021 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020028155
ISBNs: 978-0-316-49394-9 (hardcover), 978-0-316-49390-1 (ebook)
E3-20210611-JV-NF-ORI
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
PART ONE: THE CURSED WITCH Chapter 1: The Crystal Castle
Chapter 2: The Secrets of the Crystal Castle
Chapter 3: The Confessing Map
Chapter 4: Twisted Lies, Twisted Enchantments
Chapter 5: Heartbeat
Chapter 6: Impossible Truths
PART TWO: THE FIGHT FOR THE FORGOTTEN Chapter 7: A Call from Home
Chapter 8: Endless Gray
Chapter 9: A Loss Beyond Measure
Chapter 10: A Glimmer of Light
Chapter 11: The Forgotten Bookstore
Chapter 12: Rogue Magic
Chapter 13: The Start of a Journey
Chapter 14: The Elite Triplets
PART THREE: THE TWISTED FOREST Chapter 15: The Hidden Camp
Chapter 16: The Mirage
Chapter 17: In the Shadows of the Twisted Forest
Chapter 18: A Pocketful of Gold
Chapter 19: The Cave of Secrets
Chapter 20: Into the Belly of a Nightdragon
Chapter 21: A Ghost from the Past
Chapter 22: The Cavern of the Lost
Chapter 23: Water and Fire
Chapter 24: The Nest of a Monster
Chapter 25: The Tomb of the Living
Chapter 26: The Decision
Chapter 27: Fighting for the Light
Chapter 28: The Final Curse
Chapter 29: Impossible Possibilities
PART FOUR: THE BURNING FLAME Epilogue: The Year-End Feast
Acknowledgments
Also by Julie Abe
THIS STORY IS FOR YOU, READER.
YOU SHINE WITH IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBILITIES.
*
AND FOR EMILY—WE LOVE YOU, FOREVER AND ALWAYS.
CHAPTER 1
THE CRYSTAL CASTLE
Glimmering in the sky, the tips of the queen’s crystal spires blazed like torches in the early-afternoon sun. But Mother and I flew low on our broomsticks through the side streets, swathed in the shadows of the magnificent castle.
“It would’ve been faster to fly overhead.” Mother’s eyes darted around as she nodded for us to turn left after a cobbler’s shop. “Yet, if we tried that…”
“Grottel might see us,” I whispered, fear lancing my heart. Mother nodded grimly. Her hair, the same inky black as mine, swirled around her shoulders in the chilling wind.
Even Ember, my flamefox, seemed wary as he stuck close to me, the warmth of his red-gold fur emanating through the canvas of my knapsack. He, too, understood the gravity of this mission. Just earlier today, after the ceremony where I’d received my rank as a Novice Witch—finally, I was an official member of the Council of Witches and Wizards—I’d managed to cast a spell on a map of the realm, searching for the source of the Culling. The last place I’d expected it to come from was Grand Master Hayato Grottel’s tower.
And Grottel, the leader of our Council, was to be meeting with the queen any moment now. If he was the one who started the Culling, a strange, cursed force of nature… Each year, without a moment’s notice, the Culling pelted the land with anything from a nearly unquenchable wildfire to the typhoon that had hit Rivelle’s east coast, including Auteri, the town I’d sworn to protect. If Grottel was truly responsible for the Culling, the queen was not safe.
Mother and I looped around a family on a stroll and sped through the wide stone street needling through the wood buildings of Okayama, Rivelle Realm’s capital city. Each sharp turn matched the pitter-pattering beat of my heart.
“There’s a side street here.” Mother nodded to the right. Her eyebrows were pinched with worry, which was strange on her usually serene face. “Takes us to a bridge, and—”
We flew around the corner, and I breathed in with delight.
The North Torido River rushed under a bridge, rippling playfully. Sunlight danced on the surface of the deep blue-black waters, a clashing, beautiful mixture of dark and light. On the water, a steamboat much like the one I’d taken to Auteri chugged along. The start of my Novice quest had been only a moon ago, but with everything that had happened since, it felt like a year. Novice, Adept, Elite, Master, Grand Master. There were five magical ranks, each more difficult to reach than the last, but joy still tingled through my veins: I’d managed to make my first step into the Council.
We swerved around a wood house, lines of laundry fluttering from the balcony, and then the street opened up to the castle, separated by only a moat. My boots skimmed the surface of the waterway, and a few floating birds rustled their wings, squawking loudly. We shot up a thin, rocky ridge snug against the castle. The thick crystal walls were opal-like, swirling white at the base, but without a door to be seen.
Mother pulled up her broom, gracefully landing on the stone ridge. I tugged up on the Fiery Phoenix, my broomstick, but it tilted to the right, as if it wanted to keep on flying.
“I’m going to turn you into firewood,” I hissed, and half stopped, half fell when the Fiery Phoenix unceremoniously dumped me off. I stumbled to avoid hitting the patches of white flowers along the wall. Dusting off my skirt, my cheeks burned as Mother glanced at me. I quickly looked around at the sharp rocks leading back down to the moat and the thin line of dusty cliffside Mother and I were precariously perched on. “Um, where’s the door?”
“Witches always have more than one entrance,” Mother said, raising an eyebrow.
Ember jumped out of my knapsack and pawed the wall, but nothing happened. I looked closer and noticed etch marks in the crystal.
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, WE WILL BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE.
A CASTLE OF CRYSTAL, A DREAM OUT OF REACH.
ALL CREATED BY TWO FRIENDS WHO WILL NEVER FALL APART.
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, THIS CASTLE WILL PROTECT THE TRUE RULER OF RIVELLE.
*
A.S. & N.E.
A.S., as in Queen Alliana Sakamaki? And N.E. as in… Nelalithimus… Evergreen? My eyes widened. I’d heard that the castle had turned from stone to crystal on the day Queen Alliana had stepped into power. I gaped at Mother. “Did you make this?”
The strain around my mother’s eyes lessened, just a bit. “A story for another day. Watch carefully to see how to get in.” She gestured her wand toward the patches of flowers at our feet.
“Do I need to pick the right flower?”
“Everyone thinks it’s the flashy things, right?” Mother knelt down, the thick black cloth of her dress swirling, like the flowing currents of the Torido Rivers. “But it’s the roots that matter. And all you need is a touch of magic.”
I swallowed. A touch of magic was all I had.
Mother whispered to the roots, and I studied the swish of her wand, trying to understand how to cast enchantments like her, when a shock ran through my veins. Her hands were shaking. Ever so slightly, but they were shaking. She was far more worried about the queen than she would admit. “We will believe in the impossible possibilities, a crystal castle, an underground escape, a choice we won’t make.
The ground rumbled underneath, and she waved. “Follow quickly, all right?”
“What if my spell doesn’t work?”
A gaping hole opened underneath her feet. Mother firmly held on to her broomstick, flashing me a strained smile—
And the ground swallowed her up.
I stumbled back in surprise. There were only the crystal walls, the starburst white flowers shifting gently in the cool air, and me and Ember. My flamefox sniffed the ground, but not a trace of my mother remained. Ember and I were standing on the ridge next to the castle all by ourselves. Across the moat, the city folk strolled through the winding streets, oblivious in their own bubbles.
Follow quickly.
Ember pawed at me, and snuffled at the ground where my mother had disappeared, his pointy red-gold ears turning left to right.
There was no time to waste. I couldn’t hold Mother back.
“Do not glower, let me underneath these beautiful flowers.” Light flashed from my wand, coating the blossoms with a warm glow. I blinked. The flowers waved happily in the breeze, their petals shimmering sunrise gold instead of white. Wonderful. I’d changed the way the flowers looked.
Knock, knock. I jumped. Below, Mother was likely wondering what in the realm had happened to me. I’d just passed my Novice quest. I had to show her I was stronger, especially after I’d fought the Culling in Auteri. Even though I was only twelve years and four moons old and didn’t have the years of magical experience Mother had, surely I could manage an enchantment like this.
I squared my shoulders and pointed my wand at the patch of flowers where Mother had disappeared. “I will not hide, let me inside.”
Dirt rumbled, covering the tips of my boots. I was sinking. Sinking into the ground. Ember barked furiously at the ground shifting around us, and then jumped into my arms. Had… had my spell worked?
My stomach dropped as the world fell out from under me.
CHAPTER 2
THE SECRETS OF THE CRYSTAL CASTLE
The ground twisted with the sharp scent of fresh dirt and swallowed us up. Ember and I fell through a tunnel, shock reverberating through my veins as I let out a cry of surprise. My knapsack cushioned my back as I tightly clutched my flamefox. Crystallized roots wove into a slide, sending me deep into the earth, curving left and right.
Just as suddenly as we’d fallen through the ground, we stopped, landing in a soft patch of vines, dotted with the same delicate white starbursts.
Ember leaped off my legs, shaking himself quickly. He indignantly eyed the slide. I’m not sure if I want to try that again.
“I agree,” I muttered, grabbing my broomstick from where it had tumbled to my feet. “But no time to worry about how we’re getting out. Let’s go.”
I glanced around, and tingles ran up my skin in surprise.
The secret entrance had taken us to a tall, circular chamber of pure crystal that looked like it had been hewn from a single rock. The glowing torches on the wall made the room incandescent with light, every intricately carved edge sparkling like I stood within a treasure chest of jewels. Mother was nowhere to be seen, but there was only one way she could’ve gone—an alcove at the far end led to a ramp that spiraled up. I jumped onto the Fiery Phoenix, and Ember leaped onto my knee, to my shoulder, and then dove into my knapsack. I pushed off the ground, and my broomstick jolted forward, happy to be flying again.
The spiraling ramp looped and looped a dizzying number of times, like a tunnel leading me into the sky. As I went higher, the outside-facing walls showed slightly clear window-like spots here and there, revealing the city far below and the sky stretching around me. When I felt like I’d flown high enough to pierce the clouds, the ramp ended at a tapestry covering an opening. I slowed until I could dismount.
My heart thudding, I pulled back the edge of the tapestry and peeked out. From my knapsack, Ember sniffed at the air with curiosity. The secret entrance had led us to an empty hallway where everything was crystal: the white tiles underneath, the shimmering walls, the ceiling above. The corridor was as wide as the grandest room in Auteri’s town hall, big enough to fit five sailing ships, but this tower stretched up so far into the sky that clouds drifted past the windows.
I stepped forward, and I gasped with realization: Ember and I were in one of the queen’s famed crystal spires. Where Queen Alliana laid down the laws of the realm, where she met with her Advisors—the princesses and princes who served each region. I turned to see where I’d flown in from, but there was only the tapestry of gray rocks and blue sky, almost like a window to a different realm, and the statue of a phoenix, its wings stretched as if it was just about to take off, and a set of crystal stairs.
“Eva!” my mother whispered, from where she leaned against a tall white birch door, listening intently. I took one more look up and down the empty hallway and hurried to join her. Ember crawled out of the knapsack to lean against my boots, his pointed ears twitching as he kept a lookout for us, too.
Mother muttered a spell, and the door parted ever so slightly, soundlessly. She peered through the crack in the door. “The queen… the queen… Where is—”
Then my mother breathed out in relief. “Hayato isn’t here yet.” She nodded toward the white birch door. “Time for you to properly meet Queen Alliana and tell her what we saw on the map. The truth about the Culling.”
“Right,” I squeaked, plucking a spiderweb off Ember’s ear and brushing dust bunnies off my black skirt. “The queen. The map. The Culling.”
My mother pushed open the doors and strode into the royal chamber, with me close at her heels.
I’d thought the town hall in Auteri was grand, with its five floors of marble staircases and gold doors. But the queen’s chambers were extraordinary. Thick white crushed velvet runners lined the center of the room, and the crystal floor was inlaid with streaks of gold.
At the front, Queen Alliana sat on a gilded throne formed in the shape of the sun, with rays illuminating outward. Her crown rested on the dark hair, streaked with gray, flowing down over her shoulders, but her long, regal face looked like she was ready for war. Her pure white gown, laced with gold, glowed brighter than the sunrise. She was talking to a haughty-looking girl kneeling in front of her, adorned with the same thin circlet Princess Stella wore, marking her status as a princess and one of the Regional Advisors.
To our sides, Royal Guards were stationed all around the edges of the room, their hands on their long swords, but a nod from the queen eased the tightness in their shoulders.
“Alliana,” Mother started. “Queen Alliana. May we see you—privately?”
“The queen has a meeting soon. Please state the manner of your business,” said the princess, moving to the queen’s side. The girl looked to be four or five years older than me, maybe sixteen or seventeen, with freckles smattered over the bridge of her nose and cheeks. I was sure I hadn’t ever met her before, yet the way she carried herself reminded me of Princess Stella, the Advisor to Auteri.
Mother glanced at me pointedly, and I summoned the courage to speak. “It’s… it’s about the Culling.”
The guards lining the room shifted, their metal plates clanking.
“We must speak to you alone,” Mother insisted, staring deeply at Queen Alliana. “It’s vital.”
The queen pressed her lips together as she looked from Mother, to me trailing behind her, and then to the legions of Royal Guards all around. She rose from her throne. “Very well.”
The girl followed in the queen’s path to a side room. “And by alone, she means I’ll join, too,” the princess declared, in a voice that allowed no argument. Mother quirked her lips, but looked to the queen.
“Anri’s right,” the queen said. “She’s my shadow, in the way your daughter is yours.”
“Ah, Eva’s no longer my shadow,” Mother said. “She’s a proper Novice Witch now.”
“Well said.” The queen turned to look over Mother’s shoulder, her dark red lips curving up into a smile. “Novice Evergreen, I’m looking forward to hearing about your quests that are yet to come. I’m sure you will accomplish much for our realm, just like Nela.”
“Thank you, Queen Alliana,” I murmured breathlessly, dipping into a deep bow.
