Hilda - The Challenge (30 page)

Hilda frowned. "What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing lethal. Grey elves." The Russian
witch said it as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"The big ones or the little ones?", Hilda
then asked. Her face showed some concern, and William was not
certain if that was something good.

"The big ones. For now. But first we'll try
and talk some sense into him, despite his cleverness."

Again William had the uneasy feeling that had
had been demoted to furniture. The two witches together had that
one down to an artform.

"So, Willy," the ugly witch made him cringe
inside again. "Do you like pain?"

"No. Of course not."

Babs looked at him. "Hmmf. 'Of course not'.
So easily said. Some people- but I digress... Good. Now we have
that established, you should be aware that pain can come on many
different levels. Hmm. Can you think of some?"

William was not prepared for that. "Well,
physical obviously. And mental. Emotional."

"How about magical?", Baba Yaga asked.

"I guess so, although I am not sure what to
expect by that." William felt an uncanny sensation crawl over his
shoulders and he was certain it had a right to be there.

"Oh, don't worry. You'll know when we're done
here," Babs did not make him feel at ease. Then, at a speed he had
deemed impossible for the witch opposite him, she lashed out and
hit him hard on the cheek.

His wand appeared in his right hand as his
left hand touched the burning cheek.

"Good reaction, only too late and too
shallow," Baba Yaga nodded. "Hilda, you may want to go for a walk,
or do something fun around the garden. This might become a bit
painful to watch."

"I'll stay for now," said the wicked witch,
"and I promise not to interfere. Sorry, William."

"Right then. Willy, come over here with me."
The witch stood in the centre of the hut where there was some
limited open space.

William was not sure if that was a good idea,
but as they had come all this way for this, he had no viable
alternative.

"What do your people use to protect their
body?", Baba Yaga asked him. Her eyes were probably directed
straight at him, but he couldn't tell for the folds of her
skin.

"Well, in the old days there were suits of
armour. Something that works now would be the outfit of a football
player," he thought out loud.

"Good. Good. Can you conjure that up?" As he
hesitated, Babs offered that she could provide some material to
change; that would be easier than materialising something out of
nothing.

A little later William looked at a heap of...
stuff. He envisioned the garments he remembered, pointed his wand,
and what he wanted was there. The two witches looked at the helmet,
the shirt with the broad shoulders, the padding. In relative
silence he put it on and looked at his protection teacher. "This
would be it, more or less."

"I see what you mean," Babs said, and kicked
him in the shin. "Not very adequate yet."

William nodded, the helmet bobbing on his
head as it missed straps to tighten it. He took the helmet off,
added straps to it, and after a few tries made sturdy leather pants
that could take a beating. Or a kicking. Dressed like that and
feeling like a complete idiot, he stood and looked at the
witch.

"Good, good. A bit cumbersome to put on, but
this at least will work against many physical unarmed attacks." She
suddenly had a dagger in her hand and slipped that through the
shoulderpadding, pricking William's skin. "See? And this little
thingy isn't even the sharpest tool there is."

William got the message. "This stuff is not
going to do a lot of good, it is?" He wanted to take some of it off
again, but his teacher stopped him.

"The clothes are not good, but the concept,
the idea is. If you can think of this stuff and add to it that it
is inpenetrable, then you've made quite a step forward."

William frowned from under his big Yankees
helmet. "Right. That is where I have stranded before."

"William, how do you make the broom fly?",
Hilda asked him.

Baba Yaga turned to her for a moment, but
said nothing. The question was good.

"Well, I just connect with it and let it know
where I want to go."

"Ah!" Babs nodded. "That is good. Connect
with this outfit, these strange clothes, and let them know what you
want from them."

William closed his eyes and imagined the
feeling for the broom. Slowly he worked his way through the
feeling, shifted it to the clothes, and then he sensed a change in
their presence.

He opened his eyes and saw a small grey
object race towards him. It looked like a ladybug, but was taller
and fatter. Thin wings carried the five inch long apparition
through the air, and did so at an incredible speed. It bumped into
him. The impact was silent and massive, but he did not feel it. It
was as if the grey elf, as that was what it was, bumped off his
shirt without really touching it.

The elf did not give up though. It attacked
again and again, hitting William four, five, six times in different
places. It did not get to him, as long as he held his screen of
massive clothes up. Suddenly the elf disappeared.

With a grin William turned to the two witches
and then a solid whack in the back threw him on the floor. A
combined attack of four grey elves and him dropping his protection
were the reasons for that. He looked up from the floor. "That was
not good, was it?"

"I am glad you noticed that." The Russian
witch got up again. "Do not drop your protection until you are
certain you can. Wear it like a favourite shirt. Now, get up and do
it again."

William started to get up but was whacked
down again by the witch. "Ouch, damn. That hurt!"

"It should. Did I say you were safe?"

Hilda got up and left the hut. "I'll come
back later." She knew that Babs did the right thing, but that did
not mean she was happy to see William get the crap kicked out of
him.

"No," William admitted. So he reinforced his
clothes and then got up. This time Babs whacked him again, with a
bolt of energy. It threw him through the hut and landed him against
a wall, but it didn't hurt. He got to his feet and stared at the
witch, wishing that his feet would hold against another such
attack. He was hit from the left by three of the four grey elves.
He did not really feel them, but their presence did draw his
attention away from Baba Yaga, who banged him with another jolt of
power. It made him stagger on his feet, but he remained
upright.

"You learn fast, Willy. Just now, understand
that you should focus on the place where the most danger comes
from." Something that William recognised as a smile formed on Babs'
face. The reason for that were the four arms that suddenly
materialised from the wall behind him and folded themselves around
him, pinning him to the wall in a very professional manner.

"That is not fair," William protested. "Walls
don't have arms."

"Are you sure?", the witch asked him. "Sure
look like arms to me, Willy. And they will hold you there until you
think of something to get away from them." Baba Yaga took a book,
sat at the table and seemed to have forgotten about William
altogether.

The magic William used was enough to keep the
arms from squeezing him, but he had to think of something, and
decide on that fast too. Trying to understand what it was that held
him did not bring him anything. The magic of the witch was strong,
strange. He'd have to counter it with something that would come
from inside him, not with something logical or sensible.

"Are you having fun?" Babs did not even look
up as she asked him.

"Loads," he replied, making her laugh.

The arms squeezed a bit harder. He knew it.
He'd have to figure out something fast; this situation could not
last. Then an idea shot through his head and somehow into his
magical core. The wall behind him dissolved and the pressure of the
arms made him shoot backwards out of the hut. He had anticipated
that in the fraction of a second he had for it, and somehow he
managed a backward roll and land on his feet. In an impulse he shot
at the wall with his wand, closing it up again. Only then he stared
at where he was and what had happened.

A shriek from inside the hut told him that
Babs was at least as surprised as he was. It also made Hilda come
running back to the hut.

"William?"

He grinned a stupid grin. "I got out."

The door opened and Baba Yaga appeared.
"Damn, that was good, Willy! Instead of fighting the arms you found
a way out. Botch job on fixing the wall, but I'll take care of
that."

A small storm of grey elves appeared and all
dove onto William, bouncing off his protective sphere. His reaction
was to throw even more at them, and many of them smashed into the
trees that were around. A slight sensation of paranoia was taking
over and he was ready for more. Baba Yaga, as far as he knew now,
was the enemy and she was really out to get him.

Of course, she wasn't, but her attempt to get
him into a proper mood had finally worked.

Most of the elves that had been slammed into
the trees sat on the ground, rubbing their heads and looking a bit
surprised. Hilda and Babs knew that these elves could take a
beating, so they did not worry about them.

Babs raised her hands. "Okay, William, calm
down now. I am not going to get to you for now, until I declare the
show on again."

William nodded and dropped his protection. He
was however shaken up enough to keep his finger on it, so to speak,
so he could pull it up at the slightest sign of menace. From
whatever side that might come.

"Fine. Now come in and we'll get some food on
the table."

William walked over to Hilda, took her hand
and together they walked to the hut. Following another impulse, as
they went inside, William patted the wall. "Sorry for the
hole."

The two witches frowned. He really was
learning quickly.

After having something to eat, William took
off the football attire, and they discussed his progress. Baba Yaga
was satisfied, but she urged him to keep close to the feeling. "An
attack can happen at any time. A challenge is called out, but any
idiot can have a go at you. And don't take that lightly, William,
an ordinary can shoot an arrow at you and you have to be prepared
for that as well. Keep the feelers out all the time. It has to
become a part of you."

William nodded. "Like radar 24/7."

"I'm sorry Babs, he often says strange things
like that," Hilda apologised for William.

"Whatever works for him," said the Russian
witch.

The afternoon went by with William practising
drawing up the protection as fast as he could. At first he was
granted some time to just get the hang of it. Then the ugly witch
tied a funny-smelling cloth around his face and the real challenge
for the wizard to be started.

"You will stay here in the garden, Willy,"
she said. "There are some surprises coming at you from now on, and
you will not know when, from where or from whom. Remember that
there also can be good things, so try to distinguish them from the
real attacks. This is the real thing, here is where you can make
points."

William wondered what points they would be
and where he would cash them. But that of course implied he'd get
some. And so far he was staring into the dark, literally. William
held a finger on his protective cover the way he had managed to
adopt it, envisioning it as the football attire, with the
difference that now he was not wearing it. It also gave him more
space to be agile.

Small grey elves now joined their larger
family members. Hilda and Baba Yaga were sitting on one of the
stone benches in the garden, rocky slabs on stacks of skulls,
waiting to see what was going to happen.

The elves did not charge at William
immediately. The larger ones, who would be up first, waited to make
the man uncertain, nervous. Nobody knew what was going on under the
grubby cloth on William's face. Even William wondered about that.
There were images of things flashing before his eyes, things he
hoped he'd never meet for real.

Then there was something coming at him. He
pulled at the energy, to bring up his protection, but he was too
slow: the grey elf whacked him in the butt and flew off again,
laughing loudly. William cursed under the cloth. He had felt it
coming and his response had been curiosity, not safety.

"No cheating, William. Drop the cover." Baba
Yaga really kept a magical close eye on him.

With a sigh he dropped his protection, still
wrapped in darkness, his hands slightly extended in front of
him.

Another elf hit him, and a third. And each
time he was just a fraction of a second too late. Each time he
missed the blink of the eye, the moment that his consciousness
kicked in and wanted to play along. That was, he understood, his
Achilles heel. He should switch off his thinking, like on the
broom. Just do it. As he wanted to sigh, the cloaking of magical
energy flew over him and he heard a soft but distinct "urgh". Then
the sound of clapping hands, and Hilda's voice announcing that he
got one. Well, that made one out of four.

The elves intensified their charges, and the
smaller ones, less painful but a lot faster, also started to add to
the entertainment.

William managed to ward off most of the
larger elves, but the small ones were just too fast for him, and he
was getting tired also, so in the end it was a mere bombardment of
elves on him until he brought up the protection and just did not
drop it anymore. He felt as if he was black and blue all over.

Baba Yaga called off the elves and thanked
them for their support. They stated that they'd had a blast of a
time and buzzed off into the black danger they called home.