Rob scrambled away from the witch, the icy burn in his left hand trying to pierce the icy fog in his mind. Around him skeletal trees clawed at an iron sky and clung heeedily to hardened frozen earth, and the sound of his hand and boots echoed weirdly among them. The witch rose, terrible and vast in her dark power, while nearby the other witch cackled and called to her swarm of shrieking familiar spirits.<br/><br/><i>It’s not real</i>, his mind gibbered as he cowered back.<i>It’s not real</i>.<br/><br/><b>Correct</b>, Umbra declared, lazily yawning as the black hunting cat perched on a branch.<br/><br/><b>So stop cowering</b>, Halo sneered from beside the stream.<br/><br/>“Cowering?” Rob shouted, shaking a fist in Halo’s direction. “Fuck you, you...”. Color and warmth drained back into the world as spoke. “...overbearing<i>housecat<i>.”</i></i><br/><br/>“There are highly volatile chemicals in my bag.,” the witch grumbled, voice hoarse as she fingered the bruises on her throat.  “You’re lucky we’re not scattered to the wind …”<br/><br/>Rob flexed his left hand, gritting his teeth against the pins-and-needles pain that stabbed through his palms and fingers. “Maybe,” he said, the bravado ringing false in his hollow voice, “you should learn to pack them better.”  Bloody witches.<br/><br/>Trying to salvage his dignity, he squared his shoulders and ostentatiously turned his attention to Dolly - a display ruined by the fact that the red-haired witch was already talking to her. “Right. So, maybe be not as smooth a jailbreak as I might have hoped. Thanks to<i>some people</i>,” he added, pointedly ignoring the witch. “So, what else... Uhm...”. A pause, as he stared at the goblet. “No. You know what?  I’m not going to ask.  I’m not.”<br/><br/>Bloody witches.