Meanwhile back in the camp.
"I have news that they are on their way" said Captious as he was in Stella's office.
"More good news, that is nice to hear, we do need more help" said Stella as she looked at Captious.
"That is true" said Captious.
"But other than that, things are always very quiet over here" said Captious
"Sometimes quietness can mean danger" said Stella
"I suppose so" said Captious.
"Anyway, I have to get going now, Sapiens asked me to meet him" said Captious
"Oooh Really?? so what are you two going to discuss??" asked Stella, as she was not asking him as Vice Chancellor, but as a friend.
"I seriously do not have an idea, you know how unpredictable Sapiens has become nowadays" said Captious as he laughed
"That is true, well I bid you good luck on whatever it is that you two are going to do" said Stella as she laughed.
"Well Thank you Stella" said Captious as he smiled as he stood up to go on his way.
"Curtis" said Captious as he nodded at Curtis as he saw him pass by.
"Captious" nodded Curtis back.
"My my, why has everyone decided to visit me today?" asked Stella as she laughed.
Today alone she had met with almost five people, today might have just been one of her not so many busy days as Chancellor.
"Well because you are Vice Chancellor" replied Curtis as he sat down leisurely.
"Well then do you mind switching places?" asked Stella as she was in a very good mood today.
"I don't mind switching places, but I am sure that the Council would not be happy with me being in such a place of power, you know how they are" said Curtis
"Too bad, I would rather be a guardian than carry the whole weight of the Witch Realm on my shoulders" said Stella
"Well you carry the weight well, I cannot even tell" said Curtis
"Is that a compliment Curtis?" asked Stella as she smiled.
"Maybe it is, or maybe it is not" said Curtis
"I will take it as one" said Stella as she laughed.
"Well Curtis what brings you here today?" asked Stella as she gathered some papers on her table, and she put them in one of the drawers.
"Who else??" said Curtis
"Is it Annie?? is something wrong with her? is she okay?" asked Stella as she was already panicking.
"Relax Stella, Annie is fine" said Curtis
"Really?? then can you please tell me what you are talking about?" asked Stella
"I sense something is off here" said Curtis
"What do you mean?" asked Stella
"Well Matt has been missing since this morning, and I think that Azazel has something to do with it" said Curtis
"Wait Matt is missing?" asked Stella
"Yes, apparently Maddie and Annie have not seen him all day, so Maddie casted a location spell, and they found out that he's out of the camp" said Curtis calmly.
"Why are you only telling me this now??" asked Stella
"You should have told me this earlier so I could have sent Mira, and the others to go find him" said Stella
"So where are Annie and Maddie now?" asked Stella
"They went to look for him" replied Stella.
"They went to do what??" asked Stella in shock.
"And you allowed them??" asked Stella, because she knew that Annie would not do anything without asking Curtis first.
"Yes I gave them permission to go" said Curtis
"Curtis why would you do that??" asked Stella
"What if something horrible happens while they are out there?" she said
"Relax, don't worry, nothing bad will happen to them, I told Annie to contact me immediately if something goes wrong" said Curtis.
"Okay so what?? the question is why would you let them go, you know how dangerous it could be for them to go without any protection" said Stella.
"Tell me something, how did Annie manage to hold off Armand?" asked Curtis
"Well she held him off using her magic" said Stella
"But that's besides the point" said Stella
"No that is the point, how do you expect Annie to grow and practice more, if she's always sheltered under us?" asked Curtis
"We need to allow her to grow, and use her powers, she needs to learn to defend herself first, before calling for help" said Curtis
For Curtis, Annie being quick on her feet and being a fast thinker was what he wanted from her, she needed to be able to come up with plans as quickly and as efficient as possible.
Neither he, Stella, Matt, Maddie, her parents or anyone else, would be able to protect her as good as she could, and he needed her to see that.
"I see what you are trying to do" said Stella
"But are you sure that she is safe out there?" asked Stella
"I have my doubts, but that's why I allowed Maddie to go with her, they will be able to protect themselves" said Curtis
"And so far, I haven't heard anything from Annie, which means that they are both fine" said Curtis
"Curtis, please just tell me all your plans and thoughts before you do something, because you can easily give me a heart attack with this mysteriousness of yours" said Stella as she sighed, but Curtis remained quiet.
"My Chancellor" said Mira as she walked into the room.
"What is it Mira?" asked Stella as she raised her head.
"My Chancellor, Annie and Maddie said that they had permission to leave the camp, I just came to confirm it from you directly" said Mira
"Good thinking Mira" said Stella
"Ahh yes, they do have my permission to leave the camp, just this once" said Stella as she looked at Curtis
"Okay My Chancellor, I just came to confirm" said Mira.
"My Chancellor, should I send some witches to watch after them?" asked Mira.
"No, Mira, that would not be necessary, just stay on guard" said Stella
"Okay My Chancellor" said Mira
"You may go now" said Stella
"Thank you My Chancellor" said Mira as she bowed and left.
Meanwhile back in the plain of Kadam.
"Come on help me, maybe we can find something to help us??" said Maddie
"What exactly are we trying to find??" asked Annie
"Because as far as I know, all I can see are rocks, and sand and more rocks" said Annie.
"Then that means that we have to use a spell, to try and break the enchantment" said Maddie
"Okay then which type of spell??" asked Annie.
"You tell me, were you not the one reading about spells today??" asked Maddie
"Well the thing is that I got bored, and so I went to go meet you and Curtis" said Annie as she smiled sheepishly.
"Haha talk about a coincidence" said Maddie as she laughed.
"Well don't you know any spells that can work??" asked Annie
"That's the thing, I do know some spells, but I am not sure that they work for musical enchantments casted by piped pipers" said Maddie
"Well you can at least try" said Annie as she moved a step back.
"Eww I think that I stepped on something" said Annie as she felt something moist on the sole of her shoe.
"What is it?" asked Maddie as she walked towards where Annie was.
"It looks like mud" said Annie as she looked down on her shoe
"What do you mean mud?? how can mud be here, it's so hot, just look at the scorching sun" said Maddie as she doubted that it was mud.
"Well Maddie, that's the thing, the weather here is very weird" said Annie
"I remember when Armand tried to kill me suddenly it became foggy, and it gave me time to hide, and when I managed to trap him, the fog cleared up like nothing happened, and the sun went back to shining" explained Annie
"Really?? well back at the camp it didn't get foggy, it remained sunny" said Maddie
"What?? that's weird" said Annie as she was shocked.
"Very weird" said Maddie.
Annie looked down, were her eyes playing tricks on her?? or did the mud just double in size? because now she was standing in a puddle of mud.
"Umm Maddie, was the mud this much? or??" asked Annie as she looked at Maddie
"*Gasp*" said Maddie as she looked down.
"Umm Annie, I think the mud is moving, I just saw it move" said Maddie as she was surprised.
"What do you mean it's moving??" asked Annie as she looked down and the puddle had doubled in size once again, it had now covered her entire shoe, and it was making it's way to her other shoe.
"Umm yes, I see what you mean, it is moving" said Annie as she struggled to move and get out of the mud, but it just made things worse.
It seemed like the mud was now angry at her, and it was doubling even more, who the heck ever heard of moving mud???!
"Maddie help me, I can't get out" said Annie as she struggled to move, but now her both legs were stuck.
"Try removing your shoes" said Maddie
"I can't, I'm worried that my hands might get stuck too" said Annie.
"This isn't normal mud" said Maddie
"Wow gee Maddie, I can see that" said Annie as she decided to calm down, she realized that the mud acted like quick sand, the more she moved, the faster she sank in.
"Hold my hand" said Maddie as she stretched her hand to Annie, while trying to avoid the mud, before they both got stuck in it.
Annie grabbed Maddie hand, and Maddie tried her best to pull Annie out of there, but it did not work, the mud was just too strong??
Annie let go of Maddie's hand "It's not working" she said
"I know" said Maddie as she tried to think of what to do.
"Ahhh" cried Annie as she suddenly fell down, it was as if the mud was eating her.
"Annie!!" called Maddie as she realized that the mud was now like it's own area, and Annie was seriously stuck in it.
The mud now reached to her shoulders, and it was not showing any signs of stopping.
"Help, I'm going to be drowned, in mud!!" cried Annie