As much as it pained me to do so, I agreed to ride in Antony's horrid sports car once again. I considered asking him to drop me off so I could grab my trusty bicycle, but I begrudgingly had to acknowledge that time was short and his vulgar vehicle could transport us around much faster. And we were heading to basically the same place since our houses were next door to each other.  Although I didn't want to separate from Chaucer, we decided it would be best if he remained with Magic Al, since there wasn't likely to be a lot of extra space in Antony's car.

I had given it a lot of thought during the ride and came to the conclusion that my best weapon was clearly my typewriter. It was the tool I used to ply my trade and thus clearly served as an apt symbol of my skills. Plus, I liked the idea of my typewriter being enchanted. Maybe I could crank out my novel faster with a little magical assistance. Heck, if I could write faster, I could also write more so perhaps I could really stretch myself out and add a few hundred extra pages to my epic tome. The thought of that made me feel a little giddy.

Magic Al had mentioned we could grab an artifact or two so I thought maybe I'd also bring a copy of my first novel Ennui in the Everglades. He said there was power in words and in my humble opinion that book contains some of the most powerful words ever penned.

I took a moment to walk around the house and see if anything else could be useful, but truthfully, I don't own many possessions and I hadn't been in the house long enough to really settle in and accumulate anything. It was mostly empty rooms with the sparsest of furnishings. Still, I didn't know for sure if I was ever going to see it again, so I allowed myself a moment to soak in the surroundings before heading out the door. I didn't bother to lock it. What was the point?

Antony was coming out of his front door at about the same time, loaded down with an electric guitar, an amplifier, and some sort of oversized machine gun. I wasn't sure how all this stuff was going to fit into his car, given that it wasn't exactly the most spacious even without extra baggage, but somehow we managed to cram everything in across our laps, with the neck of the guitar and the barrel of the gun sticking out the open window.

"Is the gun part of your skill set?" I asked.

"Sure it is, man. I mean, I've never actually practiced shooting it or anything, but how hard can it be? You just point and pull the trigger, right? Plus, I look totally badass when I hold it."

"Yeah, I definitely don't think looking 'badass' qualifies as a skill."

"Then that just shows how little you know. You think it's easy looking as cool as me? It takes a lot of skill and talent. You can't do it. Even on the best day of your life you'd just look like some school loving academic dork."

"I'll have you know academia is cool," I said. "Besides, you're the one who looks like a pathetic, behind the times loser stuck in the past decade. Feathered hair is passé, 'bro,' and it's never coming back."

"Dang, man, you didn't have to be hurtful," Antony said.

"Yeah, well, I guess sometimes the truth hurts, doesn't it?" I retorted.

Antony cranked the stereo up to maximum volume and we drove back to Magic Al's shop without saying another word to each other.

We found Magic Al sitting on the floor with his feet tucked underneath him. He was situated in the center of a circle of lit candles and there were numerous open books scattered about on the floor around him. His eyes were rolled backwards in his head and he appeared to be in some sort of trance.  Chaucer was on a nearby bookshelf and appeared to be dozing off himself

I wasn't sure if we should disturb Magic Al while he was in this state, so I coughed quietly to subtly alert him of our presence.

Before I could see if my tactic worked, Antony blurted out at top volume, "What's up, Magic Dude?"

Magic Al's eyes rolled forward and he seemed to suddenly wake up. "Ah, you've returned. What have you brought for me?"

We placed our possessions on the ground in front of him and he looked them over one by one, making quiet vocal utterances every once in a while.

"Hmm... yes... very interesting..." He paused when he came to Antony's machine gun. "You didn't mention you were a skilled marksman."

"He's not," I said.

"Hey, I've shot that thing before at stuff. If you spray it around enough you're sure to hit something."

"I must emphasize any magical enhancement I give these objects will only be useful inasmuch as you possess skill with them. Our friend Amelia was unfamiliar with some of the technology utilized even in the ancient crop duster, but her skill at flying is such that after I magically started it up for her and gave it a little extra juice, she was up in the air in no time."

"I'll be fine," Antony rolled his eyes. "Just magic up the gun already."

"Very well, let's hope this thing is the difference maker. I will infuse each of your totems with as much magical enhancement as I can with the time that is available to us. I've got Amelia on the other end of a walkie-talkie. As soon as she spots some sign of the witch she will tell us where to go. I will be considerably depleted by the time I'm finished so it will be up to you to utilize your abilities wisely. Now please, do try to be quiet as this will require some concentration."

Antony made a zipping his lips motion and I nodded my assent in silence as Magic Al resumed his trance state and began muttering strange words that sounded like no language I was familiar with.

I was filled with the strangest sort of anxiety as I waited. On the one hand I was in absolutely no hurry to come face to face with a powerful witch. On the other hand, the anticipation of hearing a sighting confirmation from Amelia was agonizing. Every once in a while the walkie-talkie would make a little crackling noise and I would feel a jolt of nerves in my stomach. I tried to distract myself by thinking of my new novel, but for once, I couldn't focus on it.

In the meantime Magic Al's hands began to glow with a bright blue light and he moved back and forth between the various objects we'd brought him. As he touched each one a bit of the blue light transferred from his hands to the object in question.

I glanced out the window from time to time. I could see a noticeable change in the quality of the daylight. Sunset would be rapidly approaching. There was no doubt time was running short.

It somehow seemed as if the seconds were simultaneously ticking by with blinding speed and rapidly slowly. Maybe it was some sort of side effect from the time vortex, or maybe it was just plain nerves, but I had no gauge whatsoever of how much time had actually passed.

After what felt like both an eternity and no time at all, I practically jumped out of my skin when I heard Amelia's voice coming through the small walkie-talkie.

"This is Lady Lindy. Do you read me? Over."

Magic Al snapped out of his trance instantly and grabbed the receiver. "Loud and clear. Over."

"Just spotted massive amounts of mist pouring out of the woods due north of the old water tower. Over."

"Roger that. We're on our way. Over."

Magic Al set down the walkie-talkie and looked at us with a serious expression on his face. "Well, gentlemen. We've prepared as much as we can, but the time has come for action. I will follow behind you as quickly as I can, but you must get to those woods with your artifacts as soon as possible. Hurry! There's no time to waste! Go! Go!"

"Awk!" Chaucer squawked. "It's been nice knowing you."