Book Three: Chapter 95

“So they put it in this box?”

“The box is an ordinary container. After the incident, a powerful forest deity wandered into the abandoned town and used her magic to seal the box. She then took it to her home, but a fox demon stole it from her and it has been bouncing from hand to hand since then.”

“Which deity?”

“Baba Yaga herself. She is a very old witch, but not the human kind. A vicious woman with a lot of magical power.” She stroked the box. “I have no idea how Emily got it here, but it was a very recent addition to the Labyrinth. It’s also the reason it started transforming on its own. The thing generates an aura of strange, alters the world around it in subtle ways that you don’t think about until after its been happening for a while.”

The story tickled a memory in Mike’s brain, but it slipped away. He was more enthralled by the fact that when Ratu held the box, part of her would disappear through the goggles. Even with them on, a cold pit of fear had op