As soon as she was in the air, Crystal realized that this was no ordinary witch she was following. They were accelerating far above the speed that most witches flew at, and instead of gaining altitude, they were just barely above the trees. Crystal was flying a little above the witch she was pursuing, just enough that as they flew past a lighted ball field, she could tell that the other witch wasn't on a broom either. After leaving the city lights behind, Crystal dropped down and started closing the distance between them.

They were racing through the night air at an incredible pace. The cooling air was cutting into Crystal’s eyes, causing the tears that were blurring her vision. As they neared the lake, the small nocturnal insects in the moist air pelted her face, cutting into her skin. Waving her hand in front of her, she mouthed a spell under her breath, “Praesidium Vesica”. There was a slight pop, more felt than heard, and the wind, bugs, even the sound of the air rushing by her ears, was gone.

Crystal had never tried to use a protection spell that way before, but was sure glad that it worked because the witch she was following was speeding up again. Fiddlesticks, she thought, whoever that is must have spotted me. Oh no you don’t, she told herself as she matched velocities again. You’ll not out fly me, she swore. Crossing over the lake, they were so low that they were nearly skimming the water. Instead of pulling up above the trees on the other side, they dove through a natural tunnel formed by the trees of the forest. It wasn't a straight shot either, their course zigzagged back and forth through paths that were barely wider than they were, flying only a couple feet off of the uneven floor of the forest at speeds that made the trees appear as a blur as they zoomed past.

Crystal thought back to the days when she was only eight and nine and racing dirt bikes, this is more like riding one of those bikes than flying, it’s an absolute thrill ride, of course one mistake and they'll be scraping me off one of these trees. Suddenly, without actually entering one, they seemed to be in a cave, but only for a split second then they were out into the cool night air at least fifty feet above the ground. Suddenly she realized, they had just gone through another gateway into New Salem. She quickly looked back over her shoulder to spot the opening so she could go back through from this side.