“...If you are looking for a witch, first find out what kind of witch she is: what gives her power and what she has control over. There are witches made of stone, rag, air, grass, ice, millet, milk and many others. Tal did not part with the fabric doll, which she carried in her pocket or in her bosom, but no one knew what was sewn into this doll. And all debris on sandy paths, mortar that holds brickwork together, small pebbles, and sand on sea beaches are subject to it. When they went to rescue Ninodia, the enchanted sand crawled after them, like a huge rustling snake. Kem, a born logician, had one assumption about who Tal really was, but he hoped with all his heart that this was not so...” The text is printed in the author’s edition.