A story about a young witch-in-training who must solve riddles to find her lost magical cat.

In a world where the tides dance to the symphony of the moon and the stars whisper secrets to the night, there was a quaint village intertwined with magic called Elara's End. In this village lived a young witch-in-training called Opal.

Opal was unlike other witches. She wasn't born into a witches' lineage but discovered magic in an old, weathered book she'd found in her attic at the age of seven. Since then, magic became her secret ecstasy. She spent countless hours studying spells and brewing potions. But it was her magical black cat, Obsidian, who made her witchcraft complete.

Obsidian was no ordinary cat, oh no. He was a Dusk Lynx – a tributary species blessed with massive intelligence, the ability to speak human language, and arcane prowess. He was her magical guide and her best friend. But one ominous night, Obsidian vanished, leaving behind a series of bewildering riddles.

"The sun's retreat, where the enchanted meet,

Underneath the ancient guardian of the sleeping street.

But fear not the labyrinth, for it's not defeat,

The mystic-hued helix holds your beloved's seat."

Baffled, but unyielding, Opal chose to decipher the cryptogram and embark on a quest to find her feline friend. She interpreted the first line to be a reference to twilight, a harmony of time likely to bring magic and mundane together.

The 'ancient guardian of the sleeping street' made her think of the ancient willow that stood tall and stoic at the end of her village, next to the Goblin's Creek. An eerie quietude wrapped this locale, rendering a semblance of the street lying 'asleep'. Realising her first destination, she set out as dusk painted the village in her secretive hues.

As she ventured beneath the sprawling branches, shadowed under the willow's moon dappled leaves, she found an underground entrance - a labyrinth. Suddenly, the third line of the riddle made sense.

Down the labyrinth, she found herself spiralling deeper, eventually coming across a colossal spiral staircase, painted myriad hues under the ambient bioluminescence. This had to be the 'mystic-hued helix'. Gathering her courage, she began descending, the ethereal glow guiding her deep into the earth's very heart.

Finally, she arrived at a grand chamber. The chamber was a marvel of stalactites and stalagmites, with a single, towering crystal in the center. It was there that Opal found Obsidian, perched atop the crystal under a luminescent mushroom’s glow, seemingly waiting for her.

"Obsidian!" She rushed towards him, wrapping the purring creature in a relieved embrace. "But why? Why leave me with only a riddle to find you?" She asked, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"You're learning to embrace your inner witch, Opal," Obsidian began, his voice serenely wise. "But magic is far more than spells and potions. It's about sensing the unseen, interpreting the unknown. It's the unity of intuition and intellect."

Opal held him tighter, frustration dissolving into understanding. The journey through the riddle wasn't just to find Obsidian; it was also a journey to discover her own magical potential.

"Promise me," she knelt, stroking Obsidian's coat, "never to disappear like that again."

"Prrrrromise," purred Obsidian, tapping his tail against her cheek.

Hand in paw, they emerged from the labyrinth, under the willow and the twilight sky. That night, Opal didn't just recover her magical cat. She found her confidence as a witch, understanding the true essence of magic.

So, through the spell of time in the village of Elara's End, tales were spun about a brave young witch and her enigmatic feline, whose bond exceeded the realms of magic and riddles. For the tale wasn't just about finding; it was about discovering, understanding, and above all, becoming.