Chapter Twenty Three
The spell turns out to be straight forward enough to create, which makes me a little nervous about how effective it’s going to be. Cindy, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have any problem with its simplicity.
“Some of the most effective spells are a mixture of a couple of basic substances.” Cindy makes a bit of a racket as she picks up and set down items. “It’s a matter of knowing what items to put together. Like baking or chemistry.”
Her assurances don’t make me feel any better since I’m bad at both of those things, and as far as I know, she is too. Then again, I’d never seen her try either so who knows, maybe she’s a natural. Hopefully.
The particular mixture needed for the trapping spell is simply a balance of the four elements.
“What do you mean?” I ask when Cindy reads the description. “I don’t think tossing the cell phones into a bunch of fire and water and earth is going to help anything. We need a working phone when we’re done after all. And how do you put air on something anyway? Isn’t it already covered in the stuff?”
“The elements are in everything,” Al says when Cindy growls her frustration at my lack of understanding. “And usually for things like this, it’s less about working directly with the elements but instead using something representing them and holds a large amount of magic.”
“Such as?” I can’t imagine what he could mean.
“Fire could be ash for instance,” Al explains.
“Such as the ash from a certain protection spell burnt very recently,” Cindy adds. “Earth can be the dust of the some of the most magical plants I’ve ever seen. Water, the saliva of a sorceress.”
It takes me a minute to register what she’s saying, and when it does click, my face contorts in repulsion. “Are you serious?”
“Very.”
“You expect me to spit on my phone?” There’s no way I’m doing anything of the sort.
“Actually, I’ve already started with mine,” she says. “So that one first. Then yours.”
She shoves it in front of my face so close I can smell the burnt bits of paper and wax combined with the crushed flowers and the original plastic of the phone.
“Think of trapping and binding as you spit,” she tells me as I resign myself to the task.
I build up the saliva in my mouth and hope I don’t completely miss the phone and hit her hand, or worse, my own hand.
“And finally,” she says as though I hadn’t spat at her, “air. Or, the breath of a witch.”
She whispers a single word in the same language she’d spoken for the spell to fix my sight. Since her other spell didn’t work, she’s not adding to my confidence for this one.
“I thought you didn’t know the language of magic,” Al says when she’s done.
“Gran taught me a couple of things,” she brushes off his suspicion. “Ending a spell is the first thing I learned.”
“That’s it?” I’m still alarmed at how easy the whole thing is. “I don’t need to do anything more with my magic?”
“Just need to repeat with your phone.”
I hand it to her and together we complete the spell more quickly than the first time. The mounting pressure for us to hurry urges us on. Mom is still in trouble and we’ve spent so much time in this world already. As Al said, there is no knowing for sure whether or not she’s still alive.
I have to believe she is, and I know Cindy feels the same way.
“Are you sure this will work?” I ask as we make our way back outside.
“Yes,” Cindy says more confidently than I’m betting she actually feels. “Remember to turn your phone off the second he’s trapped.” She shakes my shoulder for emphasis. “I want to know what you’re thinking, Al.”
“It will work,” Al says.
“You don’t sound so sure, but that’s not what I meant. You said before you don’t think we should go in together and you don’t plan on waiting to go in a few minutes after me, but what other options are there?”
“Enter from either side,” he says.
“From either side of what?” I ask.
“The doorway,” he explains. “Sin will go through the door inside the house which will lead outside. Once she goes through the door and into your world, she’ll climb up to the roof on the back of the house and bring herself around to the front. They shouldn’t suspect anything unusual.”
“And you’ll come from the outside and end up upstairs inside the house.” Cindy grunts her approval. “Couple of problems, though. Are you sure the door works both ways?”
“No,” Al admits, “but if it doesn’t, we can always make our way back to the house and go through the other direction. Not ideal, but we should be able to make it work.”
“What’s the other problem?” I ask.
“Why the hell do I have to come all the way out here and get the other set of keys?” Cindy demands. “There’s no need for all of us to walk out to the back of the house like this.”
“Didn’t want you rushing in without us,” Al says and I can hear the amusement in his voice. It makes me want to smile, especially since I know how annoyed Cindy must be.
But any hint of a smile is instantly gone from my lips in an instant when a strange male voice says, “Look who’s woken up.”
A screech rips through the air, my skin to turning to ice. The sound is too similar to the chimera, but different enough I know we’re dealing with something new.
I’m sure the voice comes from a wizard. The wrongness of his magic itches at my skin, tries to crawl underneath and makes my entire body feel like it’s been covered in slime.
“Odd you managed to bring her back, Aldric,” the wizard says, “but you still haven’t reached your potential.”
One of Al’s hands touches my arm as he positions himself between the wizard and me while the other draws his blade.
“I suggest you take this last chance,” the wizard continues. “Before I take her instead.”
“You want me to take her magic.” The tone in Al’s voice shifts as he realizes something beyond my understanding. “You’re not here because you felt power the other day, are you?”
“Did you think the University wouldn’t have someone watch over you?” The horrible creature makes another screeching sound to mimic the wizard’s laughter. “It’s the rare student who chooses not to ask for a task from the Sword. The only reason you’ve been left this long is because you seemed to have promise. After all, it’s not every wizard who’d give up his own sister’s life for the cause.”
It isn’t surprising the comment makes Al angry enough to attack the wizard, even though he’s completely out matched. His growl of anger is followed by a clash of steel.
It takes only an instant for the wizard to prepare and throw a dangerous spell at Al. I don’t think before throwing my hands up and pushing my own magic out as a barrier around both Al and myself. It’s nothing compared to the protection spell Gran left in the house, but it does the trick. The fragmented and tainted magic hits the barrier hard, but doesn’t pass through. The wrongness of his spell touching my barrier affects me more than the actual attack. My stomach revolts against me until I’m forced to lower one of my hands to clutch at my belly.
The act weakens the barrier, but Al’s blade completely destroys it. I know he is going for the wizard, but the feeling of his blade slicing my magic is almost as bad as a direct blow and causes me to stagger back several steps. All made worse because of my shaky balance.
But I can’t let it put me off too long. He’s going to cast more magic, and I need to be ready.
The wizard’s energy builds too quickly. I’m not going to be able to get my barrier up in time.
And then, nothing.
It’s not like he drops the spell, or someone interrupts it. It’s like his magic isn’t there anymore.
“It—It worked.” Cindy sounds confused. “I got him. I—Watch out!”
I’m shoved to the ground with som
eone landing on top of me, pinning me in place.
“Stay,” Al says into my ear before leaping back to his feet. I start to sit up, wishing more than anything someone would tell me what’s going on. This time Al’s warning comes as a shout. “Stay down, out of the griffin’s reach.”
There’s another screech from the creature, this time much closer and only feet from my head. And there’s something else I hadn’t noticed before; the sound of something slapping against the wind. Is it possible the creature is flying? But from the noise it makes, it has to be huge, around the size of a horse.
I flatten myself against the ground and hope it doesn’t land, especially not on top of me.
“Use your dust,” Al shouts. “Like you did in the barn with the chimera.”
“All I did is scare it,” Cindy calls back from a bit farther away. She isn’t lying completely useless on the ground. “You said the only people who can control these are—DUCK!”
There’s some shuffling, grunting and then what sounds like a body hitting the ground. From the sound of the creature, I know it hasn’t fallen, which only leaves two other possibilities.
“Do it!” Al yells.
Cindy’s magic is as powerful as I remember, even without being able to see anything. It causes my stomach to swirl and for the ground to feel like its falling out from under me. It’s a relief when the feeling of terror fades, but lying down is no longer an option. I need to get up.
“I don’t think it’s going to stay away,” Cindy says.
“I see it,” Al says. There’s a swooshing sound and what must be keys clanking together. “Take them and go.”
“But I can try again. I might be able to...”
“It won’t work. Just go.” When she doesn’t move, he adds, “What are you waiting for?”
“I need the box. It’s the only way I can distract Stewart.”
I paw the ground for where I might have dropped my purse. When I find it, I have to spend more precious seconds digging for the thing. I knew I should have gone with a smaller bag.
She kneels beside me to take the box. “At least we know the phone idea works,” she says with a nervous laugh.
Cindy’s nervousness makes me realize what has happened.
“You can’t use your cell again,” I say. “It’s already trapped one wizard and you can’t turn it on without releasing him.”
“Don’t worry about it, we’ll figure something out.”
“Take mine,” I say while pulling my cell phone from my pocket and handing it to her.
“No way. I’m the distraction, remember. You need it to get the bastard.”
I shake my head and flash a confident smile. “I have my magic and Al. You need it more.”
She hesitates for way too long. I can already feel the magic of the creature getting closer. I find her hand and press the phone into her palm.
“Do not get yourself killed,” she says firmly. “Understand?”
“Hey, Sin,” I say as she starts to leave. “Kick his ass.”