Hidden Magic

  *

  Temorvick swam through the streets of Siania looking around nervously. He had seen giant sharks when he was able to hover over the water. He hoped he didn’t see any now that he was forced to swim.

  He was happy to see land ahead. He was desperately trying to find his ship to escape but wasn’t familiar with Siania and was now lost. With heavy arms, he pulled himself out of the water and onto the land.

  He walked for a few minutes and grumbled when he saw another lake. He stepped into the water preparing to swim, and yelled out in surprise as he fell.

  He landed onto a soft surface and looked around. All he saw was muddy walls and a small flap. The flap started to move. Two small eyes appeared behind the flap. Temorvick moved lower to the ground and looked into the flap.

  “Meow,” Adair said sweetly, trying to sound as much like a cat as possible.

  Temorvick scowled. He held up his hand and tried to send a lightning bolt toward the cat. Adair smiled.

  “Your puny magic doesn’t hurt me ,” he lied. He didn’t think it would be wise to let Temorvick know that there was a magic barrier which prevented him from casting any magic. Casually, he stuck out a swift paw and clawed Temorvick in the left eye.

  He stood up and grabbed at his eye, screaming. “I’ll get you, you little rat!”

  “I’m a cat actually,” he said smartly from inside the cat flap. Adair knew that this was Temorvick he was dealing with. Tyrant of the universe. He wondered what he was doing here though.

  “Come out and play. I’ve got a nice piece of fish for you.”

  “I’ve got something for you too.”

  A small ball rolled out from behind the cat-flap. Temorvick dodged the ball and laughed. A puff of smoke shot out of the ball. The smoke seemed to take on a life of its own and moved purposefully toward Temorvick. It infiltrated his nostrils. He felt as though he was being strangled from the inside. His throat ached. Dizziness over him and he fell to the ground.

  Adair came out from behind the cat-flap. He pranced over to Temorvick who was lying on the ground, breathing slowly. Adair lifted a fuzzy leg and relieved his bladder.

  Just then Lacier, Alexia and Amosa jumped down from the false lake. They were cautious at first and then saw that Adair had control of the situation. They laughed.

  “Adair!” Alexia said, laughing.

  “Well done, Adair,” Lacier said. She inspected the yellow liquid that was dripping off Temorvick’s face and forming a puddle on the ground.

  “What are we going to do with him?” Alexia said as she inspected Temorvick.

  “I say we feed him to the sharks,” Amosa suggested.

  “I don’t know,” Lacier said. “We might need him alive. We don’t know how to return the people on Earth to normal.”

  “What if we had the amulet?” Alexia said.

  “But we don’t have it,” Amosa said.

  “We found you when you were missing, Amosa. Couldn’t we do the same thing here?”

  “You are connected to Amosa. You aren’t connected to the amulet,” Lacier said.

  “But maybe I am. If the amulet made me powerful and I lived on top of it my whole life, I could be.”

  Lacier thought for a minute. “We already know where the amulet is though. It’s in the water.” She looked at Adair and said, “Think we could summon the amulet since it’s on Siania?”

  He raised a furry paw and scratched at his chin. “You know what, it might just work.”

  Alexia sat opposite Adair. The crystal ball sat between them. Lacier and Amosa watched nervously as Alexia placed her hands onto the ball.

  Adair cleared his throat. “This is different to a seeking spell. We want to summon the amulet here.”

  “Okay,” Alexia said, listening intently.

  “It’s kind of like summoning an object, but this already exists, so it’s a little bit harder.”

  Alexia nodded.

  “You have to really try and feel the connection that you have with the amulet. Visualize it and picture it sitting in your hand.”

  “Got it,” Alexia said.

  “Watchers. We ask that you guide us today.”

  A cloud appeared above them. “Request granted.”

  Amosa huddled close to Lacier. She hadn’t stopped looking at her since she almost lost her today.

  “Place your hands on the ball to get a location of the amulet.”

  Alexia placed her hands on the crystal ball and closed her eyes. She imagined the stone amulet and the buzz she felt when she touched it. The amulet appeared on the crystal ball. The dark string threaded through it had hooked onto the fin of a large fish. It glided gently through the water seemingly unaware of the powerful item that had landed on it.

  Adair raised an eyebrow. “Okay here comes the hard part. Imagine it in your hands. Feel the cold texture of the stone against your skin.”

  “I’ll try,” Alexia said. Tiny beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. She held her hands out and imagined the amulet sitting in her hands. She thought about the amulet weighing down her hand.

  After a long minute Alexia sighed. “It’s no use. It isn’t working,” she complained.

  She couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She thought about all of the people on Earth who had already been taken over by the shades. She had to save them.

  Still, nothing appeared in her hands. She sighed.

  Lacier clapped and said, “Well done!”

  “What? I couldn’t do it,” Alexia said.

  “Look.” Amosa pointed to Alexia’s chest . The amulet was hanging around her neck.

  “Oh wow! I did it!”

  “Good work,” Adair purred.

  “We better get back to Earth and work out how to extract the shades.” Lacier started to walk toward the cat-flap.

  Amosa was attacked from behind. Neither of them had seen Temorvick creep into the room as they were too busy watching the crystal ball. Amosa screamed out and immediately tried to counter the attack with magic and was solemnly reminded of the magic barrier.

  Temorvick had a hand wrapped tightly around her neck. He menacingly held up a sharp claw from his other hand to her throat. His rough hands grated against her smooth skin. She struggled but couldn’t shake him off.

  Lacier put her hands out in front as if telling him to calm down. It didn’t work. He tightened his grip on Amosa’s neck making her cry out in pain. She was beginning to have trouble breathing.

  “Let her go!” Lacier shouted.

  “Give me the amulet,” Temorvick ordered.

  Amosa struggled to shake her head in protest. She would rather die than allow Temorvick to have the amulet again. Alexia looked at Lacier and Amosa. Her mind was racing, she couldn’t think clearly.

  Lacier approached them and Temorvick narrowly sliced Amosa’s skin. Bright red blood trickled down her neck. Lacier stood back immediately. Amosa winced as he tightened his hand around the wound.

  “Okay, don’t hurt her!” Alexia shouted. “You can have it, just don’t hurt her.”

  Adair leaned in close to Alexia. “I’ve been watching you, can’t you let him kill her and then heal her?”

  Alexia shook her head. “I’m not risking that. I still feel weak from healing Lacier.”

  “Quiet!” Temorvick yelled, making Alexia jump.

  Reluctantly, she took the amulet from around her neck and walked closer to Temorvick. She shivered wildly with every step. Amosa pleaded to her with her eyes. Don’t do it, Alexia, was the signal she got.

  Or was she trying to tell her something else?

  Alexia suddenly clicked. She wanted her to give him the amulet. He can’t use magic here so they could easily overpower him once he has it and take it back. She hoped so anyway.

  She held out the amulet. Temorvick leaned forward and took it with one hand. He threw Amosa onto the ground. She inhaled deeply and rubbed at her aching neck. Straight away, Temorvick raised his hand to attack. He had planned on
incinerating everybody in the room. Nothing happened.

  Lacier and Alexia ran forward together and pushed against his massive body. They toppled over with him and struggled to keep him down. Amosa stood up and tore a small dagger off her right boot. She aimed for Temorvick and threw it as hard as she could. For Temorvick everything went dark. His last thoughts were hazy. He wondered why his magic didn’t work. He gurgled out loud and said, “Sians, you will pay.”

  His head turned to the side and he seemed to be dead. Alexia snatched the amulet from Temorvick’s lifeless hands.

  Everybody looked and felt relieved. The greatest tyrant the universe had ever known was now dead. They had the power to reverse all his evil doing.

  Alexia stared at the amulet. When in her possession, it glowed a faint pink color. It didn’t look like it, but it was a very powerful artifact.

  “We’d better get back,” Amosa said, still rubbing her neck.

  “Thank you for your help again, Adair,” Lacier said.

  “It was my pleasure as always,” he purred softly.

  They walked toward the cat-flap and walked through it, dragging Temorvick’s body with a rope. They planned to teleport it once they were in an area where they could use magic.

  Adair watched them leave with a tiny glistening in his eyes. Alexia turned to him and sensed that he was sad.

  She made a mental note to visit him after they had repaired the people on Earth.