“It’shard for me to believe you when you’ve trapped me in an endless stone tunnel with a man-eating spider.”IheardSpinnerhiss angrily from up ahead at my comment.
Avlynlaughed. “Noone larger than a cat has gone missing at his pincers, as far asIknow.Butas he gets bigger, we will have to keep him well-fed.”Spinnerchirped happily at that.
Istoodup in the enclave we entered.Thestone walls were smooth, like the space inside of a bubble that solidifiedat the base of the castle.Thelight blue glow from the mushrooms dimly lit the space.Onthe far wall, a circle of glyphs glowed a very faint emerald green.Iapproached and ran my hand over the spell.Themarkings had been carved directly into the stone; a permanent spell that needed to be recharged with magic every few years.
Avlynapproached me and set a gentle hand on my shoulder. “So, what’s the plan, my lady?”
Ispun around. “Youdon’t know what to do?”Iasked incredulously.
Theyshrugged. “Notreally.Magicwas never my thing.Itwas already half dead whenIwas born.Ifigured, why waste the time learning it?”
“Itake back whatIsaid before.You’renothing but a brute.”
Theysmiled mischievously. “Neverdenied it, gorgeous.Now…”Grabbingmy shoulders, they spun me back around. “…let’s see just how much you know.”
Ihuffed in irritation but couldn’t resist running my fingers over the glyphs for locking, for pulling, warding, and many others. “Thisspell taps into the ley line that runs under the castle.Ituses the mana, or wild magic of the earth, that travels along it to create a protective barrier against other magical attacks.I’msurprisedAbraxasmaintained it all these years.”
“Ithink you know exactly who this barrier was kept in place for.”Yes,Idid.Avlynran their finger over the glyphs, and the faint green light shuddered under their fingers. “Iguess, as a bonus, it kept our shadow-walking friend out until now, as well.Sohow do we fix it?”
“Itneeds to receive a direct injection of animavigo to act as a catalyst for the spell to pull from the ley line,”Idisclosed.
Avlyn’sface was blank. “Maybetry explaining it likeI’ma brute?”
Ilaughed, not a soft, elegant laugh, but one that grippedme so tightly my stomach clenched.Icouldn’t find my breath again.WhenIfinally recovered,Avlynwas smiling again.
“GladIamuse you so much, my lady.”
“Sorry, your face was just… anyway… where to start?Animavigois the term academics use for what is commonly called magic.Itis the energy that dwells within every mortal living thing's heart.Foranimals and plants, it’s just a drop.Forfae and some humans, that well is deeper.Magicusers of old could call on this energy and manifest it into the world.Everyone’smanifestation was unique, a mirror of their soul.Likethe king’s flames,Jun’svoice…”Ipaused. “...your control of water.”
Avlyndidn’t balk but rubbed their chin in thought. “Thisis whyInever learned about magic.Toocomplicated.Ifeveryone has these wells of energy, this animavigo, why did magic die off?”
“That’sthe great mystery, isn’t it?Wedon’t know.Wedon’t know why we stopped being able to tap into this power.Well, at least most people did.”Ieyed them again, but they ignored me.
“Andhow is that different from the great beasts?”Avlyninquired.
“Beasts, like the dragons, don’t have a well.It’smore like a channel, a direct connection to the mana of the earth.Theonly limit to what they could do was what the earth would provide.Afae can’t call on more energy than their heart can contain without risking their life.Buta dragon or…”Itrailed off, andAvlyn’seyes grew serious.Wewere both thinking about the princess. “…luckily, aside from dragons, none seemed very interested in using this power directly.”
Avlynturned back to the wall. “So, what are we doing here?”
“Thisspell calls upon the mana of the earth so that it can run continuously without interference.Itcan do this because the castle has been tied into a ley line, one of the earth's channels of power.Butit needs… a spark, let’s say.Somethingto get the flow started.That’swhere you come in.”
“Me?”Theylooked perplexed.
“Yes, you.Youstill have access to your magic; we need that for the spark.”
Theirface twisted into a deep frown. “Can’tyou just say some magic words or something?”
Icrossed my arms. “No,Icannot.”Imotioned to the glyph before pushingAvlynforward.
Theyplaced a hand on the glyph and furrowed their eyebrows.Iwaited patiently for a few minutes, but nothing happened.
“Everythingalright?”
“Look,Itold you,Idon’t know whatI’mdoing.”Somethinglike shame passed overAvlyn’sface.
Movingcloser,Igently touched their back, letting my other hand land on top of theirs on the glyph circle. “Yourmagic manifests as water, right?Thinkabout what that feels like.Visualizethe flow from your heart to your fingertips.”
“Iwas never one for all this mindfulness shit.”Avlyn’sfrustration cut through their normally calm voice.
