Page 85 of Earth-Bound

Randall shook his head. “No, I’m not getting my magic back. I can’t sense it at all. But it stands to reason that’s the source of the spell if it’s still ripe after all these years.”

“Someone else could have put an apple down there.”

“But it would have rotted away by now.”

“Maybe it was recent.”

Randall raised his eyebrows. “Nobody could have got into this house in the last week without the dragons scenting them, which means that apple is at least a week old. That apple looks like it was picked less than a day ago. It has to be magic.”

I was looking at Terrund. “Are you sure that’s the apple Mulgrave picked?”

His voice was barely a whisper. “Positive.”

Drawn closer to my mate, I took a step nearer. The violence of the pain took me by surprise. I felt as though every part of my body was trying to tear itself in different directions. Without a doubt, that spell was trying to kill me.

I wasn’t aware of screaming until I could hear myself and then I wondered who was making that noise. The next thing I knew, the pain was gone. I felt the hard floor under my body, my shoulder and hip sensitive where I’d knocked them as I fell to the floor – again – and then the worst sound I’d ever heard. Terrund sobbing.

My jaw didn’t feel like it wanted to work but I forced the word out. “Terrund?”

My hand reached for him automatically but he didn’t take it. My whole hand felt alone and exposed and vulnerable.

As I began to sense my body again, I realised that the pain was gone. I could move. My screaming had stopped.

I sat up. It wasn’t as difficult as last time.

Looking up, I saw Broadmire kneeling over the hole in the floor and, in his hand, was a rotting apple. I watched itwither before my eyes. It shrivelled and turned yellow and then brown, and finally it began to turn soft and collapsed, until Broadmire had his fist wrapped around nothing more than pulp. He squeezed and there was a squelching sound that was unreasonably loud in the sudden silence of the room.

When he opened his hand, the apple was gone and Broadmire was shaking the juice and mould off his hand.

Terrund’s eyes were red-rimmed and he reached out one hand towards me, slowly, testing to see if touching me would cause me any pain.

I flung myself at him and wrapped my arms around him tight. I didn’t think I’d ever let go.

Chapter 35: Terrund

Joe’s voice sounded so hopeful as he asked, “Is that it? Is the spell gone?”

“Yes, it is. Look at it – Broadmire crushed it completely.”

“Can you crush a spell?”

“Broadmire can.”

Joe pulled his head away from my neck just enough to peek over at Broadmire. I noted that he was holding me tightly, crushing me close to him, and I felt more and more right the longer we were joined together.

Together, we looked over at Broadmire and Joe asked, “How did you break the spell?”

Broadmire shrugged.

Randall hit him hard in the shoulder. He looked furious. “What do you think you were doing? What if that spell had harmed you?”

“Troll. Spells don’t stick to me.”

“It might have hurt you anyway.”

“Couldn’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

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