Page 21 of Charmed

The feeling gradually faded along with the fog, allowing my surroundings to drift back into focus. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked. At first everything was blurry, but gradually my vision sharpened, though everything looked different somehow, the colors brighter with several unique hues.

I tried to stand but my legs wouldn't cooperate. Dazed, I looked down. The ground was much closer than it’d been only moments ago. A pair of webbed feet and long muscular legs stretched out in front of me. Puzzled, I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them to look again. The legs were attached to a short, plump body covered with mottled, green skin. I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers; four crooked, green fingers twitched.

Suddenly I understood: this wasmybody. I’d been turned into a frog, a fact only confirmed by the spellbook’s clear horror as it stared down at me from above.

Panic of a different sort seared through me much more quickly with my smaller body. In all the times I’d messed up my past potions, none had ever backfired in such a drastic way as totransformme. How could this have happened?

As if sensing my unspoken panicked question, the spellbook frantically turned its pages before angling itself towards me so I could see the spell printed at the top of the page:How to Turn Your Enemy—Or Your Friend!—Into an Amphibian.

“But I didn’t follow that spell!”

At least, those were the angry words Itriedto speak; instead the only sound that emerged from my new throat was a disgruntledcroak. I flinched at the timbre of my voice, strange to my ears. Naturally the spellbook didn’t understand—not that it’d have answered even if it had—which left me to solve the mystery.

It scooted itself closer, encouraging me to study the recipe more closely. I did, only to notice that it was nearly identical to the healing tonic I’d just tried to brew…save for a single ingredient:dryas.

My breath caught in my throat.No…impossible.

My magical transformation confirmed it wasn’timpossible. Yet I refused to accept I’d made such a foolish mistake, especially after all the times Wizard Alden had impressed upon me how similar dryas and filipendula were to one another and that I was to ensureI never, ever mixed them up.

I really needed to get better at listening.

The part of me that still didn’t quite believe my own idiocy compelled me to further investigate the matter, but the ingredients were still piled haphazardly on the workbench towering high above me and out of reach. I released a frustrated growl that manifested itself as another helplesscroakand tried to jump.

I underestimated the power of my new hind legs and with a single hop my body lifted enough for my small, four-fingered hands to graze the edge of the table and hoist myself up. From there I hopped towards the grass-like pile of whatshouldhave been filipendula…only for me to discover that it was indeed dryas, which looked almost exactly filipendula except for the small white flowers blooming at the tips.

I groaned, and after taking several minutes to curse myself with my new frog tones for making such a foolish mistake, I forced myself to focus on the matter at hand.

It didn’t matterhowI’d gotten into my current predicament, nor did I have time to dwell on the consequences from my rushed spell. The next step was to deduce how to reverse it in order to turn back into a human as soon as possible. After all, Corbin was waiting.

After deliberating where to begin my search, I settled for the spellbook, considering it contained the frog transformation spell so would likely also have its reversal charm.

Luckily the spellbook was in a much more cooperative mood—whether because of guilt or pity I wasn’t sure, or perhaps it feared its master’s ire when he learned his apprentice had been turned into a frog under its watch. Whatever its motive, it allowed me to clumsily flip through its pages, which I had to be careful not to tear with my moist skin and lack of thumbs.

My heart lifted when I discovered the reversal spell hiding in the back of the book…only for it to sink upon reading the words scrawled across the top:requires mastery level in spell-casting.

For a long moment I could only stare in horror, my helplessness threatening to engulf me. My brother was ill, I had no way to reach him or help him, I’d been transformed into a frog, and the only wizard I knew with the skillset to change me back currently attended a competition miles away with no way for me to reach him.

CHAPTER7

ALDEN

Discouragement curled itself around my magic so tightly I felt suffocated. The revealing charm I’d cast on the blank parchment slowly faded, the light disappearing like a watercolor being washed away, leaving it just as blank as it’d been before. I cursed, but my unsavory frustration had little effect on the enchanted object.

The edges crinkled as my fingers tightened around the parchment. I took a steadying breath to force myself to calm; one wasn’t enough, so I took another, much slower, one. Each breath acted as a spell cast upon my body without magic, soothing the rising anxiety that threatened to choke me until it dispelled, leaving me calm enough to approach the problem rationally…and I needed such a presence of mind if I hoped to overcome this first challenge in the magical competition.

This parchment—which was supposedly a map—had been included in my invitation to participate in the competition being held to determine the new three members of the Enchanters’ Council to replace those retiring at the close of this year. Such a position had been my aspiration throughout my childhood, for it was one I could earn through hard work rather having it be bestowed upon me like my royal one that luck, not ability, had selected for me.

I dug out the crumpled invitation from one of my many hidden pockets in my wizard’s robes, emerald green today, and consulted it once more even though I’d already read it enough times to have the words memorized. On the surface its only instructions were to decipher the included map—the blank parchment that had been driving me mad for two days—and then solve the accompanying riddle, which would provide the instructions for the first charm I’d be required to present in order to formally enter the competition.

I studied the invitation for any potentially hidden cryptic codes, but it appeared entirely ordinary, leaving me only a blank map and an unknown riddle. I’d need to solve both to make it past the first round and time was rapidly running out, sand in an hourglass I couldn’t slow, even if I possessed the skills required for such advanced magic.

The sun sank ever closer to the horizon, casting the forest clearing in a sheen of fading golden light. I had until tomorrow to decipher these riddles so I could make my way to where the competition was being held. If I ran out of time…I’d have failed before I could even begin.

The deadline pressed in around me, as if it in itself was a magical force bringing a heavy cloak of anxiety that hovered over me like an oppressive shadow. It mingled with my guilt brought by my sudden departure with nothing more than a hastily written note for my parents to find that had undoubtedly left them and my guards frantic…emotion that threatened to replace the anxiety I’d managed to calm to a low simmer.

Panic joined the suppressing feeling, squeezing my heart until I cast a hasty and rather sloppy soothing spell in an attempt to stave off the rising emotion. When this failed, I procured the calming potion I always kept at hand and took a swig of the amber liquid. Warmth trickled over me with each tangy sip, easing the pressure against my chest enough for me to think.

You’re a wizard, Alden. You can figure this out.

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