Page 36 of Charmed

“Which gives me reason to believe his sole purpose was to intimidate me.” By his deepening sense of defeat, such a tactic seemed to have worked. “He manipulated the darkness like putty. I can’t imagine what level of control he possesses over the other elements.”

Silence descended around us like the lingering shadows, extending long after we’d returned to camp where the spellbook awaited us with an aura of concern as it tilted itself in our direction. Alden ignored its frantic fluttering as he gently set me beside the fire whose warmth was nothing to the feel of his body when he’d cradled me against himself on our journey back.

He settled beside me and pulled his knees to his chest to stare gauntly into the flickering flames. My own attention was riveted to his face, trying to discern the emotions hidden beneath his stoic countenance, the only hint being the discouragement clouding his eyes.

Magic tingled in the blistering air as he reached towards the fire, and after considerable strain, the flames transformed from ruby orange to a violet whose bluish-tinted hue illuminated the velvety night, his attempt to manipulate an element like King Ciaran had so easily done.

My already bulbous eyes bulged even farther. Changing an element into a new state rather than merely manipulating it was a magic different than what he’d demonstrated for me while trying to get me to agree to be my apprentice, which just showed the extent of his abilities.

Even with such an impressive trick frustration furrowed his brow and he withdrew his hand with a defeated sigh. My urgency swelled as I witnessed his discouragement settle back around him, a fierce need to help him I couldn’t explain…even as I felt powerless against the onslaught of the darkness undoubtedly swarming his thoughts.

The only help I could think to render would be to interrupt his thoughts before they led him further down the discouraging path he seemed prone to walk. “What do you think of the king’s warning?”

“Hmm?” His gaze was faraway as he glanced in my direction. “It’s hard to know when so little is known about his character. We know little about the infamous ruler of Lumeria, considering it’s rare to encounter the king bound to his kingdom of eternal darkness where it’s whispered that not a single slant of light can penetrate. Some say he’s hundreds of years old, rendered immortal after the curse overtook his kingdom, while others sayheis the one who robbed his kingdom of light.” He shrugged.

The man was shrouded in mystery, making it impossible to know whether or not we could trust him.

“There must be something he desperately needs if he’s expending so much magic to leave his kingdom of shadows,” Alden continued.

“Do you really think it’s to benefit his kingdom, or could he have a far more sinister purpose? Perhaps his warning was merely a guise for a threat.” Rather than freeing him from suspicion, perhaps his warning had merely been a means of masking his true intentions, a sardonic way to toy with those he meant to harm.

“There’s one way to find out.” Alden lifted his hand to test the air around us, murmuring a spell I couldn’t hear…but the magic did. I couldn’t see its response, but even with my limited experience I could feel its energy at work.

“I detect something…it’s strongest in that direction.” His gaze drifted away from the fire towards the dark clearing where we’d encountered the king.

“Does it have anything to do with the warning he alluded to?”

“I’m not sure. It could be something as simple as an obstacle or even a test for the competitors to overcome…or it could be something of a far more sinister nature. Magic is neither good nor bad on its own, but is influenced by whoever wields it.”

Though he said nothing more I sensed his uneasiness, emotions I became more attuned to the longer I remained in his presence.

“How well do you know the other competitors?” I asked.

“I’m at least somewhat familiar with many of them,” he said. “Having been raised in the study of magic, I’ve naturally crossed paths with other students from time to time. However I only know two of them well—my sister Demetria and my friend Kai. Neither of them told me they were joining the competition…but then, I didn’t tell anyone but Kai either.”

“Is there anyone—” I hesitated before continuing. “Do you think anyone you know could be involved with whatever is going on that King Ciaran mentioned?”

Alden considered a moment before shaking his head. “It’s possible. All of us have devoted our lives to the study of magic and this competition is the opportunity of a lifetime. It could be a great temptation to gain an advantage by casting a spell to hinder the others. In fact, Demetria did that very thing on more than one occasion in our studies. But without knowingwhatexactly is going on—if anything—I don’t have any true grounds for suspicion.”

He glanced again in the direction where we’d experienced the palpable darkness, but his expression seemed more frustrated than fearful.

“In truth I’m admittedly less bothered by an undetermined threat and more concerned with the fact that there’s apparently something in these woods to help me with my elemental magic that I missed.” He dipped his hand into the magical flame to extract a handful and used this light to venture back into the forest.

I followed him at a hop as he searched the area where we’d encountered King Ciaran, but the only sign of his presence was the memory of his words and a heavy sensation where he’d stood, as if the night was trying to recover from the king’s manipulation. Though my enhanced vision I was still accustoming myself to didn’t need to rely on Alden’s light, it was difficult to search when I didn’t quite know what I was looking for.

Night stretched on as we combed the surrounding foliage for nearly an hour. I hoped that we’d eventually be able to determine what we were looking for once we found it, drawn by magic even if we didn’t understand what it was.

Alden’s discouraged sigh drew my gaze from searching the undergrowth. “It’s impossible to find anything beneath this darkness, especially when I’m not surewhatwe’re searching for. I’m beginning to fear King Ciaran distracted us with a red herring.”

“It’ll be easier to find in the morning after a good night’s rest.”

My gentle reassurances did little to dispel his discouragement as he reluctantly nodded and made his way back to the fire to settle for the night, me close behind.

This riddle consuming my thoughts made it impossible to sleep, especially once I considered the possibility that the dark king hadn’t been seeking anything from the forest itself…but investigatingAlden, whether he sought to know the power he possessed or wished to discern his position in the competition so he could thwart him.

A single encounter wasn’t enough to draw such a sinister conclusion; just because the king came from the kingdom of eternal night and could manipulate the darkness at will didn’t mean he himself possessed a dark nature.

Yet I couldn’t deny how suspicious it was for him to offer Alden a warning providing him with an advantage that would only make it more difficult for King Ciaran to achieve his own desperate ambitions, escalating my worry that his warning had been given with sinister purpose.

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