Page 68 of Charmed

Thinking of him reminded me of his fierce worry and reluctance when I’d departed for my investigations. He’d wanted to accompany me, but his presence would have defeated the purpose of going undercover, causing us to discover very little information with the other contestants’ likely reluctance to discuss something of such dire importance with a fellow competitor they had yet to bring into their confidence.

From what I’d pieced together from my eavesdropped conversations, everyone’s magic appeared to have been affected, all in various stages. But I uncovered little else…until I reached my last location.

A strong surge of magic made me pause, not just from its sheer presence but its familiarity. It took me a moment to recall where I’d experienced it—not just from the clearing where Alden’s powers had first been affected but my recognition of the caster. Curious, I inched my way along the undergrowth, slowing when I drew nearer to the murmur of voices.

“It appears the spell was a success. Before long, every competitor will lose their magic…if they haven’t already.”

That voice…heart pattering wildly, I hopped into a bush and peered stealthily through the leaves. My eyes bulged when I caught sight of who was speaking.

They stiffened, their searching power reaching towards my hiding place. “I sense magic nearby. Someone is here.” Their gaze locked to mine, their magic advanced enough to have easily detected my presence, even with my magic suppressed.

The air immediately shifted, tingling with magic. My senses immediately grew distorted—the voices became mumbled, and although I could still hear their murmurs the words themselves were indiscernible. My vision whirled, causing everything to grow foggy, twisting the details until they were impossible to decipher…particularly of the caster now standing over me.

The spell reached inside me, a tangible force that created chaos in my most recent memories. When the magic faded, the caster had vanished…along with every detailed recollection of the brief interaction. I scrambled through my thoughts for anything tangible I could cling to, but each time I thought I caught a glimpse, a piercing headache caused it to drift out of reach.

My memories had been altered by magic.

Fear slithered through my jumbled thoughts. Even as I recognized what had happened, this was an area I hadn’t yet studied, leaving me unprepared for how to respond. I tried to move so I could return to the security brought by Alden’s presence, but dizziness paralyzed my limbs.

It took several minutes before the spell’s effect on my addled senses lessened enough for me to return to camp. Though my mind cleared enough for me to navigate my way back, during the journey wisps of my faded recollection grew dimmer and more elusive.

I found Alden pacing with agitated movements. He’d become attuned to my hops enough to immediately notice my return. He spun around to face me, brow creased with worry.

“You were gone longer than you promised. I was afraid—” Upon noticing my dazed expression and jerky movements, he crouched beside me. “Are you alright, Mae?”

Words were difficult to manage, as if the spell scrambling my thoughts had created a temporary barrier against the communication spell that granted me speech. At my continued silence, he carefully picked me up and lifted me high enough to better examine me.

He sucked in a breath. “You’ve been spelled.”

I managed a weak nod. Concentration furrowed his brow as Alden felt the air around me, only pausing when he noticed the curiosity brimming my gaze that I couldn’t contain even when I was too weak to manage words.

“Magic often leaves traces. I’m hoping the spell was cast recently enough for me to be able to decipher the pattern to the spellwork in order to grant me some hint for who’s responsible.”

I expected such an analysis to take time—especially with his increasingly weakening magic—but he soon withdrew his own magic, his expression now hardened.

“Your memory has been tampered with.”

That explained the headache pounding my head so sharply it seemed to reverberate through my small body. “You’re an excellent Wizard to have been able to decipher the spell.” The slurred words were barely manageable.

He muttered a curse. “I knew I shouldn’t have sent you off on your own. Do you know who did this to you?”

I stretched my memory as far back as it would go. Though I’d been certain I’d seen the culprit before they cast their spell, no hints of their identity remained…save for one. “All I know is that I recognized them and was quite surprised by what I discovered.”

“A magical being whom you recognized…” He grew pensive. “That narrows it down, though unfortunately not as thoroughly as I would like. You’d recognize my sister Demetria, my friend Kai, the dark King Ciaran, and various other competitors that we came across when we went to meet with the judges.”

I searched my elusive memories of the moment just before the charm had been cast for any clue that would further narrow the field, but every other detail had been seized by the spell’s clutches.

At my helpless shrug he sighed. “Any of those suspects would be talented enough to not only detect your magic even while hidden beneath your cursed form, but possess the skillset to cast a memory alteration spell thorough enough to erase all evidence of whatever you discovered. When I find out who hurt you…” His hand not cradling me clenched into a fist.

“I’m certain that whoever spelled me is also involved in the dark force siphoning everyone’s magic.” I wasn’t sure whether it was instinct or suspicion based on the information I’d obtained, lingering remnants leftover from the knowledge stolen from me.

“Which only confirms that they’re a force to be reckoned with. Thank goodness you weren’t hurt any further. To protect you in the future, I refuse to allow you to investigate on your own again.”

I ached to protest, but I didn’t have the unrelenting pain robbed me of the necessary strength. I rested my webbed hand against my throbbing head with a groan that spurred Alden into action in creating a counterspell.

I managed a weak protest. “Your magic is in no state to waste your powers—”

“I’ll be fine,” he insisted. “Please allow me to do this for you.”

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