Page 69 of Charmed

At my continued objection, whatever composure he’d managed to cling to by the thinnest thread snapped as the worry he’d shielded me from escaped.

“You fail to understand the extent of the danger brought by the spell—memory spells are some of the most hazardous; only the most advanced enchanters can effectively cast them without permanent damage. While there is an abundance of talent in this competition, I’m not confident in the skill of whomever cursed you…especially if they were trying to silence you. I will create an antidote, even if it requires me to expend every last drop of magic.”

His gaze was wild with worry, evidence of his sincerity. While I understood his warning, I failed to comprehend the feelings behind it. He set me gently on his pillow, where I tried to puzzle out his reasoning, studying each of his frantic motions as he went to work on a tonic, only to repeatedly come up blank.

Though his movements were practiced, they quickly became hindered; he winced and flexed his hand, evidence of the dark magic preying on his power from behind the scenes. Witnessing his pain was worse than my own.

“Why are you exerting so much effort for me? Shouldn’t you be concerning yourself with the next task?”

His only response was a searing glance that even without the words to explain seemed to encase my heart and set it pounding, each beat trying to impart an earnest message…if only I had the magic to interpret it.

Alden always worked thoroughly, but this time he exerted far more care, each action absent of his usual tutelage as he fixed his attention on his work so that nothing would distract him from creating the countercurse for tampered memories, a condition that would cause any mistake he made to be far more dire than with a normal spell.

When he finished the potion, he helped me take a cautious sip. The potion had a grainy, earthy taste similar to the teas I brewed for Corbin. Alden kept his gaze riveted to mine to obsessively monitor the potion’s effects. Unlike the sensation I’d experienced when the memory spell had been cast upon me, this time I felt nothing…as if the potion contained no magic at all.

“Is it helping?” I shook my head and he frowned at the vial. “This should be a spell to protect against tampered memory. What could have gone wrong?” He experimentally swirling its contents before testing its consistency by rubbing a few droplets between his fingers.

The spellbook chose this moment to wander over, already open to the pages containing the answer to Alden’s question. He paled and seized the book to bring it closer, his eyes frantic as he skimmed the page with several rereads.

“Apparently this particular spell doesn’t work on those under a transformation curse. The memory spell reacts differently to someone who’s already cursed, twisting it, and so the counterspell must also be adjusted.”

Which meant he’d just wasted his powers on a potion that we couldn’t use. “I didn’t realize—”

“The fault is mine, I should have known better; Idoknow better. It’s one of the foundations of magical theory that potions must be adjusted according to the one drinking them. I was so anxious I didn’t think—”

With a rigid shake of his head he stood to make another. I emanated acroakin protest. “No Alden, with your magic…you can’t—”

“I’m going to help you.” His fierce look forbade any further argument.

Several still burned my tongue as he procured the ingredients to start again, weariness making each movement slower. Each hint of the force at work against his powers only increased the anxiety pressing against my chest. Surely a common apprentice who’d brought my condition on myself wasn’t worth such effort.

While he worked, I struggled to uncover the layers suppressing my memories in hopes of discovering something I might have missed. Though my attacker’s motive had been swallowed by their curse, I could surmise that it’d been cast because I’d discovered something important, knowledge that had been lost with everything else.

Digging deeper, I was able to glimpse several bits of information that hadn’t been tampered with by magic…whether because they’d been missed by the caster or these clues hadn’t been condemning enough for them to seize, I wasn’t certain.

I waited until the new potion was bubbling in the cauldron so I wouldn’t interrupt Alden with my findings. “From what I’ve been able to gather, it appears thateveryone’s magic is being affected, not just yours.”

I knew I’d overheard more conversation than a single line, one I was sure had not only enlightened me of the details behind the force siphoning everyone’s magic but also the motive. Unfortunately everything I’d discovered had been lost, save for an intense urgency to confide in Alden…before I’d been robbed of the opportunity. Whatever had been taken only confirmed I’d discovered something important.

Alden grew pensive. “Other competitors being affected confirms this isn’t a single incident…with the exception being the one who cursed you. If we only we had a way of measuring everyone’s magic level to see whose remains stable, we might be able to find the culprit responsible…but such a task is too impossible given my limited powers.”

Discouragement settled over him. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a weary expression, as if warding off a headache.

“I spent the time you were investigating researching on my own. Though each siphoning spell possesses different requirements for casting, all are considered highly advanced so that whoever cast it would have very little need of the extra magic they would steal from others. In addition, each variation has varying degrees of effect, ranging from temporary loss of power…to permanent.”

“Permanent?” My stomach lurched. “Any indication of which spell is being used?”

He offered a helpless shrug. “None that I can find. Whoever cast it concealed their magic well enough that I can’t read its patterns when I study the bottled sample I took, leaving me not only without any clue as to the culprit responsible, but the form of this particular spell.”

Which meant that rather than my investigations yielding any useful discovery, all my efforts had rendered was costing Alden some of his precious magical reserves; if he exerted too much, would he lose his power forever?

On that subject, I felt there was something of great importance I needed to share about Alden’s magical level compared to the other competitors, but the specifics had disappeared, and I wasn’t able to conjure any additional insights about the sinister force for the remainder of our discussion.

When the potion was ready, Alden shuffled nervously towards me. My stomach became a flutter of nerves as I anticipated what was about to happen.

“Did you brew a potion that could be used for a frog…or one for a human?” If the blush staining his cheeks was any indication, I already knew the answer.

“A human, which requires us to transform you back.”

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