Page 81 of Charmed

We used the trunks of the trees to navigate our way to a log, where we waited for King Ciaran. My ears followed each movement—his soft footsteps against the undergrowth, the rustle of the branches he parted, his rummaging through bushes, and eventually the sounds of his digging up the mushrooms we needed for the potion.

With the hindrance brought by the darkness, his search took nearly an hour, but in the end he successfully procured four fungi:panellus stipticus, a flat fungi that resembled a collection of tiny fans growing on sticks whose dull shade of beige during the day transformed into dazzling decorations after dark;panellus pusillus, which resembled a viridescent string of light wrapped around tree branches;mycena chlorophos,whose pale-green glow was brightest at one day old; andmycena pura, quintessential soft lilac bell-shaped caps that often didn’t appear to glow because their bioluminescence was limited to the mycelium.

With the darkness’s limitations we were unable to produce flames for our cauldron, so King Ciaran embarked on another hunt through the dark forest, this time for a rare mushroom that didn’t need light to thrive and which had the unique property of producing heat. This one took much longer for the king to locate, drawing us closer to dusk…though how close was impossible to measure in the windowless forest.

Once the potion finished brewing, it transformed into several fireflies that lit up the suffocating cloud of darkness, granting us a portion of the sight that we’d been robbed of for hours. The light was faint, but just enough to illuminate a golden trail to a door hidden behind a thicket of moss growing along one of the redwoods’ trunks.

The glowing door’s light was just bright enough to illuminate King Ciaran’s discouragement. “If only the darkness cursing Lumeria could be so easily dispelled. I’ve come across various light-producing potions in my studies, most of which I’ve been unable to brew due to the fact that the ingredients can’t grow in a kingdom absent of the sun. Those I’ve managed to produce have had little to no effect, meaning that the curse Lumeria is suffering from requires a more complicated solution than what can be created by magic, at least such magic as I currently have access to.”

He said nothing more, and we didn’t linger in the forest, having spent too much time already within the cocoon of trees. We ascended to the next level, weariness evident in every expression. I pressed a palm to my temple which was beginning to ache, but mustered up a reassuring smile as Alden turned to me in concern. This pain was nothing compared to what Corbin endured every day, and I could easily accept this small amount of suffering if it led to his relief.

So the challenges continued, each possessing various levels of difficulty we were able to overcome with a combination of our power and unique strengths.

Hours had passed by the time we finally arrived to the tower’s final level, comprised of nothing but a white void. The moment we stepped inside the door behind us vanished…with no sign of a door to progress found in the surrounding walls of nothingness; it was likely invisible, and discovering it was part of the final challenge.

Our exclamations of surprise were swallowed up by the suffocating silence that choked the air, revealing another aspect of the challenge we would need to overcome in order to proceed:curse breaking, this one a spell that had stolen our voices.

Reservation prickled my skin. Though my elementary knowledge of magic included very little by way of curses outside of my intimate experiences as a frog, it did include the basics of spell casting for me to understand the difficulties in casting wordless incantations, a feat often only managed by those at an advanced level.

Which meant if we had any hope of discovering the location of the invisible door that would lead us to the finish line, we would be required to cast our magic without speaking.

The fragile alliance that had allowed us to work together up until this point cracked beneath the pressure, especially when even with their combined power, our previous spells had nearly depleted all of their magic, leaving everyone exhausted. It seemed no coincidence that this final challenge had been strategically placed as a barrier in testing our resolve.

A series of pantomime ineffectively organized them into a force that would allow them to work towards a solution together, escalating the tension that felt thicker than the magic filling the air past the breaking point. As their expressions twisted in evidence of their rising tempers, I wrangled my mind for a solution, desperate to contribute to helping Alden beyond the role I’d maintained in the background.

A vague idea gradually formed. I tapped Alden’s arm to draw his attention and summoned my power, the only magic I could produce without a spoken incantation. I mimed dipping an invisible brush into the glistening plum-colored light twirling above my palm and used it to mime painting a picture in the air.

Alden nodded to indicate he understood my idea: use our magic to create images of our thoughts in order to convey our ideas so that even without words, we could effectively communicate in order to work together in overcoming this final obstacle.

In one of our Alden’s lessons he’d given me throughout our journey, he’d taught that illusion magic was one of the trickiest to conjure, made more difficult without a spoken spell. But that made it an ideal focus within the confines of the enchanted tower, especially as illusions had yet to be tested in the competition, though this was undoubtedly knowledge those on the Enchanters’ Council would be required to possess.

Concentration furrowed Alden’s brow as he mouthed several spells that at first did nothing without sound. I could almost sense his frustration emanating across our invisible connection of understanding that had only deepened in our time together—his regret at not having focused his studies on incantation-less magic sooner.

I laced our hands together and gave his a reassuring squeeze, silent support that I hoped would still the discouragement hindering his ability to perform the advanced magic required. With a wavering breath he returned my squeeze and kept our hands entwined as he tried again, the furrows in his brow deepening with his focus.

The air around us stirred with Alden’s magic and gradually an image came into focus. Upon seeing it, one by one the others used their power to illuminate their ideas, spells that created images out of the thoughts that the curse forced to remain unspoken. Each acted as a puzzle piece that together assembled to form one coherent whole.

The plan in place, we turned to face each other. Straining with effort, Kai slowly formed an illuminating spell. A glow appeared at each of our throats. I leaned close to Alden to examine his; it was as though a golden cage encircled his vocal cords, stifling all sound. Judging by the nods from the others, this was what they expected to discover.

Princess Demetria took off one shoe and searched the sole, lighting up when she found a tiny pebble, little more than a grain of sand that clung to it. With a flick of her hand, she suspended it in midair and faced King Ciaran, pooling her power with his. Light built between them as they pressed their hands towards the pebble, muscles trembling as they poured their magical strength into the challenge. The light flashed and then faded, and the princess caught the pebble as it fell.

I inaudibly gasped as I saw that their transformation spell had turned it into a walnut-sized lump of gleaming gold—not the gold used for coins and jewelry, but a magical substance that could be formed into a powerful tool.

Alden nervously took the stone from Princess Demetria, breathing deeply as he closed his hand around it. He shut his eyes as he focused on his spell, causing beams of light to shine between his fingers. After several tense moments he opened his hand, shoulders drooping when he saw the unchanged lump of magical gold on his palm.

His gaze met mine and I glimpsed his escalating panic, along with the sense of inadequacy he’d struggled with for as long as I’d known him. A surge of sympathy coursed through me. I wished I could speak to encourage him and remind him of his talent, but more importantly I yearned to tell him that my feelings towards him didn’t depend on his magical ability.

In a moment of inspiration, I took his arm and traced letters along it with my finger, slowly enough that he could follow the invisible words:you are enough.

I enclosed my hand over his holding the stone. I couldn’t offer my own magic without breaking the rules of the competition, but I met his gaze, willing him to draw strength from my support. My heart beat wildly as he leaned closer, searching my eyes. Our gazes locked over our clasped hands and for a moment we stood frozen, sharing more than our determination to win.

Desperately I tried to keep my pounding heart in check as it pled with me to fling myself into his arms, sternly reminding myself that the emotions stirred by this challenge didn’t mean that Alden cared for me in the way I longed for, or that we could have any future together.

With difficulty I drew back a few inches, redirecting my gaze to our clasped hands that held the stone. Alden followed my gaze and nodded. With a deep breath he once more closed his eyes, his hand tightening around mine. I could feel the vibration of magic, and then the sensation of movement against my palm as Alden’s spell bent the lump of gold to his will.

When he drew back, I uncurled my hand to see a gleaming golden key; the others celebrated in silent victory. Alden took the key and held it first to my throat. I felt it catch as the cage binding our voices fell away. I took a deep breath, smiling as it released in an audible whoosh. Alden grinned back before moving to unlock the others.

The moment the last cage was unlocked, the curse shattered around us like scattered pieces of a broken mirror, causing the door that had previously been invisible to appear. It opened to the staircase that would ascend to the final floor…and with it the end of the competition.

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