The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)

“I moved the portal, as you asked,” she replied, her voice faint.

Her words left a bitter taste in Alex’s mouth as he recalled that it was indeed him who had asked her to do that. Glancing at her, he sorely regretted it. She was pale and her fingers still trembled, though he could see she was trying to be brave.

“How? What magic did you use?” he pressed, wanting to know what she had risked.

“I told you, it was only big magic—it has taken a lot of my strength, but I will be fine. There is no harm done, I promise,” she said. Her dark brown eyes were earnest.

“Is there anything we can do, to make you better?” he asked. He didn’t like to see his friend this way, so exhausted and shattered. It reminded him too much of the worrying time she had spent beneath the gripping, sapping curse of Derhin’s making.

Natalie shook her head, wincing slightly. “I just need rest… though perhaps some water might help. I am quite thirsty,” she whispered, her voice choked up.

Alex nodded. “I’ll go and hunt down some supplies for us,” he said, standing.

Gazing around at the gathered group, Alex knew Natalie was too weak to be left alone with Aamir, who needed his compress changed frequently to keep his fever down, but he’d need some company collecting enough food and water for all of them.

“Do you mind if I stay here?” asked Jari. “I’ve gotten into a rhythm of changing compresses!”

“Okay. Ellabell, will you come with me?”

She was standing by the tree line, staring out at the lake as it shimmered in the morning light. There was a slump in her shoulders that hadn’t been there before, making Alex’s brow furrow with concern. Waiting a few moments for her response, he was surprised when it didn’t come. It seemed the view had absorbed her entire focus.

“Ellabell?” he repeated, moving closer.

She jumped as he gently touched her shoulder. “Alex! You scared me,” she gasped.

“You were off somewhere else.” He smiled.

“It’s so beautiful… I had forgotten there could be so much color in the world. The grass, the trees, the flowers.” Lifting her face to the sky, her eyes closing, he heard the soft intake of breath as she drank in the cool, crisp air. He wasn’t sure he had ever seen her look prettier. “Did you need me for something?” she asked, turning back to him.

“I was going to go hunt for food and water—want to come with me?”

“Sure, if you need someone.”

“Cool, well, we’ll start with water I guess.” He gestured toward the gleaming shoreline with its eerie pebble beach. “Don’t suppose anyone knows any spells for buckets, do they?”

With no readily imparted knowledge on bucket spells, Alex and Ellabell stepped out of the safety of the clearing and walked toward the lake. Racking his brain for inspiration, he had an idea that might work.

Slowly, he held out his hands and began to feel the familiar ice-cold of his anti-magic beneath his fingertips, dancing in silver and black tendrils across his skin. Focusing intently, he let the anti-magic spill out into the air before him, forging it into a disc-shape, similar to a shield. Ellabell watched him with curiosity as he poured another layer of energy into the curved barrier, solidifying it as he had done with anti-magical weapons before. Reaching out, he grasped the firm object in his hand and turned it ninety degrees until it looked more like a giant bowl than a shield. He grinned, pleased with himself as he carried the newly made bowl to the water’s edge.

As he approached, however, he began to have second thoughts, remembering what lay beneath. A shiver rippled up his spine. It had been decades since the last body had been placed in its watery grave here, but Alex wasn’t sure that meant it would be safe to drink. Had the years cleansed the lake of former sins? Looking closer, he noticed there was a strange quality to the water, the liquid darker than it should have been.

“What’s wrong?” asked Ellabell.

“I’m not sure if it’s drinkable,” he explained, feeling a wave of disgust as he scooped the bowl into the water and filled it.

“Well, we don’t have many other options right now. Maybe just take a small sip to see,” encouraged Ellabell, licking her dry lips. The thought of even a small sip turned Alex’s stomach.

Lifting the bowl, he watched the dark liquid slosh around the crackling, thrumming container. Cautiously, he cupped his hand and dipped it into the water, raising the contents to his mouth with trepidation. He drank it in one go, pushing down the rising sense of nausea as he felt the water run down the back of his throat. It tasted strange and metallic on his tongue, the trickling droplets prickling his mouth and throat like sour ice, at once bitter and freezing cold. He frowned, worried that it was poisoned—contaminated by the bodies submerged beneath it.

“Is it okay?” Jari asked, appearing behind them.

“I’m not sure,” Alex replied hoarsely.

“Let me try,” insisted Jari, holding out his hands for the anti-magic bowl. The blond-haired boy winced as his fingers touched the edge of the thrumming shield, sharply pulling his hands away, as if it had burned him.

“Can you make one?” asked Alex, forgetting the problems his anti-magic caused for his magically endowed friends.

“I can try.” Jari grinned as he spun the first strands of golden magic from beneath his hands, creating the shape of a shield, as Alex had done. Jari was one of the only group members who still had some strength remaining, and Alex was relieved to see a mostly solid bowl of gold beginning to take shape in Jari’s hands. It took a few tries, but, eventually, he got there, holding his vessel aloft.

Carefully, Alex tipped the bowl of his shield toward Jari’s, making sure the edges didn’t touch and cause any unwanted explosions. The last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves. He watched as the peculiar, dark blue liquid poured into the golden bowl, half-expecting it to react with the magical vessel. Instead, it seemed to grow paler, looking closer to normal water than it had in Alex’s bowl. Alex frowned, waiting anxiously as Jari lifted the shield-bowl to his lips and drank deep.

Jari gulped the water down and gave a satisfied sigh. “Tastes great!”

He passed the bowl to Ellabell. “It’s delicious!” She smiled, nodding eagerly in agreement before taking another sip.

Alex took another sip of the remaining water in his bowl, but the liquid tasted just as bitter as before, and was almost unbearably cold in his mouth. Confused, he waited on the shoreline as Ellabell forged a bowl of her own under Jari’s instruction and the pair of them filled their containers to the brim.