Page 15 of Gift from the Stone

“Conceal my possession from curious eyes. Only to me, you reveal its disguise.” Pushing my magic as I speak the spell in my mind, my hand heats up around my stone. Once the tingling and heat stop, I let the stone go and look at Gaster for confirmation.

“Good, Willow, it’s concealed. Look at it and get an idea of what it will look like to you when the spell is activated then reveal it,” he instructs.

Instead of the stunning shade of purple wrapped beautifully in silver cording, it’s a grayish blur of the shape my stone would be. The silver chain attached to my stone resembles a wisp of smoke, barely visible to me, and practically weightless.

“Reveal.”

“Very good, Willow, very good. I believe you should keep it concealed anytime you leave the mansion now, just to be safe.” His pride bleeds through the bond, his face alight with joy and wonder for me, making my heart swell in my chest. I swear he almost has a faint reddish orange glow surrounding him like the light from the sun is accentuating his happiness.

“So if I wanted to conceal something else, like my journal, I’d just speak the spell like the first time, it’d conceal it, then going forward all I will need to do is command it?”

“Correct. It’s instantaneous upon your command.”

“Perfect, I believe I got it. So, now the dimension spell.” I clap my hands excitedly. I’ve learned so much today.

Goodbye, weak Willow. Hello, Ms. Badass.

“Your excitement is contagious, Willow, but let’s start small. This spell is very complicated. Do you know what a dimension is?”

“Sort of. I think I have a good idea just based on science classes and things I’ve read, but I couldn’t begin to explain it,” I tell him honestly.

“Imagine a space that exists apart from Elementra but is concealed within the very fabric of her existence. It’s formed by weaving together strands of magical essence, creating a space that’s both connected to and distinct from the realm around it,” Gaster explains as basically as he can for such a complex topic.

“I’m following, but I gotta be honest with you, Gaster. The thought of creating a dimension seems daunting and hard as shit. Are we even sure I’m strong enough to do something like this?”

I’m still a badass regardless, but this seems like next-level shit.

“It’s going to be very difficult and drain you, so we’ll cast the spell in the yard where you can be connected to the elements while you work the spell. The dimension spell I’ll teach you is only to create a small pocket. You won’t be creating an entirely new world. I have no doubt you will be able to do this. I don’t believe that stranger of yours would’ve told you about this spell if not. You need to speak Elema Lingua Vetus and have strong magic, so not many can cast this spell or even know it.” Gaster’s confidence in me gives me the ego boost I need.

He walks into the house for a moment before returning with a large bag of healing vials and a journal that looks very similar to my own, but instead of being purple, his is black.

“Will I need all that after this, Gaster? Damn, is this spell going to kill me?” I ask, eyeing the large quantity of healing vials.

“Of course not. I’m going to take two vials out for you for afterward, but the rest is for you to hide in your dimension pocket,” he says, rolling his eyes and laughing at my dramatics.

“Is that what they’re for? To hide things in?”

“That’s one reason, yes. There are a multitude of uses for a dimension pocket. For example, I could take a box, create a dimension pocket within the box, filling it with all my possessions from my cottage. Then I’d take the box to my new home, open my dimension, and unpack my things that easily.”

I gawk in disbelief. Damn, that’s cool.

“But I’d have to carry that box around with me to access my dimension, right?”

“You catch on so quickly. Yes, that’s correct. That’s why we’ll be doing your spell in the open. You’re going to create your dimension directly into the fabric of Elementra so you can access it from anywhere.”

Holy shit, he just upped the ante.

Skipping down the stairs to the grass barefoot like he told me to be, I ground my feet into the earth and calm my breathing, focusing solely on the energy I feel around me.

“Don’t speak unless I instruct you to or ask questions, Willow. Completely focus on my voice and what I’m saying. If you get confused or don’t get it right away, don’t worry or break your connection. We’ll continue to try. Nod and let me know you understand, and we’ll begin.” He’s standing out of my line of sight, so I nod and clear my mind.

“Command your magic to flow through your body. It needs to spread everywhere from your mind to your toes, and into the ground and hold it. Don’t let it flow out.”

I’ve never spread my magic to every part of my body at once without giving it a direction of something to do or somewhere to go, so the glow and tingling leave my body feeling full, on the verge of exploding.

“Steady yourself. Once you repeat these words, it’s going to feel like your magic wants to burst out of you, but don’t allow it. You must hold it within you.”

Locking down my magic as hard as I can, I clench and unclench my fist and grip the grass tighter between my toes, already fighting off the need to just let it flow.

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