Page 8 of Light Magic

She pressed on the silver coin and a white portal appeared by our side. She stepped through first and I followed.

The portal opened to a large, beautiful front yard, with stone paths and flanked by tall trees and colorful flowers, which led to a two-story house with brown siding and a wrap-around porch. White curtains covered the windows, but the lights were on in every room.

I frowned. “This doesn’t look like the Grand Eternity Hall.”

Lacey smiled at me. “First, have you ever seen a picture or drawing of the hall?” I shook my head. “Second, they had to change things a bit when they decided to come out of hiding.”

“They came out of hiding?”

“They tried.” She started heading toward the house. “Come on. I’ll show you around.”

This couldn’t be right.

The Grand Eternity Hall wasn’t a small house in the middle of the woods. Was it?

Lacey opened the front door and smiled at me.

I paused at the door and gawked at the interior. This was another place completely. I glanced back to the porch. Very rustic, very traditional, and very small.

I walked in, taking in inch by inch of the giant, earthy room. I was in what could only be described as a lobby of a spectacular place. The floors were smooth gray marble and the walls were covered in vines and leaves.

Small iron sconces jutted out from between the vines, each holding a thick white candle. A big dome of colorful stained glass sat atop the ceiling, which was at least three stories high. A round, wooden circle floated halfway to the dome, holding several burning white candles.

The light coming from the dome gave the place an eerie, enchanted air.

What seemed like roots or thick vines twisted around archways, two to the right, two to the left, and one in the back, right beside the wide stone staircase that led upstairs to a balcony that wrapped around the entire lobby—and all of the railing was simply twisted vines and a few leaves.

“I know that feeling,” Lacey said, watching me. “I was in awe the first time I came here too. To be honest, I’m always in awe of this place.”

“It’s amazing,” I said, still shocked.

She chuckled. “And this is just the lobby. Wait until you see the rest. If you get to see it all. I don’t think I even know every room and corner of this place. Come on.”

I followed Lacey to the archway beside the staircase. It followed the same pattern of the lobby, with vines and roots everywhere, sconces and candles between the archways.

As we walked, I noticed the candles flicking on as we approached them, and off as we walked away.

“The candles are enchanted,” I said, amused.

“Yeah, the hall is all enchanted. The Evermores say the hall has a mind and magic of its own.”

The Evermores. The moment Lacey said it, I remembered reading about them in that short paragraph—they were the family appointed to take care of the hall several millennia ago.

“They are still alive?” I asked, looking side to side into the archways.

This bit reminded me of Duncan’s house: beyond the archways were rooms with artifacts and items on display, like an art gallery.

“Oh, the Evermores are witches and warlocks, and they age like us, though I do think they live longer normal witches.”

I paused in front of one archway and stared at a mirror with a golden frame. There was no reflection in the mirror, just a foggy haze, like thick clouds obscuring the view.

“I thought the items were supposed to be tucked away and protected.” From the harm they could do if they ended up in the wrong hangs.

“The items in this gallery aren’t dangerous,” Lacey said. “The dangerous one are locked away deep in the hall.” She looked at me with huge eyes. “That reminds me, you probably won’t need your potions here.”

“What do you mean?”

“This entire place is warded and hidden from any supernatural. Unless you know about it, unless you’re invited in by the Evermores, or someone brings you in, you have no way of finding it.”

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