Page 75 of Sapphire Flame
Landris took off his shoes and walked on the eucalyptus. Grant recalled something he’d heard about Elegance warlocks and wizards, that most of them connected with a primal element. From that element, their spells emerged. Grant would lay odds Neil’s element was stone and that Landris’s was botany.
Right here, with Landris moving around them slowly, he could feel the way Landris drew power from the branches. The column of energy moved with Landris, twisting into an upward funnel that soon lifted him and Natalie off their feet. They began to spin very slowly.
Natalie turned toward him and gripped his arm. The power became stronger. He shifted to face her as well until they’d locked forearms.
“Good! That’s it!” Landris shouted. “I can feel it now, what Neil said about you both. You are stronger together. Much stronger. Powerful. You give me hope.”
Grant couldn’t respond. The spell held him tight now, as it held Natalie. He felt as though every molecule of his body was being affected, changed.
Natalie’s voice entered his mind.The sensation is like falling into ice water. I’m tingling all over and I’m shaking.
Same here.
From the corner of his eye, Grant watched Landris running faster now. He could hear the wizard speaking but couldn’t make out the words.
Suddenly, Landris flew high into the air, almost as high as the metal railing above the pit. He brought his hands together and clapped once. “Rain!” he shouted.
The powerful column turned into a shower-like torrent of the same energy that disappeared the way it had come.
Grant was left still levitating and holding arms with Natalie, but in a place so quiet, he could hear the soft thuds of his heart.
He released her slowly. Together, they turned to watch Landris drift back to the sand. They followed him, landing in the center of the eucalyptus.
“I can’t see either of you,” Landris said. “Where are you?”
“Back in the leaves.”
Landris nodded. “Are you still connected physically?”
“No.” Grant replied.
“Good. But I can hear you plain enough, so remember that. You are invisible, but your movements, your voices can be heard. This is critical.”
“I understand,” Natalie responded.
Grant drew a long difficult breath. “Agreed.” The experience had shaken him.
Landris approached the outer perimeter of the eucalyptus branches. “You need to practice leaving and invoking the spell. I prefer the commands ‘begin’ and ‘end’.”
“You used them with the confusion spell,” Natalie said.
“Yes. And that’s exactly the right definition for that spell, the one that prevented you from experiencing the path here.”
Grant glanced around. “I can see that everything has a soft glow.”
“Perfect.” Landris stated. “It’s as it should be. That glow tells you you’re inside the spell and invisible.”
“So how do we do this?” Natalie asked.
“First, you must take turns issuing the commands so that you are both good at it. This spell can work for you individually or together. If you want to invoke for both of you, use the words ‘begin both’. Otherwise, use your name, or the other’s name.”
“We just say the word?” Natalie sounded doubtful. “Nothing more?”
“Form a picture of it in your mind. That should be enough. Natalie, why don’t you start. Make only yourself visible.”
~ ~ ~
“I have no idea what I’m doing, but here goes.” Natalie formed a picture in her mind of shedding the spell like stepping out from under the shower that had covered them at the end of Landris’s spell-making. “Natalie, end.”
