Page 34 of The Water Witch (Fairwick Chronicles 2)

He must have seen the disappointment on my face. He leaned forward and took my hand. I felt a spark as our skin touched, a little electriczingthat must have been a leftover effect of my internal magical storm.

“But I know what might fix it,” he said, squeezing my hand. “Metaphorical magic.”

“Metaphorical magic?”

“Precisely. When Aelvesgold enters this world from Faerie, it fills the spaces between atoms, connecting all things. One of the tricks that the fey taught the first witches was sympatheticmagic: how to manipulate that connection in order to effect change in objects—and people—at a distance.”

“Oh, like a correlative spell,” I said, glad I’d crammed. “My friend Diana did one on me to fix my spine. She created a correlation between my broken neck and some yarn and then knitted the yarn to heal me. Wheelock says that the most powerful spells are correlative ones.”

“Yes, you can use Aelvesgold to create a bond in order to strengthen a correlative spell. That’s why magic became more difficult as the supply of Aelvesgold diminished in this world. But we don’t have that problem. You’re brimming with the stuff.”

He took my hand and held it out in front of my face. For a moment I was too distracted by the strange prickly sensation his touch roused to see what he was showing me, but then I saw it—a thin gold aura around my hand.

“With this much Aelvesgold running through your body you can do practically anything—becomepractically anything. I think we may be able to release your blocked-up energy by using metaphorical magic to change form.”

“Change form?” I asked.

“Some witches call it shapeshifting. When you assume the shape of another creature you can sometimes unlock trapped energy. Besides,” he added, grinning and looking especially boyish, “it’s fun.”

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