Magic Below

Magic Below — page 7 — Could he be under a spell one that made him blind Could he be in some sort of underground pit where no light reached him The ground beneath him felt like rock Brink turned on his side and pressed his cheek against it Somehow the hardness of it comforted him He couldn’t see a thing but he could feel this solid surface He closed his eyes and tried to think of home His father tinkering with a clockwork His brother sitting on the porch Brink’s pounding heart slowed a little and he felt his shoulders relax A whirring sound Brink caught his breath surprised He hadn’t noticed it before but now that he had calmed down he heard a sound clearly Or rather he felt a sound His whole body vibrated with it The entire floor vibrated in fact He sat up then stood up The sound was quieter and the vibration was gone Brink eased himself back down to the floor

Magic Below — page 8 — stretching his body out on the cold hard rock The sound hummed loudly in his ear and his body vibrated again It’s moving Brink realized with a shock The ground is moving But how could that be If he were in an underground pit the ground wouldn’t move If he were in a normal room it wouldn’t be so dark It must be an enchantment he said aloud It was comforting to hear a voice even if it was only his own I’m in one of Ozma’s airships and they’ve put a spell on me to blind me It was the only explanation The malevolent way Glinda had smiled at him made it clear that she was no better than Princess Ozma She had most likely been in league with Ozma right from the moment the princess had banned magic so she had zapped him up here and placed a magical blindfold on his eyes He was in the airship on his way to the Emerald City to stand before Ozma The ruler of Oz would

Magic Below — page 9 — accuse him of using his magic and then she would make him step into the Forbidden Fountain where the Water of Oblivion would erase his memories and his magical talent Still Brink felt happy If he was in the airship he might be with Zerie and Vashti The Monkeys had been taking them to the Forbidden Fountain and there was no reason to think that Glinda hadn’t sent Brink along with them Maybe his friends were blinded too to keep them from fighting their captors Zerie he called Are you here Can you hear me He waited for a few seconds Vashti It’s me it’s Brink Are you here There was no answer Brink sighed Maybe the spell had blocked his hearing as well as his sight But no he could hear his own voice and he could hear that vibration Could Zerie and Vashti be under some kind of spell too Or maybe they were all being held in

Magic Below — page 10 — separate rooms Frustrated he stood up and stuck his hands out in front of him It was a little scary to walk forward when he couldn’t see a thing but he did it anyway He had to know what was around him After about six paces his fingers hit a wall It felt cold and rough just like the floor Brink kept one hand on the wall and walked beside it until he suddenly hit another wall right in front of his face Ouch Brink murmured shaking his head at his own thoughtlessness He began walking again one hand trailing the new wall the other hand out in front of him This time when he reached the corner he’d feel it before he walked into it He’d counted fifteen paces along the first wall This wall was longer He counted twenty paces Then thirty Then forty When he reached fifty paces he slowed down How could the room possibly be so large He stopped walking The wall beneath his fingers kept moving

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