The Disillusion Mountains

Chapter 25

Nimma flipped through the pages of the journal looking for more. She knew there was nothing though. Only the entry with the poem explaining that treasure was at the end followed Regina's passage about why she gave up her baby. That had always been a question that puzzled her.

Now that she had the answer Nimma wasn't sure what she felt about it. Had Rosemarie truly been better off without her mother? Did the child even have memories of her if that was the last time she saw her mother? Was it the last time she saw her mother despite Regina living to an old age? What had Regina done with all that time?

Nimma thought this journal would give her deeper insight into Regina. In a way it did but now she was left with new questions. Questions that likely would never be answered and were more troubling.

Nimma leaned back against Caspian's chest and took a bite of an apple. Nimma and Grant lost all their supplies in the flood but Caspian was overflowing with seeds which he grew into food for them effortlessly. Unlike Nimma's attempt everything tasted as it should.

The plan was to stay the night here and see if they could get into the canyon tomorrow. By the sound of the water Nimma doubted they'd be moving from this spot. Grant and Jace were quietly talking besides the fireballs Caspian conjured. She and Caspian were sitting a bit farther away by their own fireball.

"Why does this have gold in it?" Nimma asked.

"Purple fireballs are used for destruction. A purple and gold fireball is used for heat or light. You could touch this one if you wanted and you wouldn't be harmed."

Caspian told Nimma the story of where he'd been. After saving her one of Alexa's men tried to carry him to a healer. Richard's forces found them and killed the man. They would have killed Caspian too but he was saved by a group of witches who took no side in the fight.

They were from a small village on the west side of the forest and took Caspian back there for treatment. They didn't know who he was or who to contact so in that village he remained. The witches there didn't study at the Draconian training center for court magicians. Due to this they didn't know the spells that would have made his recovery quick and instead had to rely on older methods of magic for healing.

Caspian remained in a coma for a year and a half. When he woke his body was very weak and he couldn't speak. It took him a month to gain the strength needed to sit up on his own, speak in a breathy whisper that was barely understood, and he'd needed to learn to walk again. He'd finally been well enough to leave just three weeks ago.

With not enough magic to contact anyone in his family, no one in the village knowing the spells needed to do so and realizing it would take longer to teach them, he'd asked to be driven back to Logos City. He'd tried calling his direct line to the palace from outside phones but the operators thought it was a prank and hung up on him. He'd also tried calling Nimma and Selmmie, but during the last year both their phone numbers had changed along with Selmmie business number, because of a stalking incident involving a former client.

When he finally did get back to the palace he'd still needed medical and magical treatment. Alexa wasn't there because she was fighting another battle with Richard in Fangborn Forest. He'd gotten himself healed and the second that was finished he jumped on a plane for Myras.

He'd gone to her old apartment first but of course Nimma had moved. With no other options he went straight to Selmmie's and nearly gave her and Eridani a heart attack. By that time Nimma and Grant had been in the mountains a week. Selmmie filled Caspian in that they were headed for Shadow Cat Canyon and showed him where they started from so he went up there to find her.

Caspian knew about The Disillusion Mountains. He'd never been there but it was famous in the magical community. All over the world there were places known as magical contaminate sites. These were areas that had once been grounds for magical warfare over very long periods of time. They were littered with magical booby traps, hexes, and curses that had never been dismantled. Magical warfare killed so many magicians that eventually there were either no or very few left to disarm the area.

Then there were traps that couldn't be disarmed because they were made with special sequences known only to the castor. If the castor was dead there was likely no way to reverse the magic. It was much easier to just abandon places like that rather than try to remain. Over the years those areas gained reputations for being haunted or cursed and were left alone. They were areas that only fully trained magic users should enter and even then they needed to watch their step.

Fangborn Forrest was another contaminate site. That's why Alexa and Richard battled for the throne there. It's illegal to have large scale magical battle anywhere but a contaminate site because you run the risk of making another one if the fighting goes on too long.

He sprung Regina's ghost trap and it had taken three days for him to deactivate it.

"That scream Grant and I heard. That was you stepping into that trap?"

"Yes."

"It was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. I guess that's got to be the trap Regina's referencing in the journal."

"She had good reason to make it if that man nearly killed her. It wasn't designed to kill right away. The screams are meant to scare people off but if they get too close the trap escalates its tactics."

"I know. I've got injures to prove it."

"You're hurt? Let me heal you. I already healed Grant. He didn't tell me you were hurt too."

Nimma showed him her injures and Caspian got rid of them.

"She sliced me up pretty good." Nimma said while putting her coat back on.

"That's because the spell identifies magic users as bigger threats."

"Is that why you made friends with me back then? You sensed I could do magic."

"It's part of the reason. I could tell you didn't know about magic but you were interested in nature so I decided to keep an eye on you and see if you'd be interested in learning more. Based on how developed I sensed the magic was in you I could tell you'd been using it for a while and just never realized it. Remember how you told me you've always had a green thumb and could grow anything even if the conditions for it weren't ideal? That's how magic starts to develop for most of us until one day it manifests as golden light. I also thought you were gorgeous so I had an ulterior motive."

Nimma gave him a quick kiss.

"In Regina's journal she says that magic doesn't quickly repeat in families so how are you, Alexa and Richard all magic users?"

"That was true once it no longer is," he said. "Just like how with the number of witches reduced those around became more powerful, magic began to repeat in families much more quickly. The three of us, to our knowledge, are the first magic users born in the same generation in the same family. Prior to the discovery we all had talent in magic the closest family magic users had either been grandparents and grandchildren or uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews. It was a joyful discovery; until Richard decided use his talents to try and take the throne."

"Sounds like magic getting more powerful created as many problems as it solved."

"I'd say that's true but I admit I very much enjoy the depths of magic I'm capable of. Nimma you need a teacher. You're very talented naturally but in this field talent will only get you so far. You'll never reach the heights you're capable of without a teacher. If you want to learn I will teach you."

"I was hoping you would."

Caspian smiled and gave her a lingering kiss. "Let's get some sleep, babe. We've got a long a day tomorrow."