Greywood

Chapter 05

My mother rushes into the room to sit by my side, her hand instinctively going to my forehead to swipe at my hair. She gives me a quick look and then embraces me in a comforting hug. "Ky, that can't be. There's no way you could just lose your magic."

"It's true!" I shout out, not caring how crazy I'm starting to sound. "I couldn't move my phone with my magic! I couldn't lift Bleddyn with my magic! I can't do anything!"

"Shh shh shh," she says to try and reassure me. "Let's calm down and think this through. C'mon. We'll take this downstairs and see what's going on."

My father gives us both a worried look, the cake still floating in front of him. He gives me a weak smile before I turn to mom, still not feeling any better. "Alright," I surrender weakly.

As soon as I stand up and head towards the door the cake falls to the floor. It lands with an unceremonious splat and crumbles upon itself, icing splattering across the floor, the wardrobe, and onto the rug. Whatever control I had in trying to hold myself together completely collapsed there and I wailed.

"My cake!" I cried out. This has got to be the worst birthday ever.

Mom looked at the cake on the floor, then to my father who raised his hands apologetically, then back to me. "Listen to me, Ky," she said, shaking me slightly to get me to stop crying. "I need you to do something important."

"B-but," I wanted to argue but she gave me a firm look, placing a finger on my lips.

"No buts right now. I need you to listen. Go outside. Check the wards and see if they're active. You should still be able to do that. Your father will clean up this mess. I'll need to check something in my books. Hopefully by the time you're done checking the stones I'll have an answer."

My shoulders slumped and I grumbled. That was going to be a shit ton of stones to inspect and I was definitely not feeling up for it. Hesitating, I finally move and do my best to avoid the cake mess on the floor. The sweats I was wearing the night before were still on the floor beside my bed since I only slept in boxers. I quickly put them on before scampering out of the room with heavy footsteps.

It was cold outside and I hadn't put on a shirt, but I didn't care at this point. I wanted to feel something other than this dread that had crawled into my system. What was going on with me? Why did I suddenly lose my magic? Is this some sort of karma affecting me now? Did I anger some gods in a past life or something?

I knelt down beside the shrubs my mother and I had placed wards on, looking for the stones all the while thinking up more worse case scenarios in my head. The first stone I picked up still had a rune on it, the mark faint in the light, but oddly, the magic was muted. There was no power coming out of it. I put the stone down and continued around the perimeter of the house, picking up stones, seeing no difference, and then chucking them back to the ground.

Did the ward fail? Had something supernatural crept into the house and took my magic away?

No. That wasn't possible. Mom's magic would've sensed something and the spells protecting our cabin barred entry to strangers unless they were welcome.

Back inside, Dad was washing his hands in the kitchen sink while Mom was fiddling with a book at the dining table. She gave me a look through her reading glasses and I sat next to her expectantly.

"Well, I have some interesting news," she says and closes the book. Taking a deep breath, she gets up from her chair and joins my father in the kitchen leaning against the counter. I nod grimly, beckoning her to continue. "I can't use magic either."

I frown. "How did you lose your magic too?"

"Well I didn't lose it per say. More like, something is preventing me from accessing it."