Magic

Chapter Five

"How?" Drago questions. Magica did not answer. Her eyes did not stray from the crystal. Drago waved his hand in front of her face.

"Magica?"

Still Magica did not respond. Drago shook Magica, calling her name. Finally Magica exited her trance.

"What?" she asked weakly. She staggered backwards. She started to fall but Drago caught her and lowered her to the ground, against a tree.

The crystal shimmered in the sun. But something was different. The crystal was starting to glow. As the glow grew brighter, the trees around them seemed to grow taller and healthier.

The crystal's glowed brighter, as Magica weakened.

Drago looked between the crystal and Magica. Then, without warning, the answer came to him. The crystal, the heart of the forest, was sucking Magica's life force to make the forest healthier.

"We have to destroy it!" Drago cried.

"What?" Magica whispered.

"The crystal. It is using your life force to make the forest healthier," Drago explained.

"Drago, we cannot," Magica said. "There is no way.

"I will pull it from the ground and smash it against a rock," Drago said. Without waiting for an answer, he placed his hands around the crystal. Immediately, his hands burned but he ignored the searing pain and tugged on the crystal with all his strength.

It did not budge. Drago tried and tried but to no avail. He could not remove the crystal from the ground.

"Drago, it will not work," Magica said, trying to stand. "Help me up."

When she was on her feet, Magica looked at the crystal. She put her hands out in front of her, in a stop gesture. She closed her eyes.

"Ka-des," Magica said.

The crystal exploded into a white light. When the light subsided, the crystal was gone and so was the

forest around them. There was not a tree in sight. Instead, the grass plains that replaced the forest were filled with rocks and flowers.

Magica's eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground.