Last Christmas (Book 1 in the Christmas Series)

Chapter Thirty-Four

The tingling sensation that had been running through my veins since I opened the pendant stopped the moment I lowered my arm. All of the energy that had been coursing through my veins only moments ago had somehow seeped out, leaving me exhausted and in need of a good nap. Without the Magic flowing through me, the ice blast that had vanished the moment I opened the pendant began to return, starting at my fingertips and spreading up through up my hand. It progressed faster than it had before and without any form of Magic to fight it off, it spread like wildfire. I felt everything inside me starting to turn to ice, my fingers my toes, everything became impossible to move.

I watched the ice spread up my forearm, pausing just shy of my elbow before continuing to make its way up my arm. The speed in which it was travelling was alarming, seeing as before it had taken several minutes to make it as far as my wrist. Whatever had stopped it from travelling through my system was long gone and I was at risk of turning into a Kenz-cicle. Nothing I did could stop the ice from spreading up my arm and disappearing under my rolled-up sleeve. The more I tried to flex my fingers the stiffer they became until I was unable to move them at all. I felt the ice spread up to my shoulder and start to creep across my collarbone. If it reached my heart, that would have been it and I didn't like how fast it had been spreading.

"Woah, Kenzie! What's happening?" Niska asked, tearing her eyes away from Papa to note my ice-covered fingers and arms. The ice slowly winding its way up my neck.

"I-I don't know," I stuttered out.

"I thought it had stopped," Joel said.

"Don't touch her," Papa said, as Joel reached out to grab my arm. "If you touch her it'll travel and although it's affecting Mackenzie at a rapid rate, it will affect you faster. Just be ready to catch her. She's in for a Magic overload that could knock her unconscious for a couple of seconds and we don't want her to hit her head. The ice blast could have already done its damage and the head injury will only add to our worries. Be ready."

"Right, sure. Magical overload sounds plausible."

"Nothin' about this is plausible, Nisk."

"Everything will be explained in due course, but for now, humour me."

"H-Have you f-finished your chat?" I stuttered, my teeth chattering together as the cold swept over me.

Papa didn't reply. Instead, he turned his head back towards Jack and I watched as he was encased in what could only be described as a twister. The wind whipped around him at an uncontrollable force, spinning faster and faster as it gained momentum with its movements. As the twister continued, gaining more traction the longer it spun. I started getting dizzy just by watching it, but a dizzy spell was the least of my worries as my neck started to grow stiff from the ice that was creeping its way up, edging closer and closer towards my chin. I hoped what Papa was doing wasn't just for show and that it actually served a purpose, but I had yet to find out what that was, and I was getting a little concerned about my fate.

After several seconds of controlling the twister surrounding Jack, Papa shifted his position slightly and I watched as the twister not only grew in size but that there was something special in it. The twister, though a product of Magic, was sparkling, gleaming with the power it held. Papa was taking back the Magic from Jack and it was becoming part of the twister. Through the mess of wind and Magic, I could see Jack trying to fight back but failing. His face was twisted and contorted in anger as he watched the thing he had worked so hard to gain slip through his fingers and be whipped up into the twister that surrounded him.

I watched, ignoring the ice as it crept up my neck, as Papa contorted his hand slightly, pulling the Magic from the twister. It was the first time I had ever seen Magic in its purest form, the small particles of what looked to be glitter moving through the air in a cluster. A giant sparkly cluster of stars. It was almost like a cartoon or a TV show, showing the Magic to be glitter or some colourful lightning bolt. Magic is impossible to see when used. No one can see Magic. This was the first time I had ever been shown Magic in its true form and it made me appreciate it a lot more then I did.