Allina took out the blackfire stone and struck it, like one might do with a match, across a piece of wood. A black flame erupted from the wood that didn't burn her hands. She stared at it, mesmerized.
Allina took the burning wood and put it just inside the dark corridor. It was a pitch-black flame; she couldn't see it. She dragged in the cauldron and placed it over the flame, then began with the ingredients. In the light bedroom, she'd prepare them; in the dark corridor, she'd toss them into the pot.
Once Allina added the charred mandrake roots to the mix, something very strange indeed happened: the mixture, of ground tooth and cinders and seabrine, began to glow. It was teal and as coarse as sand. She dropped the feather on top, and it went up in smoke. The cauldron spit and bubbled.
She glanced toward the closet door; Alejandra was out there somewhere, stolen away. Allina felt almost responsible for it. So she waited and watched as the liquid in the cauldron bubbled teal, then forest green, then emerald, then the color of sickly bile.
When it turned to spring green, Allina couldn't wait any longer. She took Alejandra's wand in her hand and scooped a handful of the burning green liquid out of the cauldron with the other.
Mouth set in a firm line, Allina poured the liquid in her ear. The foul liquid trickled down her ear canal, burning as it did so. She let out a scream loud enough to be heard from across the ocean.
YOU ARE READING
The Library
FantasyA young girl meets a favorite guest every Saturday at the library. She discovers an old book, and begins to wonder if the guest is who she says she is.
