Indigo Magic by Victoria Hanley Read Free Book Online

eternum
.’
    For ever and always.
    ‘You’re lying.’
    ‘I wouldn’t lie about this.’
    I hovered at the right height to look the tall genie in the eye. ‘How do you know?’
How many questions have I asked?
    He jerked his head towards the border wall. ‘Magic isn’t possible in the Iron Lands. Do you think every inch of those lands are covered with iron dust?’
    Yes, I did. That’s what they’d taught us in school.
    ‘Why do you think no one living there can do magic?’ he went on.
    I gulped. ‘But—’
    ‘That’s right, my fine fairy. An entire region of Feyland where magic is dead.’
    Magic dead? An entire region of Feyland? The tote bag in my hand felt even heavier.
    ‘But didn’t you say you’d been there many times?’ I asked. ‘And
you
can still do magic.’
    Laz flapped a hand dismissively. ‘Yes, I’ve been there, and yes, I can still do magic – when I return. But the aevum derk was cast millennia ago, so the powder never landed on me. Its effects endure upon the land.’
    ‘No one can overcome it, ever?’ I dropped to the ground very ungracefully; I had to give my wings relief from the full weight of the indigo bottle.
    He rubbed his chin. ‘It would take a thousand units of radia at Level One Hundred to overcome the effects of one grain of aevum derk. No one has that kind of magic to spare.’
    I thought of Lily hovering on my hearth, her wings quivering under an unknown strain. She was a Level 100 fairy! And she had used magic to transport in, and magic to stay, and magic to transport out. That’s why her wand stayed lit! She must have used up many thousand units of stolen radia just to get a pinch of aevum derk.
    What had she said before she left?
The small amount I have is worth more to me than the entire bottle is worth to you
. She must have plans for it. Where would she take it, and how would she use it?
    ‘Where is the powder?’ Laz asked.
    I held his gaze and didn’t look down, but I was afraid the scarves didn’t really cover the bottle in the bag I carried. ‘I won’t tell you,’ I said. ‘But if you let me know how to get rid of it, I will.’
    He gave his coughing laugh. ‘Get rid of it? You can’t. The only way to make it disappear is to throw it against magic. That’s how it gets used up.’ I heard whooping shouts from inside the café but Laz ignored the noise and kept talking. ‘To offset an entire bottle of aevum derk, you’d have to cast it against spells worth billions of radia.’
    Billions! Oberon’s Crown! I had to find a way to hide the aevum derk, hide it somewhere no one could disturb it –
ad eternum
. For ever and always.
    Both Laz and I were quiet. He was slumped against the wall , and I couldn’t find the strength to leave the ground; my wings felt like wilted petals.
    Then Laz surprised me by straightening up and grinning wickedly. ‘Wait a hot chocolate minute.’ He leaned forward with his face so close to mine I could see every one of his blue teeth. ‘You’re not doomed, Zaria. You can defeat the Morganite,’ he whispered.
    I frowned. ‘Defeat her?’
    Laz lifted his nose. ‘You have aevum derk! The mightiest weapon ever made in this world. Shake it on Lily and her wand. Instant victory.’
    Leona had urged me to do the same. Now, I imagined how it would feel to take away Lily’s magic – all of it. I’d never have to wonder what she might be plotting and which of my friends she might harm; never have to worry how much of Feyland she might destroy.
    Laz tapped my shoulder, bringing me back to the night, the stars, the moment. Booming music was rattling the café, where leprechauns and genies belted out a song so loudly I could hear the words: ‘…
running the cocoa, leaping the laws
…’
    ‘You see?’ Laz said. ‘Use the aevum derk against Lily. Simple solution.’
    In some ways, yes, it would be. It would take away the threat of Lily Morganite. But what about the problem of hiding the aevum derk so no one else could