“Make us invisible again,” Beca said. “We can do the rest.” Aidan did as she asked, and both girls cast a levitation spell. They linked arm-in-arm with Aidan, and they floated up past the castle walls and landed on the roof. They found, to their frustration, that the entirety of the fortress was adorned with gargoyles, each the size of a large dog. “Which one is it?” Bryn asked. “We’ll have to search each one,” Aidan said. “Be careful! We don’t want to fall off the roof

The invisibility spell and the glamour spell both dropped as they exited the portal in the courtyard in Edinburgh. They heard shouts at once on their appearance, and the girls looked panicked as magicians from the academy closed in on them. Aidan cast a ward to deflect the binding spells intended to restrain them, but all the exits were blocked by military guards. “Aidan, what do we do?” Beca cried. “Explosions, girls,” Aidan said. “In the air to knock them down, then t

Still exuberant from their discovery, the apprentices gathered their things and planned to travel to Edinburgh through the portal station. Gaining access, however, was still an enormous obstacle. “We could become invisible again,” Beca suggested. “Who knows how long we would have to wait for someone to choose Edinburgh as their destination?” Aidan said. “London, sure, but Edinburgh is not a common place to travel.” “Could we forge a passport?” Bryn asked. “Have you ev

Aidan waved his hands and moved through the blue haze to peer into the cauldron. At the bottom of the pot was a translucent oval. He picked it up to examine the results of the spell. When he put it over his eye, he could see through it. “Hand me the book, please,” he said. Beca handed it to him, and he turned to the page with the spell she completed. The enchanted spyglass revealed a new language between the existing lines on the book, but one which he did not recognize.

“You read the instructions,” Beca said. “I’ll mix the potion.” “You?” Aidan said. “Do you remember what happened the last time you did that?” “Yes, of course I do,” Beca said. “That was intentional.” “Explosions are fun,” Bryn said, giggling. “Potions are not your strength, Aidan,” Beca said. “Trust me.” They set the cauldron on the small bedside table and arranged the ingredients in the order specified by the spell. Aidan read the incantation aloud several times un

“Where do we go now?” Beca asked. “It’s a big city with lots of visitors,” Bryn said. “People need places to stay. We should be able to find an inn.” The one they found was small but clean and away from the rush of residents and tourists. The innkeeper was unusual looking, part elf and part human. The previous regime were racial purists who considered humans inferior, but since their collapse, the number of human-elf couples had grown to the point they were no longer cons

Aidan found everything he needed except for one element. He wanted to avoid speaking to anyone, but he had no choice but to ask the proprietor for the missing ingredient. “Do you have a moonstone for sale?” he asked. The shopkeeper was a young female elf with light-blonde hair and bright green eyes. Thanks to his language spell, her response sounded like Welsh. “I have many,” she said, presenting a small tray with an assortment of glowing stones. They pulsed with magical

Every student in Llanfyllin, magical or not, knew the history of Tel’Silderan. Founded by elves more than ten thousand years before, they destroyed several European ships in the late 1400s to keep themselves isolated from human contact. A ship captain named Eila Ellesmere was among the first to contact a group of elven exiles in the north. These exiles formed the core of the rebellion against the Ohtari, the ruling elite who kept the elves isolated and oppressed. Aided by

In the fifty years since humans reestablished contact with elves living on the continent they called Tel’Silderan, portal travel emerged as the most significant advance in civilization since the reemergence of magic itself. Journeys that used to take days or weeks were now completed in an instant. What’s more, the explosion in trade all around the world led to a level of prosperity that people had only dreamed about. The portals were regulated by magicians, who controlled

They remained in their disguises to descend the servant’s staircase and walk out of the castle. Aidan made them invisible once more for Bryn to levitate them back over the wall of the keep. They returned to the shelter of the forest, where Aidan cast a light spell with which to read through the book. “Does it tell you how to find the invisible book?” Beca asked. “I’m looking,” Aidan said. “It’s slow reading.” “Does it tell you where to find it?” Bryn asked. “That seem

The king’s study was easy to find thanks to the directions, and they were fortunate the king was in the Great Hall one floor below them hosting the Halloween revelries. They didn’t have to break in, as the door was unlocked. All four walls were built with shelves from floor to ceiling, and books filled every space available. Aidan cast a light spell to illuminate the room and began to explore each shelf looking for the tell-tale language inscribed upon the spine of the corr

Bryn stood in the shadows and observed the people moving through the castle, particularly the servants. She spoke a spell, and her clothes changed to mirror that of a chamber maid. Once transformed, she approached a young servant walking down the hall. “Excuse me, miss,” Bryn said, her accent unmistakably lower class. “It’s me first day, and I’m s’posed to take something to the king’s study. Can you tell me where ‘tis?” “Sixth floor,” the girl said. “Third door on your le

Aidan cast his invisibility spell on the three of them before they exited the woods. When they reached the walls of the keep, they kept close to the wall where the shadows were darkest. “Are we going through the wall?” he asked. “I’m afraid it would collapse if I used my door spell,” Beca said. “This one’s for me,” Bryn said. She spoke an incantation in Arabic to levitate them to the top of the wall and back down to land in the castle courtyard. “When did you learn to

Halloween was considered a minor holiday for their English neighbors, but in Llanfyllin, with its Celtic history and the locus of Europe’s magical renaissance, the day and night were a national celebration. Aidan knew they would be unmonitored from dusk to dawn while the city reveled in costumes, performative magic, banquets, and drinking. Apprentices with families were allowed to journey home, which was the cover story for the twins. Aidan made no attempt to disguise him

Getting to Ellesmere Keep wasn’t a problem for them. They already lived in Llanfyllin City, and the castle was visible on the horizon from their residence in the Magician’s Guild apprentice academy. Getting inside the castle was the challenge, as the walls of the keep were thirty feet high and guarded at all points of entry. “Once we’re inside the keep, we’ll need to get inside the castle,” Aidan said. “Beca’s door spell will make that easy, but then we have to find the kin

“How do you know the book is in Ellesmere Keep?” Bryn asked. “I don’t precisely,” Aidan said. “The page in the grimoire said to ‘seek knowledge in the seat of power.’” “That could be anywhere, couldn’t it?” Beca said. “If it’s old enough, it could be talking about London, or even Rome.” “It’s the Llanfyllin Magician’s Guild, so it will be in Llanfyllin’s capitol,” Aidan said. “Besides, it’s not the book itself but instructions on how to find the book.” “Why so complic

The girls were both laughing when he stepped out of the headmaster’s office. Aidan removed his invisibility spell on them all, and when this happened, they found it even funnier. “What are you so giggly about?” he asked. “When you make yourself truly invisible, will you have to be naked?” Beca asked. “Or will your clothes be invisible, too?” “What if you get a nosebleed while you’re invisible?” Bryn asked. “Could someone see your blood?” “If you have to poo, would you

The headmaster’s grimoire was said to be more than 1,000 years old, with its earliest spells written in Latin by Roman magicians. From that point, its contributions included every tribe who ever invaded Brittania, from the Anglo-Saxons to the Norse to the French. Aidan and his peers had spent as much time in classrooms learning languages as they had learning to control and apply their natural magical powers. Those were the easy parts. The discipline and obedience were much

Aidan’s favorite invisibility spell worked like a series of small mirrors that made the person blend into their surroundings. However, it could be detected if someone suspected an intruder was nearby, and it wasn’t useful for moving quickly, either. “Are you sure this will work?” Beca asked. “Are you sure the book said the headmaster?” Bryn asked. “What if you’re mistaken?” “It said ‘The Master Book of Spells,’ which we know resides in the headmaster’s office,” Aiden sa

“You can’t be serious,” Aidan said. “Look for yourself,” Bryn said. They walked to the locked gate and saw rows of empty bookshelves. Aidan was undeterred. He asked Beca to cast the same spell that let them into the library upon the iron gate. She obliged, and he passed through. Relying on his memory, he found the shelf with the invisibility spell book and moved his hand to pull out a book. His first two attempts retrieved the wrong volumes, but his third grab was succe