Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 41

Ildri lit a candle using some of her own ignition potion. She felt a little thrill of excitement at the thought. No more fiddling with flint in the dark for Ildri. Then she went to her workroom and fetched the heavy volume that she had brought back from the library and carried it to her bed. If she could not sleep she might as well do something useful. She flipped past a number of wizard spells until she came to a spell that looked on the surface like something that would mainly be used as a practical joke.

Invisible Ink

Ildri skimmed through a long and boring paragraph on the history of the recipe and read the directions.

6 parts clustered daisy petals (dried or fresh)

6 parts ink

5 tears potionaire

12 parts pure water (to dilute)

1 recipient eyelash (optional)

Simmer clustered daisy petals with ink for thirty-six hours over a low flame adding water periodically to prevent burning. Allow resultant sludge to cool and then add tears. Mix well and wrap magic together tightly while still stirring. Dilute to desired thickness. At this stage anything written with the ink will only be visible only to the author of the document or the potionaire and only until the ink dries after which none shall have the capability to see what has been inscribed.

If one wished to impart the ability to see what has been written with the ink, one must add to the ink (at any time after the ink has been prepared) a single eyelash from the intended recipient or recipients. Anything which has been inscribed before this addition will fade from sight and remain hidden. (Rumours of methods designed to circumvent the factor of invisibility of the ink have not been investigated at this time. The author is of the opinion that few would be capable of managing such intricate counter magic, but the risk is minimal if other precautions are taken upon sensitive documents.)

Ildri flipped to the next page.

Muted Colour

The standard spell for changing the colour of an object was invented as early as the tenth generation of kings and may have been around for many years prior. Dismissed as a spell which is either foolish or simply a beginner level spell for neophytes, many wizards miss important applications and modifications that may be used upon the unlikely spell.

The spell for muted colour is little more than a modifying generalization of the standard colour changing spell. In many ways it is...

The book faded away, and Ildri could not help but notice how bright the colours were all of a sudden, as if someone had been muting the colours for her entire life. The flowers danced in the breeze and the sun beamed down on her with a comfortable warmth.

Ildri smiled to herself. Keziah was there and thankfully not swearing as she sailed through the sky. Ildri figured that the parrot was probably in a good mood as she had actually bothered to leave Ildri's shoulder. Her preferred method of locomotion seemed to be riding on Ildri as if Ildri were a horse, or a carriage.

And then suddenly Ildri had the prickling sensation that she was being watched. She saw movement, through the trees. She walked towards it, clutching a small bottle in her hand. She found herself at the edge of a misty swamp.

And an before an intimidating wolf. It took her only a second to recognize it.

"Ferrel?" she exclaimed.

Ferrel gave her a wolfish grin and ran through the trees, then looked back, as if waiting for her to follow. Ildri followed, surprised at how easily she kept up with her four legged companion, watching where she put her feet on the uneven terrain.