I waswayout of my depth last month when I first came to the magical realm.
But coming here rejuvenated me, teaching me things I’d never done. I was even able to save myselfand Wolfefrom a hoard of rebels after I’d realized that my magic could make things age within the space of seconds.
Earlier, as I thought about how I was going to escape, the whole aspect of my magical capabilities struck me anew. Opening my eyes to the fact that I was no longerout of my depth.
I could use magic, too. Just like everyone else.
And… I had something none of them had.
The power oftime.
Back in Morgäven, it was my time magic that enabled us to free Wolfe. Had I not used it, he would have died. The magic placed on the sword would have consumed him.Killed him.
We would have all died. It was by my magic that Wolfe was free and able to get us out of that Godsforsaken realm.
My magic. Not Arielle’s, Bastian’s, Alaric’s, Garrick’s, or even Wolfe’s.
Mine.
And it was my magic that was needed to find the ring that had chosen to hide on a temporal plane, trusting inmethat I would find it.
I definitely hadn’t given myself enough credit. That changed now.
Now that I needed my magic to save my family. But there were two obstacles standing in my way: the magical shackle around my wrist and the actual getting out of here.
The shackle would alert Wolfe if I tried to escape. The plan was to slow—or even freeze—the magic on the shackle so he wouldn’t be able to sense me or know where I went when I left. I also planned to cloak myself with a spell that would either slow down anyone who tried to track me or stop them.
That was why I was practicing on the beetle. And I needed to more than just feel the magic.
In Morgäven, I had Arielle and Alaric helping me, and I only needed to slow time for a few seconds to enable them to get to Wolfe.
This would be different.
I needed to control time with a spell.
If I could control the beetle, I’d also be able to do the same with an inanimate entity like the spell on the shackle, no matter how powerful it was. Time followed no rules but its own.
I needed to see how long the spell would hold, and, more importantly, if it would stay under my control.
Controlling the spell enabled me to switch it on and off at my will. And the best part?
Time magic was not like the other source elements that flowed from the Fray. It responded only to itself. So, once I activated a spell, only I or another wielder of the elements of time could deactivate it.
Meaning no one here would be able to find me. Sure, they’d know I was heading home; I knew that. But the goal was distance.
I just needed to get home.
Despite everything that was said about the dangers, I couldn’t imagine Wolfe or any of the others tearing me away from my family if I was already there with them. Especially if they had no plan.
It was a vague hope, but I was relying on the dissention between them. I at least knew that Alaric and Arielle were on my side—even if they were bound to Wolfe.
That just left the actual getting away. Since I couldn’t run away from four-winged Fae warriors and a powerful mage, and I doubted the dragons would turn on their master and allow me to fly them, phasing was the answer.
Yes, I’d portalled before, but that was by accident. I had no idea how to do it again, and even if I did, I didn’t trust myself quite yet with such a high-level ability.
Phasing was similar to portaling but drew on elemental magic from the natural currents of Galaythia to allow you to pass through the Void. So, essentially, you wouldn’t be using your own magic like with portaling.
I’d never done it before on my own. But I had a work-around.
