Page 75 of The Hocus Pocus Handbook

Thea smiles. “Really? Your honesty is so comforting.”

“Is it? I’m just telling the truth. Pixies are straight talkers, you know. Never get any bullshit from our people, take us or leave us.”

“I prefer your approach,” Thea tells Rosa. “They drive me wild in the courts, never saying what they mean, taking forever to get to the point.”

“Tell me about it!” Rosa exclaims.

When Thea smiles, the atmosphere warms between them. Rosa settles on Thea’s shoulder as she leads us in performing the steps together. Next, we join hands, and at first, it seems like it’s not working. We’re just awkward people holding hands. But soon, my magic trickles out, joining Thea’s in a teasing tangle. Her threads entwine readily with Taragon’s, and Zeph has woven their startling strength through Rosa’s tapestry of power. Govannon’s shy magic surges last, until all our energies connect in a chaotic tangle. All around us, wild mana crackles in reaction, slashes and arcs of color in hues that match our personalities. This primordial energy is wild and uncontrollable.

“We’ll either open the strongest possible portal,” Tara gasps, “or blow ourselves up. Not sure which, but at least we’re together.”

Govannon manages a tight laugh. “I’ll take any change at this point.”

“Ready?” Thea asks.

Everyone nods.

Zeph turns to me with an unreadable expression. “You have the greatest skill with portal magic. I swear upon my life that I will not interfere this time. To give us the greatest chance at success, you should control the aperture.”

I don’t respond, but I take control of our joined energy, using my will to shape it. The veil thins, and I reach for a familiar mushroom circle near the Autumn village, my intended destination before. As the vortex forms in shimmering gold, Govannon cries out nearby. A hideous, oozing thing rises from the water, red as blood, pocked with sticks and stones and moss and bones. The monster seethes with mindless hunger. The gnome shrieks and dives through the portal before I’m entirely sure it’s stable. I don’t even know if I had the destination properly set. If he ends up lost again—

I struggle to hold the portal open as the creature undulates through the mire toward me, and I speak through clenched teeth: “Go! Get yourselves safe. Get out now.”

I can’t picture the mushroom circle at all, and oddly, there’s such a familiar pull, like Thea is on the other side of the portal. But that’s impossible. Perhaps it’s the last place we were? Please, not the Summer market—that would be no help at all.

Zeph is the first to comply, beckoning to Rosa. “Hurry, let’s move.”

The pixie follows him with a troubled glance in my direction. Taragon rushes through right after, leaving Thea to cast me a desperate, frightened look. The vortex hurts, screaming in my head as the magic tests the limits of my will. As she dives, I move, trying to seal the portal as I tumble through, but the arcane force blows me off-balance, and the vortex oscillates wildly.

I need to close it, but it resists my tether. Something is pushing, pushing, relentless need, and then I hear a thunderous pop—the monster follows us out, flopping with a slime-ridden squelch. It keens and snuffles, and then come the slurping, hungry sounds. The creature slithers toward a mortal woman, frozen nearby, mouth open in astonishment.

I’d ask who she is and what she’s doing here alone, but the portal is melting my brain, and that monster intends to eat us.

35

A Spell for Crossroads and Connections

There comes a point in every journey, my gem, when you realize you’re not where you’ve intended to be. For me, in my various travels, that has often been a literal truth. If you’re lost and you could use some aid getting on the right track, this working will work like a charm. Hopefully my wordplay put a smile on your face, even as you wrangle with veering off course. If you’re not near a proper path, even a worn pooka track will do, best if there’s signs of passage in all four directions, as a crossroads emboldens magic.

Now, then, this spell has two stages. The first will present a suggestion as to what direction you should set out, so you’ll need ingredients suitable for orienteering, and the second part aims you toward someone within the vicinity who will prove helpful to your situation. I have said this before, but it bears reiterating. You might be borrowing help today so it won’t be available the next time you need it. Magic can be a boon or a curse, and I never want to see you on the wrong side of a pixie’s hex. You’ll know when you need to cast this.

This one is best cast right before departure. You’ll require:

Azurite and hematite

Cinnamon and peppermint

A copper teapot

Clean, clear water

Heat the water, and make a lovely pot of peppermint cinnamon tea. Savor each sip, and feel your head becoming clearer and lighter. Drink it all down to the last drop, then take the crystals in hand and press them to your heart. Allow your magic to rise, and you should feel a pull. Let yourself walk in that direction. Whichever way you’re facing, that’s the right path for this moment.

Once, you went off with Ferghus, but I didn’t know where you’d gone. I scoured the palace and went to Miremorel, thinking you might’ve gone home without me. Everywhere I looked, no Thea. I was frightened half to death when you showed up on that pooka’s back, all smiles and wild hair and dirty face. When I said I was worried because you’d gone missing, I’ll never forget what you said with a roll of your eyes.

“I wasn’t lost, Da. I was adventuring.”

Thea