She stared at the direction they had gone. They had to have gone far so that there wouldn’t be any witnesses. There was no way for her to follow them and stop whatever they were doing. She couldn’t even walk normally, let alone run. Marie shook her head before she rushed towards the signal again. It took a couple of minutes before she reached the general area where she’d felt the magic. There was no way to tell if she was in the right area with the magic gone but maybe the area itself would give her clues. She looked around. This area looked the same as everywhere else she had walked. The only thing that stood out was a large hill to the left of her. It was almost double her height.
Marie climbed the hill and looked around. A large bush blocked the very top of the hill so she wasn’t able to go all the way up. The bush was mostly made up of bare branches with a few leaves here and there. She noticed something white at the very bottom and moved closer to get a better look. Marie knelt down and moved the leaves out of the way. A white piece of paper was wrapped around a red flower. The magic activated and smoke started to rise out of the talisman. Marie shoved her hand into the bush and pulled out the talisman. Marie held her breath as she burned the talisman along with the flower. It was better not to take any chances so she purified the air with a quick spell before she stopped holding her breath. Marie frowned. She didn’t get a very good look at the talisman but the placement and smoke looked like a trap to her.
The area needed to be checked for other traps. She glanced around again but couldn’t figure out why someone would want to booby trap this area. The only difference she saw was this hill. Was there something in the area being protected?
Marie picked another direction at random. She kept a lookout for any large hills as she roamed. The trap looked like it was supposed to take advantage of the height to drop the smoke on unsuspecting passersby. Now she just needed to find another one and study it before the spell activated. There. She found another hill about the same size as the other one. Marie was careful as she came upon the peak. There was a bush up here as well, though this one was more green.
She knelt down. There was another paper nestled at the bottom of this bush. If she went any closer, the talisman would activate. She already knew what their magic signature felt like but if she triggered this one, she might actually be able to see the magic user themselves. With a plan in mind, Marie plunged her hand into the bush. She yanked her hand back and studied the spell as quickly as possible. Smoke was pouring out and flowing over the hill. Once she had read the entire spell, she dropped the flower and wrote out a special kind of barrier that wouldn’t allow any air to escape. With that done, she scanned the area for any sign of movement or magic.
The magic signature was the same so that meant this was the same person. But why were they putting up traps? What was the point? The talisman was made to enhance the properties of the poppy and put anyone who smelled the smoke to sleep. The problem was that this seemed to be aimed at no one in particular. The trigger was proximity based so anyone who came too close would trigger the talisman regardless of who it was. What would be the point in putting random people to sleep? She looked around again. The talisman had already burned up yet no one had shown up.
Did they figure out she was out here waiting for them? Or were they still on their way? She would wait a little bit longer to see if something happened but she shouldn’t leave the smoke here. Marie dispelled the barrier. The smoke started to spread out as she wrote out another spell. The smoke faded away and the air was now safe to breathe. Marie stood up and it felt like the ground was swaying beneath her feet. She took a step back but it was a step too many. The edge of the hill crumbled away. Marie reached out, hoping to grab the bush but her fingers only brushed against the leaves. She tensed as she braced herself for the fall but it was cut short.
"I've got you." Adrian helped steady her before letting go. "What happened?"
"Nothing." She must have wasted more time than she thought. Marie frowned as she glanced at her watch. Seven-thirty.
"I wouldn't call this nothing." He lifted her arm and gently rotated it to see all of the scratches. She had been too busy to heal her arms. Finding out what magic was being used was her number one priority. Marie closed her eyes and healed both her arms. What was she going to do now? With him here, it only made investigating more difficult. She didn't need him trying to force his way into her case.
"I wasn't following you." She opened her eyes and stared at him. He had his polite mask on. "I was taking a walk when I saw you having trouble."
"I was fine." He ignored her comment and kept talking but his lips twitched for a moment.
“This isn’t that far from where Leon lives.” Was it really that close? She’d been picking directions at random so she assumed she was much further away. Adrian pointed behind her. She looked but she couldn't see Leon's house from here. Or feel the magic. How he knew where it was, was a mystery to her. Everything looked the same. Trees, trees, and more trees. Nevermind. That wasn't important right now. What was important was getting away from him without giving him any more information.
"Did you need something?"
"Do you have somewhere you need to be?" Tsk. Marie pressed her lips together for a moment before answering.
"No." His smile turned smug before he gestured for her to go first. Marie started down the hill as she thought over her options. Teleport seemed to be her only option. She just needed to put enough distance between her and Adrian. Marie stopped.
"What is it?" There it was again. The same magic signature. It wasn't that far from where she currently was. But what was she going to do about her other problem?
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