Free Indigo Magic by Victoria Hanley

furniture. Machines stood along one wall, but the opposite corner held nothing but shadows and cobwebs. A perfect spot for a portal. Untouched.
    I floated straight to the wall and then stopped, remembering . I had once
sealed
a portal, and it had taken a thousand radia. It had also called for an elixir of troll magic mixed with honey from Earth. What would it take to
create
a portal?
    I set my tote on the dusty floor and took out my mother’s spellbook. The advanced spells would be towards the end. I turned the pages till I found the one I sought.
CREATING PORTALS TO EARTH
    Requires Level 75 magic and 1000 radia. Durable spell, needs to be refreshed every two hundred years
.
    Select a deserted location or construct a barrier on the portal (see Barrier Spell). Any solid substance can be used for a portal, including stones, walls, or the ground itself
.
    Spit upon the portal spot. Touch it with the tip of your wand. Infuse the wand to Level 75. Speak: ‘Chantmentum upana portalis nos Erthe
.’
    I almost laughed with joy. No troll elixir. No honey. Only spit from a Level 75 fairy or genie. I was a Level 100 fairy, so I could achieve 75 without effort. The thousand radia would be a lot to lose, but I had expected no less.
    I read the spell over again. ‘Creating portals to Earth,’ I said. ‘Creating portals
to
Earth.’
    To
wasn’t the same as
from
. Could I open a portal to Feyland from the Earth side? And if I could, where should it lead? Although I would like to connect Sam’s house to my own home in Feyland, I could still hear Lily’s voice:
She seeks out the same places if she is fond of them
.
    Not this time. This time I would go against what I wanted to do. It would be much safer for Sam’s family, anyway, to open a portal to a remote part of Feyland where fey folk were unlikely to blunder into it – and where Lily would have no reason to look. However, I had no personal knowledge of most of Feyland, especially the remote places. Only a few weeks ago, I had made my first trip to Oberon City. Before that, I’d lived my life inside Galena, sheltered land of children and parents. Sighing, I realized I’d have to make up a spell that opened a portal to an unknown place. What if it wasn’t possible to create a portal from Earth, a world whose inhabitants had so little magic?
    Sighing more deeply, I accepted that I might waste a thousand radia on a spell that didn’t work.

Chapter Eighteen
    P IXIES ARE AN ODD RACE . T HEY HAVE THEIR OWN LANDS, AND EVEN THE TROLLS RARELY ENCROACH ON THEIR TERRITORY, FOR IT IS KNOWN THAT PIXIES HAVE A SPECIAL SORT OF MAGIC THAT CAN LURE OTHERS AWAY FROM THEIR DUTIES .
    P IXIES ARE FOND OF MUSIC AND DANCING; IT IS ALL THAT THEY LIVE FOR . T HEIR BONES ARE LIGHT AND WELL SUITED TO THE MANY HOURS THEY SPEND GYRATING . T HEIR THROATS ARE LONG, WHICH ALLOWS THEM TO WARBLE ALL DAY . T HEY DO NOT EVEN SPEAK UNLESS IT IS WITH SONG .
    Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland
    I LISTENED FOR a full minute to be sure no one else was nearby. Then I spat on the wall in the corner of Sam’s dusty basement. I infused my wand to Level 75 and set the tourmaline tip against the concrete wall. ‘Open a portal from here to a remote part of Feyland.’
    Magic moved through my wand. When I put my hand against the wall, I felt no resistance. I had done it!
    ‘Give this portal a barrier so no human may find it.’ I had to do that spell. Had to. Sam had enough magic to pass through a portal. He must not slip into Feyland again.
    ‘Goodbye, Sam,’ I whispered to the wall. And stepped through it.
    My new portal led to a hilly place where the grass grew as high as my waist. A breeze carried scents I hadn’t smelled before, delicious scents that reminded me of sage plants and rosemary flowers.
    I crested a hill and searched the horizon, but saw no buildings, only more hills covered with long grass. Drifting along, I felt like a plumed seed, with no idea where I was.
    I turned to go back. I should have