The Cost of Conjuring: A Bargain Beyond Blood

8. Saved by the smashing tail of a dragon

I fill up with bliss. It's more controlled than at the dwarves', mainly because of the equalizer symbols near the center of the circle. Lighting up as they regulate the flow of magic so I'm not overwhelmed. And for the first time, I'm glad I decided to include them.

The difference from the amplifier is unbelievable. There's so much magic swirling around me, waiting for its turn, mixing with the warm feeling of hope as it reaches my chest.

Everything is glowing with thin threads, too many to distinguish between them. I'm enclosed in a sphere of color. Connected to every living being in this world.

I bring up an image of Nina, her red braid and curious eyes, but as I expected, no thread lights up. I do the same with Dan but achieve the same result. They're dead or somewhere else, as I already knew.

With no more reason to stall, I take a deep breath, concentrating on the way the magic erases everything bad before I widen my mind, multiplying the number of threads. The light and color press on my eyelids as the closest worlds connect. Even with my eyes closed I'm blinded. It feels like someone just turned on the strongest possible stage spotlight right in my face.

I take it slow and methodically, unable to pinpoint exactly how much my reach increased thanks to the amplifier. Just that it's far. Way farther than I thought.

When the tip of my nose burns from the sheer amount of magic surrounding me and my mind can't widen anymore I bring them up from the depths I have them locked away in. My mother, who looks so much like me, same red hair but kinder eyes and rounder cheeks. Her hugs strong and safe. My dad with his trimmed beard and fancy glasses, always laughing with his whole body and his big hands so warm when they ruffle my hair. And the twins, looking more like my dad than mom. They're just fifteen in my memory but to me, they're still so much bigger and smarter. I never thought I would miss their teasing and pranks but just a day after they disappeared I would have given anything to have them back.

Sticky guilt even the magic can't erase constricts my thoughts and challenges my concentration. Pressing in from all sides. I breathe through it because that's the only thing I can do.

As expected, nothing happens. No thread stands out of the blinding circle of light. It keeps pulsing as the magic fills me up, seeping into every crack and cavity. I try to stay calm. I try to not think about the possibility this won't work and what that would imply.

A spiky symbol at the edge of the circle right in front of me goes from bluish-white to red. The first warning my body is getting overwhelmed. Not that I need it.

"Levi?" Cera asks, knowing exactly what the red means.

"It's fine. I just have to get used to the amplifier."

Slowly and with as much precision as the enormous amount of magic allows me, I bring Necropolis into view by focusing on the name and the dark, foreboding feeling I associate with it. A black sphere materializes in front of me, sucking in the light, showing me a dark sky and even darker, spiky towers silhouetted against it. The smell of decomposition and death hit my nose as if I fell face-first into the corpse-littered mud.

I reach out and as usual, my hand goes right through the dark edge of the sphere, cold, damp air hitting it on the other side. As I concentrate, the darkness is sliced by shining threads till the sphere is a smaller copy of the one surrounding me. I focus on my parents again, searching through all the worlds connected to Necropolis.

Nothing moves. Nothing stands out. I force myself to count to five before I retrieve my hand and move on to Celestoria.

It's also dark but, unlike Necropolis, it has no smell or feel to it. But like Necropolis it yields nothing.