“It says there are approximately two thousand rock formations in the park.”
My heart fell. “Two thousand?”
He nodded.
“How are we supposed to find the right one?”
He studied the drawing in the Faythander tome. “This formation is odd, with two arches beside one another, almost like the eye sockets in the face of a skull. I think I remember seeing something like this.” He scanned his brochure once again and pointed at an image. The familiar curve of the twin arches looked similar to the drawing in the book.
“You think that’s it?” I asked.
“I believe so, but if it is, it won’t be easy to get to. This particular formation is accessed by one of the steeper trails and labeled as off-limits to the general public.”
“But we don’t have much of a choice. We have to get there.”
“I agree.” He folded the brochure and stuck it in his back pocket. “And we need to get there soon.”
The two of us hiked along the trail until it branched, taking the path leading up the steep side of a cliff. Below us, the sheer drop spanned hundreds of feet. I did my best to put one foot in front of the other and not stare down into the gorge below us.
Besides being scared out of my wits at the prospect of falling to my death, it was actually quite breathtaking. In the distance, a mountain range capped with snow stood out against the faded blue sky, and around us, the red pillars rose like steeples.
When we climbed to the top of the ridge, the trail ended with a sign that read NO ONE BEYOND THIS POINT.
Ignoring the sign, we climbed up the ridge, and then down through a maze of walls and half-formed tunnels. We only stopped to rest for a few sips of water, and then started once again.
An arch formation came into view as we rounded a bend—with two arches beside one another to form two open spaces, like the eye sockets in a skull.
“I think that’s it,” I said excitedly as I rushed toward the formation. Kull followed, and we stopped at the base of the twin archway. It must’ve stood seven stories tall—the tallest formation I’d seen so far.
“The book said the portal was hidden by a masking spell.” As I circled the pillars, I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, but I wasn’t sure what to look for in the first place, so I pulled my backpack off my shoulder and removed the Faythander text. I flipped through the pages until I found the picture of the formation.
Scanning through the text, I looked for anything that would tell me where the portal was located.
…formed as the world’s continents drifted asunder, the sandstone formation gained magic as the Earth powers pooled into the arched opening, like the opening into another world, for which it was. What was one now became two as the dragon’s spell masked the portal from all prying eyes.
Confused, I re-read the passage, trying to make sense of it, and then I handed it over to Kull. I stood and studied the formation. What was one now became two…
Hiking up to the formation, I climbed up until I could reach the rock between the two archways. As I felt the stone, magic tingled beneath my fingertips.
Bingo.
“I think I found it,” I called down to Kull.
“Up there?”
“Yeah, I can feel a spell working in the stone in this spot. I’d bet this isn’t two separate arches, but one. The stone connecting them is a masking spell hiding the portal. I’m not sure how to get through it, but at least we know where it’s at.”
I searched the magic, feeling the characteristic green of dragon powers, and finding a simple masking spell keeping the portal hidden. Usually, unraveling a masking spell was a simple enchantment, but since I had no magic, I wasn’t sure how to remove it.
I climbed down and made it to the ground. Sitting on a rock, I hefted my pack and searched inside until I found my mirror. The pink plastic and scrolled lettering glittered in the sunlight.
“What is that?” Kull asked, sitting beside me.
“It’s a magical box of enormous power.”
He eyed the mirror, but he drew back as the box started speaking to us.
“You’re beautiful! Inside and out!”
“Is it powered by some sort of dark powers?” he asked.
“Yeah, something like that,” I answered. “I’m going to try to activate the magic in my box so I can lift the masking spell. Since I don’t have magic on my own, I’ll steal the magic from the box. It won’t give me much power, and there’s not enough to open a portal, but it should be enough to remove a masking spell.”
Kull eyed the box. “With that?”
“Yes. Is something wrong with it?”
“It looks like a child’s toy.” He reached for it, but I pulled it out of his reach.
“Don’t touch. It’s a powerful magical tool. Looks aren’t everything.”
“Where did you find such an item?”
I sat up straight, trying to maintain my pride. “The dollar store. I was having a bad day and feeling very frustrated over losing my old mirror case. Plus, it spoke to me. Literally. Don’t judge.”
“Was your old mirror like this one?”
Sighing, I wished we could change the subject. “No. It wasn’t at all like this one.”
Turning away from him, I positioned the box on my lap and focused on the mirror. Bringing up my old box stirred feelings of regret, and I couldn’t help but see the metaphor of the situation, as if I’d lost a part of myself the day I’d lost my old box.
This all felt so wrong with this stupid Barbie nail polish kit turned mirror case, but I wasn’t getting my old box
