Tonya came back to her senses, lying on the floor with Drake's hand in hers. "What have you done to Drake?"

"He'll be fine in a moment or two. I don't understand what went wrong," said Helen. I tried to draw the life energy out of the egg." She shrugged.

"Can you help me?" Tonya asked.

"I'm going to need help to kill it."

"Don't!"

"It'll kill you, just like that swimmer."

"Can't we save it, and me?" Since she had the dragon inside, Tonya could sense new kinds of magic that made everything in Loon Lake glow a little bit brighter, especially rocks and stones.

"Helen, there are so many things about magic you haven't told me. There's magic in rocks, the water, the sky. It's not just in living things like you taught me. What else have you been holding back?"

"Where did that come from?" Helen was examining Drake. She laid her hands on either side of his head, then started to stroke his blond hair.

Drake stirred and mumbled something. Tonya rushed to his side. With Helen, she helped him get up and sit on the edge of the bed.

"I want to sleep." Drake lay back across the bed.

Tonya turned to Helen. "Good, now tell me what you did to him."

Drake snored softly.

"It's the egg." Helen leaned closer to Tonya so she could whisper. "It's resisting me. The harder I tried to draw the life energy out of it, the more came out of you and him. I realized just in time and stopped. Somehow it rerouted all the life energy in the room towards me, so I would think I was drawing it out of the egg, but actually I don't think I hurt it at all."

"It's hurting me again." Tonya winced.

"That's strange. Usually my painkilling charms last for days. They're one of my most popular cures."

"We'll this one's wearing off like nail polish on a gopher. I can feel it chewing into me again."

"I don't think it's out of the shell yet. You're probably feeling is its beak poking out of the shell, and bits of shell stabbing you as they break away."

"Oh great, you telling me the worst is yet to come and you can't do anything? Is there anybody else I can see?"

Helen tried to pull Tonya towards her for a hug, but Tonya broke away.

"I am the greatest witch in Loon Lake, outside of Donna. And she can't heal like me. Nobody heals like I can. Just give me some time to figure this out."

"How about other places? There has to be someone in some other country who can cure me."

"Maybe, but the trip could kill you. You don't realize how much being in this town protects you."

"Like how?"

"Have you ever wondered why people stay?"

"No, but lately I've been wondering why so many new people are moving in. I'm used to summer tourists but not these newcomers who move into the old Village of loon Lake. I mean, they're building a condominium twenty stories tall. Who ever heard of a condominium in Loon Lake? It's going to be the highest building in the area. Why isn't the Mayor doing something?"

"Don't complain to me. Who knows, maybe the newcomers won't feel as intimidated by Donna and her brothers. Wouldn't it be ironic if they vote them out of power in two years?"

"So, let's ask the newcomers. Maybe one of them can help."

"I'll make some phone calls. In the meantime, you should lie still. Don't go to class, don't go out, don't do anything."

"Why?"

"Everywhere you go, this egg is absorbing energy, information, and emotions from your surroundings."

"Like you're an expert."

"I could sense it doing it. It's still doing it, okay."

"Time's running out. I can't just lie around until it eats me."

Helen hung her head. "Let me try again. This time, stop me from drawing out your energy. Then life energy will have to come out of the egg."

Tonya had been working on energy transfer and one of the early lessons had been how to prevent it. She opened her mind to the sources of energy in the room and focussed on keeping hers intact. "Ready."

Tonya fought fire with fire. Each time Helen drew life force out of her, she retaliated by drawing Helen's life force back into her. The resulting tug-of-war was balanced, because Tonya was careful not to win. Instead, energy flowed back and forth by inches, never accumulating in one or the other.

At the end of their fruitless back and forth, Tonya was not exhausted the way she normally would've been, but her aunt sat down and caught her breath as if she had been running.

"Well, did it work this time?" Tonya asked.

"You tell me. Is something still moving inside the egg?"

"Honestly, I don't know, but I'm feeling stronger and better every minute. Maybe this is it. You've done it!" Tonya rushed over to her aunt and pulled her to her feet, flung her arms around her and danced her around the room until Helen started to stumble.

"Just put me back on the bed. I'm woozy." Helen stumbled, arms held out in front of her as if she couldn't see.

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2024 update: Good news! This story is revised and published as Double Dead Magic.

Read the serial for free without ads here: https://reamstories.com/maaja

Thanks, and happy reading!

Maaja