They felt none of the usual anticipation as they crested the slope to the wild stretch of land leading to Aurora Hollow, only a sense of hopelessness, almost a feeling of doom.
Zoe clutched the wand at her side, itching for the small comfort of firelight the old stone pit would at least offer, and dreading the first of a new series of practice sessions just as much. As much as they reviewed the spells they had learned, they could find nothing they considered a practical offensive spell in their current repertoire, only things that seemed moderately useful at best, and downright silly on the whole.
There was the modified fire spell Zoe had succeeded in casting on their last visit to the hollow, but it was too unsure. Zoe just didn’t know if she could pull it off when the time came.
Zoe h
