Minestus is Mystified

Minestus was feeling frustrated. It had all been going so well up to this point, yet now he had somehow lost both the Aqualarian and the Glider. How could that be? He was fairly sure that Astra must still be unconscious, since his tap remained inoperative. Unless Checkers was far stronger than she seemed it was surely impossible for her to have dragged an unconscious Astra - almost twice as heavy as herself - very far.

The only other possibility he could think of was that the Glider had managed to use magic, whether accidentally or deliberately. If it was the former, it should be no more than irritating, though puzzling given that his book was still locked. But if it was the latter, then it would be much more serious, since as well as implying considerable magical knowledge on her part it would suggest that she had been deliberately misleading him about her capabilities.

If Checkers had used magic, then it seemed likely to have been either a transportation spell (in which case perhaps Astra was now conscious after all, since his "tap" had a limited range) or a concealment spell.

He changed back to his human form. for two reasons. Certain spells could only be performed with a human mouth or with human hands. Also some of the passages along which Checkers might have dragged Astra were too small for him to search as a dragon.

First he would perform a counter-concealment spell, in case they were still present but invisible. If that produced no result, he would carry out a quick search of the nearby passages and caves. If that too was a failure, he would attempt to find them with a "locate" spell.

He performed the counter-concealment spell.

1. Checkers and Astra shimmered into view.
2. But nothing happened.
3. But before he could finish it, Astra must have come round, as his tap was re-established.
4. We switch to Checkers' point of view, and discover how she and Astra managed to disappear.

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