Read Berlina's Quest for Free Online

bit discouraged.”
    â€œI was hoping there might be a counter spell I could use on Lathan, to restore him. Unfortunately there is nothing. Just a tiny reference to something called ‘The Ultimate Magick’. I don’t recognize it. Witch’s magic and sorcerer’s magic are similar but don’t always overlap. If I can find some way to get to Forsythia, maybe she can identify it.”
    They moved on around through the workbench area, but it was such a mess that neither of them wanted to touch anything. Near the middle of the bench, Felistia noticed a strange cabinet attached to the wall. The left side was a normal, wood-and-glass display case, but construction on the right side was heavy, wooden beams, and iron bars covered the glass. On each side, there was a shelf. There were numerous rings on both the floor and the shelf of each side. “Bee, what is this?”
    Berlina moved in and took a closer look. “Magic rings,” she said. “Forsythia taught me about them. Those on the left are good. Those on the right, more heavily-caged in, are evil. It looks like those on the shelf are ones Zatarra has been able to identify. See the little labels in front of each? I guess those on the bottom are those he hasn’t figured out, yet.” She pointed her wand at one of the rings on the left and said, “
Ringalevio
.” The ring glowed a pearly pink, and a warm, pleasant feeling emanated from the case. She repeated the spell on another of the rings on the left. This time, the glow was a warm, sunny yellow. When she moved to the right and did it to a ring in the heavily-caged section, the ring glowed with an evil, threatening, and fiery red. A feeling of dread filled the room.
    Felistia shuddered at this last. “What do they do?”
    â€œThe evil rings, if worn, harm the user. They bring illness, a weakening, even death. The good rings will give the user strength, health, or perhaps magic powers like invisibility. Let me see what he has here that he has been able to work out…” She peered at the labels. “There has been reported to exist a ring of Identification, which would allow the wearer to know what all the other rings are, but I don’t see it. It used to be difficult even to tell if the ring was good or bad, which made it dangerous to put on an unknown ring. If it was evil, even if it didn’t kill you outright, you couldn’t get it off. It would sit there, sucking away at your strength and health.”
    â€œDidn’t you just spot the good or evil rings?”
    â€œYes, it is much better now that someone discovered the spell I used.” She turned back to the case and scanned the labels again. “Uh-oh…trouble.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong?.”
    â€œIn the back row, there is an empty space with a label that says ‘Dis-Covery’. See it?”
    Felistia looked carefully, then said, “Why the strange spelling with the hyphen?”
    â€œOh, that’s just the name they gave it. The ring lets the wearer see through glamours and other disguises. If Zatarra allied with whoever kidnapped the prince and gave them the ring, we could be spotted. Not good!”
    â€œIs there a way around it?”
    â€œNone that I know of. I can’t ask. The queen threw Forsythia and the others from the Order of the Flowers out of the palace at the same time she locked us up. I don’t really know where the Order is so I can’t go ask her—even after we get loose. We’ll just have to take our chances.” She shook her head. “There are some rings here that have been identified, and I think I will help myself to a few of them. You never know what might come in handy. Besides, anything I can do to lessen Zatarra’s power is all to the good.” She scooped up several of the rings, and the two moved on down the row of lab workbenches.
    Finally, when they got back almost to the door, they saw an empty