Listen Carefully Part 2

The first challenge presented itself almost immediately.

Blackburn Peak was surrounded by a strip of forest which was thick with thorned sunflowers. Her father had said that fairies lived in the darkness between the trees; that goblins sharpened their claws on the pines.

This part of the trial, she had read, was designed to test their knowledge of the natural world. So when she reached a towering wall of sunflowers with stems as thick as her arm, she was only half surprised.

She skidded to a halt. Her classmates had disappeared into the trees, but their voices carried spells which told her they were trying to burn through the wall of flowers.

Fools. The stems were too thick to snap or burn. But perhaps she could encourage them to move?  Sunflowers weren’t enemies, after all. They only wanted the light.

She raised her wand to the top of the trees. “Soliate!”

A ball of glittering light burst into life overhead. The branches groaned, and the flowers began to twist, stretching greedily towards the glow. Slowly, the thorns curled back into a narrow doorway.

Arabella grinned and ducked through the door. She hadn’t needed force—just thought.

NEXT STOP: Part 3 Lansdown Hall and Gallery