172 TUNNEL: APHRODISIAC SPELL 1

CHAPTER 172 

On the other hand, Astrid had dressed her wound, eaten and rested. She felt more energetic after some hours of recuperating and could use her powers again.

They had already walked for some hours and decided to take a little break before continuing on the tiring journey. They couldn't tell much of the time, but they could also guess that it was nightfall, judging from the number of hours spent.

The little white tiger-phoenix beast did not waste any time and rushed to the nearest dent at the side of the tunnel and laid down for a good sleep.

It seemed to be sleeping a lot at any chance it got these days. At first, Astrid was concerned but after it told her that it was growing and needed the rest, she let herself calm down.

Seeing as the dent the little White Tiger-Phoenix beast found was small, Astrid and Jareth made their way to next one at the opposite side. It was much bigger than the one the little beast slept in and could accommodate the two of them.

They dropped their bags and began settling in. Tired, Astrid plumed down on her bag to sit.

"AW!" She cried out as she winced at the pain.

She got up and removed the bag from underneath her butt and sat down on the bare ground instead. Her hands quickly found their way inside her bag to get the hard object out.

"Ohh!" Her eyes opened at what was in her hands.

It was her magic book. She had almost forgotten she had it and haven't read from it.

"I missed you. It is time to learn some magic spells and use it for my next fight with them," she said to herself in a whisper.

Jareth who was concerned by her saw the intrigued look on her face and shook his head.

'So she was merely injured by a book. How could she forget?' he thought.

Astrid never ceased to amaze him with her eagerness, innocence and behaviour. He stood up, leaving his back at the corner and made his way to the clear path.

She turned her head, ready to ask where he was leaving to, but he beat her to it and spoke first.

"I am going to gather some rocks and little sticks I can find. We can use it to make a fire that would last long since your precious snow is sleeping and its fire would go out within the hour," he explained.

"Hmm, okay," she said to him and returned to what she was doing.

'Perhaps I can find a fire spell that would make a flame and let it last for hours. Jareth would be surprised when he finds out hehe…'

She was pleased with her thoughts and immediately opened her magic book.

As soon as she opened the book, a page opened in front of her. She squinted as she took a closer look at the title.

"APHRODISIAC SPELL," she read out to herself.

"Hmm… Let's see your usefulness," she said, a trace of a smile appeared on her exquisite face.

All of a sudden, a light glint shone in her eyes as an evil thought entered her mind. "Hehe hehe…" she laughed mischievously.

'I would use this spell on the Elven Princess. Let's see how she would find time to track me down when she is under this spell. She would rather run back to the palace in search of her lover or be with her soldiers. No I should cast it on all of them, that way no one would be bothered by me anymore. Perfect plan!' she thought to herself, as he grinned from ear to ear.

Her plan was set, nothing could stop her now, or so she thought. She decided to do it before Jareth returned.

Settling herself and adjusting her butt on the ground, Astrid began to cast the spell whilst waving her fingers. "El tidore merche tie amor... Divine goddess of love; shine bright your light on her tonight. In…"

As she chanted away, blue shimmering lights danced on her fingertips, totally capturing her attention. Unfortunately, she didn't realize the almost silent footsteps coming behind her as Jareth walked closer to her.

"May this spell heed my words and perform its task. I cast this spell on…"

"What are you doing?"

"Me! Tonight."

Before she could complete her sentence Jareth asked almost at the same time, startling her. Due to the shock, Astrid cast the spell on herself instead, rather than Princess Avery.

She blinked several times, realizing the mistake she made. Before both of them knew what was happening, the blue shimmering light on her fingertips moved towards her chest and head and vanished when it came in contact with her.

Immediately, her eyes changed their colours to a shade of light blue then turned back to black. Jareth who was standing at her back saw when the light flickered on her.

His brows furrowed as he studied her. Waiting and watching to see what she was doing.

"Ahhh!" she suddenly screamed and turned to face him.

"Astrid, what is it?" He asked and squatted beside her.

Her hands moved to her hair as she continued shaking her head, completely ignoring his question and lamented.

"No, no, no… It is over. What have I done?"

"Astrid! What is wrong, tell me?" He asked while shaking her shoulders.

She stopped whining and looked up at him lovingly. Her cute eyes dazzled in the poorly lit tunnel, like bright shining stars in the night sky.

She beamed a smile at him as she blinked her eyelashes severally in an enchanting seductive way. She looked so alluring with the look on her face.

Jareth shook his head trying to clear his thoughts and not think of her innocent but seductive look. When he looked back at her, nothing had changed.

His gaze darted to her side and caught sight of the magic book she was reading. His eyes opened wide when he read the first word on the page.

'Aphrodisiac…That would explain why she is behaving like this now, but the question is, why she would do that to herself?' he asked himself inwardly.