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“I had not been able to stop her pain. She just kept bleeding,” she blubbered. “And now those poor babies are going to be raised without their mother.”

Amalia had really triedeverythingin her power.

She turned up to the lizard, seeing it was watching her from the towel she’d placed it on.

“I wanted so badly to save her. Why am I so useless? Why is my magic so weak?”

It twisted its head at her, those silver eyes glancing between both of her own.

“No.” She gave it a fright when she scooped it back into her hands. “There has to be another reason why I cannot save you either.”

She started checking over it, lifting each wing carefully before checking its paws. Her check was thorough, and she knew it didn’t like when she lifted its tail from behind.

“Have you been hexed by one of those pixie vermin?”

It darted its head towards her.

Pixies were just as small as fairies, and although most people rarely got the chance to see either of them, there was a big difference between the two. Fairies were sweet and playful, eating fruit and nuts. Pixies were naughty and mischievous, eating meat and bugs.

Both had magical capabilities and could cast minor spells.

A fairy would never harm another, but pixies went out of their way to. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d experienced dealing with their naughty magic.

The lizard started squirming when she picked it up and walked over to the bookcase.

She pulled the book she wanted from it and tossed it carelessly onto the table, hearing it thud, before flicking through the pages. But it wasn’t a page from the book she wanted but rather a piece stored in it from another, torn and put inside this one. It contained a spell that revealed hidden hexes or curses, and on the back was one that could reverse it depending on how strong it was.

She found it and memorised the chant. It didn’t matter that the moon wasn’t full, as long as she was bathed in moonlight it would reveal if there was a magical imprint on the creature.

Her determination to no longer feel like a failure made her tears stop.

“I will not fail you too.”

She took the creature outside and stood in the moonlight, thankful there were minimal clouds.

Panic was obvious on its face when she started chanting while holding the creature out from her. She spoke the words carefully and focused her magic.

Closing her eyes, she felt the pulsate of warm essence pouring from her hands.

The lizard struggled harder, but she knew the spell had worked when she opened her eyes. Then she blinked. The spell was supposed to reveal the left-over magic on a being, whether animal or human. The entire thing was glowing!

“Well, that is strange,” she whispered. “Why are you completely glowing? Only magical creatures glow like this.”

It snapped its teeth at her multiple times while giving her that hissing squeal. She grabbed the back of its head and pushed it forward so she could examine the dark spot she could see.

“There it is. There is the hex. I was right!”

Right between its wings protruding from its back was a dark mark and symbol she didn’t recognise. She figured the creature’s magic was stronger than the hex, but it was unable to break it by itself.

Maybe it does not even know that it has been cursed.

She turned it, lifting the creature to her eye level so they could look at each other. It tried biting her nose, but she dodged it just in time.

“No wonder I was not able to heal you. Something else is at work here. Now, Lady Lizard, I have only broken a few hexes, but hopefully I can get rid of this one.”

It paused its struggles to twist its head at her, so she moved her head the same way to copy it.

“Why are you looking at me like that for?”