He turned. She threw her spell. The knotted packet of twigs and leaves hit the boy square in the forehead.
He blinked once, then stood stock still.
"Jon," Sarah hissed quickly, "follow me into the woods."
Normally she'd be more careful with her words. Normally she'd be more careful with her tone. But she was in a hurry, and her thoughts were still racing besides.
Sarah reached out to the ley lines that connected her to the stone. Mimicry. What could she do with mimicry? Maybe she could cast something that would force Jon to offer a trade. No, a different magic user might make him a better offer. But what if she could make Jon more inclined to work with her? More inclined to trust her?
A spell with those kinds of psychological effects would take time. Maybe a few days. But it was Sarah's best shot.
The two teenagers had walked far enough that the sidewalk was no longer visible. How many seconds had passed? How many did Sarah have left?
She needed a talisman. One that would stay on Jon's body, while remaining invisible to the eye.
"Take off your pants," she ordered. Jon dutifully, if blankly, complied. Sarah reached under her own skirt and slid her panties down her legs, trying to maintain whatever modesty she could, but trying to work quickly as well.
"Take off your boxers," she commanded. Jon did this as well, as Sarah did her best to maintain eye contact with Jon while also directing The Stone's magical ley lines towards the panties she held in her hand.
She was close enough, she could almost see the energies with her naked eye. Flowing from the stone in Karyn's direction, then flowing back to Sarah. This spell was recent enough that Sarah could still tap into its energies.
She spliced a thread of energy off of the stream, disconnected it from the stone and grafted it to her underwear. She tugged at the thread, unraveling it from the original spell until it was no longer connected to Karyn, and placed that node on Jon. Now Sarah, herself, was the engine of this new spell. She had used the valleys formed by the stone's rivers, but was now supplying her own water. Her energy would be fed to her talisman, and as long as the talisman remained physically close to Jon, it would slowly alter him in her image.
Sarah didn't know what her next step would be, but this gave her a foothold. She'd come up with something else later. This was the most she could do right then.
"Put these on, Jon," Sarah held out the enchanted panties, "and make certain that you are always wearing them."
Jon did as Sarah commanded, and she grabbed his boxers from among the pine needles, stuffing it into her bag.
"Now put your pants back on." Sarah was cutting it close. She had already turned to run as she gave that order, and did not wait to see how much longer Jon would remain in his trance.
Much of this plan hinged on concealing it until things were already too far gone to stop. Who knew what Jon could do with The Stone if he knew that Sarah was trying to tamper with him?
But she was gone by the time Jon had buckled his belt. Out of the woods when his eyes blinked once more and took on their normal intelligent gaze. Practically home as Jon looked down and wondered why he'd wandered into the woods and taken off his shoes.
Sarah would spend the entire night preparing ingredients for the next day at school. She didn't know what she would need, but she had to be prepared for anything.
