Chapter 5: Magic
You pulled me back, breaking the connection between my hand and the door handle. "What do you think?" you asked.
I rubbed my hand and looked at him ruefully. "I think..." The discomfort from the door quickly disappeared as I pondered the question. "I think this spell protects this door by making people weak when they touch it."
"Right. It drains their energy, to be precise. Remember a spell needs all three to function: an inscription, a medium, and an energy source."
"Wait, but normally, no one’s touching it, so it has no source of energy, so..." I stared at the door. The lights had returned to their usual tiny glimmer. "Right now, the door isn’t being protected, is it? But as soon as someone tries to open the door, they touch it so the spell gets a source of energy which activates the spell?"
"Correct."
"That’s so smart!"
"And energy efficient. A spell like this can lay dormant for years and still work when the time comes."
"Wow..." I looked at the door with renewed appreciation. "It would be good to use in a tomb."
"That’s what they were originally used for," you said.
"Really?"
"Sure, now step back." I obeyed as you took the centre in front of the door. You pulled a piece of paper from your pocket then crouched and placed the paper on the ground.