Charlie smiled wryly. "It's the size of my head. Carrying it around is just inconvenient. I left it in Aurous Hill, safe away from prying eyes."

Vera nodded. "It's a cauldron, not a ring… So what could be affecting the aurora?"

Charlie shrugged. "The Earth's magnetic field?"

"Not possible. Auroras just don't shift like that…" Vera shook her head and suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, it's changing again!"

Charlie looked up and saw that the radiant vortex was suddenly split in four like a cake, whil