Merri nodded. Maybe he was trying to be too perfect too soon, as it were, and once the obelisk's glow faded he tried the incantation once more, focusing more on the spell itself rather than making sure that it wrapped neatly around the obelisk as he did so.
Once more, the first time, nothing happened, and neither did the obelisk glow either color on the second try. Finally, on the third try, though the words were perfect, he knew his aim was not, something caught onto the obelisk and there was a faint glow of green.
"It worked!" he said just before the glow disappeared. Obviously, the spell was weak and did not hold and had probably been too far off-center, but for all intents and purposes, that had been Protect.