Chapter 47 #2
Lexie strode back down the center aisle, stopping at one row and peering at the books. “Search the place. Look for newer books with titles that look suspicious.” She ran her fingertip along the spines, mumbling in a voice too low for me to understand.
The rest of us did the same, though I went back out to the first room and up to the third level since they could cover the back and the first and second floors.
I didn’t find anything about Skathes, though I did find lots of books about spells I’d have to come back and explore.
I traced the railing on my way toward the far end of the third floor, Pherin a warm weight on my shoulder.
She fluffed her tiny feathers again, the pulse of her mind brushing mine, impatient, urging.
Not words this time, just an image of threads, stretched taut and thrumming, fading away when I tried to focus on them.
“More wards to unravel?” I asked, and she peeped.
I slowed. “Where?”
She blinked and tilted her head toward the wall at the end of the long aisle.
The shelves there looked no different from the rest, dusty, overstuffed, a few books lying on their sides. But when I reached the end and placed my hand on the shelf, a vibration shivered through my palm. It wasn’t a sound or exactly magic, either.
I peered over the railing on my right. Down below, the statue hadn’t moved, but his head had turned. He was looking directly at me.
Shivers scraped down my spine.
The carved mouth hadn’t opened, yet I swore I could hear his earlier command to leave sliding across my skin like the sharpest knife.
I studied the book spines, edging toward the left wall. The vibration grew stronger.
“Isi?” Kerralyn’s voice floated up from below. “Find anything? There’s nothing out back.”
I didn’t answer. If I spoke, I’d have to admit I wasn’t sure.
Pherin nipped my ear, then hopped down my arm and pressed her breast against the wall.
The surface rippled. I jerked my hand back, flattening it against my chest.
Behind me, the scrape of stone rang out. A gowned statue had stepped off her dais on this level.
“Leave or suffer the consequences,” she growled. One grinding step was followed by another, her stone dress rippling around her.
Pherin’s mental image sharpened on those same threads, tangled, humming, alive.
“I already broke the wards,” I hissed, and she shook her tiny head.
More?
I closed my eyes and tried to find the threads holding this ward together.
No knot.
I opened my eyes, and for the first time, I saw a lattice made up of thin strands of light crisscrossing the wall like a spiderweb, quivering faintly where they intersected. Every point vibrated on its own frequency, humming in a rhythm I could feel in my chest.
Pherin’s trill sharpened. Push. Pull. Not hard, not fast, but gentle.
I hesitated. As far as I knew, my magic was a blunt thing. I assumed I’d eventually be able to move larger objects, that this could play some role in the war against the Skathes.
Funny how I no longer saw myself returning to my home court but staying here.
By Trew’s side? That remained to be seen.
Yet I’d discovered an ability to fracture wards.
One ward, Pherin essentially sent.
I pursed my lips at her. “Alright, one.”
Make two.
A lattice. A lattice. How was I going to unbind this?
Trying to ignore the stone woman lumbering toward me, I listened to the threads, seeking a section that could be undone. First, I coaxed each one until it relaxed and no longer tugged at the others.
Good, so far.
With my mind’s eye, I traced the network, following the lines of light in the air, feeling the energy quiver beneath my skin.
A strand snapped under my touch, and I let out a yelp that echoed through the big open room.
“Coming up with my sword drawn,” Lexie shouted, followed by the thud of her boots on the floor.
The lattice flared like a startled bird. My heart raced. Stone footsteps came closer, each thud a threat, while each vibration of the lattice was also a warning.
“Not too fast,” Kerralyn whispered from somewhere close by. “I did read a bit about wards, how they can sometimes present a challenge. You do know that this is a rare ability. In fact, I don’t believe—”
“Let her fucking do it,” Derren snarled.
Kerralyn huffed. “I’m giving her simple directions. Let them settle, Isi. Learn their rhythm. Once they’ve relaxed, the solution will come to you.”
“Just like that?” Lexie asked, followed by her grunt and the clang of a sword striking stone.
“Yes, just like that. Do take care, Lexie.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let it near me.”
“I meant not to harm the statue. That’s a priceless object, one that—”
I’d swear Derren had just placed his palm over Kerralyn’s mouth, but I didn’t look.
I exhaled, whispering encouragement to the threads as if they were frightened animals.
A section of the lattice loosened, its vibration slowing, its color fading to a soft silver.
Another followed. The wall’s pulse stuttered, then slowed even more, and I realized the lattice wasn’t unbreakable.
It was alive, and it would respond if I respected its rhythm.
Finally, the last intersection trembled and dissolved, leaving the wall still, solid, yet subtly different, almost as if it had been exhaling for centuries, waiting for someone who would pay attention.
The statue froze before she turned and scraped across the floor, stepping back up onto her platform.
“Well done,” Kerralyn breathed. She shot her fist into the air. “I helped. Tell me I didn’t help.”
Pherin peeped, which seemed to be all Kerralyn needed.
I braced both hands on the wall and pushed.
It shivered under my palms, and a ripple raced up from the floor to the ceiling. It caught me mid-step, the stone beneath my hand softening like warm wax.
Then the wall…inhaled.
Before I could pull back, it sucked me through, plunging me into a chamber that shouldn’t exist within the library’s walls.