Chapter Eleven #2
Ena didn’t know what to do. Should she encourage him to talk more about their relationship?
Maybe it would help Ty to open up about it.
But then again, prying too much could cause him to shut down.
He clearly didn’t like to talk about Petyr, and for good reason—he had been unintentionally responsible for his death.
This was new territory for her, but she decided to let her natural curiosity guide her.
“How did you two meet?” she asked gently.
Ty sighed, and she thought at first that maybe he wouldn’t answer, but then he did.
“At the guesthouse in Ternan. I was there trading, and using my furor in small amounts, as was my mission, when he joined in on a card game I was involved in. We got to talking about our common interests. He was well-read on many topics, but knew a lot about metallurgy specifically, so he offered to show me his private collection back at his shop, and it was there he told me about his theory about the amulet. One he’d developed after reading these journals,” he said, gesturing to the other, smaller books in the sack.
Ena was quiet for a second, letting his story sink in. “It’s not your fault, you know,” she said gently. “You didn’t start that fire. You didn’t intend for him to die.”
Ty’s eyes lifted to hers. They were filled with guilt and regret.
“I may not have started it, but I was the ultimate cause. It was my fault, and I’ve accepted that.
But…it’s also part of what drives me. To do all this,” he said, gesturing at the books.
“To change things so I’m never forced to do something like that again. So I have a choice.”
Ena reached out and touched him gently on the shoulder. They were close enough, part of her wanted to hug and kiss him—comfort him. But she didn’t know if that kind of affection would be appropriate in public.
He placed his hand over top of hers and gave it a squeeze. The look in his eyes told her he appreciated her presence, her understanding, but that she shouldn’t pry anymore. The guilt was clearly still something he was working through.
“I should go,” he said, clearing his throat and breaking the moment. “I promised I’d go see Dev about the mines. Will you be alright here?”
“Mmhmm,” Ena said. If she were being honest, she couldn’t wait to dive into these books and see what she could find.
“Okay, good. I’ll be back later to get you. Don’t go wandering on your own,” he said cautiously.
Ena needed no explanation as to why. She knew there were many here who held contempt for her, and plus, she had no desire to get absolutely lost in the passageways.
“I won’t…Master,” she said, giving him a little smirk.
He smiled and shook his head at the teasing, before looking down at her mouth, like he wanted to kiss her, but clearly thought better of it, before turning to leave.
Feeling glad that she’d been able to lift his spirits slightly before he left, Ena sat down in the cozy fur-covered chair and started to flip through The Evolution of Magic.
She and Ty had decided that her initial goal should be to figure out more about the amulet, especially what the unknown symbol on it meant.
If she was going to break the bond, she’d first need to understand the elements that went into the spell the witches used to bind daemons to Iblis in the first place.
Only by understanding it could she hope to reverse it.
She already knew they’d need one witch from each Coven, and daemonic blood, to complete the spell—those things she had seen in her vision. But how the amulet worked, and what the spellwords they’d chanted meant, was what she still needed to figure out.
This book seemed like a good place to start since it was written by witches, but as she read, she was disappointed to find that there wasn’t much relevant to the spell.
It began by explaining how, at first, there were only mortals. Then, a chosen few were granted magic through a union of Iblis and Gaia. A union…what did that mean? Ena didn’t know what to make of that, but it didn’t seem relevant to the spell, so she kept reading.
The book was dense, and next explained how the two races of magic operated, the most common types of Gifts and Powers each had, and then delved into the inner workings of a witch’s Knowing, including numerous examples of how it was used, as well as the speed, strength, and healing magic of daemons.
She got so caught up reading she didn’t even register the time or the rumbling of her stomach until a young woman wearing an imperae collar appeared before her carrying a tray of food.
The woman explained that Ty had had the food sent for her, with the message that things were taking longer than he thought and he wouldn’t be back for another hour or so.
Ena thanked the woman, who lingered a little too long, looking at her like a curiosity, before she left.
Ena absentmindedly ate the slices of pork and slightly-past-its-prime apple that she’d been given while next reading about the split.
It was written exactly as Heran had described, where daemons, whose Powers were suited to chaos, disruption, and discord, chose to serve Iblis and move to the Underworld for secrecy, and witches, with Gifts of earth magic, chose to serve Gaia and maintain the balance.
No mention of the amulet. No mention of the bond to Iblis, and no mention of the way witches had essentially forced daemons into the Underworld by ostracizing them.
She was starting to feel a bit frustrated by this—by the lies, intentionally or unintentionally written in this book—until she caught something. The vaguest passage, which mentioned something she’d never heard of before.
And thus, no longer able to live in harmony with one another, the two races severed ties forevermore, just as the third race, the worshippers of Omnis, had done eons ago.
Omnis? She’d never heard that word before, nor had she ever heard of a third race of magic.
She was still puzzling over this when Ty finally returned, a smiling Turner at his side.
“How’d it go?” Ty asked, looking her up and down as if assessing for injuries and seeming relieved to find her in one piece.
“It went fine,” Ena said, unable to hide her frustration.
“Did you find anything useful?” Turner asked quietly, looking around to make sure no one was listening, which they weren’t.
“Not really,” Ena said. “But I’m just getting started. Although…have either of you heard of Omnis?”
“Omnis?” Ty asked, his dark brows furrowing. “No, what’s that?”
“I’m not sure,” Ena said. “I just found some vague reference to it in this book on the history of magic. It mentioned ‘worshippers of Omnis.’”
Ty looked over at Turner, who shook his head. He hadn’t heard of it either.
“Come on,” Ty said, gently grabbing her hand. “You’ve been sitting in here most of the morning. Maybe a break will do you some good, and there’s somewhere else I want to show you.”
“Really? Will I like it?” she asked, her eyebrows jumping up as a smile spread across her face.
“You will. I promise,” Ty responded with a wolfish grin. “Follow me.”