Shetilted her head. “Ifeel likeI’vebeen pretty good thus far without much concentration.”
“Obliteratingeverything in your path isn’t going to work every single time,Princess.”
Sheshrugged again, unconvinced.
Isighed. “Wedon’t know what challenges we will face in theRiverKingdom, and when we do travel toKoron, brute force won’t cut it.Mymother made sure of that.”
Shehuffed, but shifted her body so she sat in a crossed-legged position, her back tall and straight. “Alright.Tellme whatIneed to do.”
Iunrolled one of my scrolls.Itwas a simple enchantment, only a few glyphs arranged in a circle.Ihad once used it to lock the pages in my diary as a youngling; my mother provided the magic to activate it.Ispread the paper out before us.
“Theenchantment is like a knot, one that has been layered on itself a thousand times over.Youwill need to tug at the threads of it gently, finding where they move and loosen.Becareful not to weave it tighter.”Iweighed down the corners of the scroll, so the paper didn’t curl back in on itself. “Thisenchantment is a simple lock.Iwant you to try and unmake it with mana.”
Toritilted her head at me quizzically. “Don’tIneed to activate it first?”Ishook my head.
“Ifyou activate it, that will make it easier to undo, your magic will know itself even if you didn’t create the enchantment.Iwas hoping thatJunwould—”
“Holdon a minute there,Nightingale.”Avlynplaced their handJun’sshoulder as he moved towards us. “Iwas hopingIcould give it a shot.”
Junlooked atAvlyn, and something sly slid through his gaze.Henodded. “Goahead.”
Avlynscooted forward in their crossed-legged position and placed all their fingertips on the paper.Theyclosed their eyes and took several deep, long breaths.Afaint amber light crawled across the glyphsIhad inked on the page.Theyopened their eyes and gave a proud smile.
“You’vebeen practicing,”Iobserved.
“Ihad a good tutor.”Theygave me a smile that had my stomach writhing.
“Weeelllll,IguessIshould try unraveling this thing,”Torisaid.Thetwins exchanged one of their looks thatIknew meantthey were communicating in that way they did without words. “Anypointers, tutor?”
“Visualizeyour magic, or for youIsuppose the flow of mana.Reachout to the enchantment with it.Youhave already been doing this with your connection toAbraxas.Tellme what you feel.”
ItwasTori’sturn to close her eyes, her breath slowing, andIfelt the hairs on my arms stand on end as the air hummed with power.
“You’renot having trouble calling the mana, even this far from the earth?”Iasked.
“No,I’vegotten pretty good at calling it; it’s controlling it that’s hard.”Shelet out a breath, andIfelt the power recede.
“Whatis it?”
“I’mjust thinking about howFatherwas the one who taught me this.It’sstrange; he might have given me the key to controlling my power.”Shelaughed but it overflowed with sadness. “Itwas all he ever wanted from me.”
“Somegifts come at a price we would never be willing to pay, but fate gives us no other choice,”Junsaid.Theyshared one of their knowing looks again, but this one was much sadder.
“Focus,Tori.Usewhatever you can.You’llneed it all if you want to fightHadeon.”
Herbrow furrowed as she focused, her eyes closing. “Ican feel the enchantment.Ican taste and smell it, too.Itkind of smells like fish.”Shepeeked open her eye to seeAvlyn’sreaction and was greeted by a splash of water in the face.
“Hey!”Sheattempted to tackle theLieutenant.
“Younglings, focus please.”Isighed.Theyscrapped a moment more before both laughed and sat back into position.Sheclosed her eyes again.
“Itfeels like… you’re right, like a knot.Butit’s moving and changing asItry to get abetter idea.”
“Yes, it will try to adapt to you.You’llhave to outsmart it.”
“Andhow exactly doIdo that?”
“That’swhat you are here to figure out.”Shefrowned but didn’t open her eyes to argue.Shesat quietly.Theonly wayIknew she was focusing was the very subtle pulse of her power on the page in front of me.
