“What? Okay, so it might not be a tingling, maybe more of a numbing or humming sensation…” I trail off.
“Elia,” Callum enunciates slowly, drawing out each syllable in my name. “We can’tfeelrelics.”
“What are you talking about? Of course you can feel them.”
Callum is still staring at me in utter shock. It’s Hanson who continues. “We can’t tell the difference between a relic and a normal object. Finding actual relics takes a lot of time and research to make sure that what we’re hunting is actually magic. When we do find something we think is a relic, there’s different tests that we have to do on the object to actually confirm its power, probably similar to what your guards were doing.”
I’m stunned into silence. My mouth is dry and I don’t know what to say. When I’ve found a relic in camp, I’ve always known immediately whether it contained magic or not. The essence is usually so profound that it’s hard for me to imagine that no one else can sense it. I always thought the guards testing it was more of a formality, not an actual determination.
Callum removes a small bag hanging from his hip. He carefully selects some items and moves to place them in front of me. “Tell me, which one is a relic?”
He stands behind my chair, arms crossed, face serious. The five items he’s placed are discreet enough – a coin, a pair of dice, a comb, a piece of jagged emerald, and a compass.
Ginna and Hanson watch intently as I pick up each of the items one by one, holding it in the palm of my hand for a second. When I pick up the last item, the compass, a tingling sensation immediately courses through my fingertips before I even close my hand around it. When I center the compass in my hand, my palm feels like it’s vibrating, sending pulses throughout my entire body. I place it back on the table.
“Well?” Callum asks.
“The compass. That’s the relic.”
Ginna and Hanson look at Callum. He nods curtly. “That’s correct.”
As he carefully places each item back into his pouch, I can’t help but ask, “Do you want me to tell you what magic the compass has?
I didn’t think that their state of shock could grow, but it does. Hanson’s mouth has dropped open and Ginna is staring at me as if I have magic myself.
Callum’s eyes burn into me. “I’d love for you to do that, Siren.”
I lick my lips. “The owner of the compass will never lose their way or stray from their intended path.”
“Correct again. It’s a newer addition of mine.” Callum sits back down.
Hanson is the first to break the tension, closing his gaping mouth. “Well, I’ll be damned, Cal. We might be able to find the Stone.”
“This doesn’t change that much, though, does it?” Ginna adds. She throws me a look. “No offense, Elia, it’s a cool trick and all, but unless you want to pick up every rock from here to Guilmond it doesn’t add much.”
“No offense taken. I told Callum I wasn’t going to be of much use.”
I try to brush it off, but I’m still stuck on the revelation that not everyone can feel and read relics. Sure, I’d found more than others in camps, but I really had thought that was due to luck, hence my nickname the guards gave me, and now I’m second guessing that. Plus, what did it mean for me that I could sense them?
“Can you feel the relic’s presence from where you’re sitting now?” Callum asks.
I pause. I’ve never tried to sense any relic farther away, but I close my eyes anyway. I try to block out every other sense, searching for that unique humming sensation. My fingertips start to numb, and I struggle to focus where the feeling is coming from. I squeeze my eyes tighter.
Nothing comes to me.
“No, I can’t. I have to be touching it, I think. Sorry.”
Callum has to be regretting his decision to ask me for help now. Notonly did he waste time traveling to the desert, but now his last option isn’t as helpful as he’d hoped. Callum has already done so much for me, and I’m disappointed in myself that I can’t be of more use.
Callum must be reading my mind because he adds, “Don’t apologize. This itself is a big deal. We’ve never found anyone who can sense relics before. If we narrow down the search, we can bring you in to see if you can find the Stone.” He smiles softly at me, and I appreciate his attempt to console me.
Ginna and Hanson nod, but I can tell they’re disappointed, too.
“Well then,” Hanson grins widely, “let’s keep at it!”
???
Hours later, I’ve hit my limit of the number of small-text books I can read in one day. There’s pain behind my eyes and I’m going a bit crosseyed. I’d been so absorbed in the different journals and notebooks that I hadn’t noticed that Ginna and Hanson had left. Callum sits alone at the table, head in his hands as he reads from an old tome.
