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Thiswas an animal of prophecy.
Its very presence was said to be a token of good luck, and a sign of a message coming your way.
“Hello,” I whispered reverently, and the stag raised its head, swinging around to stare at me with intelligent, black eyes. “Do you have a message for me?”
The stag stood motionless for several seconds, then dipped its head toward the water, as though indicating I should go ahead.
I stepped carefully toward it, hoping it wouldn’t spook or run. But it only watched placidly as I waded straight into the icy water, scrubbing at the layer of ice armor that covered my whole body. Being wet would be another problem, but it was better than dying from the pollen’s chemical burns or rashes that raised boils on my skin.
As I dunked my head under the icy water, soft words began to fill my mind. I opened my eyes and peered around the bottom of the small pool, looking to see if maybe Gola was there, but nothing stirred. Not a single plant or fish inhabited the water, and some memory tickled the back of my brain.
There was a prophecy about a pool like this... and the stag on the bank. What was it?
Hello?I called into the water with my ice magic. The voice grew stronger but was still garbled... like listening to music while underwater. Raising my head, I looked back to the bank, where the stag was still watching me.
Hello?I called to it again, using my ice magic this time.
Its head bobbed in a greeting, and words floated to me on the wind:I am always wanted and often regretted.
I frowned, the words vaguely familiar. Then the rest of the memory edged into my mind - my mother used to read me the story of a crimson stag that granted wishes to travelers in the woods, but someone greedy trapped the stag and brought it home to the countryside. It languished and died outside of the woods, the red stain across its back running wet with real blood, and there were no more wishes.
I am always wanted and often regretted, the stag repeated, and suddenly I understood.
A wish, I answered, remembering the answer to the riddle, and the stag stomped its front hooves in approval.
What is yours? Do not regret...
My heart twisted, thinking of Nicolas in the mist. I could wish for him. I could wish my Grand-mère free - or Acadian. I could wish Merden dead right now, or for the Trials to be over.
But I’d heard the stories about wish-granters who were rash. Any one of those wishes could be twisted into something I didn’t actually want. Wishes needed to be carefully worded.
I should wish for something simpler, like good weapons to fight the gobbelins.
I stepped out of the water, looking down at my ice armor. It was clean and free of pollen, so I let go of the magic. To my delight, the clothing and boots underneath were still dry.
That spell was amazing.
And then I knew exactly what I wanted...I wish to be able to hold and read the spells in the Book of Ice I carry in my body, anytime I want, without pain or draining my magic.
There. Hopefully, I’d worded it carefully enough.
If I didn’t want it, it couldn’t be forced away from me. I should be able to put the book back in my body - weird as that was - and I wouldn’t be left vulnerable with pain after accessing it.
I looked at the stag, and there was a twinkle in its eye that I hoped was approval, rather than mischief.
The skin on my belly tingled, but not with pain, and not in the burning way that was a warning for gobbelins. It was almost more of a light tickle. I raised my ruined shirt and gasped as the edges of the book appeared. I slid my fingers underneath the leather binding, drawing it from my skin.
There was still no pain, and I grinned at the odd sensation of peeling it away like you might peel off a wet shirt.
The pages fell open before me, and I flipped through them, in awe of all the spells I now had access to.
Although, I quickly noticed that many of them were too smudged to read - at least every other page looked like the ink had gotten wet. Frowning, I glanced up to ask the stag a question about it, but it had disappeared without a sound. The clearing was empty.
Remember to remember to remember...
I snapped my head around to look behind me, finding the mist curling at my back. It didn’t form Nicolas, and it didn’t quite become a cloud of ancient vampires, either. But the message was clear enough.
Even though I had easier access to the book, I had more work to do before I was allowed to access all of these spells.
