Magic Unknown (The Elustria Chronicles: Magic Born Book 2)

by Caethes Faron

  I closed the door and leaned against it as I looked at Alex. Millhook’s concern didn’t worry me, because now the fun could finally begin.

  Chapter 8

  On my way to the reading nook, an oddity stopped me. Embedded in the wall was an eye about the size of a giant gumball. When I stopped to stare at it, the milky-white iris turned to me, and I let out a yelp of surprise. I’d seen one of these in each wall of the cottage but hadn’t gotten close enough to tell what they were.

  “What on earth is this?” I supposed the correct terminology would be “what on Elustria,” but old habits die hard.

  “It’s the security system,” Alex said.

  “Security system? How does it work?” I peered at the eye, searching for a clue to how it operated.

  “The eyes scan for any intruders. They’re on the outside of the house as well. If they see a threat, the iris will change color. The color will correspond to the threat.”

  My paranoia set in. “Can the Council use this to spy on me?”

  Alex’s mouth twisted as he tried to suppress his mirth. My ignorance of even basic Elustrian things must be quite amusing. “No, it doesn’t work like that. Besides, I don’t think the Council wants to spy on you. It’s not in their nature.”

  “How do the eyes know we’re not a threat?”

  “Magic.”

  I supposed I’d have to get used to that explanation for most things. Satisfied that it was all right for me to proceed, I went to the reading nook, and Alex followed. My talisman leapt once again.

  “I think something’s here,” I told Alex. “Help me look.”

  I tore the cushions from the bench to see if it could somehow be opened. No luck. Alex helped me fling the books to the ground. With each book I pulled from the shelf, I expected a secret door to open, but nothing happened. This wasn’t how it was supposed to work. In the movies, you got a hunch, and it always panned out. That’s what intuition and following your gut were all about.

  After a few minutes, we stood amid an array of books and cushions with nothing to show for it.

  “What drew you to this spot?” Alex asked.

  “When Gareth brought me in here, the magic in my talisman responded. I thought for sure there’d be a secret passage.”

  “Why a secret passage?”

  The knowledge was as strong as the certainty that my magic had surged. “I can’t explain it. I just do.”

  Maybe it was wishful thinking that my mom was that cool. Everyone knew that if you had magic or became rich, you must get a house with a secret passage. Anything else was just a waste.

  “I’m glad to see you’re taking the Council’s directive so seriously.”

  “Only because I’m determined to prove them wrong.” Alex would think I was stupid, but I didn’t care. My mother couldn’t be the woman everyone assumed she had been. No one was left to fight for her, so I would.

  “I think you need to come to terms with the fact that your mother was an agent for the Directorate,” Alex said.

  “I know it appears that way, but we’re basing all of this on my testimony, which is based solely on what Casper told me. We have no proof she worked with him. In fact, we have no proof they ever even met.” Alex’s expression said he didn’t believe in my mother’s innocence and pitied me for keeping faith. “Look, I don’t need you to believe me. It doesn’t hurt my feelings.”

  “I don’t want to see you disappointed.”

  “I know.” I gave him a little smile and squeeze of the arm for reassurance then focused on the issue at hand.

  I stood back from the mess we had created and tried to figure out where I had gone wrong. Had I imagined the magical feeling? It didn’t seem likely since it had taken me by surprise. I walked backward, staring at the nook as if something would come to me, and my magic jumped to the ready.

  “What’s happening?” Alex asked.

  “My talisman’s responding. But I don’t understand. If it’s not a secret passage in the nook, what is it?”

  “It won’t be that simple.”

  “You’re right, my mother would make it more difficult. Plus, if the Council hasn’t found it—”

  “That’s not what I mean. You need to think about this logically and in terms of magic. Imagine Meglana were here. It wouldn’t be practical for something to happen every time she walked across her floor wearing her talisman.”

  “Makes sense.” I felt dumb for not having realized that sooner.

  I took a few more steps back, and my magic subsided. Curious, I walked slowly around the spot and noticed that only a small, specific area caused the talisman to perk up.

  Standing in the epicenter of the magical surge, I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind, letting the magic guide me. A buzz of energy surged through me. My intuition surged with my magic, and I knew I was standing at the entrance to a secret room. The power from my talisman danced at the tips of my fingers, antsy to be put to use, but I didn’t know how to direct it, which way to bend it, what command would bring about a result.

  I sighed in frustration and opened my eyes to see Alex focusing on me.

  “You don’t need to solve it right now. Get settled in, and we’ll eat dinner. Then you can explore and discover all of your mother’s secrets. This is home for now.”

  Home. At the mere mention of the word, my entire body relaxed as if I’d been holding it stiff ever since the night I first met Alex. A home meant reprieve, rest. My life on Earth was nothing but a distant memory, and I imagined what it would’ve been like to grow up here with my mother, learning magic.

  “That sounds good.”

  “I’ll go fix something to eat, and you can have a look around.”

  Alex retreated to the kitchen, and I headed in the opposite direction to the guest room. I was lucky to have Alex with me. As difficult as it had been to adjust to the strange direction my life had taken, I didn’t think I’d be up to doing it without him. It felt good to be taken care of for a change.

  In the guest bedroom, it occurred to me that at one point this must’ve been meant to be my bedroom, but it held no sign that a little girl had ever lived here. Sitting on the bed, my hand gliding over the patchwork quilt, I searched my brain for any lingering memory of my first two years of life that might’ve been spent here, and I came up empty. It wasn’t likely I’d ever remember so far back.

  “Can’t you give me something?” I asked to no one in particular. If only my mother could answer.

  Chapter 9

  “Come, I want to show you something.” A woman smiled at me with a twinkle of mischief in her blue eyes. She turned, her dark purple, waist-length hair whipping around her body in her excitement as she led the way to the reading nook. When we stood on the spot that had tickled my magic earlier, the woman looked back at me with a giddy expression on her face, and I knew: this woman was Meglana, my mother.

  “This is my secret place. No one knows it’s here. It’s why I chose this place as my home. This land sits right on top of abandoned elf caves. I don’t know how long ago they left, but traces of their magic remain. It’s perfect for my work.”

  She faced the window and held out her hand in front of her. A ruby ring rested on her middle finger. It reminded me of Casper’s even though it was oval instead of pyramid shaped. She must’ve had more than one talisman. Casper had mentioned something about that. In this dream, she didn’t wear the amber necklace.

  With a swipe of her hand, the window seat rotated ninety degrees, sunk into the floor, and transformed into steps leading downward. The first step started right in front of the magical spot where I stood.

  “Come, follow me.” I watched my mother descend the first few steps, but before I could follow, I woke with a start.

  The dream remained vivid in my mind, but I couldn’t count on it staying that way. My talisman glowed, and an illuminator orb lit the way from the bed to the reading nook. Having seen how the entrance to the passageway worked, I should be able to replicate it.
Like my mother, I reached out my hand and commanded the magic to turn the window seat. I held my breath, certain the dream had been correct but uncertain I could perform the magic.

  When the stairs appeared, excitement ran through me. The illuminator orb only lit a few steps. Beyond that, they descended into darkness. Despite my mother’s explanation, I had no clue what to expect. Elf caves sounded cool, and if I were sitting in my Montana apartment playing Wizards and Fae, I would definitely want to check them out. But these were real elf caves, and my mother had said a trace of their magic remained. I didn’t think she’d lead me astray, but the practical part of my brain said the wise choice was to get Alex.

  “What are you doing?”

  Alex’s voice startled me. If I hadn’t been in that hazy space between sleep and wakefulness, I would’ve known to expect him. No amount of sneakiness could get by him.

  “I don’t know. A dream showed me what to do. I did it, and here I am.” I gestured to the stairs in front of me as if he couldn’t already see them. “Where were you?” If he had been inside the cottage, he would’ve come much sooner.

  “I was patrolling outside and doing a little hunting.”

  The image of Alex stalking his prey filled my mind. I’d like to see that someday. I always enjoyed seeing him in his panther form.

  “Tell me more about this dream,” Alex said.

  Right. Focus. “My mother was in it. I don’t know how I knew it was her; I just did. You know how dreams are like that sometimes? Anyway, she said this cottage is built on top of an abandoned elf cave and that the magic still lingers.”

  Alex’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “So privacy wasn’t her only reason for living out here.”

  “Exactly. She showed me how to open this passage, and I was just about to go down when you showed up.”

  “Oh no you don’t.” Alex blocked my way with his arm as he placed his foot on the first step. “Let me go first. If there’s something dangerous, I can heal better than you.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. Besides, as tough as I wanted to be, descending a dark staircase into the unknown was a little spooky, even if my dead mother did direct me there.

  “Follow a step or two behind.” Alex descended, his body taut, eyes scanning for any threat. With his night vision, he could see beyond the little bit of light provided by the illuminator orb following him.

  After a few steps, about the length of the window seat, the stairs curved into a spiral. My hand groped for a rail to hold onto but found nothing. The stairs floated in midair and gave a little underneath my weight as I followed Alex. Once he reached the bottom, he held out his hand and helped me down the last few steps.

  As soon as my foot hit the cave floor, illuminator orbs lit throughout the cavern. My lips parted in awe. Light danced across the blue rough-hewn stone walls. I turned to see a pool of golden water against the wall. A little stream running from the pool bisected the room, disappearing into the caved-in entrance to the cavern.

  “I’ve never seen gold water before.”

  “It’s not. It looks like it’s taking the color from your talisman.” Alex nodded to my chest.

  I covered the stone with my hand, and the water took on the gray-blue hue of the room. “It must be the light reflecting off of it.”

  On the other side of the stream sat my mother’s office. A red carpet with golden embroidery, resembling Casper’s robes, covered much of the floor. A simple chair and desk littered with papers stood at one end. Trays and cabinets overflowed with scrolls, and a myriad of chests and jeweled boxes were stacked haphazardly. Apparently, I’d inherited my mother’s lack of organizational skills. Though I was sure if she were here, she would know exactly where everything was.

  Tiny white translucent fish glowed in the water. “What are those?”

  At the edge of the water, I crouched down to get a better look. They reminded me of the kinds of fish that lived in the deepest parts of the ocean that you only saw on documentaries.

  “Spectral fish. They won’t do you any harm. They might nibble at you, but they haven’t any teeth.”

  Before I touched the water, Alex stopped me with a hand on my arm. “You forget you’re not on Earth anymore. Let me check the water to make sure it’s safe. Spectral fish can live in water that would be deadly to you and me.”

  He shifted right before my eyes and sniffed at the water. Seeming satisfied, his tongue darted out for a taste. He shifted back. “It’s plain fresh water, perfectly safe.”

  I put my hand in the water, and the fish swarmed around it, nibbling just as Alex had said they would. It made me think of those fancy pedicures that had become popular on Earth. I could now have them for free if I wanted, right in my basement.

  I hopped over the stream and went to my mother’s desk. Something there would vindicate her. I wish I hadn’t woken up as soon as I did. I felt sure my mother would’ve led me to exactly what I needed had I just stayed asleep.

  The portfolios sitting on my mother’s desk revealed dozens of loose-leaf pieces of parchment with notes all over them. The words rearranged themselves into English, but that didn’t help my understanding at all.

  If they did it then, we should be able to do it now.

  That was the only sentence scribbled on one piece of paper. The next one had some type of recipe.

  Found this recipe that should make it safer.

  One vial of mermaid tears (do mermaids even have tears?)

  Hair from the underbelly of a golden monkey

  One dragon scale

  Three ghost mushrooms

  One ounce shade of death

  Mix and consume immediately.

  The individual words made sense, but they were incomprehensible when put together. I closed the portfolio hoping to find something a little easier to tackle.

  “What is it you’re looking for? Maybe I can help,” Alex said.

  “I haven’t got a clue. I woke up too soon.”

  “Meglana didn’t say anything about what we need to find?”

  “No. Is that even possible? I mean, I know it was her in my dream. She didn’t say her name, and I know I’ve never seen a picture of her, but I just knew, you know? But how does that even make sense? She’s dead.”

  Alex shrugged. “That doesn’t come in even the top dozen weird things I’ve heard in my life. It probably has something to do with the talisman. I just blame that for everything we don’t understand.”

  It certainly felt that way.

  Bundles of scrolls sat next to the portfolios. They appeared to be a long treatise on the nature of magic with notes scribbled in the margins. I sat in her chair, and my tiredness caught up with me. This wouldn’t be an easy task, not that it should be, but I had hoped it wouldn’t be quite this tedious. It would take weeks to scour all the material in the cavern.

  “I’m afraid I won’t be much help to you. I can’t read any of this,” Alex said as he returned a book to its place.

  “Of course my mother would have to leave all of her writings locked so only mages can read them. I’m sure you’ll be helpful in other ways. I can read this, but none of it makes any sense. You’ll probably understand it better than I do.”

  “I can try, but I only know the basics about mages. I can help you with generalities as far as Elustria goes, but I’m not sure how much help I’ll be in other areas.”

  “How can I possibly do this in five days?”

  “Go back to bed. We’ll get a fresh start in the morning. I’ll even make you breakfast.”

  Surveying the clutter surrounding me, I had to agree. There was no use exhausting myself tonight when weeks of work lay ahead. I wondered what my chances were of getting an extension with the Council.

  “That sounds lovely,” I said in response to Alex’s plan, and I led the way out of the cavern. Once we were clear of the stairs, I waved my hand as I commanded the nook to set itself to rights. I was too tired to even be impressed that it worked.

  Back in the bedro
om, a disconcerting shiver sent goosebumps down my arms, making my hair stand on end. I turned around, expecting to find Alex standing in the doorway, but he was nowhere to be seen. A few inches to the right of the door, the security system stared at me. I released a breath of relief. It was the eye watching me and not an intruder. It might be there for safety, but the eye still freaked me out.

  Yet, as I drifted off, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching.

  Chapter 10

  The cavern both amazed and overwhelmed me. Sitting at my mother’s desk, dread overcame me at the impossibility of the task at hand.

  “I don’t even know where to start,” I said to no one in particular.

  “Well, whatever was on her desk is what she was working on last,” Alex said as he placed a cup of hot tea in front of me. “I’m not sure how recently she had been here before she died. She spent a lot of time on Earth from what I understand.”

  “I guess I need to bite the bullet and start somewhere. I can’t believe I have to read through all this and try to make sense of it. You should find something to do for a while. I need to get a grasp of what I’m working with before I’ll know what questions to ask you.”

  Alex nodded. “I can search the house.”

  “Thanks, but I doubt you’ll find anything. If there were something, the Council would’ve found it, and she wouldn’t keep anything upstairs when she had this room available to her. Do you have family or friends here you want to visit? Today might be a good time.” In all our time together, Alex had said hardly anything about his family. All I knew was that he hadn’t been tight with his dad who had died protecting my mother.