The Secret of the Codex

by Melissa Frey

  Don’t! It’s not safe to . . .

  Kayla! I have to do this. It will be okay. Mandy steeled herself, lowering herself near the ground before sticking her head out from behind the boulder again, wincing as she did.

  Nothing. Mandy blinked, grateful she wasn’t getting shot at but utterly confused. Where did the shooter go? Surely they didn’t just vanish into thin air?

  Mandy stood and took a tentative step out from behind the boulder . . . still nothing. Maybe the shooter was gone; she didn’t see anyone else in the room. More confidently this time—though still cautious—she took a few more steps, hugging the rock face. When nothing happened, she sped up, circling the boulders quickly until she saw Kayla and Grady sitting on the ground, blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. She rushed over to them and ripped their blindfolds off before starting to work at the knots that bound Kayla’s wrists. Justin, who had either figured out what was going on or was ignoring it to address more pressing issues, moved to untie Grady’s hands.

  Once Kayla’s hands were untied and her friends were on their feet, Mandy looked around the dimly-lit room. She didn’t understand it, but somehow, some way, the shooter was gone, just like that.

  Holun—who’d been sitting frozen in place since the moment that shot rang out—was just about to get up and try to find out where Mandy and Justin were when he felt it. A massive gust of wind blew past him, throwing his long hair into his face and sending goosebumps across his skin. Instantly, he knew what it was. Someone had just sped past him in a hurry to get out of here. And he only knew of one group of people that could move like that. Was Na-um already here? He had to warn Kayla . . .

  Then it happened. He felt his eyes roll back in his head as his body froze, then went limp. He slumped to the floor, unconscious.

  He knew he was unconscious. He’d felt every bit of it—including the bruises that were certainly blossoming under his skin from his collapse to the hard floor—but none of that mattered.

  He was having another vision. One so intense that it had rendered him unconscious. He wondered if this was what Kayla had gone through every time she’d had a vision. No wonder she’d looked so drained.

  The vision was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. And that was just it—he wasn’t really seeing anything. He was feeling—extremely strong, intense, pervasive emotions. Almost certainly the force that had stolen his consciousness.

  And a nearly tangible knowledge flowed into his mind. A knowledge so real that he almost reached out to touch it, as if it were right in front of him. It was as if something was downloading information into his brain without him actually having to see it.

  Kayla and Grady were in trouble; Na-um was almost here.

  And they hadn’t found the book.

  Holun’s eyes flew open. He jumped up and ran full speed toward the center of the room.

  Kayla was at a loss, yet again. She knew the book was here somewhere, but where? She began circling the boulders, hoping that something would jump out at her, but nothing did. She frowned, her shoulders slumping. After all she’d been through this summer, she wanted to believe that the answer would come when she needed it, but she was still worried. Didn’t they need that answer right now? What if it didn’t come?

  It will come to you, Kayla. Just like you were thinking: it will come to you when you need it.

  Kayla smiled in Grady’s direction. Although she sensed that she could still communicate with Mandy telepathically if she needed to—she and Justin had gone off to light the rest of the torches—Kayla knew that she and Grady were alone with their thoughts. Almost like they could willingly sever the connection between them and Mandy—though Kayla wasn’t sure where the off switch was with Grady.

  Hey!

  Kayla shrugged at him, then grinned. You know I’m kidding.

  Grady grinned back at her, then took a step toward her and slipped an arm around her shoulders. Anything?

  Kayla closed her eyes, but it didn’t seem to help. Why couldn’t she see it? They had to find that book. Surely Na-um was almost here, and the book was their only chance.

  No sooner than she’d had the thought she felt a sudden gush of air come at them from the entrance. Her stomach dropped.

  “Kay . . . la!” Holun shouted, stopping just inches short of running into her. She instinctively took a step back.

  “What is it Holun?”

  Holun was bent over with his hands on his knees, his chest and back heaving with each drawn breath. “Na-um . . . soon . . . here.”

  Kayla’s eyes flew to Grady’s. His wide eyes clearly reflected what she knew was in her own: they were dead.

  “Holun, we don’t know where the book is. We need your help!” Kayla was yelling and couldn’t seem to catch her breath.

  Holun offered what Kayla thought was the most sorrowful expression she’d ever seen. “I sorry . . . Kayla.” He paused for another breath. “You only know where book.”

  Kayla sighed. It was all up to her, and she was going to get them all killed.

  But then Grady had a thought. Kayla, since you can’t see it on your own, why don’t I try too? Maybe our collective brainpower will help.

  Kayla looked up at him and shrugged. Couldn’t hurt.

  She reached for Grady’s hands as they faced each other and slid their eyes shut as one. Kayla felt the world fall away, felt Grady enter her mind more completely than he ever had—the sensation was intoxicating and indescribably intimate. Their minds melded into one, creating a stronger consciousness than she could have imagined. She felt something course through her veins, a subtle power trying to push its way to the surface; her skin had started tingling. A smile turned up the sides of her mouth—she couldn’t help it. She knew Grady completely now; nothing was hidden. She knew everything in his past, everything he’d been through. She knew all his mistakes and triumphs, all the lies he’d told, all the apologies he’d made. And, despite all his faults, she loved him even more. She didn’t love him in spite of them—she loved him because of them. He was hers, and she was his; nothing else mattered.

  And suddenly they knew where it was. About twenty feet from where they were standing, under an unexceptional place in the floor, was the book they needed.

  Kayla’s eyes slid open and she met Grady’s gaze immediately. He smiled at her as they both turned toward that spot in the floor. Then they were running.

  Grady reached it first and placed his hands on the ground, exactly like they’d both just seen. But nothing happened.

  Let me try, Kayla thought, and Grady immediately stood and moved out of the way. Contact Mandy, Grady. Get them over here now.

  Kayla knelt on the ground and placed both hands on the sandy floor. As soon as she did, the ground started moving beneath her. She quickly sat up, pulling her hands away. The sand and dirt started falling, receding into the ground as a hole began opening up just in front of her. For an instant, Kayla saw a flash of what she now knew was coming, how she would be able to do this to any piece of earth anywhere, with just a single thought. The idea both terrified and excited her at the same time.

  Mandy and Justin came running up and stood next to Grady and Holun, who’d just joined her. Kayla still couldn’t hear Justin, but she assumed that would change once they had the final book in their possession. She suspected everything would change once they had the book.

  Then the sand stopped moving in front of her and, like an apparition appearing out of the darkness, her book came into view. Her book.

  Kayla reached down into the hole and grasped the book that seemed to almost be floating in mid-air. Her skin was tingling again; she wasn’t really sure when it had stopped, but it was definitely back.

  She pulled on the book, praying it would give way. After a few seconds of the book sticking onto whatever was holding it up, the book released. Kayla fell back, now seated on the ground with the book lying on her lap. The second the book was out of the hole, the sand moved in to fill the empty space, and soon th
e ground looked as though it had never been disturbed.

  What happened next was so unexpected, she couldn’t have seen it coming in a million years, even with her visions of the future. The book’s cover—with the symbol for “earth” emblazoned on it, just as Kayla had expected—flipped open of its own accord and the pages started fluttering, as if in a light breeze. Soon the pages started flipping faster and faster, until Kayla had to clutch the covers of the book in her hands to keep it stable. What was happening?

  The ceiling started to crack open, streaming what looked like sunlight through a thousand tiny fissures. The light radiated throughout the room until it was nearly blinding. It hadn’t been that bright outside, right?

  Through the cracks in the ceiling, tiny pieces of the light broke off and started flying through the air. Soon hundreds of small balls of light were floating like large fireflies around the cavern. One tiny ball of light floated in front of Kayla’s eyes as she stood to her feet, the light following her eyes. She gasped as she saw what seemed impossible: in its center were words, images, symbols . . . simply put, information itself was flying around their heads toward the book. Kayla’s eyes widened as she took it all in.

  The book absorbed all the information swirling through the air until the air was clear, then slammed shut. The bright light from above shut off abruptly, and they were left standing in the dimly lit room once again.

  The book was now amazingly much heavier, as if many pages had been added. Kayla could actually feel the weight of all the added information in the book as she struggled to pick it up. She glanced down at it, and her mouth fell open at what she saw.

  The cover was no longer emblazoned with the symbol for earth—or, rather, it wasn’t only emblazoned with the symbol for earth. It was now accompanied by four other symbols. Three of them Kayla had already seen on the other books: water, fire, air. The four symbols of the elements were arranged in each of the four corners, surrounding a single symbol in the center. In her mind, she heard Grady ask her what it was.

  As soon as she heard him read the answer in her thoughts, he leaned in closer, his fingers reaching to trace the symbol in the center. His eyes widened.

  “What is it, Kayla?” Mandy asked. “What does it say?”

  Kayla took a breath before answering her friend’s question. When she did, she spoke only one word. “Codex.”

  “Codex?” Justin asked. “What does that mean?”

  In response to Justin’s question, Kayla automatically switched into teaching mode. “Literally, ‘codex’ means ‘book.’ But for the Mayans, the connotation is different.”

  “How?” Mandy asked.

  “Knowledge was all-important to the Mayans. They valued it above anything else. So in the Mayan language, ‘codex’ holds a much stronger meaning. A codex for them means, roughly, ‘where all knowledge is held.’”

  “So what does that symbol have to do with this book? Is this what Holun was talking about?” Justin persisted.

  But Kayla didn’t answer.

  Grady was trying to breathe. He’d heard what Kayla had said, but his brain hadn’t quite registered it, not yet. Something else was happening.

  Kayla felt it too and stopped talking, despite Mandy and Justin’s repeated attempts to ask her questions about the symbol. Something had started sparking through the air, like tiny lightning bolts, vastly different than before. Something that was every bit as foreboding as the lighted spheres of knowledge had been illuminating. Something that made her freeze as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

  Mandy noticed Grady and Kayla’s expressions and realized something was going on. “What’s happening?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt it, too.

  So did Justin.

  The four of them stood still in the silence, their skin tingling. Something otherworldly was shooting through the air, something intangible but very, very real. Something was coming.

  Holun, staring into the charged air filled with crackles of light, understood what was happening. He knew that they had finally found the Codex, the Great Secret of his Clan. The Codex would give these Americans powers, the powers they needed to defeat Na-um and his army. The Codex would change their lives forever.

  He hoped they were ready for it.

  Kayla’s breathing sped up as her heart started beating out of her chest. Something was flying through the air, headed their way. She could barely see it, and then only intermittently, but she unequivocally knew it was there.

  The four of them were standing in a rough circle, with Holun off to the side and Kayla holding the Codex between them. All at once, the Codex flew open and lit up like the sun, shooting what could only be described as lightning out from its pages. Four lightning beams shot out at each of the four in the circle.

  Then the lightning was gone, as quickly as it had come. And Kayla had to remember how to breathe.

  She felt it. The Power of the Codex. It was flowing through her veins this very moment. And all at once she knew they had the power to defeat Na-um, to defeat his men, to defeat anything in their way. The Power was intoxicating.

  Grady’s voice in her head brought her back down to earth. He was feeling the same power she was, but he wasn’t letting it take him over; he was fighting. Don’t let it control you. You control it.

  Kayla nodded, struggling to get herself under control. She could do this. She was born for this, after all; she knew it now, absolutely. This was her Destiny.

  CHAPTER 44

  Power

  Mandy was feeling it, too. Raw power coursed through her veins, flowed over her skin, enveloped her entire being with crushing force. She struggled to remain standing, struggled to breathe as the power rushed around the cavernous room. She fought to make sense of what was happening.

  From what she could tell, the rest of them were feeling it, too. The four of them were still standing in a rough circle, but the fact that something had definitely changed was glaringly obvious. All four of them were giving off an almost perceptible energy which left their skin with a faint glow. Almost as if they were illuminated from within—which Mandy suspected was exactly the case. Mandy stared down at her hands. Her skin was glowing, too.

  Kayla’s discovery of the final book had given them the Power, just as Holun said it would. Anyone could see that. She could feel it. But now what? What happened next?

  What was her power supposed to be? She tried to think back to what she knew of the Old Ones . . . she thought she was supposed to have power over the air, but what did that mean? Didn’t Kayla say something about reading minds . . . ?

  But she wasn’t hearing anything. She couldn’t even hear Justin like she could before, or even Kayla. Only the sound of her own thoughts reverberated in her head. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to make it—whatever “it” was—work. Should it be this hard?

  Nothing happened. Her eyes flew open. Something was very wrong.

  Holun heard it first. With his super-hearing, that wasn’t much of a surprise.

  Something had just entered the tunnel. From the sounds of it, Na-um and his army of men were almost here.

  And by the looks on the faces of his American friends, they had no idea. They were more concerned with the powers they’d just received. Understandable.

  He’d heard all the stories of the Old Ones and knew what their powers were—and how they worked. Certainly whoever was able to read minds could hear what he was thinking now, maybe even hear Na-um’s thoughts, and could warn the rest of the group.

  But whoever it was didn’t seem to notice; no one seemed to be reacting. What was going on?

  He walked closer to the group, not wanting to make any unnecessary noise. Na-um could probably hear them by now, so it was best not to let him know they knew he was coming.

  Holun reached Mandy first, and stepped carefully into her line of view. He didn’t want to touch her—she was still glowing.

  The terror evident in her wide eyes made Holun freeze. Someth
ing was wrong, and she knew it. She stared past him, through him, unseeing. Holun shuddered.

  “Mandy?” He whispered tentatively, as quietly as he could.

  But he wasn’t answered by Mandy. It was Kayla’s voice that came from behind him. “Holun, what is it?”

  Holun turned. He could see the aura around Kayla illuminating her skin. And he could see, beneath the surface, how hard she was fighting to control it. He stepped toward her, wanting to help. She had received her power last, so the change would be the most abrupt.

  But, at this point, that didn’t matter. She would have to get her power under control. And by the sounds coming up the tunnel, it would have to be very soon.

  Kayla was still straining, fighting to keep herself under control. The Power was threatening to take over.

  You’ve got this, Kayla. Fight.

  She nodded once at Grady’s comment but kept her eyes straight ahead, knowing he would understand. She saw Holun standing in front of her, and tried to concentrate on him. Maybe focusing on something else would make it easier to control the power beneath her skin, the power that was scratching and clawing its way to the surface.

  Holun didn’t look well. In the flickering light of the nearby torches, she could see that all the blood had drained from his face.

  “Holun, what’s wrong?” She took a few steps toward him. It was the first time she’d moved since the powers of the Codex had taken over her body.

  The movement seemed to help. Her body was slowly coming out of the initial shock and the power seemed to be ebbing, just a little. She took a few more steps and began to breathe a little easier.