Chapter 3

The question hung in the air like a test or a challenge or a dare.

Did she believe in magic?

And were 'yes' or 'no' the only possible answers?

Sheera made her best guess and finally formed a response. "I suppose everyone would like to believe in magic." Her response was so ambiguous she would've made a fine politician. "But who can really say one way or another?"

"Wrong," said Madam Quillfern, as Luke and Arjun now stood ominously on guard on either side of her. "You definitely believe in a certain kind of magic if you're walking around with that glow."

Sheera studied her arms and hands but saw nothing. "You're really gonna have to explain this whole 'glow' thing..."

"First let us ensure you believe," declared Madam Quillfern, waving her bejeweled hand over the book's cover. Almost immediately the symbols began to glow.

Sheera gasped. "What the...what if someone sees what you're doing?!" She glanced around the bar but they were still the only patrons. She focused her eyes and studied the strange glow. "Is there some sort of battery behind it? Like the way those birthday cards sing when you open them?"

Madam Quillfern raised an eyebrow. "Do you believe that there's a battery?"

Sheera couldn't peel her eyes off the symbols. "I guess not; but then how is it..."

If this wasn't some elaborate trick, the alternative explanation was more than she could wrap her head around.

Madam Quillfern leaned over the table. "Do you know what's in this book, Sheera?"

Sheera bit her lip. "Hmm...I mean the way it looks, you would think it was full of..." She laughed. "But how could that...I mean is that even a thing in real life?"

"Say what it is," said Madam Quillfern firmly.

Sheera inhaled sharply. "Is it a book of...spells?"

"Precisely!" Madam Quillfern applauded and then snapped her fingers to no one in particular. "A round of pints for the table!"

Just a few moments later a waiter appeared out of nowhere with a tray of beers. He didn't seem to notice the glowing book cover at all.

Sheera waited for him to walk away before she spoke. "What kind of spells?" she whispered, afraid to know and yet dying of anticipation all at once.

"Before we get to that...you'll need a little history lesson."

In the following minutes or hour that ensued—she had no idea—Sheera felt as though she'd been transported into another world. Madam Quillfern's words had a hypnotizing effect, which made the story of the spell book's origin a captivating tale.

As Madam Quillfern laid out the chronology of the book, Sheera learned that it dated back to the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, when healers discovered a connection between the universe and human souls, allowing them to reach beyond themselves to uncover a collection of spells. A few of the spells had positive effects, but most had increasingly dangerous results. Every spell was attached to a strange clause, which was that none of them would work until enough living souls were disillusioned, complacent or hopeless. There was also no way to destroy the book, and if anyone tried to burn the papyrus scrolls contained within, they would be cursed to suffer a painful end.

As the book had no immediate use—and hopefully never would—the healers stored it in an isolated place, sharing the mythology with only their descendants.

For two thousand years, secret knowledge of the book was passed down for generations, and eventually the story spread to the leading intellectuals of the time. Finally it was decided that the book's permanent home would be the newly constructed Alexandria Library, where the leading and crucial texts of the time were being stored.

Later, when one of Julius Caesar's conquests burned a significant portion of the library, scholars assumed that the spell book had been lost in a rubble too dangerous to sort through, and subsequently assumed that Caesar's murder at the hands of the backstabbing Brutus had been his curse.

And so the book was never spoken of again.

"Until the seventeen hundreds," Madam Quillfern explained, allowing a moment for the dramatic reveal to set in.

Wow..."said Sheera, shaking her head in awe. "I mean, wow." She took a big swig of beer, cringed, and then wiped her mouth with her sweater. "And then what happened?"

Luke and Arjun exchanged a look of uncertainty, their mutual lack of faith in this girl being the key to saving anyone, let alone the world.

"What happened after that," Madam Quillfern went on, "was that the book was discovered in the belongings of a deceased Spanish explorer."

Sheera rested her hands under her chin as the tale progressed, no less enthralled than during that glorious month when Uncle Neil had subscribed to a free trial of premium cable, allowing her to soak up every A&E and Discovery history special that had aired.

"Once the book—titled 'Of the Universe'—was translated by scholars who had studied the Ancient Egyptian language, it was clear that these spells could offer great power to whomever could get their hands on the coveted pages."

"So who got it?" Sheera wondered aloud.

Madam Quillfern shook her head gravely. "The better question is, was any of it worth it? Leaders from east and west waging battles for the book, countless senseless deaths, and all to eventually discover—"

"Discover what?" Sheera implored, gripping the edges of the table.

"To discover that none of the spells in fact worked, a frustrating conundrum for those who hadn't correctly interpreted the book's introduction."

"The soul thing?" Sheera guessed.

"Exactly. Specifically the following passage." Madam Quillfern opened the ancient leather cover, delicately flipping the first papyrus page to reveal the three-lined introduction of symbols. "The power of the universe rests in each soul," she read. "But when it is missing...it rests inside this book."

Sheera studied the symbols with fascination. "So for all those years, there weren't enough hopeless souls in the world to make a single spell come to life? Even with all the senseless battles?"

"You must remember it was also the Age of Enlightenment," she explained. "One of the most inspiring periods in humanity. So while there was certainly a level of uncertainty and despair, hope and inspiration were more than sufficient to balance out the darkness." Madam Quillfern now took a slow sip of beer, careful not to get any foam onto her lips. "But all of that changed during World War Two."

Sheera solemnly lowered her head. "That makes a lot of sense."

"By then the book had all but been forgotten, a mere relic behind a glass case, along with hundreds of other Ancient Egyptian artifacts at the Louvre."

Sheera's solemn expression transitioned into a dreaminess she couldn't suppress. "It was in Paris?"

"Indeed and it had been there for years. The war was escalating quickly though, and as the city found itself at greater and greater risk, important artifacts like The Mona Lisa were carefully removed from the museum. As for this book..." she traced the symbols on the introductory page, "...no one even noticed this ancient relic, until a curator doing the rounds of room number eight of the Ancient Egyptian exhibit saw the book cover shimmering."

"He must've thought he was hallucinating," marveled Sheera, shaking her head at the thought. "I know I did."

"No," Madam Quillfern corrected, "you thought it was a battery."

Sheera couldn't help but laugh for a second despite the serious nature of the story.

Madam Quillfern snuck in a wink before proceeding. "At first the curator thought his eyes were playing tricks, but the closer he got the brighter it became. Without thinking, he removed the book from the case, placing it in one of the crates for a temporary transfer. But then..." she smiled mischievously, "when no one was looking...he took it home for himself."

Just then the bar's door creaked open and a laughing couple walked in. They approached the nearest empty table, until suddenly the laughter ceased and both of their expressions changed. For a moment they stood completely still with blank stares. Whatever the trance, it lifted a second later, and they both appeared normal but turned for the door. "I actually heard bad things about this place," said the man.

The woman nodded. "The fries are always stale and the beer menu is lame."

They exited the bar as Sheera watched in amazement. "That was you, wasn't it!" She turned back and pointed a finger at Madam Quillfern. "You made them leave with some sort of...mind control!"

Madam Quillfern grabbed a napkin and dabbed drops of sweat from her forehead, drops that hadn't been there a moment earlier. "Are you going to let me finish my story or not?"

"Sorry," said Sheera, now rubbing her stomach uncomfortably. "There isn't any chance of getting some peanuts to go with this beer is there? Or maybe some of those stale fries she was mentioning?" She looked from Luke to Arjun, but neither of them made any move to transform into accommodating waiters. She shrugged. "I only mention it because my dinner was just a small bowl of stew, so all this beer is making me kinda..." Sheera noticed Madam Quillfern tapping her fingernails on the table, a sign of impatience that risked putting the story's conclusion in jeopardy. Sheera pushed her beer away and smiled. "Or maybe I'll just stop drinking; so you were saying? About the man who took the shimmering spell book from The Louvre?"

Madam Quillfern clasped her hands together, her stare intense as she recalled the final details. "I was saying that the man took the book to his study, translated the hieroglyphs, and performed the first spell that very night."

Sheera gasped. "What did it do?"

"It was a healing spell that instantly repaired a nagging cut on his finger. It also turned out to be the safest spell in the book, with each one thereafter possessing the potential for danger—depending on the person who conjured it."

"Sounds scary," said Sheera, the reality of the book now finally setting in.

"As the war reached its climax he was able to unlock the second and third spells too, but when peace returned the entire book reverted to a dormant state."

"It seems pretty active now," said Sheera. She reached out to touch the open page but Arjun swatted her hand away. "Oh right," she said sheepishly. "Museum artifact, no touching."

"Do not try touching it again," he said glaring.

She put her hands in her lap accordingly. "There." She used her head to gesture to Luke who had barely moved an inch this entire time. "So how did it wind up in that velvet bag?"

Madam Quillfern beamed. "It just so happens that the man who cracked the spell book was my father."

Sheera's eyes widened. "So you're the keeper of the book?"

Madam Quillfern looked off bitterly. "Not the whole book."

"What do you mean?" Without thinking Sheera reached for the book once more, but Arjun managed to stop her with a single death-stare.

"What I mean is that my father confided in one of his colleagues about the dangerous powers in the book. Since they couldn't destroy it they vowed to keep it safe in the deepest tunnel archives of The Louvre. Which would've been fine...until he betrayed him, tried to steal it, and...in the ensuing struggle, wound up running off with the final pages that contain the most dangerous spells." She flipped to the back of the makeshift book, where the primitive binding was damaged and some scraps of papyrus remained.

Sheera felt a sudden chill. "'Did your father ever catch him?"

"Sadly no. Not even when he went on to form the society of 'Shadowers' that still exists to this day."

"Do we know who they are?" Sheera whispered, instantly paranoid.

"We know most of them," Madam Quillfern confirmed. "They're powerful souls particularly in tune with the darkness of humanity, and discoverable to each other by the way their shadows expand when they're standing in the sun. No one is born with the shadow, but they develop it over time with the things they learn and believe."

"Does he lead the society now?"

Madam Quillfern shook her head. "He died almost fifteen years ago, but passed down the final pages to his son." She said the last word like it was acid reflux. "His son is someone equally despicable and cruel. He now leads the Shadowers and waits for the day when souls around the world will experience enough disillusionment to unlock the final spell."

"Wh-what happens then?" Sheera stammered.

"Human life, the way we know it, will be over." Madam Quillfern rubbed her forehead, seemingly stressed for the first time. "And that day isn't too far off."

"Which is why it's up to us to stop him," declared Luke, speaking up for the first time like a fearless leader ready for battle.

"Right," said Sheera. She nodded for a moment then paused. "Who are you by the way?" She studied the three of them, more curious than ever.

"We are the society of Kindreds," she revealed. "Those with high vibrancy and light in our souls, identifiable to each other by the glow around our bodies."

Sheera studied them closely. "Hmm...nope, I don't see anything; I guess I'm not one of you then." She frowned. "So why are you even telling me this?"

Madam Quillfern reached out and placed a hand on Sheera's shoulder. "Because you are one of us, in the highest order. You saw the glowing book, but you can't see the glow around our bodies because you haven't begun your training. But we see you."

Sheera considered this strange possibility. "But how would I even train?" Her curiosity began to morph into growing concern. "Or what if I don't want to train?" The more she thought about it, the more the term 'society' reminded her of documentaries on cults. "Do I even have a choice?" She abruptly pushed her chair back and stood. "Or is this some kind of hostage situation?"

Madam Quillfern, Luke and Arjun exchanged knowing stares, as Sheera switched glances between the door and the ominous spell book....

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top