Riven (The Arinthian Line Book 2) (54 page)

”But why isn’t it called something like, ‘The Legend of How Witches Began’?” Augum asked.

“It has to do with the arcane number three. Throughout ancient history, the number three has been perceived unlucky and unholy—but also quite powerful. To this day, it is considered very bad luck to come across three candles, especially in triangle formation”

“—wait, a triangle! So that’s what that is!” Augum hurriedly unfurled the scroll with the verses on it. “Three pointed star refers to the symbol of the witch! It’s what was on Magua’s cloak—that’s the symbol we have to find on Hangman’s Rock!” He read the poem aloud again, every sentence now ringing true.

“ ‘Thus leans the wickedest stone’, which must refer to Hangman’s Rock—” He skipped on to the other relevant parts. “ ‘So shall ye giveth tooth or bone’, which means this—” and he showed the supposed dragon tooth amulet. “ ‘If ye followed one Lord of Death’—”

“—except none of us do,” Leera chimed in with a frown.

“We’ll worry about that later then. ‘Find thy mark three pointed star’, which we now know refers to some kind of triangular symbol. ‘Shout with Shine your wish bizarre’—”

“Which will be to teleport to Mrs. Stone,” Leera said.

“Right, and finally, ‘Crush the object against the stone’—”

“—smash the tooth against Hangman’s Rock!” they concluded together in mutual excitement.

Mr. Goss’ face grew serious. “Augum, do you mean to say that you will be asking for a favor from a witch in hell?”

“Um, I guess so.”

“As desperate as you are to get to Mrs. Stone, I am not sure I approve of this plan.”

Augum was having second thoughts too. What if they ended up in hell instead of by Mrs. Stone’s side? Yet what choice did they have? His father was well ahead of them and they had already lost valuable time. This was probably their one and only chance to get to her before he did.

The trap door opened and a soot-stained Bridget descended the steps, padding over to sit beside Augum and Leera. Her eyes were red and her shoulders drooped.

Leera gave her a squeeze. “Oh, Bridge …”

Bridget gave a pained smile. “I’ll be all right.”

“The water should be ready,” Mr. Goss said. “Now if you’ll excuse Leland and I, we have some wood foraging to do.”

They watched father and son quietly depart.

Leera poked Augum. “Go away, you mischievous villain, we’re washing up.” He excused himself to Leland’s room, taking the verses with him, overhearing Leera recount Mr. Goss’ story to Bridget in between splashes.

“… So we think it’s the witch’s mark,” Augum called in conclusion from Leland’s room. “And that’s what we have to find on Hangman’s Rock and use Shine on.”

Bridget’s voice flooded back. “A witch? What if she snatches us to hell?”

“We think it’s a risk worth taking. You two done yet?”

“Yeah yeah,” Leera grumbled. The girls soon appeared at the door, looking as fresh as pixies.

Augum handed Bridget the verses. “I’m worried about this line here.” He pointed to the part that read,
And warned ye be it would be best if ye followed one Lord of Death
.

“Me too, let me think on it.”

Augum boiled some more water and took his time washing up, enjoying the rare solitude, the heat of the water, the crackle of the fire.

“So I think I may have a solution,” Bridget called from the other room just as Augum finished. He showed up at the doorway, leaning against the frame.

“Solution to what?” Leera asked absently, concentrating on fixing Bridget’s hair.

“To the fact none of us follows the Lord of Death.”

“Oh, right … so what is it already?”

“Haylee—OW!”

Leera had involuntarily jerked on one of Bridget’s braids. Augum realized Bridget was unaware of what happened between Leera and Haylee outside.

“Sorry,” Leera mumbled.

“As I was saying,” Bridget continued, “if we found a way to rescue her, she could be the one to perform the spell—ouch! Gentle, Lee—”

Leera grunted. “That’s a lot on our plate. I mean, we’d have to somehow sneak by the Legion, rescue Haylee, explain everything to her so she did the ritual correctly, and then somehow not get thrown into hell or captured or killed along the way. Couldn’t be easier, eh?”

“And don’t forget we have to get past the walkers and a giant wraith,” Augum added.

“I don’t see how there’s any other way to get to Mrs. Stone before Sparkstone does,” Bridget said, wincing from Leera’s handling. “We just have to plan it well and study our spells, that’s all.”

“Actually, we were already thinking of doing some serious studying today,” he said.

“Good. Are we in agreement then? Rescue Haylee and get her to perform the ritual?”

“I’m in,” he said.

Leera sighed. “Fine …”

They moved back to the kitchen where Augum withdrew Tridian’s map and splayed it on the table. “Haylee placed my father and his men somewhere north of Antioc, here, and since they’re on horseback, that means we should still have a day or two to prepare before they reach Nana in the Northern peaks.”

“Let’s just get as prepared as possible before going on this crazy quest,” Bridget said, exchanging the map for One Eye’s parchment. “Looking forward to learning Slam properly now that I’m not paralyzed.” They began studying the spell, referencing the arcaneology book, the element book from Evergray Tower, and One Eye’s intricate Slam scroll, but it didn’t take long for them to realize they were in over their heads.

Bridget tossed One Eye’s loupe onto the parchment and rubbed her eyes. “It just doesn’t replace a mentor. So much I still don’t understand.”

Leera, who had been trading punches with Augum under the table after losing focus, grunted in agreement.

“We know enough to try the spell though, don’t we?” Augum asked.

Leera snorted. “Speak for yourself. And even if we did, we can’t do it outside—too loud.” Bridget gave Leera a haughty look. “Maybe if you’d actually do some studying and stop fooling around—”

Leera straightened. “What do you think I’ve been doing! Just because—ugh, give me that.” She yanked One Eye’s parchment from the table and stood up to pace with it.

Augum and Bridget exchanged a secret smile. It was funny seeing Leera take studying seriously.

Just as Augum was about to jokingly tell her to stop pretending to be Bridget, Leera made a fierce gesture as if flaying the ground with an invisible whip. They heard an enormous volume of water crash around them, so real everyone, including Leera, dove for cover under the table.

“I don’t believe it,” Leera said through snorts of laughter. “For once
I
beat you all to it!”

“Well, I feel stupid,” Augum said as they crawled out from under the table.

Bridget grabbed Leera by the shoulders. “I. Am. Impressed.”

“Whoa, Aug, did you get that? Let the record show that Bridge
actually
paid me a compliment.”

“Noted on the record,” Augum said with a nod. “Heralds will be sent to all four corners of Sithesia with the news.”

“And watch this.” Leera strode over to the table, holding her nose exceptionally high. “So a couple things here,” she began in a highborn accent, perusing the scroll with a dainty finger, “as we get better with the spell, we can control its source location, volume, and even the sound itself.”

“All right, you’ve made your point, Miss Bragpants,” Bridget said with a smile. “Now give us some pointers.

Leera punched both of them in the shoulder at once. “More than happy to.”

She turned out to be a surprisingly good teacher. Augum and Bridget went on to successfully cast the spell twice, Leera five times. It was a spell that really required imagination, creativity and concentration, though not as much as Centarro, their favorite spell. Centarro had side effects, however, and Slam did not—other than the usual drain on arcane stamina.

By the time Mr. Goss and Leland returned with handfuls of branches, the trio were sitting around the table, panting.

“Come now, arcane warriors, give Leland and I a show! We heard the ruckus and are nothing short of intrigued. Let us see whose sound is fiercer!”

“You asked for it, Mr. Goss,” Leera said with a mischievous smile.

And so they showcased Leera’s water crashing, Augum’s thunder, and Bridget’s tree cracking. With each demonstration, Leland squealed with delight. Mr. Goss looked on with fatherly pride, hands over his ears.

“I think we have a clear winner,” he said at last. “Congratulations to Leera!”

Everyone clapped heartily.

“And here’s your prize,” Augum said, handing her one of Leland’s toys, a small wooden duck.

Leera raised it high like a trophy. “I have won the quacking! Hail to me!”

“Hail to Leera!” they shouted with a new round of clapping.

“Now let us break for supper,” Mr. Goss said with a chortle after the excitement died down.

The trio, cracking jokes and prodding at each other throughout, helped prepare seasoned rabbit (Mr. Goss had traps set nearby and had caught one), spiced carrot and potato stew, salted and buttered hard bread, and, as a special congratulatory surprise, chocolate and cheese for dessert, courtesy of the late Mr. Bawdings. The merry feast eventually concluded with hot tea and a rosy fire.

Learning

After supper, Mr. Goss took Leland to his room to change his bandages and administer lessons in arithmetic and history, subjects that made the boy groan.

Augum glanced through the Orb of Orion. It was quiet above, the treetops glowing crimson in sunset. “Guess we should get back to studying. Push or Disarm?”

Bridget flipped through the arcaneology book. “Hmm … I think learning either spell without a mentor will be really difficult.”

“What’s it say about Push?”

Bridget skimmed down the page. “It’s used to suddenly impact objects and people, very much like Telekinesis, but involving more energy and a trigger word.”

“Which is?”

“ ‘Baka’.”

Leera made a face. “Sounds like a chicken squawk.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard to learn though,” Bridget said, flipping pages. “We already understand the principles of Telekinesis, and Disarm is similar in theory except …”

Leera glanced at Augum, mouthing, “ ‘In theory’.”

Bridget finished scanning the page. “… Except there’s way more subtlety to the spell. Oh, and it drains more arcane stamina.”

“Is there a trigger word?” Augum asked.

“ ‘Disablo’.”

“Push it is then,” Leera said

Augum and Bridget agreed and the trio began by reading the chapter silently to themselves. Augum found the language of the book to be quite technical and wordy, and longed for a cheat-scroll like the one One Eye had gifted them, something in common terms with useful tips and tricks written in the margins. Noticing the glazed look on Leera’s face, he suspected she wished the same thing.

“All right,” Bridget said after finishing, tapping the page with a sigh, “I have a hundred questions, but they’re all for Mrs. Stone. Honestly, I don’t get half of this.”

“I’m finding it a touch difficult too,” he said, though truthfully he barely understood a thing.

“Don’t look at me,” Leera said, expelling a lungful of air. “I can only perform one miracle a day.”

Bridget tried reading the tiny script again, but upon completion shook her head. And that is how it went for the next hour—a long slog of trying to comprehend the complex instructions to what appeared to be a simple spell. At one point Leera even joked they might have plateaued; reached their ceiling; come up against an insurmountable obstacle—

“—all right, we get it, Lee!” Bridget said.

Augum’s shoulders slumped. “Think I’d rather go back to the iron room.”

“Why the glum faces?” Mr. Goss asked, wandering in to put a pot of water over the hearth.

“It’s this spell, Mr. Goss,” Bridget said, gesturing impatiently at the book. “It’s impossible without a mentor.”

“Might as well be written in Nodian,” Leera muttered.

“Mind if I take a peek at it?”

“Are you sure, Mr. Goss?” Leera asked. “Forgive me, sir, but you’re not a warlock.”

“Leera Jones—” Bridget said in an undertone.

Mr. Goss chortled. “Of course not, but I do enjoy reading. Perhaps I can help just a little.”

Bridget pushed the large tome towards Mr. Goss, who sat down, patiently taking off his spectacles and folding them onto the table. He then placed his finger on the appropriate page and began scanning downward. The trio watched open-mouthed as he raced through the tiny scrawl, occasionally toning out a, “Hmm” or “Yes, indeed now.”

“Well, it seems quite straightforward,” he said after reaching the end of the page. “Which parts are you stuck on?”

The trio gaped before talking all at once. Mr. Goss held up a hand to still their clucking. “From the beginning, I take it?”

“Yes please,” Augum said.

And so began a most unexpected tutelage under Mr. Goss, who was surprisingly adept at navigating the many complex words, being especially helpful with ones they never heard of, such as “onerous”, or “ubiquitous”, or “discombobulate”, words which made important instructions sound like gibberish.

“How did you learn to read so well, Mr. Goss?” Bridget asked.

He leaned back and smiled wistfully. “I loved reading since I was a boy. I tried to get my hands on any book I could find. Alas, my joy of reading did not translate to a profession. I was content to be a chandler along with Annie. I suppose you can say I did not want my profession spoiling my love of reading.” He straightened. “Shall we continue?”

Mr. Goss was informative, modest, and patient. Although he didn’t have an arcane bone in his body, his sharp intellect allowed the trio to make progress with Push
and
Disarm. Mr. Goss was so impressed by their determination he stuck with them until well past bedtime.

***

The next day the trio woke up early, ate a quick breakfast, and went on to study their entire roster of spells until supper, by which time they suffered from headaches, nausea and nosebleeds from pushing their arcane stamina.

Mr. Goss made supper while they recuperated at the table. Discussion quickly turned to how they’d tackle Hangman’s Rock.