Page 54 of Gift from the Stone

“Okay, Willow, call your magic forth and command the book to open. There won’t be any more shocks.”

I eye him skeptically but still follow his directions. The command leaves my lips, and I watch in amazement as the books, their shelves, the entire wall holding them up, begin to vibrate and disappear in front of my eyes, revealing a doorway.

“Holy shit, it’s a secret room,” I squeal, taking off, calling my flame in my hand for some light as I make my way down the darkened hall. I hear Gaster command light, and suddenly the brick hallway comes to life as ever-lasting flames flicker into existence.

“Come on, hurry up,” I order as they just slowly make their way to me.

Finally, we make it to the opening at the end of the hall where a room the same size as Gaster’s office comes into view. Soft lighting illuminates the space, making it feel homey, inviting, just like his cottage. The scent of lavender mixed with musty wood fills the air, a heady and calming combination that a book lover like me instantly recognizes.

Comfortable chairs and a love seat sit center in the room across from a large walnut desk that’s covered in parchments, books, quails, and an ever-lasting lamp. The bookshelves here are smaller than the office, but I can tell just by looking at how worn and cracked the spines are, these are ancient texts that have been read over and over.

Faintly, I sense Gaster’s magic lingering everywhere in the room, crawling all over my skin, as if his essence is embedded in the fabric. It feels like home.

“Gaster, are we in your pocket dimension?”

“We are. The shock you both felt upon touching the book was the dimension accepting your magical signature. This is my personal study, where I keep my most valuable records and research, but if for any reason either of you needs to come here, you now can. The book you both saw is concealed from other eyes. Only the three of us can see its difference. Look around, get comfortable. We’re going to study down here today.” He gives us both a pleased smile. No doubt our auras are giving off some powerful, happy vibes right now.

Oakly goes straight for the artifacts while I go to the books. Most of the time spent with Gaster in the mornings consists of reading, learning, trying to absorb every bit of information as I can, and at night, I like to soak in the tub with a book or in my reading nook for at least an hour.

It’s always been my escape, and there’s what seems to be an endless supply of things for me to read here in Elementra. I used to say my TBR would outlive me, but now that’s not the case, so I just keep piling on to the new list.

Slowly walking along the bookshelf, I mindlessly let my fingers drag, tracing the lettering of those that have the titles on the spine. My fingertips begin to tingle, and I stop my caressing stroke on the book that caused the reaction.

Naively, I’ve assumed that between the healing vial Gaster makes and a healer like Jamie or Dr. Evie, they could cure just about anything, but according to the text in my hands, that’s far from the truth.

The Deadly Cures.

Page by page, I scan over a variety of different poisons, illegal or forbidden tonics and plant combinations, and the formulas for their cures. Reading some of the deadly tonics, I can’t help but think of Draken’s mother and her addiction. Some kill you within hours of consumption, and some are highly addictive, slowly killing you as the ingredients eat away at you from the inside out but leave your mind in blissful ecstasy. The cures for these are readily available and easy to find.

Flipping ahead, I come across a very small list of what they call the Dark poisons. The cures for these aren’t easy to make or readily available. All the substances mentioned to make these concoctions use natural resources that are found throughout Elementra and have extraordinary healing properties if used properly.

The poisons aren’t poisons at all, they’re powerful healing elixirs. If the creator of the elixir is infusing the ingredients with their magic using ill, deadly intentions, that’s the added element that creates these deadly creations. Even though there are hundreds of other brews listed in this book, none are powerful enough on their own to be considered Dark, even if they were to be infused. The very short list of Dark poisons only consists of four, and with minimal availability of the cures, there’s no stopping the results.

Death.

My chest grows heavy as I read over the Dark poisons.

The Necrotic Lotus Poison causes rapid decay and necrosis, spreading from the point of contact or ingestion until the entire body is consumed, leaving nothing behind but your bones in approximately thirty minutes.

The Wymfire Poison will burn you from the inside out, heating your body, essentially boiling it until you combust. It’s fifteen excruciatingly long, painful minutes. Less time if your element is fire, somehow blocking its ability to leave the body, adding to the burning heat that’s already coursing through you.

The Tarring Poison turns your blood to black, sticky tar. Cutting off the blood flow in your arteries and veins, stopping your heart within seven minutes. It’s the fastest acting poison of the group and is said to weigh the body down, making it hard to breathe, talk, scream, do anything as the slick tar slithers through your vessels.

Lastly, and deemed the worst, The Poison of Essence. This poison destroys your life essence, starting with the magic within you, then your element, finishing with your gift. Once your magical essence is gone, you swiftly age, your mere human body accelerating through the lifetimes you’ve lived, then disintegrating into thin air, leaving no trace of you behind.

This poison takes the longest of the deadliest, one hour. But I can’t imagine how that hour feels, measly seconds that pass in the blink of an eye or a drawn-out lifetime of despair as your very being is ripped away.

Tears threaten to fall from my eyes as I read the cruelty in my hands. I’ve seen evil, lived with evil my whole life, but for someone to do something like this to another person for no unjust reason is barbaric. My vision grows cloudy as I try to hold back the waterworks, or so I thought that’s what was happening until a flash of light drags me into a vision.

Lyker is shoulder to shoulder with his Nexus brothers, brutally fighting off other people, both in their shifted and non-shifted form. They’re delivering savage blows, holding nothing back. Lyker swipes his partially shifted claws across throats, drives them into the fur coats of wolves, and sends bodies flying left and right as more and more try to pile on top of him and his brothers.

This has to be the Alpha trials.

A powerful, commanding growl fills the air. I can feel the dominance vibrate through my physical body, even though this is only a vision that has yet to come to fruition. The shifters and wolves that are ambushing him or even near him hit the ground, bowing their heads, whimpering. Lyker turns on his heel, looking around, when suddenly, in slow motion, I watch as a dagger soars through the open space, impaling him right in his chest.

He pulls the dagger out and looks at it before slamming to his knees, clutching his chest, his healing never kicking in. I watch as black goop pours from the wound. No, not goop, tar. He looks right into my eyes, somehow knowing where my incorporeal body is standing as his brothers kneel around him, pressing healing vials to his mouth, holding a shirt to his wound.

He slumps forward, their arms catching him before he faceplants the ground. The minutes tick by at the speed of light as they frantically try everything they know to do, until finally, one of his brothers lets out a wail that pierces the ears of everyone around.

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