Page 101 of The Tree of Spirits
“If it’s any consolation, it will take the Chameleon a while to coalesce. And it will be even stronger next time,” Nixi said brightly.
“We need the Paragons’ spellbook,” I told Kato. “We need the secrets it contains. Remember?”
Kato stood facing me for a long, silent moment. “All right,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “I will not destroy the book. But if you’re going to hold on to it, we need to do something to mute it. Please, give it to me.”
I did as he asked, then he waved his hand over the book, muttering an incantation.
“It’s done,” he said, handing it back to me. “The book is no longer screaming out like a beacon to the monsters all across the Many Realms. But I must warn you that nothing can silence an object of such immense power. If the monsters get close enough, they will sense the book and go after it.”
“How exciting,” Nixi said, a slow smile drawing up her lips as she faded away.
I could have sworn I heard the echo of the book’s song, calling out to the monsters. Of course, I was probably just imagining things. If I hadn’t heard the book singing before Kato had muted it, I certainly couldn’t hear it now.
“Have you found anything?” Kato asked me a few minutes later.
We’d rushed the book out of the rain and into the mall. As soon as I’d put the torn page next to the book, it had reattached itself, like it yearned to be linked to the other pages.
“There’s so much in here,” I said, flipping through the book.
Some of the spells were short, just a few lines. Others were more like epic poems, many pages long. Those were the really crazy-powerful ones. But which spell would help us find the Templars?
My gaze snagged on a few short lines at the bottom of one of the pages. It was more like a footnote tucked beneath a very detailed picture of a tree, but that little bit of background info sparked a revelation in me.
“I know where the Templars are going,” I muttered. “And I know how they’re planning to escape.”
CHAPTER 6
A MAGICAL SEED
“So this is your house.” Kato’s gaze swept across the open room. It froze on the pair of fluffy unicorn bed slippers that I’d bought in the Emporium last week.
Blood rushing to my cheeks, I kicked the slippers into my walk-in closet. “Uh, yeah. This is my place. At least until I get a room in the Castle. Or a cell in the Black Obelisk.” I cringed.
Kato set his helmet on my dining table, next to my walkie-talkie. “Hey, that’snotgoing to happen. I told you. The General doesn’t consider you an enemy.”
“At least not this week,” Conner said cheerfully, popping up in the middle of the room.
Kato’s gaze jumped to him. “You got here fast.”
“I figured it must be important if Red finally used her necklace to summon me.”
“Necklace?” Kato glanced at the orchid necklace that hung around my neck. “You made that for her?”
“Jealous?” Conner asked, smirking. “Oh, all right. If you ask really, really nicely, I might make one for you too.”
He whistled a low, long note, and the silverware drawer in the kitchen burst open. A fork and a knife shot across the room,dissolving into twinkling metallic dust, streaking like a comet toward him.
“Something very manly, of course.” Conner’s eyes twinkled with amusement.
He whistled a different note. Twisting and turning and melding together, his creation slowly took shape.
“What do you think, Kato?” Conner asked, indicating the necklace bobbing up and down in front of him. The chain was long and silver, and the pendant was in the shape of a dagger.
“It’s beautiful,” I gasped, staring at the necklace. “You have real talent.”
“I havemanytalents, Red.” He winked at me. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
This time when he whistled, the necklace shattered, then reformed into a little knight figurine.
