Page 99 of The Tree of Spirits
“Yes.” I nodded, my gaze glued to the book. “It is.”
Her smile spread wider. “Well, then, I’m sure the three of us—” Her gaze flickered to Kato, then back to me. “—can come to a reasonable arrangement.”
Under the cover of her gauzy tent—which was way more waterproof than it looked—we bartered for the Paragons’ spellbook. Mistress Meeta must havereallywanted me to have it because in the end, she parted with the priceless, one-of-a-kind book for a small pouch of those iridescent marbles that the Many Realms used for money.
“A pleasure doing business with you,” she said, tucking the money pouch under her sparkling, jingling robes.
Her smile faded as a chorus of screams rippled across the market. A lower, deeper note hovered under the ceiling of shrieks, a familiar growl. My stomach twisted itself into knots.
“It’s back,” I muttered, steel singing in my ears.
Kato had drawn his sword. “You have encountered this beast before?”
“Yes,” I said, turning toward the Chameleon.
It was in its Charger form again, a large, wolfish creature with long fangs and hard scales. Mistress Meeta fled in terror and so did everyone else—the shoppers, the vendors, the hungry seagulls—everyone except for us.
“That,” I said, pointing at the beast, “is one of the most dangerous monsters in all the Many Realms.”
CHAPTER 5
A KALEIDOSCOPE OF ILLUSIONS
Kato didn’t waste any time targeting the threat. He hit the Chameleon with earth, with fire, with an assortment of very hard, very heavy objects.
When none of that had any effect, he conjured a handheld cannon out of thin air and shot the monster—continuously. The balls of crackling, condensed magic metal didn’t even make a dent in the Chameleon’s scaled armor.
“It appears immune to everything,” Kato said calmly, setting the heavy cannon down on the ground.
He was as steady as a rock, as always. Nothing seemed to rattle him. Ever. He would face the impending end of the world with the same unflustered composure as he did every other problem.
If only I could do the same.
“It’s not invulnerable,” I said as the beast kicked its back legs against a stack of wooden crates, shattering them. “We defeated it before.”
“We?”
I quickly summarized my first encounter with the monster—and Capricorn.
“I have heard of the Zodiac Order,” Kato said when I’d finished. “But I’ve never seen one of them. This is the first time they’ve come to Gaia.”
“That’s because this place used to be boring,” Nixi said, materializing between us. Was she stalking me, or just really, really bored? “Yes, it was so very dull until you came to the Fortress, Savannah Winters.” She winked at me.
“Are you implying that I am somehow responsible forthat?” I pointed at the Chameleon, which was still busy destroying crates.
“Of course not,” the ghost intoned. “You came here for the same reason I did: because things finally got exciting.”
Actually, I’d come to the Fortress to become a Knight, but I didn’t argue with Nixi. It would only amuse her.
“The Chameleon is here forthat.” She indicated the spellbook in my hands.
“Why? Does it want to learn some new spells?” I quipped.
“You’re silly, Savannah Winters.” Nixi let out a short titter, then her face went completely blank. “The book is letting off some very potent magic vibes.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “That is what drew the Chameleon to your realm.”
No wonder Mistress Meeta had been so eager to be rid of the spellbook. Before she’d sold us the book, the monster must have been hunting her. And now it was hunting us.
“Brother.”
