Page 96 of The Tree of Spirits
“Seven?” Kato moved closer to me. “Are you ok?” He was watching me like I’d lost my marbles.
“I’m fine. Still in total possession of my marbles.” I gave him a little wave.
For some weird reason, that didn’t seem to reassure him.
“Really, I’m totally ok.” I stopped laughing to prove it. “In fact, when Conner was spinning me around, my mind started to spin a little too.”
“I think you meant ‘swoon’, Red. And I tend to have that effect on girls.” He winked at me.
“Oh, please.” Kato rolled his eyes.
“Right, so my mind started spinning really fast,” I said excitedly, “so fast that I felt like it was in more than one place at once.”
“Ok, that’s making even me dizzy.” Conner made a big show of leaning his arm against Kato.
Kato peeled Conner’s arm off of his shoulder.
“And then my mind went back to how I got the Apprentices out of the conference center,” I continued.
“You teleported. Numerous times. Orion told me. He was very impressed.” Kato gave me an approving nod. “And so am I.”
“Thanks.” I blushed a little. “Ok, so a weird old lady in the Emporium gave me that spell. She tore it out of a spellbook from a secret society called the Paragons of Magic.”
Conner snorted. “The Paragons of Magic? But that’s just a fairytale.”
“That’s what my friend Rane said, but it’s not a fairy tale. It’s real.” I pulled the page out of my sweatshirt, unfolding it on the table. “See?”
Kato looked down at the page. “I don’t see anything.”
“Same,” said Conner.
“Really?” I frowned. “Well, Rane didn’t see it either. But after our discussion about Polymages just now, I wondered if maybe it was something onlywecould read.”
Conner’s eyes twinkled at me. “I guess you’re even weirder than we are, Red.”
Great.
“So this page contains the spell for teleportation.” Kato turned the page over in his hands, squinting at it, like he was commanding it to reveal its secrets to him.
“Yeah, the old lady said it was a free sample. She told me the spellbook contained even more powerful spells, secrets known only to the six Paragons of Magic.”
Kato set the page down on the table. “And you believe her?”
“I’m not sure. But that teleportation spell wasexactlywhat I needed to save the other Apprentices.”
Kato set his hand on my shoulder. “I thinkyouwere exactly what was needed to save the other Apprentices.”
Conner nodded. “He’s right, Red. At its core, magic is not about the spell. It’s about the person who wields it.”
“Look, none of us has any idea where the Templars are. All we do know is they must have a plan for getting the Apprentices off this world. And we need a plan too.Thisis my plan.” I tapped the spell page. “Somewhere inside the complete spellbook lies the key to finding the Templars. I’m sure of it. All we need to do is find it.”
CHAPTER 4
IN SEARCH OF A SPELLBOOK
Igave the busy street a long, wary look. “So, you’re sure the Watchers aren’t still out there looking for me?”
“I’m sure,” replied Kato.
