Page 39 of The Tribes of Magic
“And I definitely don’t want you to play matchmaker.”
Mistress Meeta stopped shuffling. Her shoulders hunched over, and some of the spark went out of her eyes. “You must understand, dearie. I do so regret putting you in danger with that beast. And I do so wish to make it up to you. But how am I to do that if you won’t let me do anything for you?”
“Funny you should ask that because actually thereissomething you can do for me.”
“Do tell.”
“It’s about the Paragons’ spellbook. There’s a tracking spell in there that I’ve been trying to figure out, but I just can’t seem to get it to work. I’m wondering if the spell is broken.”
“And you thought that Mistress Meeta could help you?”
“Can’t you?” I asked. “I mean, you’re the one who sold me the book.”
“Ah, but that doesn’t mean I can read it!” she laughed.
“So you can’t help me?” My hope deflated like an old balloon.
When she smiled, her wrinkles actually seemed to melt away. “Who said I couldn’t help you? I might not be able to read the Paragons’ spellbook, but I do know a few things about magic. The problem isn’t with the spell, dearie. It’s with you.” She tapped my chest with her spindly finger. “The problem lies in how much magical juice you can tap into—and whether you can control and channel that power into the spell you wish to cast.”
“Is there a book that will help with that?” I asked hopefully.
“A book that will give you power and control?” Mistress Meeta’s laugh rippled across her tent’s gauzy fabric, making it sway like it was caught in a breeze. “No, there are no shortcuts in magic, young one. The only way forward is to practice, practice, practice. That’s how you build up your magical strength, endurance, and control.”
I sighed. “That isn’t helpful.”
“Running a marathon is no different,” Mistress Meeta pointed out. “It’s not something you can do overnight. There’s no quick trick, just hard work.”
Yeah, that pretty much reflected everything Conner and Kato had ever told me about magic.
“I get it,” I said. “I get that I have to build up my magical strength, endurance, and control. So there aren’t anytricks, but maybe you have sometips? There has to besomeway I can get these tricky spells to at least kind of work while I’m building up my strength.”
“Well, actually…” Mistress Meeta licked her lips. “I have heard there’s a ‘linking spell’ in the Paragons’ book which allows people to combine magic, pooling their strength, endurance,and control, boosting them all. That might be just what you’re looking for, dearie.”
“Yes, it is.” I squeezed her hands. They were weirdly smooth, even though the rest of her was so wrinkly. “Thank you.”
I bade her farewell, then rushed off toward the train station. I still had several hours left in the day, and I intended to use them to search every page of the Paragons’ spellbook for this linking spell.
EPISODE 3
THE DREAMWEAVERS
CHAPTER 1
BREKKIE & BANTER
“Ihate mornings.” I clutched my strawberry-blueberry breakfast smoothie with both hands. The glass was cold, a pleasant relief from the hot summer air.
It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet, and I could already tell it would be another scorcher of a day in the Fortress.
“Have you tried, I don’t know, actually sleeping?” Across the tiny table in my tiny cottage, my brother Dante let out a very loud yawn as he stretched out his arms and leaned back in his chair. He had it perfectly balanced on its two hind legs.
“Ididtry.” My yawn was smaller than his but decidedly more exhausted. “But first it was the frogs croaking all night long. And then, when the frogs finally went to sleep, the birds picked up where they’d left off, inviting me to embrace the morning with them.” I pointed to the tree outside my window, where the offending birds were still perched, happily tweeting away like they didn’t know what was good for them. “At 5 a.m.!”
“They certainly are enthusiastic creatures.” Nevada was seated next to Dante. She took a small sip from her own smoothie and watched the birds with far more delight than I could muster for the little miscreants.
Thanks to them and their co-conspirators—the frogs—I’d had a very rough night. And when I’d finally managed to fall asleep, the dreams had hit, making sure I didn’t sleep very well.
I dreamt an army of Knights grabbed me.
