Page 27 of Artemis' Bow
“Claud, put Beth down,” Jayden grumbles from the ground.
That was a mistake because if I’m Claud’s favorite, Jayden is his second favorite. He reaches with his other hand to grab Jayden, but he shadow travels before Claud can get a hold of him.
“Jayden?” Claud pouts. “Where Jayden?”
“Jayden doesn’t like it when you pick him up like this, remember, Claud?” I pat his hand.
“Beth like Claud.” He nods his head.
“Yes, I like you, Claud. We’re friends.” I smile at him. “Are you helping with the weapons?”
“Claud help.” He sets me back on my feet and grabs a sword, putting it on the top shelf. “See? I help.”
“You’re helping a lot, Claud. I’m so proud of you.” I pat his knee which is about as high as my head.
“You want to see the rest?” Kira bounces next to me.
“There’s more than this?” I ask.
“Oh yes, follow me. We went all out for this armory and command station.” Kira rushes to the back wall.
She moves between aisles of shelves until we get to the back where there’s a metal door with a glowing panel much like a human security lock or a safe.
“What’s in there and how did you power it without electricity?” I ask.
“We figured out something about our creations we probably should have guessed a long time ago.” Kira shrugs.
“That’s cool,” Raven says. “I learned something new with my magic too.”
“If we actively push our magic into an object as we create it, we can become a sort of magical battery for it and it will work for what we meant it to with the intentions we used during creation.” Kira nods.
“How in the world did you figure out something like that at random?” I ask, jaw hanging open.
“By total accident.” Kira snickers. “But it makes sense in a weird way, since our father is the god of metalwork.”
“Just don’t make any evil pigeons.” I shudder.
No good can come from more of those evil birds being made, but now that Kira says it, I’m surprised no one has thought of this before. Hephaestus breathed life into his creations in Ancient Greece. It only makes sense that his children would be able to do the same.
“No evil pigeons, I promise.” Kira claps me on the shoulder.
“So I’m guessing this is some kind of magical lock?” I ask.
“It is.” She waves her hand for me to step closer.
“What do I do?”
“Put your thumb in the middle of it and push a tiny bit of your magic out through your thumb. It will read your magic and if it recognizes you, it will let you in.”
I raise my eyebrows as I step closer to the magical scanner and press my thumb to the button and push a little magic into it. There’s a metallic click, and then the door swings inward.
“You had my magical signature already programmed?” I ask.
“All of you have been keyed in already. Just in case,” Kira says.
Maps hang on the walls and I move toward one of them, recognizing the route from our first adventure. “How did you get this?”
“I thought it might help if we remembered the places you have been and what monsters you faced along the route. Greyson gave me the maps and has been helping to fill in the blanks.”
