Page 38 of Tear of Destiny

“That would make sense,” says Noah, taking a seat on the floor beside me. “You have a gift that allows you to see the destiny threads. Those stem the goddesses’ power. Their magic resides in the threads. So it’s logical that you could recognize other places where the goddesses left traces of their power.”

It’s hard to get my head around all this, but I suspect Noah may be right. This light is kind of similar to the destiny threads. But how does this help me? Did Patricia want me to find this light? Why?

I run my fingers meditatively over the engraved spindle again. And suddenly, it begins to change shape. The bulbous part of the spindle disappears, and the overall shape expands in all directions. And it feels cold, like metal.

I look at my fingers and hold my breath. One of the threads of light is snaking out of the stone and up my hand. One end wraps around my wrist, and the other remains stuck in the floor.There’s something attached to it. I carefully pull the object out of the stone.

I look at Noah, who seems just as surprised as me and no less bewildered.

“A flute,” he murmurs.

I hold the elegant silver instrument in my hands and stare at it cluelessly. The metal is engraved with fine tendrils, but otherwise it looks like a totally normal musical instrument. Following some impulse, I put it on my lips and blow. A note rings out – a little wobbly maybe, but clearly audible. I wait a tense moment for something to happen. But all remains quiet. I turn to Noah, who shrugs, and then I see that something has changed. The flute is suddenly glowing, surrounded by the same light that’s hovering above the spindle.

I turn the instrument over in my hands, looking at it from all sides. “Do you see that? The way it’s glowing?” I ask Noah.

He shakes his head. “No. All I see is a silver flute.”

I’m still turning it in my hands when Noah suddenly reaches for it.

“Wait, it looks like there’s something engraved on it.”

He turns it slightly, and then I see it too.

“In every beginning dwells magic.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask. “Is that a riddle or just a nice dedication?”

Noah shakes his head cluelessly. “I don’t know. But I think you’ve just found something really significant. This can’t be a coincidence. The goddess must have known the flute was here and wanted you to find it. Now we just need to figure out why.”

I try to recall Patricia’s exact words:The goddesses’ library. All the knowledge in the world is recorded there. It contains the answer to every question. I’m curious to see which ones you’ll find. It’s your destiny.

“The instrument must have something to do with thegoddesses’ library,” I ponder aloud. “Patricia said it was my destiny to find it and that I’d find the answers to all my questions there. I think the flute is a clue. If we solve its riddle, maybe it’ll show us the way to the library. Apparently, the goddesses or whoever hid the library wanted to make it hard to find.”

Noah nods slowly. “Yeah, and it takes someone with your gift. When the Tempes and Noctu were still a single entity, protecting the goddesses, those special gifts typically showed up in the goddesses’ most loyal followers. So it makes sense that those are the people who are supposed to find the library.” He sighs quietly and then continues to voice his train of thought. “Although I have to wonder what it has to do with this place. Were the goddesses in possession of special books? I mean, other than the ones we know about? Was there another secret library set up by goddesses that only they had access to?”

I nod slowly. “It looks that way. And it would make sense if they used it to safeguard knowledge that was important to them and that they didn’t want to share.”

“That sounds like them,” Noah grumbles. “And you’re sure you want to keep looking?”

I don’t need to think about it for long. It seems that no one can escape their destiny, and I’m ready to find out what mine has in store for me. I won’t let myself be intimidated. Especially not by a goddess of destiny.

“Definitely. Let’s solve this mystery,” I reply.

Noah glances at the flute again and says, “We need to figure out what we’re supposed to do with the flute.”

I turn the small silver instrument over in my hands and read the inscription again.In every beginning dwells magic.

Chapter 17

Ican’t get over the fact that you can see the light too,” I say to Kate as we walk down the street. I showed her the flute the first chance I got and told her about the place where I found it. I was genuinely amazed when she commented on the way it glowed without any prompting from me.

“I figure it’s because we have these gifts. Noah did say that people with an affinity with the goddesses tend to have them.”

“It used to be that way,” I reply. “But a lot has changed.”

“That’s true,” says Kate.

I think of all the evil the goddesses brought into the world. But also the fact that they’re no longer as powerful as they once were.

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