Magicorum Box Set (Books 1-5)

13. Chapter Thirteen-2

It takes an hour of jostling through the crowd but soon, Scar and I make our way to the edge of the pyramids. They’re situated on a triangular plaza lined with more triangle-shaped stones. A low stone wall encircles the place, keeping all of us petitioners outside. At each corner of the plaza, there stands a small pyramid. The structures aren’t as big as the ones from Egypt—maybe twelve feet tall—but what they lack in height they more than make up for in terms of the intricate cravings on their surface.

My eyes widen. The Book of Isis uses a special glyphs that share some things with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, but not a ton. These pyramids are covered in the exact same glyphs. Sure, they are carved in an Aztec style with lots of looping lines and intricate images. Still, it’s the same set of glyphs.

“Can you read that?” asks Scar.

“Yes, can you?”

“Nope, I only understand the spoken word when I go back in time. What does it say?”

Thankfully, the moonlight is pretty bright here, so it’s no trouble to translate. “The first pyramid talks about the fountain of magic, and how it spouts magic into the air, juts like a geyser.”

Scar lifts her brows. “Does it actually say geyser?”

“The glyph is a little weird. It can mean geyser, fountain, or figure.”

Scar sniffs. “That’s broad.”

I gesture to a spot in the center of the plaza. “One guess what that is.”

Scar follows my point. There, a colorful mound of rock juts up from the tiled floor. In some ways, it looks just like the carving I found in the sandbox: a conical structure that has drips of red, silver and gold along the sides. In other ways, the stone looks very different in real life. It’s a bit wider, more like a basin than a cone. Even so, there’s no mistaking what it is.

“That’s the fountain of magic,” I say.

“Sure looks like it,” says Scar. Her tone is the definition of unconvinced.

Now it’s my turn to raise my brows. “But?”

“It’s like I said before. The past is unexpected. We come to it with assumptions that we don’t even realize. Trust me, until that thing spouts multi-colored power, we should call it a geyser.”

“Fine,” I counter. “Geyser it is.” That’s what I say, I’m thinking you’re totally wrong about this. I’ve spent countless hours studying fountains. That geyser is the exact same thing as the fountain of magic, no question.

A perfect hush rolls over the crowd. Four figures step onto the plaza. All of them wear long robes, just like the rest of us, only theirs are colored in red, silver, gold and white.

Wait a second. White?

That’s a color I associate with the Void. Then, I remember what Bram said. The first wardens bring one member of the Trilorum into the ceremony with them. That seems strange.

The warden with the silver cloak raises her arms, exposing the blue hue of her skin. She’s definitely fae. “Welcome, petitioners. I am the first warden of fae magic.”

Behind me, the petitioners start to whisper among themselves.

“That’s her…the great Quetzali.”

“She’s the one who created all this.”

“She’ll destroy the Shadowvin, I know it.”

Quetzali raises her right arm and the crowd silences. “Tonight,” she says. “I stand before you with the first warden of witches and warlocks.” She gestures to the figure in a red cloak.

As Quetzali introduces the second warden, there’s no chatter from the crowd. Clearly, Quetzali is the people’s favorite.

“Also with me is the first warden of shifters.” This time, Quetzali points to the figure in the golden cloak. Again, no commentary from the crowd. This is definitely the Quetzali show.

I can’t help but smile. So far, all of this is going just as I’d expected. There are three wardens before me, one for each kind of magic. Sure, there’s another figure there in white, but maybe they keep a Trilorum around as a guard or something. And we’re on a plaza with three pyramids and a geyser-fountain. Excitement speeds my blood. This is happening. The answers are close.

And once I find the fountain and its magic, I’ll discover some way to protect my friends and cure Knox. I know it.

Quetzali continues. “Tonight, I welcome you to our annual sacred ceremony. Whether you are Magicorum or regular human, this ceremony has helped countless others just like you. Even if you don’t wish for magical powers, attending this ritual can bring back your youth and beauty.”

I suck in a shocked breath. Youth and beauty? Like everything that has to do with magic, this place is aligned to its own fairy tale life template. In this case, it’s the Fountain of Youth.

Huh. Ponce de Leon wasn’t too far off when he hunted for it in Florida.

“Many thousands of years ago, I designed these first pyramids.” Quetzali gestures across the plaza. “These structures harness the power of magic into three distinct forms: shifter, witch, and fairy. Ever since then, we have held our sacred ceremony every autumnal equinox. Tonight, all of that changes. And the reason for that change? The Shadowvin, Slythe and Tithe. At first, these evil creatures lurked in corners and caused no pain. But over the years, they’ve become more bold and cruel. Now they slaughter Magicorum and mortals alike. Everyone here has lost a loved one.”

Behind me, the crowd starts to call out to Quetzali.

“My sister is gone.”

“Our village was wiped out.”

“My child! Slythe took my child!”

Quetzali raises her arms, and the crowd falls silent. “Slythe and Tithe must be stopped. And to do that, I have created a new device.” Quetzali raises her arms. The silver hood still covers her face, but there is no mistaking the blue of her skin. It’s that distinct shade of azure that only happens with water fairies.

A heartbeat later, silver fairy dust appears between Quetzali’s raised palms. The power glows more brightly, showing off the blue webbing between her long fingers. When the haze vanishes, Quetzali holds a small wooden box aloft.

“Behold,” announced Quetzali. “The Codex Mechanica. It will always find the fountain of magic. And where the fountain of magic is, so we will find the Shadowvin and the Void.”

My skin prickles over with awe. For so long, I’ve longed to see how to see the fountain of magic in action. And although I only recently discovered that the Codex Mechanica, I’ve been dying to figure out how it worked. And now? I’m seeing it, first hand. I’m a very lucky girl.

Turning to Scar, I gently tap her shoulder. She looks to me with her brows lifted. I’m quickly learning that’s Scar’s way of saying what?

I mouth two words: thank you.

Scar mouth quirks with a smile. She speaks two silent words in reply: you’re welcome.

Back on the plaza, Quetzali lowers the device. Since Scar and I are so close, I can see how the lid of the box is cut with three vertical slots. The sides of round disks show through each of these three openings. Glyphs are written onto the edge. The discs must spin to give messages. The Codex Mechanica reminds me of an ancient slot machine.

“I designed these pyramids. Do you trust me, my people?”

“Yes,” yells the crowd.

“I have created this Codex Mechanica to fight the Shadowvin. Do you wish to see them destroyed?”

“Yes,” comes another cry.

“Good,” says Quetzali. “Then we must all gird ourselves for the sorry truth. To protect us all, both the fountain of magic and the Void must be destroyed. The Codex Mechanica is built to do this task.”

My eyes glaze over in shock. Did she just say both the fountain of magic and the Void must be destroyed? The crowd starts grumbling again.

“Destroying magic means I’ll lose my powers.”

“My inner wolf will die.”

“How will we cast spells without magic?”

“Silence!” calls Quetzali. “We must begin the ceremony. The fountain and magic and the Void will be no more. Be thankful to be alive at all, not questioning if your life will continue to have magic.”

After that, everything starts happening so quickly, it’s hard to keep track. Thick plumes of white smoke rolls over the plaza grounds. Searingly bright light blares out from the geyser, congealing into a massive figure glowing white with all black eyes. The Void. He grips the geyser and tears it from the plaza floor. “I want the fountain!”

The crowd gasps, but doesn’t move. Quetzali opens the Codex Mechanica and pulls out the discs inside. She gives a ruby disc to the first warden of witches and wizards. The golden disc does to the first warden of shifters. Quetzali keeps a close grip on the third silver disc.

The Void’s voice booms once more. “The fountain!” His voice is wild with rage. “The fountain!” A great boom sounds as he tosses the geyser-fountain onto the ground.

Now, the crowd decided to turn into a frenzied mob. Everyone starts running away from the plaza while screaming with terror. More white mist rolls over the plaza. Soon, everything is covered in such a thick haze, I can’t see a thing.

I can still hear the voices of the first wardens, though. And although I’m new to this whole magic thing, I know a spell being cast when I hear it. Flashes of silver, gold and red light pulse within the thick clouds around me.

Scar pulls me closer to her side. “We have to get out of here. I know my history. This whole place is about to explode.”

The pyramids pulse with light, every one a different color. The white haze turns even thicker, but I can still make out each pyramid as it glows silver, gold, or red. A woman’s scream cuts though the air.

I suck in a shaky breath. “That scream,” I say to Scar. “It was Quetzali.” I start to scale the low wall before me. “Hurry, we have to see what’s happening.”

Scar grips my wrist and dang, that girl is strong. “I am not going anywhere near that mess.”

Across the plaza, the pyramids pulse erratically with their different hues of the light. Great chunks of glowing rock tumble from the structures, slamming into the ground with such force, the earth shakes. I yank harder on Scar’s arm. “I have to see what’s happening. This might be the only way I can save Knox.”

“No.”

“You heard what she said. The Codex Mechanica is built to find and destroy all magic. This affects more than Knox. It could hurt everyone. We have to find out what we can.”

Great cracks form along the edges of the silver pyramid. Spider webs of light peep out from between the breaks in the stone. For a long moment, the silver pyramid vibrates in place.

After that, it explodes.

Huge boulders fly through the air. Small stones cascade all around us. On reflex, Scar and I knell down into a protective crouch.

“The two of us ending up dead?” Scar pulls on the cord between us. “That doesn’t help anybody.”

With that, she breaks the tie that was holding us in the past. A flash of golden light overtakes my consciousness. The scene at the plaza disappears.

I can only hope I learned enough in the past to help everyone in the present.