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| The Book of All Things: Chapter Eighteen
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“We…three?” Katie asked, looking about the room, purposely ignoring The Book of All Things. “Chani, there’s only the two of us….”
Chani leveled a finger at the book. “And that,” she said firmly.
Katie chuckled and waved her hand in dismissal. “That’s just my Oddyish textbook.”
“That is not a textbook,” Chani growled, her annoyed expression clouding with sudden anger. “And we both know it.”
Katie sighed and seated herself on the edge of her bed. There was no escaping Chani’s fierce glare, or her suspicions. She was cornered, and the only way out was by admitting the truth.
Katie waited until the book settled atop the bedside table before speaking. “What gave it away?” she asked.
Chani’s eyes flicked to The Book of All Things. “It talks in its sleep,” she said.
“I most certainly do not!” the book cried, shooting once more into the air. “And I am not an ‘it.’ I am a tome of great and terrible knowledge, thank you very much.”
“I figured you’d tell me about it sooner or later,” Chani said, ignoring the book. “But then I began to have this funny little feeling you were never going to say anything. I guess I was right.” She snorted a laugh. “I don’t know what galls me more: that you couldn’t trust me at all or that you trusted me so little you had to lie to me.”
Katie cringed at the comment. “I promised a lot of people I wouldn’t tell,” she admitted, her face coloring with shame.
“Like whom?” Chani insisted.
“Dean Widdershins, for one,” Katie said. “And your grandmother. And the Council of Magi….”
Chani’s eyes widened. “The Council of Magi?” she said in a shocked voice. “What are you involved in?”
“I’ll explain everything,” Katie said, lowering her voice. “But you’re not going to like part of what you hear.”
“Try me.”
“Not here.”
Confusion played across Chani’s face. “Why not?”
“Because it’s not safe to talk here.”
“Katie, you’re not making any sense.”
Locking the bedroom door, Katie placed her back against it and said, “We need to go someplace where we can talk privately. Got any ideas?”
“I do, as a matter of fact,” the book announced cheerfully. “There’s a delightful little garden maze in the forest behind this very house.”
“Are you certain it’s private?” Katie asked.
“It should be, it’s off limits,” replied the book.
“Sounds perfect,” said Chani, bounding to her feet.
“But how do we get there without being seen by the Golem Knights?” Katie asked.
“Katie,” the book said in an admonishing tone. “Haven’t I taught you anything?”
Katie stared at the book until understanding dawned. “Oh, right!” she said. “How silly of me to have forgotten so soon!”
Directing her thoughts toward the book, a slew of transportation spells leapt into her head. She selected one and spellraised it.
The room vanished in a blaze of blue light as the spell whisked them into the forest and deposited them in the center of a long-overgrown path. Landing unsteadily, Chani crashed to the ground and sat blinking up at Katie.
“How… How did you do that?” she stammered.
“Magick, of course,” Katie said as she helped the Banshee to her feet.
“We’ll find the maze at the end of this path,” the book said, bounding into the forest with a mighty flap of its covers. “Do try to keep up.”
Chani stared after it, shaking her head.
“What is that thing?” she asked.
“Have you ever heard of The Book of All Things?” Katie said.
Chani frowned her answer.
Striking off after the book, Katie put her arm around Chani’s shoulder and leaned into her. “Then allow me to explain…”
They walked slowly along the path as Katie weaved her tale of the events that had occurred since the beginning of the semester. By the time they reached the ancient stone gate marking the mouth of the garden maze, Chani was awestruck.
“A Shi’ar!” the Banshee said with a shake of her head. “I can hardly believe it!”
“It’s true,” Katie said, blushing slightly. “And now you know why I’ve been sneaking around. Dean Widdershins and the book have been giving me lessons, to make sure I can fight Notorcia, if ever she attacks again.”
Chani’s frown returned. “But I thought you said my grandmother was supposed to help with that?”
Katie cleared her throat, uncertain how to respond. “Yes, well,” she said, dragging an unwilling smile to her face. “That has something to do with the part I said you’re not going to like.”
Chani raised her eyebrows, goading Katie to continue. But the sound of a twig snapping somewhere close by stayed Katie’s reply. She spun around and glimpsed a cat fleeing silently through the trees. And there was something else, too: a shadowy sort of furtive movement among the shade cast by a towering oak not a hundred paces away, but it vanished in a wink, leaving Katie to wonder if she had imagined it.
“It was just a silly old cat,” Chani said dismissively.
“Was it?” Katie asked seriously, turning to face her.
“Why don’t we continue this discussion inside the maze,” the book said from the shadows beneath the stone archway.
Chani glanced at the gate, then through it to the empty forest beyond. “I think that book of yours has lost a few of its pages, if you know what I mean,” she said to Katie. “Do you see a maze anywhere around here?”
Katie shook her head and gave the book an inquiring stare.
“Of course you don’t see a maze!” the book cried. “You have to step through this gate to reach it!” To demonstrate, the book passed beneath the archway and immediately vanished.
Katie and Chani exchanged excited glances, and a pair of identical grins leapt onto their faces.
Stepping through the arch, Katie found herself standing atop a stone dais looking out across a vast, sunlit maze formed by tall, shaggy green hedges. It was a formidable place, a warren of unfathomable complexity stretching almost endlessly to the horizon. A long, bramble-covered stairway led down to the mouth of the maze, which was itself shrouded in shadow.
“Absolute perfection!” cried the book as it studied the maze. “Mazey Madwyn certainly knew how to design a maze, let me tell you. Oh, there were others who tried, of course, but none were her equal.” The book heaved a sigh of appreciation. “In ancient times, the school used this one as a training ground for the heroes of old, but they stopped when it became too dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” Chani asked. “In what way?”
The book pivoted to face her. “Mazey went stark raving bonkers one day and tainted all of her mazes with dark magick. Soon after, the people who went into her mazes ended up dead—or went missing altogether, never to be heard from again.”
“And you want to take us in there?” Katie asked in an unbelieving tone.
“Why not?” said the book. “As long as you’re with me, you’ll be perfectly safe. Since this maze was created using magick, I possess the knowledge of all its secrets.”
Before the girls could object, the book gave a mighty flap of its covers and bounded down the stairway toward the maze’s entrance. “Come on!” it cried back at them. “Let’s have at it! It’ll be fun!”
Chani glanced at Katie and then back at the book.
“Are you sure you can trust that thing?” she said.
“Absolutely sure,” Katie replied. “Why do you ask?”
Chani shrugged. “Well, if what you’ve told me about its history is true, couldn’t it be possible for Notorcia to somehow use it against you?”
Katie shook her head. “She may share a bond with the book, but that’s as far as her connection goes. She can only use it if it falls into her hands.”
“Still…” Chani said, letting her voice trail off ominously as she swept her gaze out over the maze. “This place would make a perfect trap. No one knows you’re here, and you’re pretty much defenseless….”
“Not defenseless,” Katie corrected. “I have my Shi’ur training to fall back on, remember?”
“Come on!” the book called to them from the bottom of the stairway. “Last one in is a dirty rotten hack novel!”
With a challenging grin, Katie grabbed Chani by the arm and began the long descent to the maze’s entrance.
“Speaking of training,” Chani said as she followed along behind Katie. “You never answered my question about why you haven’t allowed Dame Lizbet to help train you.”
Katie halted in mid-step and turned to face the Banshee. “Chani,” she said quietly. “I don’t know how to put this gently, so I’ll just say it: I think your grandmother is Notorcia.”
The color drained from Chani’s face and her eyes widened, big as saucers. She opened her mouth, but Katie stayed her protests with a raised hand.
“It makes perfect sense if you examine everything that’s happened,” Katie explained. “Do you remember the fortune reading I told you Madame Mystica gave me a month ago? One of her cards said that someone close to me was pretending to be my friend and would betray me. That started me thinking about Dame Lizbet. The first time I encountered Notorcia was just a few days after Lizbet moved into Willow Valley, on the night before you took me to meet her. She was the sorceress in charge of investigating my mother’s death, and it was she who suggested that Notorcia was her killer. She also knew plenty about The Book of All Things and about Azareth, the man who stole the book from Notorcia. And then there’s the matter of her library: forbidden books filled with dark spells—a collection sufficient to take the place of The Book of All Things…”
“That could all be coincidence,” Chani interrupted.
“Okay,” Katie countered. “Then answer something for me. Did you tell Lizbet about the Ogrim attack at the beginning of the semester?”
Chani frowned. “I haven’t spoken with her since the end of summer.”
“Then why did she lie and say that you had told her?”
“I don’t know.”
“She lied,” Katie said, “because she was the one who ordered the attack! She couldn’t have known about it any other way.”
Chani’s mouth worked as she struggled to summon a reply.
“And then there is the matter of the Shriek attack at the Museum of Magickal Antiquities,” Katie continued without missing a beat. “Lizbet was there with me when it happened. And not only that, the Shriek was a creature that Notorcia created. Lizbet was standing right next to its display case when it broke loose. And what’s more, the attack happened just minutes after I told Lizbet that I had discovered The Book of All Things.”
Chani’s mouth snapped shut with a harsh click. “Go on,” she growled.
Katie turned and descended half a dozen steps before halting. “Later, during the meeting with the Magi, Lizbet went out of her way to make sure she had a hand in training me, and it was quite clear by her attitude that her only concern was for the book. She’s obsessed with it, and wants to keep it as close as possible. That’s why I haven’t allowed her to teach me. I don’t want her anywhere near the book.”
Katie paused to sweep a lock of hair behind an ear and then resumed her analysis.
“I also find it interesting that Notorcia hasn’t made another attack on me since the day of that meeting.”
Chani finally managed to find her voice, blurting her comment before Katie had a chance to continue. “But if Lizbet really is Notorcia, then why hasn’t she attempted to take the book from you? Living alone as we do, it seems simple enough for her to sneak in and filch it.”
“The Magi have placed dozens of warding spells on Cahernan House,” Katie explained. “And what the spells aren’t protecting, the Golem Knights are. Even the Magi are protecting me.”
They descended the rest of the stairs in uneasy silence, at last joining the book in the cool shade of the maze’s towering hedges.
“And then there is the matter of all the cats I’ve been seeing lately,” Katie said as she turned back to face her friend. “Trink chased one off that night we snuck into the Bizarre Bazaar, remember? And since then I’ve seen cats everywhere I go—but every time I try to get a good look at them, they dart off, just like the one we saw back in the forest a few minutes ago. But I don’t think it’s several cats I’m seeing, I think it’s only one.”
“Prince Fisk?” Chani offered solemnly.
Katie nodded. “Lizbet is using him to spy on me,” she said. “She’s watching my every move.”
Chani shook her head angrily. “I believe what you’re saying, Katie,” she said, “but if Notorcia is masquerading as my grandmother, then what happened to the real Dame Lizbet?”
Katie shrugged. “I don’t have an answer for that, but I can guess,” she said softly.
Chani looked at Katie as the meaning behind her words struck home. A grim look of determination settled on her face. “Whatever she’s done—to Lizbet and to you—it can’t go unpunished.”
Katie placed a gentle hand on the Banshee’s shoulder. “I agree.”
“So, what are we going to do?”
“We find a way to expose Notorcia for the fraud she is and bring her to justice,” Katie answered.
“How?”
Katie shrugged. “That’s what we’re going to have to figure out. I don’t think anyone will believe us if we tell them Lizbet is really Notorcia, which means we’re going to have to take matters into our own hands….quietly, and without raising suspicion.”
“I agree,” said Chani gruffly. “We should be the ones to defeat her.”
“Oh, enough of all the chit chat already!” the book cried, its voice heavy with entreaty. “Let’s get on with the adventure!”
Katie stared past the maze’s entrance down the long, narrow corridor sandwiched between two rows of towering hedges. It was thick with shadows and looked positively uninviting. A smile crept onto her face.
“Well, if the heroes of old could train here, we can certainly give the place a go,” she said.
“That’s the spirit!” the book said.
As the three crossed the maze’s threshold, a hedge wall shot up from the ground behind them, blocking their escape.
“Right!” the book trumpeted resolutely as it spun to face Katie and Chani. “Now listen up, girls. We’ve just activated the maze’s magick. From here on out it will try to prevent us from reaching the exit, which means we’ll need to pick up our pace and stick very close together. Under no circumstances are you to pause for anything you see or investigate anything you hear, for your doom will surely follow. Am I understood?”
Katie and Chani nodded in unison.
Satisfied, The Book of All Things shot off down the corridor. Katie followed close behind at a jog, followed closely by Chani.
As they reached the first intersection, another hedge wall slammed into place behind them, leaving them to choose from the two corridors branching off to the left and to the right.
“This way,” the book called, ducking down the right-hand corridor. Katie and Chani followed—as did something else.
Sensing a presence loom up behind them, Katie shot a look over her shoulder and saw an enormous creature slip from the passage behind them. It was hideous and ill-formed, with a head and face that drooped to one side as though some terrible heat had melted them. Its eyes glowed with a tormented light, and its gaping and twisted mouth bristled with hundreds of jagged green teeth. It hobbled after them, slowly at first, and then faster and faster as it became maddened with hunt-lust.
“It’s just a Mewlip,” the book called to the girls as it flapped its way along the corridor. “Pay it no mind.”
“Are you mad?” Chani cried as she increased her speed to a flat-out run. “We have to kill it before it kills us!”
“Nonsense!” The book replied. “The next junction is just up ahead.”
The earth trembled as the creature shambled along behind them, gaining ground. Chani fired a stunning spell over her shoulder, but the shot went wide and crashed into the hedge mere inches from the creature’s head. The sudden explosion of light startled the beast, but not enough to scare it off. In fact, the blast had the opposite effect. With an enraged roar, the creature shot forward with a startling burst of speed.
“Here!” the book cried, darting suddenly into a side passage. As Katie and Chani followed, yet another hedge wall shot up behind them. Unable to halt in time, the creature slammed into it with a tremendous crash. The wall gave a violent shudder and then went rigid as stone, allowing only the creature’s frustrated howls to penetrate its heavy foliage.
Convinced that they were out of danger, the girls halted and leaned on their knees in order to catch their breath.
“Didn’t I say this was going to be fun?” the book said with a hearty chuckle as it circled them. “Good ol’ Mazey! She certainly knew how to keep people on their toes!”
Katie shot it a look of cold fury. “You could have warned us we were about to be attacked,” she said.
“And spoil the fun?” the book answered, sounding decidedly appalled.
“Yes!” the girls answered as one.
The edges of the book’s cover curved into a grin.
“In the real world, Life isn’t going to give you fair warning before it springs one of its little surprises on you,” the book countered. “This maze is designed to teach you that.”
Before Katie or Chani could object further, the book spun around and bounded down the passage, shouting for them to “dare to be bold” and to “stare danger in the eye.”
Katie watched it disappear around a distant corner and glanced at Chani. “After you,” she said.
“You’re the Shi’ar,” Chani shot back.
“Yes, but not a skilled one.”
Chani gave Katie a push to start her off. “You’re good enough to thwart ol’ Mazey Madwin, though,” she said.
Katie grinned and strode resolutely down the passage, her wits sharp, her hands glowing with half a dozen spells that she spellraised from the Book’s vast memory.
As Katie rounded the corner, her shadow suddenly sprang to life and wrapped its hands tightly around her throat. She heard Chani give a surprised squeak which ended abruptly in a harsh, choking rasp, and Katie spun around to see the Banshee’s shadow attempting to haul Chani into the wall of foliage by her throat.
Extending a hand toward the sky, Katie released a spell that shot several feet into the air before exploding into a blazing ball of crackling white energy. The light from the magickal ball poured into the passageway, struck the two attacking shadows, and erased them from existence.
“Shadow Assassins!” the book cried. “Ya ha! Now there’s a spell you don’t see everyday!”
Gasping for breath, Katie grabbed Chani’s flailing hand and hauled her from the hedge wall. The Banshee staggered a bit before regaining her balance, and when she finally managed to slow her breathing, she shot the book a scathing look.
“If ever I get my hands on you,” she growled, “I’m going to strip you page by page.”
“This way,” the book replied, pretending it hadn’t heard.
Katie gave Chani a helpless shrug. “After you?” she said.
Chani shoved the sleeves of her shirt up beyond her elbows. “Don’t mind if I do,” she muttered as she started after the book.
They broke into a jog and darted left into a new corridor then cut right as the book shot ahead, eager to lose them before they chanced upon yet another trap. But as the book slipped around the next turn, it cried out and retreated several feet as a hedge wall suddenly sprang up in front of it, blocking the way forward.
“This isn’t supposed to be here,” the book said, its voice edgy with concern.
“Did we make a wrong turn somewhere?” Katie asked.
“No,” replied the book. “I’m following the exact route Mazey outlined when she created the place.”
“Maybe she changed it after she went mad,” Chani suggested.
“She only changed the nature of the magick controlling her mazes, not the designs themselves,” the book replied. “Some other power is at work here.”
Just then the sky went dark as a bank of angry black clouds blotted out the sun. The air within the maze grew suddenly cold, and a heavy mist began to snake across the ground.
“Uh oh,” the book murmured.
“Uh oh what?” Chani growled.
“I’ve seen this magick before.”
Katie rounded on the book, wide-eyed with surprise. “It’s Notorcia, isn’t it?” she gasped.
The book gulped.
Katie stood staring at it, gripped by a sudden sinking feeling. “You’ve betrayed me!” she said in a stunned voice.
The book shook itself so hard some of its pages tore. “Never!” it protested. “I brought you here so you could test your new powers. I didn’t know it was a trap—honest!”
Laughter filled the maze, flooding over them from all directions.
“The book has an unquenchable interest in ancient magickal artifacts,” a woman’s voice called, sounding as though it was coming from the darkened sky. “It’s a weakness that is easy enough to exploit. I knew it was only a matter of time before the book’s natural curiosity got the better of it.”
Katie glanced around wildly, but was unable to see where Notorcia was hiding.
“Show yourself!” she cried.
“But I’m not finished gloating,” the voice replied. “To see you trapped like this, entirely at my mercy, is something I’ve waited a long time to enjoy. A very long time.”
“What have I done to make you so obsessed with wanting to destroy me?” Katie cried.
Notorcia’s voice hardened ruthlessly. “That is a question you should ask yourself, for the answer lies in your memory.”
“I don’t understand,” Katie said.
“Of course you don’t!” Notorcia snapped. “You’re just a stupid little girl who places too much importance on the future and not enough on the past. You deserve the fate that awaits you!”
The contemptuous tone in the sorceress’s voice sparked Katie’s anger. “You killed my mother, didn’t you?”
“Of course,” Notorcia replied mockingly. “It would have meant my death if I hadn’t.”
Katie’s fists began to tremble with fury. “Show yourself,” she called in a choked voice. “So we can put an end to this once and for all.”
“Not, I think, today,” Notorcia replied. “All I want is the book.”
“Come and get it, then,” Katie dared. “Or are you a coward?”
The maze corridor in which they were standing boomed with sudden laughter.
“You can provoke me all you want,” Notorcia replied. “But I won’t fight you. The day for that is not yet at hand, although it is very soon in coming.”
Chani stepped forward, staring up at the top of the maze. “We know who you really are!” she cried.
A terrible silence ensued, and as she waited for Notorcia to respond, Katie smiled in triumph. That threw her!
“I highly doubt that,” came Notorcia’s reply at last.
The air suddenly began to turn colder, and off in the distance, a strange murmuring arose, the sound of a thousand tortured and sorrowful voices joined as one. Hearing it made Katie’s skin crawl. Even Chani, who normally regarded such eerie noises as pleasing to the ear, found it uncomfortable.
“Oh no,” the book said in a small, frightened voice. “She has unleashed The Ilk!”
Katie shot it a questioning gaze.
“It is a creature that preys on and consumes living souls,” the book explained. “Once ingested, it is impossible for a soul to escape, and all it can do is wail its sorrow forever and ever.”
The wailing grew louder, sending a bolt of terror streaking through Katie’s entire body.
“You have two choices, Katie Frost,” Notorcia’s voice rang out above the tumult. “You can either turn over The Book of All Things, or I shall take it from you—after you face The Ilk, of course.”
The wailing drew closer, sounding as though it was but a few corridors away. The sound washed over Katie, threatening to unseat her mind as no Banshee scream ever could.
“You’re wrong,” Katie challenged. “There is a third choice.”
“And that would be?” Notorcia inquired petulantly.
Summoning the same spell that had transported them to the forest, Katie spellraised it and linked herself to Chani and the book. The maze winked out of existence and was replaced a split second later by the familiar surroundings of their dorm room at Cahernan House.
“As escapes go, that was just about perfect!” Chani giggled triumphantly as she flopped onto her bed. “I wish I could see the look on Notorcia’s face right now.”
“No, you don’t,” said the Book. “Her rage is frightening to behold.”
As if on some pre-arranged cue, the door to their room slammed open. Katie spun around to see Dame Lizbet stalk inside, looking livid. Almost immediately the door swung shut, a clear signal that another person was on the way.
“And where have you three been, eh?” she demanded sharply.
“As if you didn’t know,” Chani replied with cool authority.
Lizbet’s rage-tempered eyes pinned her to the bed. “Don’t be cheeky with me, youngling!” she shrieked. “I’ve been running all over this campus searching for the lot of you ever since Dean Widdershins alerted me that you had disappeared—literally—from this room.”
“Yeah,” Chani laughed. “Like we believe you.”
The door opened with a jarring bang. The look on Dean Widdershins’ face as she entered the room was one of grim disapproval.
“Katie, I am deeply disappointed in you,” she said in a tense, clipped voice that forbade any response. “To disappear like this, without telling anyone is…”
“Wait your turn, Agnitha,” Lizbet interrupted. “They haven’t finished answering to me yet.”
Widdershins frowned at her, her eyes level under drawn brows. “Excuse me, Lizbet,” she said tersely, “but this is my school, Katie is my student, and if there is anyone she will answer to, it is me. Now stand aside and allow me to…”
The door slammed shut yet again and banged open just as quickly. This time, the four Magi stalked into the room wearing vicious expressions on their wrinkled faces. When their eyes fell upon Katie, they bristled like pucker fish.
“Young lady,” Kurza said, winding up, “this is highly irregular…”
The Book of All Things groaned and flapped lazily toward Katie’s dresser. “I’ll just be in the bottom drawer if anyone needs me,” it announced, although Katie was certain no one heard over Kurza’s thunderous lecturing.
“Coward,” Chani muttered.
“Hey,” the book said as it burrowed into a nest of socks. “If the dust jacket fits...”
Copyright © 2008 by Kevin Scott Munnings
“The Book of All Things” ISBN-13: 978-1-4276-1874-0
All Rights Reserved
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Posted by FantasyWriter on 2008-05-30 11:11:25 | Rating: | Views: 54
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