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The Book of All Things: Final Chapter

“Quick!” Lizbet barked desperately as she reached Katie’s side. “Can you still sense the book? Do you know where it has gone? Can you follow it?”

Roused from her shock, Katie shook her head. “It’s gone,” she said in a strained, hopeless tone. “I can still feel it, but I haven’t the slightest clue where Notorcia has taken it.”

“Blast!” Lizbet cried, stomping a foot in frustration.

“We have to find a way to track her,” Leorge said at her elbow. “It’s our only hope of recovering the book.”

“Perhaps a reverse seeker spell might help us learn the spell Notorcia used to flee us,” Kurza suggested. “If we find anything, we might have a chance of tracking her.”

“Do it,” Lucinia growled. “Quickly!”

As Lizbet and the Magi hurried toward the back of the house, Katie suddenly remembered Morga and raced to the front porch. She climbed the steps slowly, fighting off the sudden wave of raw and primitive grief rising within her, and silently, haltingly, approached the place where Morga lay.

Staring down at the body, Katie felt a wretchedness of mind she’d never known before. This was all her fault.

Every harsh look, every miserable word she had ever flung at the woman, every act of defiance had lead to this moment. Had she learned to see beyond her resentment, had she learned to accept Morga as a mother instead of seeing her as an inferior replacement for the mother she had lost, Katie told herself that none of this would have happened. Her mind burned with the memories. She wished she could take it all back. She wished that she could go back in time and do it all over the right way.

She wished…

Swallowing the sob in her throat, Katie fell to her knees and cradled the woman in her arms. Her mind ever linked with the Book’s vast repository of rare and ancient spells, Katie sought desperately for a spell—any spell—that could put things right again. Finding it, she fumbled for the Source, seized it with an iron will, and called forth her Shi’ar powers.

As Katie felt her body transform, she poured a river of raw magick from the deepest depths of the Source into the spell fixed firmly in her mind, and then, with a loving hand, transferred it to Morga’s lifeless body.
“Come back to me, mother,” she whispered over and over in a fierce voice as she concentrated on maintaining a constant flow of energies between the Source and Morga. “Come back to me. Come back and be my mother again.”

As each passing moment melted into the next, Katie continued to pour raw Source energy into Morga’s body, saturating every corner of it, bathing every cell. As she concentrated, the world slipped away—the cold, clammy air, the rumble of distant thunder, the soft patter of rain on the sidewalk—all of it. There was only Katie, Morga, and the Source, and that’s all there ever needed to be.

“Come back to me. Please.”

Finally, suddenly, she felt Morga’s arm twitch, heard a sharp intake of breath as life returned to blood and bone.
Katie pulled away and gazed down at Morga’s face. Her eyes fluttered open, glanced around sluggishly, and then rotated up to meet Katie’s exuberant gaze.

“Katie?” Morga said in a stunned voice.

“Yes, mother.” Joy bubbled in Katie’s laugh. “It’s me.”

Morga brushed a finger against Katie’s chin and marveled at the resulting swirl of color and energy that rippled across her face.

“You called me ‘mother,’” she said wonderingly. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that?”

Katie helped Morga to her feet.

Morga looked at her appraisingly—proudly. “So,” she said. “You’ve finally discovered your Shi’ar powers.”

Intense astonishment sent ripples of energy pulsing across Katie’s face. “You knew I was Shi’ar? How?”
Morga nodded. “Your father told me,” she clarified.

“But how could he have known…?”

“Because your mother knew,” Morga answered softly. “On the night you were conceived, she told your father that she felt the Source reach out and touch you through her. And in that brief moment of connection she saw what you were meant to become.”

Katie released her powers and reassumed her body. She held Morga’s gaze, unable to believe what she was hearing.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” she asked. “Why all the secrecy?”

Morga took Katie by the arm and gently steered her over to the steps, where they sat side by side.

“Because it was your mother’s wish not to tell you,” Morga replied at last. “And it was her wish that you not follow in her footsteps. Knowing what you were destined to become, she wanted you to study the world and the way it worked. That’s why your father and I pressed so hard for you to attend Common College. We were honoring her wishes—myself more than anyone. I felt that I owed it to her…and to you.”

Katie remained absolutely motionless for a moment as she struggled to come to terms with this new information. A part of her felt irked by all the secrecy, wondering why on earth her father and Morga hadn’t told her about this a long time ago. She would have understood, had they told her. She would have gone to Common College as her mother had wished. But there was another part of her, one ruled more by logic than raw emotion, that offered a more realistic portrait of that alternative past—nothing would have changed. She would have opposed the idea of attending Common College exactly as she had done last summer, and foreknowledge of her Shi’ar inheritance would have only served to cement her intention of becoming a hero. Yes, nothing would have changed, and Katie was glad to be able to see this now.

She reached out and covered Morga’s hand with her own.

“You were right to do as you did,” she told the woman.

Morga’s eyes were bordered with tears. “Do you think so?” she asked.

“Yeah,” said Katie with a growing smile.

Morga slipped an arm around Katie’s shoulders and hugged her tightly. “I wish I could believe that. I acted so rotten toward you…”

Katie shook her head. “That’s because I didn’t give you a choice…or a chance,” she said. “Can you ever forgive me?”

A soft, loving smile touched Morga’s lips. “There is nothing to forgive you for,” she answered. “The two of us… We just started off on the wrong foot.”

“Hello?” a strange voice suddenly called out, faint by discernable. “Can either of you give me a hand here? I seem to be in a rather desperate need of rescue.”

Katie shot to her feet and stared across the yard at the single leaf of folded parchment snagged in the bare branches of a budding hawthorn bush.

Katie bounded from the porch, raced to the bush, and snatched the paper into her hand.

“What is it?” Morga asked, catching up to Katie.

“It looks like a page from The Book of All Things,” Katie replied thoughtfully.

“Sorry to disappoint,” the parchment answered as it wriggled out of her grasp and flapped into the air. “But I’m my own publication, thank you very much.”

The parchment flipped onto its side to reveal a curious title scrawled in an ancient hand across the top of the its front page:

Riddle Map to the 4 Spells of the C.S.
Azareth Mountainborn

“This is so typical,” the Riddle Map spat angrily as it began to circle Katie’s head. “I’ve made every effort to get along with it, to help it, to contribute to its well-being, and what does it do? It abandons me the first chance it gets! ”

“What are you taking about?” Katie said, shaking her head in confusion. “What abandoned you?”

“The Book of All Things, of course!,” the map snapped.

“Katie, why is this paper talking?” Morga asked quizzically. “And what is this Book of All Things it keeps referring to?”

Katie glanced at Lizbet and the four Magi as they came stalking around the side of the house. It was clear by the unsettled look on their faces that their plan to track Notorcia had failed. “I’ll tell you later,” she answered.

“What have you got there?” Lizbet asked, nodding toward the parchment fluttering above katie’s head.

“I found it in the bush,” Katie answered. “It appears to be some sort of map. I think it was blasted out of the Book when Notorcia seized it.” Katie explained.

“Oh, I was never part of the Book,” the map corrected. “Azareth created me for his own purposes.”

Lizbet and the Magi blinked at the map as though it had suddenly sprouted a head.

“Azareth did what?!” the five of them cried as one.

“Azareth created me,” the map replied enthusiastically.

“It’s almost impossible for men to use magick, let alone create with it,” Kurza scoffed. “You must be mistaken.”
“Nah!” the map said. “After the Book bonded with him—”

“It bonded with him?” Lucinia gasped.

“It’s a long story,” the map said dismissively. “But after the Book bonded with him, he created me to record where he had hidden the four spells.”

“What reason did Azareth have for hiding spells?” Kurza said stiffly.

“He didn’t want his girlfriend—Notorcia—to find them,” the map answered.

“And what did she want with them?” Leorge asked.

“To create another Conqueror’s Sword, of course,” the map replied.

Katie flinched as she remembered what Curator Woolf had said about the sword in the Museum of Magickal Antiquities, just before the Shriek attack, how it had nearly allowed the dark sorceress Mursha to destroy Odyssey.

“This cannot be…” Lizbet muttered incredulously.

“Oh, I assure you it is,” the map said. “She managed to find three of the spells on her own using the knowledge contained within the Book. But as soon as Azareth discovered her plans, he stole the Book, forced it to bond with him, and hid the remainder of the spells where only he could get to them.”

“Where exactly did he hide them?” Lucinia demanded. Katie could hear the anxiety in her voice…and something else, something she was trying very hard to suppress—terror.

“I wouldn’t be much of a riddle map if I told you where the spells were hidden, now would I?” the map chided.
Lizbet rounded on the Magi, eyes flashing with excitement. “If Azareth hid the spells then Notorcia has no way of finding them using The Book of All Things.”

“Which gives us a distinct advantage,” added Kurza. “If we move quickly, we can find and dispose of the spells before Notorcia realizes she’s been fooled.”

“I agree.” Lizbet looked at Katie. “I sure hope you’re good at solving riddles.”

“Actually,” Katie said in a rush, glancing at Morga. “Morga’s a whiz at them. She can finish the daily riddleword puzzle in under three minutes.”

“That is impressive,” Kurza said, glancing at Morga with genuine esteem. “Such a skill will prove useful.”
Morga shrugged. “It’s the only thing in life I’m good at,” she said matter-of-factly. “But can we wait until Katie’s father returns? I’d rather not run off without telling him where…”

“Leave a shadow messenger behind,” Lizbet said brusquely. “Time is of the essence. We must move quickly if we are to thwart Notorcia’s plans.”

“At least allow me a few minutes to pack some supplies,” Morga offered.

“Very well,” Kurza said. “But be quick about it.”

Morga nodded and gave Katie’s arm an affectionate squeeze. “My very first adventure!” she whispered excitedly, then hurried off.

Katie smiled after her.

“Well,” said Lizbet at her elbow. “It looks as though you’ve managed to pass your final test.”

Katie nodded. “Yes, I think I have,” she sighed. “But I couldn’t have done it without you.” She turned and faced Lizbet. “Thank you for coming to my rescue, Lizbet. I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you….like thinking you were Notorcia, and all.”

Lizbet smiled. “Don’t be sorry, child. You did me a favor,” she answered. “Notorcia was keeping such a close watch on me it was nearly impossible to snoop about. But after our little ‘confrontation’ in the Warren and my seemingly subsequent departure from the city, I was able to spy on her at my leisure.”

“But when did you learn Widdershins was really Notorcia?” Katie asked.

“Not until the day of the Calamityville Challenge. It so happens that I am on excellent terms with the queen of the Valkyries. She alerted me, via messenger, that someone from Derring Do had hired a Valkyrie to fight in the contest and wanted to know if I knew anything about it. Hiring a Valkyrie for an event such as the Calamityville Challenge is highly unusual; no one hires a Valkyrie unless they want a person dead, so, naturally, this inquiry peaked my interest. When I asked for the name of the person who had done the hiring, the name ‘Widdershins’ was given. That was when I knew. And that was also when I realized that Notorcia was going to make a move on The Book of All Things sometime during your match. Had she not been knocked unconscious by that Valkyrie, I would have had her.”

“You were at the match then?” Katie asked.

“Not at the match, but close enough,” Lizbet replied. “I was waiting at the edge of town with a force of two hundred Valkyries, ready to pounce on her if she so much as looked cross-eyed at the Book. But that’s over. We’re at the end of all things now, and this game of cat and mouse we’re playing with her is about to turn deadly. If we fail in our task and she manages to remake the Conqueror’s Sword…” Lizbet purposely let her voice trail away, leaving what remained unspoken to Katie’s imagination.

Just then, the front door burst open with a bang. Katie turned to see Chani stalk out onto the porch. Behind her, framed in the doorway, was their room back at Cahernan House. Noticing Lizbet, she froze in shock.
“Hello, granddaughter,” Lizbet said with a smile.

“Hey, there,” Katie called, giving her a wave.

Chani screwed her eyes shut in irritation and shook her head. “Okay, I’m totally confused,” she said. “What’s going on here?”

Katie explained everything, and when she finished, the confused expression on Chani’s face had deepened.
“So, Notorcia wasn’t Lizbet after all, but Dean Widdershins,” she said exasperatedly.

“That’s right,” said Katie.

“That’s a relief,” Chani said, glancing at her grandmother. “I guess I’d better release the mange charm I placed on Prince Fisk before coming here, shouldn’t I?”

Lizbet’s eyebrows shot up in amusement. “Yes, you’d better,” she said. “For all his complaining, Fisk did an admirable job keeping me informed of your movements.”

“How did I know he was on our side?” Chani protested. She snapped her fingers, and a wisp of green smoke snaked from her hands. “The charm is removed,” she said. “But it’s going to take some time before he grows all his hair back.”

“I’ll never hear the end of it,” Lizbet muttered.

“So,” Chani said, rounding on Katie. “Widdershins—er, Notorcia—is trying to remake the Conqueror’s Sword, eh?”

Katie nodded. ‘Fraid so,” she answered. “We were about to leave in search of the remaining four spells that Azareth hid from her. You’re welcome to come along.”

Chani grinned. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

Katie smiled, took her by the arm, and led her slowly toward the house. “By the way,” she asked, “how did your final test go?”

A grin split the Banshee’s face from ear to ear. “I passed with flying colors,” she answered.

Katie gasped, hardly believing her ears. “How did you manage that?”

“Well, as I was walking to Hercule’s dorm, I realized that it was going to be impossible for me to get him to love me just by talking to him, and that got me thinking about how the answer I gave on my application could be interpreted in different ways. I said that I wanted to change the way he felt about me, but I never specified how he was to feel. So all I did was walk up to him, slap him in the face, tell him he was the worst side-kick in the entire history of side-kicks and that he was a disgrace to his entire family.” Chani gave her a wickedly mischievous grin. “He positively hates me now!”

“That would certainly do it,” Katie said, impressed by the Banshee’s ingenuity. “But how do you ever expect him to fall in love with you after this?”

Chani shrugged. “Spooked if I know,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll figure something out.”

Katie was about to offer a suggestion when a long, bloodcurdling, yet all too familiar howl cut her short. It was such an improbable sound that for a moment Katie found it impossible to believe her ears. It was only when the howl sounded again, this time from the south, that the terrible truth finally registered in her brain. A chill slithered down Katie’s spine and coiled in the pit of her stomach as she turned and trained a look of dawning horror on the distant foothills.

“What is it?” Chani asked in alarm.

“Shrieks,” Katie said breathlessly. “Two of them.”

Even as she spoke, another howl drifted down from the northern wastes, joined by one from the east.
“Make that four,” Lizbet said, leading the Magi onto the porch. They each of them wore masks of grim determination, but no expression could hide the fear welling in their eyes.

“What do we do?” Chani asked, looking to Katie for guidance.

In the distance, a small but unmistakably lithe form crested the largest hill, tossed its powerful head back, and shrieked. The sound shattered the silence of the surrounding countryside, announcing that the hunt was on.

“We run,” Katie said.

To Be Continued...