released, then you and Shailiha are the firstJin’Sai andJin’Saiou to claim this wondrous advantage.”
Tristan sat back in his chair, then he looked over at his sister to see that she was equally overwhelmed. Yet another piece of this ancient puzzle has fallen into place, he realized. But what will it reveal? He looked back into Faegan’s eyes.
“It seems that there is only one way to learn what the coded spell holds for us,” Tristan mused. “We must enact the formula.”
Faegan’s expression hardened. “While that is probably true, we must be extremely careful,” he warned. “Although it is overwhelmingly tempting, opening the spell could be the worst possible mistake. It might kill us all.”
Tristan scowled. “I don’t understand,” he protested. “Why would the Ones provide us with a harmful spell?”
Just then Tristan noticed that the First Wizard’s expression turn decidedly glum, as though some old wound had been reopened.
“What’s wrong?” Tristan asked.
As Wigg took a deep breath, then laced his long fingers together atop the table, Abbey moved her chair closer in a silent show of support.
“You’re forgetting something,” Wigg answered. “For some time we have suspected that Failee possessed the Tome and both Scrolls. What we do not know-and might never know-is whether she possessed them concurrently. If she did-”
“She could have been the first to discover the code!” Shailiha exclaimed. “If that’s true, she might have altered it somehow, making it deadly for the next mystics who came across it!”
Jessamay shook her head in disagreement. “I know better than most how brilliant Failee was,” she said. “But it seems unlikely that even she could corrupt a spell constructed by the Ones. I still say that the Ones took a terrible risk that the code might first be found by Vagaries practitioners. How could they install the spell and then just trust the documents to the world that way?”
“How could they, indeed?” Aeolus asked. “It might be that the spell holds built-in safeguards, preventing it from forming among enemies. For example, one such protection might be that the spell cannot be enacted in the presence of left-leaning blood. But we cannot be sure. Now you understand the extent of the problem. The question is nothow to enact the spell, but whether to do so at all.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Tristan said to Faegan. “What is subtle matter?”
“We have long suspected the possibility of subtle matter, but until today we had no proof that it existed,” Faegan answered. “It is mentioned only in passing in the Tome, making the prospect of its existence all the more tantalizing. This is a great day in our study of the craft-as great, I daresay, as the discovery of forestallments, the two Scrolls of the Ancients, and acquiring the index that allows us to search the Scrolls at will.”
Pausing for a moment, Faegan cast his gaze around the table. “You are all familiar with the azure light that accompanies any significant use of the craft,” he said. “Simply put, we believe that subtle matter is that same azure light, converted into a tactile form that can then be ordered to perform a mystic’s bidding on a molecular scale. The construction of a formula bringing subtle matter into being certainly required power and knowledge of the highest order, and provides yet more proof that it is the work of the Ones.”
Tristan shot Faegan a skeptical look. “Or of thePon Q’tar, ” he added quietly.
“Although we must admit that possibility, the likelihood seems small,” Jessamay said. “The Tome and the Vigors Scroll were written by the Ones, and the Vagaries Scroll apparently contributed not one of its letters, symbols, or numbers to the paragraph and the formula hovering above us. There seems little chance that thePon Q’tar or the Heretics had a hand in this.”
“But that is not proof positive, is it?” Tristan countered.
Faegan pulled thoughtfully on his beard. “No,” he answered quietly. “And there lies the unspoken threat.”
“There is still something about all this that makes no sense,” Tristan said. “You claim that the Vagaries Scroll lent none of its markings to the secret paragraph and craft formula. Yet it seems that its presence was needed to start the spell working. If that’s true, then why would the Ones incorporate the Vagaries Scroll into the spell at all-especially when they did not write that Scroll and they seemingly had no control over its whereabouts?”
“Requiring the Vagaries Scroll’s presence is probably another safeguard,” Wigg answered. “They wanted to be sure that Vigors practitioners were in possession of all three relics before the code was revealed. That makes sense, because without the Vagaries Scroll, our enemies are far weaker. Moreover, if Vagaries practitioners held the Scroll, they would only be two steps away from discovering the code first.”
Tristan nodded his agreement. “The Ones were careful in their plan,” he said. “Whatever their message has to tell us, it must be vitally important.”
Faegan smiled and gave the prince a knowing wink. “Correct,” he said. “It only makes things more tantalizing, eh?”
“But what purpose does subtle matter serve?” Shailiha asked. “I understand that it helped to form the encoded words above us, but surely that is not its only function.”
“You’re probably right,” Aeolus answered. “We will need more time for research, but we believe that subtle matter might allow us applications of the craft that have previously been unavailable.”
“What types of applications?” Tristan asked.
“You and your sister have often seen azure bolts used in many facets of the craft,” Faegan answered, “such as exploding objects or lifting them into the air. As you know, craft bolts are mostly bright light, highly empowered by magic and ordered to do our bidding. Even so, bolts are limited in their usefulness because they cannot permeate their targets on a molecular level. In addition, they have little or no stealthy quality. We believe that subtle matter can do those things and more, making it far more useful and perhaps more powerful as well.”
“I’m not sure that I understand,” Shailiha said. “How can subtle matter penetrate where light cannot?”
“Imagine a simple sea sponge,” Faegan answered. “If I were to strike it with an azure bolt of very low power, the sponge would singe, but not burst apart. Perhaps of greater importance, the bolt would not truly permeate the sponge. But subtle matter would be a different form of energy, taken to the molecular level. Put another way, think of subtle matter as if it held the same properties as water. Unlike light, even a small amount of subtle matter would presumably insinuate itself throughout the entire sponge, much the same way that the water would do. Then when its energy was released-”
“Unlike the azure bolt, the subtle matter destroys the sponge from the inside out, rather than the outside in,” Tristan interjected. “Because its bits are microscopic in size, it can presumably ferret its way into places that other applications of the craft cannot.”
Tristan sat back in his chair, thinking. “If you’re right, the ramifications of this are immense,” he added softly.
“Precisely,” Wigg said. “Like forestallments, subtle matter could forever change our use of the craft.”
“Even so, we must address the greater question,” Tristan said. “Shall we activate the encoded formula, or not?”
As if no one wanted to answer first, each member went quiet for a time. Finally Faegan broke the silence.
“I believe that we should try,” he said. “But make no mistake-by doing so we place complete trust in the Ones. There is simply no telling how many Vigors or Vagaries mystics owned the Tome and the two Scrolls before all three finally fell into our hands. We can only hope that the Ones incorporated enough safeguards into the spell to protect us from potential tampering by Vagaries practitioners like Failee. As Tristan said, whatever the formula reveals must be of great importance. Too important, I fear, to ignore.” Sitting back in his chair, he cast his gaze toward the prince.
“What say you, Jin’Sai?” he asked. “Shall we proceed?”
Tristan knew that he could order the spell enacted, but he wanted the support of the Conclave. Leaning forward, he placed his palms on the tabletop.
“I need everyone’s agreement on this,” he said, “but I will not demand it.” Pausing for a moment, he cast his gaze around the table.
“Do I hear a negative note?” he asked. As the Conclave members glanced at one another, silence reigned. Tristan nodded, then looked back at Faegan.
“It is agreed,” he said. “And may the Afterlife protect us all.”
