“The savior is supposed to wield the greatest weapon,” Io mused. “It can’t be the eye because Artemisia has it. And I can’t imagine how you’d get it back from her if she has Arion’s hammer.”
Zalira leaned back against the wall. “The goddess had a god-weapon. Her golden sword.”
Maia had spoken about that particular sword on multiple occasions, including during my induction ceremony at the temple. She had said that the goddess had used it, cutting her hand and letting her blood spill upon the earth to create all life.
“Maybe it’s in the temple vault,” I said.
Suri shook her head.
No.
We’d never specifically looked for that item, but considering what it was, I couldn’t blame her for being certain. I guessed something like that would wield a great deal of magic and power. She wouldn’t have been able to miss it. It would have stood out.
“And not in the palace vault either, I’m assuming,” I said.
No.
“The palace vault!” Io jumped up and ran over to her bookshelf. “I completely forgot about this.”
She pulled out a scroll. It was the one Suri had found for me in the palace treasury. It had been labeled “the greatest weapon,” but the scroll was blank. Io had tried various methods to get it to reveal its secrets, but nothing had ever worked.
That was also before we had magic.
She took it over to the table and used full cups of water to weigh down the edges, rolling it out smooth. “It’s a puzzle,” she said. “We just have to solve it.”
I noticed her hands were trembling. Had she been eating and drinking? “Are you all right?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, waving me off. “I think if we all work together on this, we’ll get it. Maybe we could all take a fortification potion tonight and stay up? I’m sure we’ll solve it quickly. Or Suri could use her power to find the secret of how it works!”
Suri shot Io an apologetic look, indicating that her aspect wouldn’t work in this situation.
I wondered why. Perhaps because the information the scroll had wasn’t lost. Or what if it was protected by some kind of enchantment?
“Maybe we should call it a night,” Zalira said, sounding as worried as I felt. “Get some rest.”
“You should all stop worrying,” Io said. “I told you I’m fine. Perhaps we need to do more research. Go down to my mother’s library and have Suri search to see if there’s an answer about the key to unlocking this scroll. We can just—”
She had been reaching for a book on the far end of her table but accidentally knocked over one of the glasses of water holding the papyrus in place.
It soaked the scroll.
“Oh no!” Io said, her hands going to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to do that! That was so ...”
Her voice trailed off as we all witnessed the same thing.
The papyrus soaked the water up and lines began to form on the scroll in front of us.
Chapter Twenty
None of the lines connected. They were just randomly dispersed across the scroll. It made no sense.
“What just happened?” Ahyana asked.
Io started muttering to herself. “The savior, greatest weapon, a trial of the elements ... that’s it!”
She rushed forward toward the scroll and Suri put her hand out, as if to stop her from getting too close, but she brushed past.
Io sucked in a deep breath and then blew as hard as she could on the scroll.
