I walked them through the process we had worked out in my head. “For the ‘lay to canvas’ line, we’re using the Floral Fete book as a template. It was full of Floracantus done solely by da Vinci, and it was written in a notebook, so that’s the type of ‘canvas’ I’m using.”
Coral opened my notebook on the ground in front of me.
I took a deep breath, glad for all the Latin studies I had done, and recited the words in my mind, envisioning them forming on the pages of the journal.
“Lay to canvas. Sprinkle light. Make the new creation bright,” Aurielle quoted. “I’ve got the candles.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a candle and some matches.
“Everyone ready?” I asked.
I was met with nods and a slow clap of encouragement from Hollis. It was now or never.
After opening the notebook, I hovered my hands above the pages, keeping my focus trained on the lily of the valley.
Callan stepped forward and nestled the cutting of Rosie in my hands.
I drew on all of my nine affinity powers, taking care to intentionally connect with each one. They felt stronger since my trip to the defensives conservatory, when the poison on my powers had been dissolved.
“Ready for the light?” Aurielle asked. When I nodded, she lit the candles and held them inches from me, bathing the journal in a soft glow.
I recited the new Floracantus in my mind once more, maintaining my connection with both the lily of the valley plant and all of my affinity powers.
At first, I thought nothing was happening, but then I felt movement in my fingers. When I looked down, Rosie’s glowing petals were arcing toward the page of my notebook, as if wanting to dive into it. I remained still, and with a ripple like a drop of rain landing on a lake, the petals hit the page and absorbed into it, disappearing. Light flickered across the journal.
Around me, my friends gasped. I forced my concentration back onto the Floracantus I was trying to make and pulled the lily of the valley back into my vision. I connected with each of the cells and thought of them glowing as brightly as the moon.
“Did it work?” Aurielle asked.
My heart racing, I looked at the journal and saw the Floracantus I had been repeating in my mind written on the page in a looping cursive. “It’s there,” I whispered, a smile touching my lips. It had worked. “Petale candenti.”
When I spoke the words aloud, every tiny white bell of the lily of the valley flower lit up like streetlamps in winter.
My friends gasped again, and I released Rosie, not wanting to crush the rest of the activated cutting.
Hollis, who had been unusually quiet for most of the ordeal, let out a low whistle.
“It worked,” Coral said, her voice shaky. She was beaming at me.
“And the new Floracantus just… exists? I feel like that defies the laws of physics.” Laurus said, scratching the side of his neck with a pencil.
“You know we’ve been working toward this for weeks, right?” Meadow asked, giving Laurus a sideways look.
“Yes, but it wasn’t real then.”
“How do you think the original Floracantus were made?” Yasmin asked.
Laurus put his hands up. “I know. I know. It’s just weird that this Floracantus that didn’t exist now does.”
“Physics and magic can coexist, Laurus,” Meadow said, flicking a piece of moss in slow motion at him as if to demonstrate it.
“This is going to be revolutionary. We’ve never been able to get flowers to glow without genetic modification,” Aurielle said, her attention still on the shining white orbs.
I looked at Callan, who smiled.
We took another moment to marvel at what had just happened before Coral asked, “So, what next? What type of Floracantus could you make that would be most successful in taking down Feathergrass?”
I paused, lacing my fingers together in front of me. It was time to share the idea that Wyatt had suggested. Callan and I had kept it to ourselves until we solved da Vinci’s riddle.
I cleared my throat and said, “I want to make a Floracantus to reset the verdant shield.”
