Just Put Three and Magic Together

The Discovery

The sunlight -the dim sunlight -seeped into the river, shining light into the dark, wavy water. I held my breath tightly and searched for Adella.

I found her hand and swam towards it, snatching it and kicking my legs up to the surface.

I blasted my head out and took a long gasp for air.
"Pattie!" I screamed their names. "Cole!"
"We're over here!" I saw their hands wave in the air from a distance.

"I've got Adella!" I yelled. "Swim towards me!"
"The wave helped!" Cole shouted.
No, it did not! The wave destroyed our boat, almost drowned us and led us off our path.
"What?" I blasted. "How?"
"Look behind you!" Screamed Pattie.

I whipped my head around and my soaking wet hair followed.

In front of me was a tall white-at least, it was-building with six marble pillars with engravings of elements carved into it. White porcelain steps lead to the front doors. Atop it, a sign read: LIBRARY OF RADNOR.

"We made it." I grinned. "We made-!"
I stopped because another wave had started to rise behind Pattie and Cole.
"Pattie, Cole! Swim away! Swim away!" I hollered.

"Swim away?" Pattie asked. "Wh-?"
The wave cascaded before she could finish and dunked us all back into the river.
I held Adella to my chest swimming as fast as I ever could.

I blasted my head out again, swimming towards the Library.

My hand had reached the steps and I set Adella down. She was also holding her breath as she gasped a bit.
"Adella?" I called. "Adella, are you okay?"
She blinked and then cracked her eyes open.
"Oh, thank goodness," I hugged her.
"Thank. You." She coughed.
I didn't reply but I smiled.
"Are...we...at...Library?" She asked, strands of her hair sticking to her face.

"Yes."
"Where...are...friends?"
"They're coming."
She sighed. "You. Are. A. Good. Friend."
"You too, Adella."
She smiled. "What... Is...Your...Name?"
"Kayla," I answered. "My name is Kayla."

Suddenly, Cole and Pattie swam out onto the steps, sopping wet.
"Oh, thank goodness," I hugged them, "you guys are okay!"
"Yeah," Cole said, "are you?"
"A bit," I replied.
"Adella looks worse than before." Pattie inclined.
"That's why we need to find out how to beat the Mind Whisperer quickly." I peeled myself from them.

Cole picked up Adella and Pattie pushed open the scratched, golden doors of the Library.
We all walked in, very fast.

The Library was dark.
It was hard to see much. The light that came from the fourteen long windows-with seven on each side-were halfway blocked by black, snake-like v vines that curled over them. There were twenty-five long shelves-half of the books were on the floor -that looked like they were eaten by termites.

The floor had ash and dust coating it, blocking the marble from gleaming.

"How do we find something to defeat the Mind Whisperer in here?" Pattie walked around. "The books are on the floor!"

"I'm sure we can manage," I said, trying to be optimistic, "We just keep reading random books till we find what we're looking for."
"How long is that gonna take?" Cole scoffed.
"As long as-"

The spell book burst through the doors, landing below our feet.
"The book!" Pattie squealed, like she'd hug it if she could.
"Is it a spell?" Cole asked.
"Obviously," I rolled my eyes.
Adella tilted her head to a side as she watched it.

The book swished open.
It stopped at a spell.

'"Found Ya!" Finding Spell,' We all read aloud.
"Ooh," mumbled Pattie as we all looked in, "this is gonna be...interesting."

'Find what has been lost, at no single cost. Find what is missing or what you are seeking. Follow the light, to where it shines bright. And then, what you seek is found with no price bound.' We sighed as our eyes moved down.

'Find it quick, Find it fast. Find the object that has been scattered aghast.'

"And you thought your idea was great," Cole eyeballed me.
"You're so...lazy." I chuckled.
"Are you guys done yet?" Pattie whined.
We all held hands and began to recite the spell.

'Find it quick...' I said.
'...Find it fast...' Pattie continued.
'...Find the object that has been scattered aghast.' Cole finished.

In a flash, a stream of yellow light ran from where we stood and traveled deep into the Library.
"We should use this spell more often," Pattie grinned.
"C'mon, Adella." I held her hand as the four of us walked down into the Library.

***

We had stopped when the stream of yellow light had stopped. It beamed in a heavy pile of large books. The yellow light shone from deep down inside it that it was almost feint.

We ran towards it and dug through, tossing the other books aside. The yellow light became brighter and brighter until I had to shield my eyes from it.

Pattie pulled the book out, which was a shimmer to me. The light died when she flipped it open.

She glanced in and frowned quickly.
"I can't read this," she finally said.
"Me, neither." Cole grimaced.
"Maybe...I...can...try," Adella said as we all turned to her.

Without argument, Pattie handed her the book and she began to trace the words with her fingers.

"Mind Whisperer... can only...be defeated..." She read, "...on...Summer Solstice."
"Summer Solstice," Pattie's eyes widened, "that's June Twenty-First, right?"
"Yeah," I answered, "the longest day of the year, yes."

"Guys," Cole said, "In the present, today is June Twentieth."

Our eyes enlarged.

"That means-" I sputtered.

"The Summer Solstice," Pattie muttered, "is tomorrow."