The Scroll of Knowledge

Chapter 22

"Um," Thomas started. He didn't get to finish. They reached the gazebo and Amber let go of his hand and ran towards it to take a closer look at the Book.

"This is what caused so much trouble three years ago?" Amber asked.

Shay nodded. "A page was torn out."

Axel stepped closer. "What language is that?" he asked.

"To me it's in English," Shay said.

"The key allows her to read it," Thomas explained. Axel looked a little disappointed.

"So now what do we do?" Axel asked.

"Fiona said that once Amber comes here we should see something that would let her get to the Scroll," Brennan said.

"Library," Amber said.

"What?"

"The Scroll is in a massive library surrounded by books. I saw it when I put the key on for the first time."

"It doesn't matter," Thomas said. "What if it's booby-trapped like the Book was?"

Shay shrugged. "We dealt with the first one just fine."

Thomas narrowed his eyes. "Let's not forget that you died trying to stop that thing on your own."

She waved her hand. "I didn't die. My heart just stopped. It happens whenever I start freezing." Thomas sighed. There was no use arguing with her. "And I won't be fighting it on my own. Why else are the rest of you here?"

"Can't we just write that Ian dies in the Book?" Amber asked.

"Only one way to find out." Shay took out a pen.

"You've never tried this before?" Brennan asked.

"I've never wanted to." She barely finished the last letter in his name when the Book shocked her and threw her back.

"Shay!" Thomas ran over to her.

She sat up and rubbed her shoulder. "Well, that won't work. I wonder if it's because he's a keyholder. Let's try someone else's name."

"No. Let's not," Thomas said.

"Relax. It was only a little shock. It didn't even hurt. You've done worse when..." She glanced at the others behind him. "Well, you know what I'm talking about."

"You know that was an accident," Thomas said.

"I still have the scar on my side from the electric burn."

"Accident."

That incident was also why they had fireproof bedsheets. It had been after he'd gotten his latest arm installed. A combination of  strong painkillers (regular ones had no effect on him anymore) and an inability to control his abilities was what had caused it. No one had been able to get near him except Shay and she'd ended up hurt for her trouble and they'd lost the house they'd been staying in at the time. He still felt guilty about it and had sworn off painkillers for good. They caused more trouble than they were worth.

She just shook her head.

"Could you guys stop making us uncomfortable?" Axel asked, impatiently. "I couldn't care less about what you get up to alone." He looked nauseous.

"Sure you don't want to hear stories?" Shay asked with a sly grin. "I can give you details about what happened." She was making it sound dirty on purpose.

"Shay, stop making it sound so dirty," Brennan said. She only laughed.

Thomas rolled his eyes and helped her stand. She went back to the Book. The others backed away.

"Whose name should I put in?" She thought about it for a moment then smiled and wrote something down in the Book. When she wasn't blown away they crowded around her to see what she wrote.

"'Gavin Handal gets offered a secure job that allows him to support his family comfortably without requiring him to use his brain much or likely to get him killed'," Amber read out. Thomas couldn't read what Shay had written.

"Really Shay?" Thomas asked.

She held up her hands in defense. "Hey, I can't keep giving him jobs. He annoys me too much and they're too dangerous. I never said he takes the job, only that he's offered a job." She turned back to the Book. "This means that I can change things but only for non-keyholders." She shoved the pen into her pocket. "Doesn't matter. I don't plan to write anything more in it anyway. Only if it would get rid of Ian which it can't."

"Can we just find the portal and leave?" Brennan asked, already walking away.

"What are we looking for?" Amber asked.

"Normal portal locations aren't marked but the ones to the artifact, or at least mine, had the symbol of the tattoo," Shay said. "Look for something with a scroll on it. Don't wander too far. The bracelets don't work here."

They spread out to look for something with the symbol of the Scroll on it.

"I found it!" Brennan shouted after a few minutes. He was standing near the tree where the beast had died. Thomas tried not to think about it. He'd burnt the body and disposed of what remained as soon as he could once he'd realized that Shay would be coming back there.

A stand had risen out of the ground. At the top was the scroll symbol.

"Amber. You do the honors," Shay said.

Amber walked towards it. "What do I do?" she asked.

"Tap the tattoo on it," Thomas said.

She took a deep breath and pressed the inside of her forearm to the mark. A portal opened up next to her.

"Wow," she said.

"Hold on to someone so we don't get separated," Shay said. They held hands.

"Let's go," Amber said. She stepped through.

A/N: Before anyone thinks I'm racist because of that bit about the Middle Eastern man, just know that he actually exists. I saw him in a documentary a few years ago and he was already at 87. No doubt he would have had 100 by now.