Lair of the Deadly Twelve (Storm Phase #2)

Chapter 2

You can buy this book and the rest of the STORM PHASE series at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, iBooks, and Smashwords. 

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The silk-paneled door to the workroom at the top of the High Wizard’s Tower slid open. Footsteps whispered across the reed mats. Recognizing his grandfather’s kenja signature, Turesobei kept reading.

Kahenan placed a dusty, cloth-wrapped book on the table and began to hum. Turesobei pushed aside the tome he was studying.

“What’s this?”

Kahenan stroked his braided beard. His eyes sparkled with mischief. “What does it look like?”

Turesobei peeled the brittle cloth away, revealing a grimoire bound in fading leather with frayed stitching. He touched the Chonda Goshawk symbol decorating the cover. A faint pulse of magic ran through it. Probably the echo of an old warding spell.

“I haven’t seen this book before. It’s musty. When was the last time you used it?”

“Never.”

“You own a spell book you’ve never used?!”

Turesobei leafed through the grimoire’s worn pages which detailed hundreds of spells and rituals. His eyes widened. Among streamlined versions of spells he knew he found on a quick scan: the *ritual of summoning a sea dragon*, the *spell of heaven’s wrath*, the *spell of the brace of the righteous man*, and the *ritual of becoming your innermost fear*. 

“I’ve never seen most of these spells! And the rituals … so much entity summoning. Where did this come from?”

“This is the only original spell book we have that belonged to Chonda Lu. It is yours now.”

Pages fluttering, the diary flew out of Turesobei’s pack and spun into a tiny cloud of energy that solidified into the form of Lu Bei. Nap time was over.

“Ooooh. Master’s old spell book! I thought it was lost.”

Lu Bei pounced on the grimoire and thumbed through the pages, muttering.

“Grandfather, why haven’t you used these before?”

“Because I cannot.”

“You can’t?!”

“The spells are interesting, but I am unable to cast them.”

“You think I can?”

“Take a good look.”

Turesobei pulled the book out of Lu Bei’s hands.

“Hey! Watch it, mister!” Lu Bei puffed his lips out into a frown and held up a finger. “You gave me a paper cut!”

“You’re a book. You’re made of paper.”

“It can happen.”

Kahenan faked a scowl. “Let me examine the cut, Lu Bei. Perhaps we can find a spell to—”

Lu Bei tucked his hand behind his back. “No, no. All better!”

Turesobei studied a few spells.

“It’s like they’re abbreviated No kenja types, activations, or pathways are outlined in the spells. How’s the energy supposed to flow?” 

A wizard channeled his own life force, his internal kenja, through his kavaru, to gather and manipulate the kenja of the world around him. There were dozens of energy types, each requiring different pathways. Kenja had to be channeled just right. If desperate, a wizard could power a simple spell with only his internal kenja, gathering none from the outside world. But depleting one’s internal kenja caused organ damage, sometimes even death.

Turesobei ran his finger along the instructions for one spell. 

“The spells kind of make sense. If you could improvise methods for gathering external energy, they might be possible.”

“Really? I should think activating the internal pathways would be more of a problem.”

“Is that why you can’t do them?” Internal pathway activation was one of Turesobei’s talents. “I think I might could manage one or two of the simpler ones.”

Lu Bei smiled. “That’s because you—”

Turesobei fainted. He woke up a few minutes later and poked Lu Bei in the chest.

“Stop doing that!”

Lu Bei bowed his head. “Sorry, master.”

“I’d have to gather a lot more power than normal before trying one. And they would all take too long to be practical in a fight, even if I prepared the spell in advance.”

Kahenan pointed at the sigil on Turesobei’s cheek. “I believe you possess the ability to cast any that can use storm energies. You have an always available channel to storm energy.”

Turesobei didn’t like using the Storm Dragon power. He refused to open the connection, fearing he would again fall into a coma and dream he was a dragon. He almost hadn’t woken up after the incident with the heart.

“At the least, familiarize yourself with them. Maybe one day you will find them useful.”

“Thank you for this gift, Grandfather.”

“You are welcome, Sobei, though it was always meant for you. I just thought the time had come at last. Now, take the rest of the day off.”

Turesobei shook his head and grabbed Chonda Lu’s grimoire.

“I’ll get some fresh air while I go over this.”

“Remember, we are going to meet with King Nokisa tomorrow.”

Turesobei winced. Nokisa had died over twenty years ago. “You mean King Ugara in three days?”

Kahenan chuckled. “Of course. Of course. I was lost in thought.”

Turesobei frowned. Something wasn’t right. He wouldn’t dare ask, though. 

Kahenan knelt at his desk and shuffled items around. “Have you seen my strip cutter? I can’t find it.”

“You carried it to your room last night.”

“I took it with me? Why?”

Kahenan always left the cutter in the same place. 

“Haven’t a clue.”

“Goodness. I am distracted.”

“Are you — Are you okay?”

“An old mind becomes a little forgetful. And I have been ever so busy with spell work and worrying over the Gawo. I am fine, Sobei. Do not worry about me.”

Too late for that. Way too late.

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I will post one chapter each week, but there are 70 chapters, so this may take a while. If you just can't wait, you can buy the complete book and the rest of the STORM PHASE series at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, iBooks, and Smashwords.

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