The Sorcerer's Amulet

Chapter 2: The Hidden Mysteries

After all his work was completed, Mateo went into the library.  Typically, he went straight to bed, but there was a book with spells he wanted to read.  He noticed Carla standing in front of the painting, tilting her head at it.

Mateo grabbed the book he was looking for and walked over to her.  "What are you doing?"

"Oh, hey, Mateo." Her face brightened up.  She was training to become a wizard herself, so her and Mateo tended to sympathize with the other's struggles.  "Happy birthday.  I would have said so earlier, but apparently you've been busy all day."

"Oh, thank you."  He grinned.  "I didn't think you'd remember.  I told you when we were kids."

"You never forget mine, so I wrote it down," she admitted.  He merely laughed.

"So, what are you doing?"

"I'm not sure.  Well, I was looking at this painting.  That's about it.  I wonder why they chose to have a painting of something they could literally see out their windows."

Mateo shrugged.  "Maybe one of the old royals painted it."

"Maybe..."  she shook her head.  "What am I doing?  I have more important things to worry about.  Like, how do I get the new spell my father taught me today right."

"Hard time getting it right?"  Mateo inquired.

"Tch... yeah.  I heard about what happened with Shuriki.  You ok?"

"Yeah.  I got the spell right, unfortunately, but I got destacted by her walking in..."

"Well, at least you got it right," Carla offered.

"True."

"Well, I gotta go now."  She gave him a quick hug.  "See you tomorrow, hermano."

"Right..."

She scurried off.

Mateo sighed and ran his hand across the painting.  He stopped when he felt a hole in the painting.  Curious, he looked closer to find a key hole in it.

"Huh... that's weird..."

The keyhole made him think about the stray key in his pocket.  Pulling it out, he put it through the hole and turned the key.  Biting his lower lip, all he could do was pray for it to work.  To his surprise, there was a clicking sound and the wall suddenly moved.  Shocked, he stared into the dark, hidden room.

Slowly, he walked in and torches lit on it's own, startling him.  His eyes widened as he looked around the room. Mateo's sight rested on a large book and a necklace in the center of the room.  He walked over and lifted the necklace, inspecting it.  Gasping as it let off a small glow, he was suddenly slammed with realization.  "The amulet of Avalor..."

His Mamí use to talk about Princess Elena of Avalor used to wear the necklace he was holding.  Unfortunately, Shuirki zapped her with a spell.  However, according to his grandfather, the princess was alive inside the amulet.  Sadly the amulet had been lost when his grandfather died by Shuirki's wand.

That meant this was his grandfather's secret magic lab.  The book was green and he found it to be a spell book that was written by Alakazar himself.

Immediately, Mateo became scared someone would notice the entrance.  He stuffed the book and the amulet in his robe and briskly walked out.  He took out the key, and the entrance closed.  The sixteen year old looked around the room nervously.  Upon seeing no one, he rushed to his bedroom.

Mateo hid the book inside his mattress since it was a lot more coverage than his pillow.  No one ever came in his room, but he was not about to take the risk of someone finding it.

He stared at the amulet.  "I wonder if you can hear me..."

As if in response, the amulet sparkled again.  He almost threw it from being startled, but he caught himself.  "So... you can hear me?"

As he suspected.  It glowed again.  He let out a nervous chuckle.  "You're really in there, aren't you... It is true... But that means... you can be freed, right?  Who am I kidding... you can understand me, but I don't know what you're trying to say... this sucks... not that you probably knew if you can be freed...  I bet Alakazar knew..."

Then it hit him.  The book.  His grandfather left the amulet on the book.  What if the book had the answer he was looking for?  He quickly took it back out of his mattress to begin researching.  After two hours, he found only one spell.  Except for a riddle in the back of the book.

"Not very helpful..." he muttered with disappointment.