Claws of time

Chapter 22- The hidden enchantments

I landed in the room directly after Clearsight, and Fathom was pacing back and forth. "Did he suspect anything?" he asked. "Not yet," Clearsight said. "We have to keep you both away from him until it's done, or he'll hear something in your thoughts." She pulled out the scroll. "Here." "I don't want to touch that," he said, backing away. "We have to. We have to use it to make something that will stop him," she said. She brushed a tear out of her eye. There was no time for crying, none. "Not with his scroll," Fathom said, shaking his head. "It could be enchanted to signal him whenever someone else uses it. Or it might kill anyone else who tries to write in it. Or he might know, somehow, every spell that's written in it. We can't use that." "I don't think he was that devious when he first made this, but you're right, he might have added it later. We have to risk it, though." Fathom put one talon over hers, stopping her. "I'll do it. I'll use my own power." "Your oath," Clearsight said. "You can't-." "I have to," he said. "It's the only way. This is just like my grandfather." I stepped in between Clearsight and Fathom, "I could do it." Fathom shook his head quickly, "No. You've used your power more than I have. It's too dangerous. I'm the only one who can." "Quickly, then. Remember, he's invulnerable and immortal now." "I know," he said. "I think I know what to do, but I need something to enchant. You can't take anything with you." Fathom's voice dropped to a whisper. "Or else he'll know... he'll guess... if he suspects-." "I know," Clearsight whispered back. Her breath caught on a sob. "He might kill me." Clearsight wrestled the bracelet off her arm. Moonstones and copper wire, "Use this. But make sure it keeps the enchantment it already has, too." Fathom turned the bracelet over in his claws, tears brimming in his eyes. "Are we really doing this?" he asked. Clearsight and I both nodded. "Hurry Fathom, we don't have much time." "All right." He held the bracelet between his talons and closed his eyes, concentrating fiercely. Finally he handed the bracelet back to Clearsight. "It's done," he whispered. Clearsight thanked and hugged him, thrusting the scroll into his claws. "One more thing," she said. "I- I'm afraid he did something to Indigo." He looked up, his eyes wide. "Search through here and find it. I don't know how he hid it from me, but it must be in there somewhere. Maybe you can bring her back, or... well, whatever it is, you should know the truth." Fathom nodded. I eyed the scroll suspiciously, of course he would've done something to Indigo, she's probably long dead. "Shiver, Fathom, you both need to work together in order to hide that scroll and get as far away from the Night Kingdom as you can. Whatever you do, don't destroy the scroll, or else he'll get all his power back." She turned and stepped out of the window, "Goodbye, I'm going to miss you both." We both waved her goodbye.
Fathom knelt on the floor and spread the scroll out so we could see the entire thing. "Great dancing polar bears!" I exclaimed, "There's so many spells." Fathom nodded, still focusing on the scroll. I started looking through the scroll at all of the enchantments. There were some small and very nice spells such as; a plate that kept prey warm for his mother when she was late for dinner; a blanket that made sure she slept peacefully when she was out in the desert with the army. A set of paints for Whiteout that never went dry and never ran out. And here, near the end, a bell that would ring to let Darkstalker know whenever Fathom was feeling sad or lonely. I wasn't completely surprised that Darkstalker had good in him, especially at the beginning. However, the power has since corrupted him, and this was clear reading some of the other spells. These spells were the shield that killed any IceWing who approached the Night Kingdom, a weapon that shot fire ten times as far as any dragon could normally breathe it, and the last one: Enchant Arctic the IceWing to obey my every command. I kept searching the scroll and saw other things such as a scroll that read aloud, the soul reader, the dream visitor, earring, tailbands, and so much more. I stopped when I noticed my name written on the scroll; Enchant these armbands to make Shiver forget about anything bad I have done to him, and to make Shiver agree to anything I want him to do. I looked down at my armbands and quickly took them off, and rubbed my arms where they last sat. I was glad I had the earrings before he enchanted anything to give me, or else this would be going down a lot differently. I looked back at the scroll, there didn't seem to be anything about Indigo, or something like his immortality and invulnerability spell, so how had he done it? The candle that sat next to me went out and the room became dark. Fathom didn't seem to notice and kept on reading. "Hang on Fathom, the candle went out and I can't see." I called to him as I walked across the room to get a new candle and a match. I came back and lit the candle and set it near the scroll, "Wait." Fathom said, picking up the candle in one talon, and the scroll in the other. He turned the scroll slightly sideways and I noticed words filled the blank spaces in between the spread out harsh handwriting of Darkstalker. "Woah... invisible ink... now that's clever." I said leaning into the scroll, looking at the new hidden enchantments. Here was his immortality spell. Here was the spell on Clearsight's moonstone earrings, an enchantment that kept the dragon who wore them focused only on the brightest, happiest futures, hiding anything truly bad that might happen up ahead. There was a spell enchanting the scroll to send Darkstalker a mental twinge whenever someone else used it, so Fathom was right about that, and we were lucky not to have written in here. I noticed Fathom had a panicked look on his face, "What's wrong, what did you find?" Fathom shakily points at the scroll, at one of the hidden enchantments. There was an enchantment that read; Enchant this goblet so that the first time Fathom drinks from it, he will stop loving Indigo, forget about his oath, and decide to freely use his animus magic again. I gasped, "Fathom, did you...?" Fathom shook his head quickly, "No, Indigo shattered it before I could drink out of it." I breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, speaking of Indigo, have you found anything about her yet?" He shook his head, "Still looking." I looked back down at the scroll, searching for anything else that was important, and saw; Enchant this dagger to fly into the Kingdom of Sand and kill one IceWing every full moon, in secret, under cover of darkness- and keep doing so for one year, or until I summon it back. Enchant it to leave messages carved near the body, warning that the Darkstalker is coming for all of them and soon they will all be dead. I gulped nervously, and stepped backwards, "Oh... you saw it too?" Fathom asked, and I nodded in response. "This dragon is insane! I know he hasn't had any good experiences with the IceWings, but that doesn't mean we're all terrible!" Fathom nudged his wing with mine, "I know, I'm sorry Shiver, seeing all of this must be really hard for you." "Yeah..." I cleared my throat, "Uhm, let's just keep looking for Indigo." I turned my head back towards the scroll and started searching. Spells to torment class mates, no. A spell that sent nightmares to haunt Queen Diamond with all the ways he planned to kill her. Terrifying, but not what we're looking for. Suddenly, Fathom let out a cry of despair. He dropped the scroll and ran to his desk, where the little dragon carving had been sitting. I looked at the scroll where he was last reading and saw; Enchant this pebble so that when it rolls into the same room as Indigo the SeaWing, she shall be instantly trapped inside the small wooden carving of a dragon made for me by Fathom. Right below it: Enchant this piece of paper to look like a note written in Indigo's handwriting, with a short, believable message saying she's leaving Fathom and not coming back.