Page 42 of Mountains of Mist and Magic

“Why does it smell that way?” Renya asked, wrinkling her nose.

“You can sense it too, daughter?” Cressida looked up at Renya, her violet eyes shining with pride. Renya quickly broke eye contact, her stomach turning at the thought of having something else in common with her mother.

“Yes,” she said stiffly. “It smells like...burning seawater.”

Cressida nodded eagerly. “The sea water is because it was once held in the Tidal Kingdom. It was stored in their underwater vaults. Back before magic faded, all fae in the Tidal Kingdom could breathe underwater. The smoke...that's the smell of ancient magic. The fact that you can smell it shouldn't surprise me. Your magic is, after all, a part of me.”

Renya didn't respond to the revelation.

Cressida began barking orders. “Libera, I need the Sun Realm Scrolls. Cyrus, you need to return my powers to me so I can access the magic in the book.”

“Not going to happen, Cressy.”

Cressida's eyes raged. “It requires dark magic. Shadow magic. Magic you don't possess.”

Renya was so excited about the possibility of finally making progress. “Father, just let her have it for a second. I'll be here, we can stay on top of her.”

Cyrus looked like he was torn, but he finally gave a slight nod. With a twist of his fingers, dark magic spun around Cressida, as if appearing from the darkness of the shadows of the room, and the magic settled within Cressida. Her eyes turned an even more intense shade of violet.

“Ahhhhhh...it feels so good to be whole again. Mostly.” Another glance at Renya.

“Just do what you need to do,” Renya commanded.

Cressida sat at the desk, closing her eyes as if in a trance. She held her hand upon the book, magic pouring into the pages from her palms.

Nothing happened.

Cressida opened her eyes, shock on her face. “It...can't be. I'm the one who is supposed to be able to access the ancient magic and restore the balance.”

Renya frowned. She was so tired of dead ends. But her father put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently towards the book.

Cressida chewed on her lip, then nodded. “I think you're right, Cyrus.”

“It's nice of you to finally admit it.”

“Shut up.”

“What's going on?” Renya asked, ignoring their argument.

“Renya, come here.” Cressida lifted herself from the seat and pulled it out for Renya. Renya sat, looking at her father.

“Go ahead, Renya.” His eyes gave her strength, and she placed her hand on the book.

At first, she felt silly, and nothing happened. But then, she felt a strange surge in her palm, almost as if the book was exploring her, getting to know her. It was like she was being evaluated and tested, but she had no clue how a book could do that. Then, she felt the tension leave her body, and a blast of magic shot through her hands, and the book's pages flipped rapidly. Gold swirling text seemed to seep from the pages, the words arranging themselves in the air.

“Yes! It's working!” Cressida's triumphant yell echoed through the library.

Renya looked up at the words briefly, before they slammed down into the Sun realm scrolls that Libera had placed upon the desk.

Renya looked at the scrolls, eyes wide as new text appeared in between the lines of the scrolls.

“Through valleys deep and forests tall,

The mountain's call, heeds one and all.

With heart sincere and purpose clear,

The path to magic shall appear.

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