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I was the first to step toward the edge of the portal. It was cold, and the air around it smelled faintly sweet; a scent I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I walked through it, feeling the sudden rush of magic as my body crossed the threshold. It was what I imagined walking through a waterfall must have felt like, only the water wasn’t falling, it was entirely still.

Max followed me, and Lucien came in after. None of us felt queasy this time, but it became clear pretty quickly that we weren’t in the material world anymore. The walls around the edges of the vault shuddered and shifted as if they were live paintings. Everything in here looked a little greener than it should’ve. There were also the green flames lighting up the edges of the room.

Inside the vault there were all kinds of items placed in glass cabinets. In one cabinet there was a book made of what looked like sewn up flesh. In another, a scepter glowing with bright white light. Another cabinet further into the vault held a long scroll that was kept stretched out. Though it was written in the most beautiful, cursive script, I could clearly read the words inscribed along the top.

The Codex Magica.

The piece of paper that ended centuries of bloodshed and war between mages. I had read it a couple of times, but I had never seen the original. It made sense that my father had stored it down here, where no one could manipulate it or destroy it.

Lucien placed his hand on my shoulder. “Over there,” he said, his voice dark, and low.

I hadn’t seen it until now, but once I saw it, I couldn’t take my eyes off it. There, sitting in its own display cabinet, was a kind of strange looking box. It was gold and ornate, covered in sigils and symbols, but it also looked mechanical. There were slides, and slots, and pieces that seemed to protrude from it.

I didn’t need Lucien to tell me, that was what we were here for.

The Infernal Engine.

I couldn’t feel its power, perhaps because the cabinet it was in had magic seals around it. In fact, I would’ve bet my bottom dollar that it did. That made it all the easier for me to approach it without feeling like I was going to hurl.

Again.

“It looks like… a puzzle box,” I said.

“I recognize the sigils,” Lucien said, “But they’re all out of place.”

“Maybe it works by rearranging these bits here. But I couldn’t even begin to figure out how exactly it all goes together.”

“I probably could… this is a summoning sigil. That’s the first piece of a demon’s name… yeah, I could figure it out.”

“Can you figure out how to destroy it?”

“I can give it a shot.”

I looked up at him. “Do you think you could handle this thing if I took it out of its case?”

Lucien nodded, but only after a moment of consideration. I didn’t doubt his abilities, but he did—or, at least, he had in that moment. “I can handle it,” he said.

“Alright. This is a pretty simple seal. My dad taught me how to make them, should be pretty easy to unmake them.”

“And if that thing jumps out at us?” Max asked.

“I don’t think it’s going to do that,” I said.

“Uh, could I get that in writing?”

I shook my head. “Stand back,” I said, and I placed my hand against the weird, ethereal glass, and sent a pulse of my own power through it. All I needed was the right intention, and for the seals to recognize me. I didn’t doubt that they would, and as soon as I touched it, the magic seals broke, and the glass cabinet evaporated.

That was when the infernal engine started to shriek.

The noise was so sudden, so loud, and so painful to listen to, I had to clasp my hands around my ears just to keep it out. Glancing around me, I realized Max was doing the same. Lucien, however, had a puzzled look on his face. Whatever Max and I were both reacting to wasn’t affecting him at all.

He realized we were in distress, though, and was quick to act, grabbing the infernal engine and pulling it off its platform. The noise stopped instantly.

“What was that?!” I yelled.

“What was what?” Lucien asked.

“You didn’t hear that noise?”