Page 49 of The Tribes of Magic (Paragons #3)

PORTIA

S till reeling from that bombshell, we continued searching the General’s office for any information on the spy at the Castle or evidence of the General’s involvement with the Order of Kings.

We’d been in the office for nearly two hours when we finally had to call it quits.

We hadn’t found anything else, but we had to get going anyway.

Portia’s show was nearly over, and Kato and I had to get back to the Concourse if we wanted to maintain the pretense that we’d been there all along.

So we climbed back up to the roof, moving quickly before the ravens and lightning rivers returned.

Conner whistled to call back the alicorns, then we flew off into the night.

Or at least Conner did. Kato and I had our alicorns drop us off not far from the Concourse, just out of sight.

It helped that the streets were empty and Kato had blacked out the street cameras.

We arrived just as the doors to the performance space opened and the audience poured out. We blended into the crowd.

I caught sight of Lyssa. The vampire princess was dressed in a black dress and black veil, surrounded by bodyguards and aides. She had to be about my age, but she was so serious, she looked several years older.

Princess Lyssa had been on the news day and night, calling for a full ban, boycott, and blockade of Gaia. She wanted to cut us off from the Many Realms. Even Fenris hadn’t been that extreme. And unlike Fenris, Lyssa actually looked nice.

Of course, looks could be deceiving, and niceness was easily faked. Maybe Lyssa was an evil mastermind. Maybe… I stopped.

Maybe she was part of the Order of Kings.

What was it she’d said the other day in her news interview? Something about how the Many Realms leaders are the ‘kings’ of experience and magic, and the humans are not? It wasn’t a very large leap from disparaging us to exploiting us.

But if Lyssa was involved in the kidnappings, why would she want to cut off Gaia’s access to the Spirit Trees. Without the Spirit Trees, the Order couldn’t take the Apprentices from Gaia.

Unless… Unless Conner was right, and the General was working with the Order to kidnap Apprentices. You couldn’t travel between realms without the Spirit Trees—unless you knew the spell to cross realms without the Spirit Trees. That spell was in the Paragons’ spellbook.

An ancient secret organization like the Order of Kings had to know about the Paragons and their spellbook packed full of one-of-a-kind magic.

What if Lyssa told the General about the spellbook?

And now he was searching for it. He claimed in his reports that he didn’t know what the book was, but a paranoid man like the General wouldn’t write down his most precious secrets, particularly the treasonous ones.

The General could be working with Lyssa and the Order to steal the Paragons’ spellbook.

If Lyssa managed to convince the Court to lock out Gaia’s Spirit Trees, the Order could use the special teleportation spell to get here.

They could kidnap all the Apprentices they wanted, and the Knights wouldn’t be able to go after them.

If Lyssa and the General were working together, they’d continue to drag out the Summit until they’d gotten their hands on the Paragons’ spellbook. Which meant they’d make another attempt to steal it.

Conner was hiding the spellbook, but his hiding spots were designed to keep out Watchers—humans. Could they also keep out supernaturals?

I had to figure out the teleportation spell before the Order got their hands on the book and cut us off from the rest of the Many Realms. But how? Neither Kato nor Conner knew how to make it work, and neither did Orion, the Dreamweaver mentor.

I needed to find a more powerful Dreamweaver. But where?

The crowd was stirring. Portia had just stepped outside to greet her adoring fans. That’s it! Portia! Portia was a powerful Dreamweaver. In fact, she was the most famous, most powerful Dreamweaver alive in all the Many Realms. If anyone could figure out how to make the spell work, she could.

I wove through the crowd until I was at the front, but a roped barrier and a contingent of armed guards still stood between me and Portia.

She was tall and lean with blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun.

She wore a long, stretchy blue bodysuit dotted with tiny gemstones that sparkled like a sea of sapphires.

Her feet were bare. A smooth coat of shimmery blue nail polish covered each of her toes.

Her movements were graceful, flexible but strong.

Watching her now, I had no doubt she could contort her body into any shape she desired.

Portia’s eyes locked with mine. “Savannah Winters.”

I was surprised when she spoke my name. How did she even know my name?

Portia waved at her guards. “Let her through.”

The guards parted just enough to allow me to squeeze through, then they snapped the line shut again. I approached Portia. Her gaze was serene, powerful, and mildly curious.

“You want to ask me something.” It was not a question. Either she was a mind reader, or she could read body language like no one else.

“Yes. I wanted to ask you about teleporting.”

“Continue.”

“I’d like to boost my range.”

“You are a Polymage.”

“You’ve heard of me?”

“You made quite the splash on the first day of the Summit. I know many of the Court delegates. Some were impressed by you. Others were…not.”

I cringed.

“You said you want to boost your teleporting range.”

“Yes.”

“How far do you want to go?”

“Far.”

“Between realms?”

I met her knowing stare. “Yes.”

“And people have told you it’s impossible?”

“They have.”

She laughed lightly. “Most people don’t know what they’re talking about. Anything is possible, if only you can imagine it. And have the willpower to follow through.”

“Yes, I’ve been working on building up my magic.”

“A spell like this requires a great deal of magic, Savannah Winters. Practice. Patience. Endurance.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“And here’s one thing you haven’t been told. Complex spells such as these aren’t just about raw power. They’re also about flexibility.”

“Flexibility?” I said in surprise.

She smiled. “Yes, flexibility. Most people forget about that one. When you wish to push the boundaries of what is possible, you must embrace the impossible. Your magic must be flexible and pliable. You need it to flow in any direction you want it to go. You can’t force it.

You can’t fight it. Everyone focuses on power, Savannah.

You need to focus on flexibility. That is the key to mastering difficult spells. ”

“And how do I make my magic more flexible?”

My question seemed to amuse her. “You’re a Polymage, aren’t you? Your magic is naturally flexible. You just need to listen to it. You need to let it tell you what to do.”

It was a rather cryptic response, but I kind of knew what she was saying. No, wait, I didn’t know what she was saying. I felt it. And it would work. I just had to let it work.

“Goodbye, Savannah. And good luck.”

With that said, Portia vanished. The crowd oohed in delight, then started clapping.

“Thank you, Portia,” I whispered.

I would figure this out. I’d make my magic powerful and flexible and everything it needed to be to master that spell. It might be the only way to save Kylie and the other Apprentices, especially if Lyssa got her way and locked out Gaia’s all-access pass to the Spirit Tree network.