Call hated to admit it, but he’d been relieved. The more they talked about the Alkahest and the Enemy and his possible plans, the more Call felt like he was going to get caught.
“I need to be able to protect people,” Aaron said. “And I can’t do that if I don’t even understand the threat.”
Call sighed. “Can’t we look up stuff after we unpack?”
“You don’t have to come,” Aaron said. “I’m not going to be in any danger on my way to the library.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Tamara said. “Of course we’re coming. Call has just got to put on his uniform.”
“Yeah,” he said with obviously forced enthusiasm, heading for his room and throwing his duffel on the bed.
He had a little trouble getting his feet into the big boots they all wore around the Magisterium to protect them from rocks and water — and on occasion, lava — but he figured he’d get used to them again. When he headed back to the common room, Aaron and Tamara were perched on the back of the sofa, sharing a bag of Ruffles. Tamara held it out to him.
Call grabbed the bag, shoving a fistful of chips into his face, and started toward the door. They followed, and Havoc ran after them, barking. By the time they spilled out into the hallway, Havoc was in the lead. “Library!” Call told him. “Library, Havoc!”
On the way, Call vowed to be helpful. After all, what made Evil Overlords bad was how they acted, not their secret thoughts. There was no such thing as a helpful Evil Overlord.
It was a huge relief to be able to walk around the corridors of the Magisterium openly with Havoc, instead of hiding him in the bedroom. The other students cast them glances that were a mixture of respect, fear, and admiration when they saw the Chaos-ridden wolf loping ahead of them.
Of course they were impressed by Aaron, too, the black gem stark in his wristband. But Havoc belonged to Call.
Not that that was what anyone thought. Aaron’s wolf, he heard the students whisper to one another as they passed. Look at the size of that thing. He must be pretty powerful to control it.
“You forgot your wristband,” Aaron said with a sideways grin, dropping Call’s new copper wristband into his hand. “Again. Don’t make me always have to remind you.”
Call rolled his eyes, sliding the wristband on. It felt good on his wrist. Familiar.
They reached the library, which was shaped like the inside of a conch shell: a spiral room that narrowed as it went down until it reached a flat lower level where long tables had been set up. Since classes hadn’t started yet, the place was empty.
“Where do we start?” Call wondered aloud, looking around the vast expanse of books that stretched down and away.
“Well, I’m no library expert, but A for Alkahest seems like a safe bet,” said Tamara, skipping ahead. She was obviously thrilled to be back.
As it turned out, the library was divided into sections and subsections. They eventually turned up a book entitled Alkahests and Other Indices of Magick on a top shelf that required Aaron to stand on a chair to reach it.
They brought the book over to one of the long tables, and Aaron carefully cracked it open. The spine shed dust.
Call tried to read over Aaron’s shoulder, catching every few words. An alkahest, the book said, was a universal solvent, a substance that dissolved all things, from gold to diamonds to chaos magic. As Call frowned, not sure what that had to do with what they’d overheard, Aaron flipped the page and they saw a drawing of the Alkahest, which wasn’t a substance at all, but an enormous glove — a gauntlet, really — made from copper.
Forged from a combination of all the elemental forces, the gauntlet was a weapon created for one purpose — to push the ability to control chaos out of a Makar. Instead of controlling the void, the Makar would be destroyed by it. The gauntlet could be wielded by any mage, but it required the living heart of a chaos creature to give it power.