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“Then let yourselves in! It’s unlocked!”
Ben and I smiled at each other as we did as was bidden and stepped inside. The place had its usual natural-disaster appearance, what with books and manuscripts strewn about the tables, chairs, and floor. The man we came to visit was hunched over one of those manuscripts, and I couldn’t help but notice the paper depicted an image that looked a great deal like the Prima Staff in its original form.
Impara used a magnifying glass to study the very tiny handwriting that littered the borders of the paper. He didn’t look up as he spoke to us. “Your timing, for once, is not ill.”
Ben and I stopped beside the table, and Ben studied the manuscript. “You’ve found more information about the Staff?”
Impara leaned in closer to the document. “I believe so. I’ve been studying some papers I managed to smuggle from those close-fisted fiends at the Enastros library. They detail some first-hand accounts from those who witnessed the Staff being used.”
Ben smiled. “We witnessed that only yesterday.”
Impara lifted his head and an eyebrow. “What’s that? Why did you do such a foolish thing?”
“That’s why we’re here,” I told him as I lay my hand over the canister. “A giant spinner spirit attacked some of the thunders yesterday, and my-that is, the flute began to glow, so I used the flute to stop the spirit.”
Impara frowned as he looked between us. “A spinner spirit attacking thunders? With what? Bits of trash?”
Ben shook his head. “This one was large and powerful enough to lift thunders into the air and keep them there.”
The professor knitted his bushy eyebrows together. “That is unusual. And you say the flute stopped the spirit?”
“In its tracks, on the tracks,” I confirmed.
Impara folded his arms over his chest and tapped the glass against one arm. “A rather mundane spell, but the strength of the spirit does suggest someone proficient in casting.”
“Then it’s possible it was magic?” Ben asked him.
Impara tilted his head up and gave Ben a scolding look. “Of course. Why else would the Staff feel the need to vanquish the spirit if not for some dirty magic afoot?
“Is there any way to find out who performed the spell?” I wondered.
The professor shook his head. “Only if you searched every person around those detestable tracts. However, there are rules the caster must follow in order to properly perform the magic. First, though, I must ask if the spirit was purposefully driven. Did it veer around in a wild manner?”
Ben shook his head. “It had a straight course.”
Impara pressed the top of the magnifying glass against his bottom lip. “I see. Then the caster would need to be nearby to control the direction, otherwise the spinner would have drifted wherever the natural wind would have taken it. Such a spell would also require a talisman for the summoning and control. One that contained a bit of dust from the track to gather more to itself.”
“Like a familiar?” Ben guessed.
“Just so,” Impara confirmed as he set down his glass and scurried over to one of the crowded bookshelves. He dug through the mess before he gave a small cry of triumph and turned to face us. The professor held out a small and strangely formed medallion. “A talisman just like this.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Benand I moved over to him, and I inspected the strange apparatus. The medallion had a small glass dome over its round body and a small cylinder-shaped stick stuck out the end that faced away from Impara and ended in a sharp point. I noticed a strange symbol on the body under the dome.
Even Ben had a perplexed expression on his face as he studied the machine. “What is it?”
Impara scowled at him. “Have you forgotten your studies? It’s an elements talisman.”
“How does it work?” I inquired.
“I will show you.”
The professor walked through us and over to one of the chairs near the table at which he’d been standing. A small glass of water sat atop the mess, and Impara unscrewed the glass dome on the talisman and poured a few droplets into the bubble. He then screwed the dome back upside down before flipping the talisman, forcing the water to pool over the main body of the magical item.
Impara strode over to one of the empty pools that formerly held water, specifically to a large crack in the floor. He set his hand over the dome and a soft light emanated from inside the glass. The tap water slid about in tiny droplets, each of them pulsing with that light.
My mouth fell open as water began to emerge from the crack in the floor. The liquid rose up in a funnel shape and hovered in front of Impara. The professor used the pointer to direct the water higher into the air, stretching it to nearly ten feet tall and five feet wide. The air filled with the scent and chill of water.
