Lola Smith's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

The tower's study smelled of dust and old ink. Lola stood before a tall bookcase stuffed with worn books, potion vials, and rolled scrolls. Lilly had brought her here after they climbed the stairs. On the desk sat the crystal artifact, glowing faint blue on its stand. A small phoenix chick perched on Lola's shoulder, its downy feathers giving off a warm ember light. Lola had found it in the woods days ago, and now it never left her. "You want to know what your demon blood can do," Lilly said. She did not ask. "The artifact will show you. Every demon spell you could cast. But it shows nothing for free." Lola set her hands on the desk. "What does it want?" "A trade. Same as always." Lilly's gold skin caught the lamplight. "You gave me your fear last night. That was your best coin. You have little left worth offering." Lola touched the cold crystal. Inside, shapes stirred, then went dark, waiting. She thought of everything she had. Her wand. Her phoenix. The truth about her parents she had not yet found. She did not know which the artifact would take. That was the danger. It could take the thing she needed most. "Then I don't trade," Lola said. "I can't see the cost of seeing the cost. You told me never to trade blind." Lilly went still. "Yes." "So I trust nothing I can't measure." Lola pulled her hand back. "Not even this." For a moment Lilly said nothing. The phoenix chirped against Lola's cheek. Then Lilly reached past her and lifted the crystal off its stand. She held it up between them. "Wrong lesson," Lilly said. "Trust is not the trade. This is." She pressed the crystal into Lola's palm and closed the girl's fingers over it. "I give each student one artifact. I choose it for them. I chose this for you before I knew your name." Heat flooded the crystal. Inside it, spells bloomed one after another, small and bright. Lola saw doors of fire. Chains of smoke. A shape that looked like a person made of shadow. Beside each spell hung a price. Some cost a memory. Some cost a year. One cost a name. "You didn't pay," Lola whispered. "You did. Last night." Lilly's mouth was flat. "Your fear bought this showing. I told you that you'd pay for every spell. I did not say when." Lola stared at the last of spell in the crystal. Its price was a curse to live 9000 years. She would learn which parent gave her which blood. Her hand shook. "This one. It answers my whole life. And it costs the answer." "Now you see," Lilly said. "The truth you want has a price you can't yet pay." She stepped back. "That is the debt you owe me. Learn to afford it." Lola closed her fingers over the crystal. She had her map now. She just could not walk it yet.