Page 136 of Death of a Mortal

He just smiled. “Please describe what you see for me, Naci.”

I took a deep breath. “I see in black and white out of my left eye, except for glowing auras around certain things. I get the sense that I’m seeing…magic, but I’m not entirely sure. When I have both eyes open, it just overlays the glow over the normal world. Have you ever heard of something like that after a magical wound?”

“I do not think it has anything to do with the lightning that gave you that scar and temporary blindness. But no, I have never heard of seeing magic in that way. Follow me, please.”

Once again, I wondered how he could know that my scars came from lightning magic. Maybe this male, too, was an Umbrathren. Maybe that was his ability, to read minds or something like that. It made me extremely nervous to be in his presence.

Despite my unease, I got up and followed him, book in hand, and he led us to a room down the hallway that was empty save for a staircase that led underground.

I froze. My mind was back in the dungeons of Ashthorn, and my panic rose, making the shadow beast perk its head up.

“Come, Naci. Nothing will hurt you down here. It’s not a prison; it’s a safe place. A place of knowledge.”

I forced my feet to carry me down the stairs as a bead of sweat dripped down my temple. At the bottom was a room nearly the size of the entire house above, with stone walls and lit torches. One whole wall was filled with more packed bookshelves, and opposite was a long table with several mysterious objects. It was the third wall that had my attention, though.

Large, floor-to-ceiling glythyrs had been drawn over nearly the entire surface. They weren’t just glowing white like the others I’d seen. They were pulsing like a heartbeat and in every color.

“What do you see?”

“Glythyrs. Glowing, pulsing.” I closed my left eye, and my normal vision revealed only plain white, softly glowing symbols. But with the left, I could see the life in them, the colors. I wasn’t sure what it meant or how it was helpful, but it was pretty to look at.

“Do you know what this one does?” He pointed to the one on the far right, glowing red, with a pulse that resembled more of a flickering candle.

I shook my head.

“It protects this room from fire, which would devastate the ancient knowledge in these books. I suspect you see it in red?”

“I do.”

He looked pleased. “And this one?” He pointed to the one dead center on the wall that was glowing blue, its pulsing more like the ebb and flow of water.

“It protects the books from water damage?”

“Very good, very good. And that one?” This time, he pointed to the far left.

“It’s black. Like the one on the stone of my trial.” Except that one had started off white, and I hadturnedit black. This one smoked just the same, though.

He thought for a moment before turning back toward the staircase and beckoning me to follow upstairs.

“Are you going to tell me what the black one is?”

“No. Some glythyrs are not meant to be named.”

Interesting. And annoying.

We sat back down at the table at the front of the house. “But what does it mean that I can see the colors of the glythyrs and turn them black?”

“I think it means…that you may be the only person alive who can read and unravel glythyrs written by others. And that would make you a powerful weapon indeed.”

I shuddered, my stomach clenching. I wouldnotbe used. Not ever again.

“I’m not a weapon,” I growled, hearing the beast underneath.

He considered me for a moment, eyes dropping again to my chest. “Indeed,” was all he said. He got up once more, pulled yet another book from the shelf, and set it in front of me.

“I would like you to read this book as well. It is the study and art of glythyrs. Once you’ve read both, we will use our time together to summon and control your shadows, and create, read, and unravel glythyrs. I cannot say how or why now, but I believe it is essential you learn to do everything I just listed.”

“And my vey?”