The Currents of Magic

Chapter Thirty-One

Meyer stared at the defaced note, his eyes fixed on the last line of legible words: Above all else, you are in danger, stay where you are. The paper slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.

Cade picked up the letter, but Meyer continued staring downward, an empty feeling in his stomach. Another warning that he was in danger... But from who? His father couldn't have created a Blood Capsule, let alone known where to send it, and he couldn't imagine his father sending a letter to him... unless—if he were in danger... The thought made Meyer swallow as he tried to contain his emotions. Already he felt as though he might choke. What was going on...

"So you never knew your mother," said Cade quietly, handing the note to Ander.

"She died in a Raider attack," said Meyer.

"The letter mentions that someone didn't die in a Raider attack," continued Cade. "Maybe it's referring to her."

Meyer shrugged despondently. "The whole letter is unintelligible: 'sealing it,' 'must not be found.' There's no way to know what anything's referring to... Well, except the warning at the end. That seems pretty clear."

There was another period of silence, and then Ander looked up from reading. "Maybe whoever wrote the letter knows about the Magician," he said.

"I don't think it's about the Magician," said Cade. "The letter mentions the Outlands. More likely it's a warning about Eschera."

"But it also warns that I'm in danger here," said Meyer.

"True," said Cade, "but there are at least a few distorted words between 'above all else' and 'you are in danger.' There could be an important detail that we're missing."

"Either way the message tells you to stay here," said Ander.

"Which only makes it worse," said Meyer. "First magical warnings appear in red letters telling me to leave, and now I get a message telling me to stay."

"Who do you think sent the letter?" said Ander.

Meyer shook his head, equally mystified and frustrated. "Maybe my father, but I can only guess how he would know where to send the message or how to create a Blood Capsule... And how could he have my blood?"

"I can't answer the first two questions," said Cade, "but as for the third, your father could have sealed the capsule with his own blood."

Meyer gave Cade a puzzled look.

"Relatives can usually open each other's Blood Seals. It depends on the type of Blood Seal, and it how distant the relation, but a child can almost always open the Blood Seal of his or her parent."

"I guess that makes sense," said Meyer gloomily, the shred of understanding mocking him from within the mass of unknown.

"I'm more curious why the message looks like it was written by an illiterate Nahd," said Ander.

"Obviously because someone tried to tamper with it," said Cade, and then under his breath: "When has there ever been an illiterate Nahd..."

"Oh, I have my doubts about Charlie," said Ander.

Meyer ignored him, turning towards Cade. "What do you mean by tampered?"

"Looks like someone tried to read the message," said Cade. "A Blood Seal encompasses an entire object, but a poorly crafted seal can be compromised. Even then, breaking open a capsule would be near impossible, but a very powerful vision charm could allow someone to see through. Still, there is a high risk of damaging the contents, as seems to have happened in this case."