Previous Next

Chapter 7: Misery

Summary

Orion carries El back to her room, but she does not tell him what happened to her. No one saw her fight the maw-mouth, and no one (except perhaps Orion) would believe her. The other students are amazed at Orion having saved everyone in the library. El is physically and emotionally exhausted. In the cafeteria, Orion kills some maleficaria and tries to transfer the mana to El. She releases it immediately into one of her mother’s spells that help those around her feel more centered. The effects of Liu’s slow malia use are removed, and she looks healthier. El is concerned that if she ever did become a maleficer, she would be unstoppable: stealing life force and killing everyone in her path. 

El takes stock of her crystals and finds that two are cracked and ten have been drained, but she is too tired to exercise to fill them with mana, so she starts to crochet a blanket instead. The frustration of this activity will slowly fill the crystals. She thinks about asking Orion to help refill them but knows that it could get him excommunicated from the New York enclave. When El decides to investigate the golden book that she recovered from the library, she is finally rewarded. The book contains the Golden Stone sutras, the original spells to build an enclave and the protected magical space that it occupies. These spells are thousands of years old, and many have been lost over the centuries. One spell in particular, a matter phase spell, is extremely valuable. El speaks lovingly to the book, believing that this will keep the book from becoming lost. She tells Aadhya about the book and Aadhya agrees to help her auction the spell. Five of the highest bidders will receive a copy.

Analysis

El’s actions in this chapter demonstrate her continued efforts to choose good over evil, even when the choice is difficult. When El finds herself in danger of mana poisoning after Orion pours his into her, rather than save herself by casting her most instinctual spell for killing, she chooses to channel the power into a healing meditation. Not only does she mend herself, she also helps others, even healing Liu’s malia damage. El’s success in destroying the maw-mouth frightens her, since it proves that she is powerful enough to cause the mass destruction her great-grandmother’s prophecy predicted. However, El continually rejects the spells of destruction the school offers her, refusing to make evil choices. Even the school seems to recognize her decision to overcome her dark destiny; when the library wants to distract her from the maw-mouth, the rare book it offers her contains spells for building enclaves, not for destroying them. By choosing not to use her power for evil, even when it would be easier than doing good, El is taking control of her destiny.

Previous section Chapter 6 Next section Chapter 8

Take a Study Break