The Summer King and His Winter Bride-Chapter 63: The Key

Long ago, the Codex of Ashfall had been hidden deep within the old library that lay in the heart of Ashfall land, a place long abandoned, swallowed by wars and the slow decay of living things.

Finding it had not been easy for the clues had been scattered amongst the courts. A torn map hidden in the Winter Court archives, a whispered legend buried in the Summer Court’s royal histories, and a half-deciphered prophecy which Cyrus unearthed in the crumbling ruins of an old Spring temple.

Piecing it together had taken them a few days but the path had finally led them here.

Casimir, Caroline, and Cyrus stood at the entrance of the crumbling ruins, the stone walls were oppressive and full of despair.

"We’ve arrived," Casimir remarked.

Caroline looked around carefully taking in the crumbling walls and dust. The entire place reeked of rot and decay. It was as if the land itself had been carved out by grief.

"You said this place was never fully destroyed," Caroline remarked, her eyes scanning the ruins. "Then where is the Codex?"

"If it were so easy to find, we wouldn’t be standing here now would we?" Cyrus remarked rather sarcastically.

He motioned for them to follow him through the maze of broken stone and fragments of architecture. They moved through it in silence, the occasional creak of bramble, falling of rubble and stone the only sounds that were made.

Eventually, they came to an archway where the opening was barely large enough for one person to squeeze through. The walls here were painted with faded symbols, most of them unrecognizable and some seemed to pulse with a faint glow.

"Here," Cyrus said, his voice low. "This should be the place."

He stepped forward, the glow from his hand illuminated the symbols as he traced them gently with his fingers. The air grew thick with ancient magic with an energy that made the hairs on their skin stand on end. Caroline stepped forward to study the runes.

"What are these markings?" she asked.

"They’re seals," Cyrus replied. "The Codex was locked away in this chamber, kept hidden from those who sought its knowledge. The magic here is bound to the Hollow King. To Elian himself."

Casimir’s face tightened. "Then we must be close."

Cyrus nodded. "The seals will only break if the one who bound him permits it and I am a descent of one."

He stepped forward, whispering words in a language that the air around them seemed to obey as a low tremor ran through the ground and the symbols began to shift, revealing an opening behind the stone wall.

The Codex lay wrapped in black leather cloth nestled in an alcove. It was as though the book itself held the secrets and histories of centuries long past their time.

Caroline was the first to reach for it but Casimir stopped her.

"Don’t touch it," he cautioned her. "It will bind to whoever opens it. It may bind you instead."

Cyrus stepped forward. "It’s not just a book of knowledge, it’s also a prison and it’s the only thing that can reveal his weakness."

Carefully, Cyrus slowly unwrapped it. The cover of the Codex was made of a dark material, like obsidian, etched with strange symbols that seemed to shift as if they were alive.

His hands shook slightly as he opened the first page revealing words written in a language before any of the courts existed.

"This is the heart of the Hollow King’s power. His history, it’s all written in here." Cyrus said.

Caroline leaned forward, her eyes scanning the pages. "It’s in a language we can’t read or understand. How do we know what it says?"

Cyrus didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his finger traced the words, and a faint light began to glow from the pages. The symbols shifted once again, slowly rearranging themselves until they formed coherent sentences.

He stepped back, allowing the light to intensify until the entire room pulsed with ancient magic. The words on the page burned brighter and in an instant the room became dark.

Then the voice of the Hollow King spoke.

"You should never have come here."

Caroline gasped, her heart hammering in her chest.

Casimir’s hand clenched into a fist. "He’s here in the Codex."

"Not here," Cyrus replied, his face pale as he closed the book with a sharp snap. "But he will be soon enough. The Codex is a prison but it’s also a key."

Caroline’s breath hitched. "A key to what?"

Cyrus looked at them, his face solemn. "To power and to life. The Codex is more than a record of the Hollow King’s magic, it’s a conduit. It holds the essence of his being and it’s been feeding on the darkness of the land for centuries."

Casimir stepped closer, his expression serious. "What do you mean by feeding?"

"The Hollow King draws his strength from the decay of life itself. From the forgotten places, from abandoned lands, from the shadows that linger where hope has long died. His power grows as the world around him withers." Cyrus explained.

Caroline glanced up, her eyes narrowed. "So the Codex has been feeding him all this time?"

"Yes," Cyrus said grimly. "The Codex has been acting as both a prison and a vessel for his magic. It preserves his life even in the absence of his physical form. As long as the Codex exists, so does he."

Casimir clenched his jaw. "We need to destroy it."

Cyrus shook his head, his eyes flashing with intensity. "If we destroy the Codex, we risk unleashing the full force of the Hollow King’s power on the world. We need to bind him once again, but this time away for good."

Caroline’s stomach tightened at the thought. "Bind him again? How?"

Cyrus held up the Codex, "there’s a ritual, a way to turn the Codex’s magic against him. We can use it to sever his connection to the land and bind him to a new sealed prison. But it will require a great price on our part."

Casimir raised an eyebrow, a flicker of suspicion in his gaze. "What price?"

"The ritual requires the essence of the four courts Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. We must offer a part of ourselves to the Codex. Magic from our life force. If we succeed, we can lock the Hollow King away for good. But the price paid will leave each of us changed."

Caroline’s eyes widened. "Changed? How?"

"None of us can predict what the Codex will do," Cyrus admitted. "The ritual may extract a price from each of us that we can’t recover from. There’s no going back from this once we begin."

Casimir turned to Caroline, his eyes softening with the weight of the decision before them. "You don’t have to do this. We can find another way."

She shook her head firmly. "No. We all must do this. If it takes all of us to stop him, then I’ll give what’s needed."

There was a moment of quiet as they all realized the magnitude of what they were agreeing to.

Cyrus broke the silence, his voice tinged with urgency. "Time is not on our side. The Hollow King’s influence grows stronger every day. His servants are already hunting for the Codex and once they know it’s been opened... they’ll come for us."

Caroline’s gaze hardened. "We need to prepare. What’s the first step?"

Cyrus gave a small nod. "The ritual will require a symbol of our magic and power from all four courts, if Arabella is willing to sacrifice as well."

Cyrus narrowed his eyes, his hand resting lightly on the Codex. "We have little time. The Codex’s magic is unstable. It won’t stay dormant for long."

Caroline stepped closer to the Codex, she could feel its pulse beneath her touch.

"I can feel it," she murmured. "It’s almost like it’s calling to me..."

Cyrus, who stood at a distance, watching carefully, nodded solemnly. "It responds to the presence of those who are meant to bind it."

Casimir’s gaze flicked between the Codex and Caroline, worry shadowing his features. "What exactly do we need to do to prevent this from consuming us completely?"

"That is hard to say as no one has performed it and lived long enough to tell it." Cyrus explained. "It’s the only way we can sever the Hollow King’s connection to the land and trap him within the Codex itself."

"Tell me how the ritual will be conducted?," Caroline asked, her voice steady now.

"The ritual must be performed during the alignment of the moons, which will amplify our magic, giving us the power we need to bind his essence once and for all. We’ll need to create a circle for each of us to stand within, offering our power in the form of a symbol representing our court."

"Let us hope it does not backfire on us." Casimir whispered.

"It won’t if performed rightly," Cyrus replied confidently.