James’ knowledge of various topics made him an excellent person to talk to about lessons in general. He was always willing to guide students in their learning, and would even allow them to access ‘the little library’, which he had established on the Island with several other magicians. It was second in quality and materials only to the main library on the Island.

Elvie still hadn’t decided whether she should try to talk to James about Cottsbury Castle; after all, it wasn’t her business, and she’d already blundered into trouble the first time. He’d not brought the topic back up, and a part of wanted to respect that – at least for now. Besides, from the way James trawled through endless books in the little library, he was more than absorbed in his own studies.

She liked to spend her lunches in the library, hoping to find further information about Elder House or even the magically disappearing staff. Flynn often joined her, rather than sit with the other students and gossip about the Duels. He couldn’t resist the chance to read new and exciting books. Sometimes James was about, conducting research or overseeing other students or teachers borrowing from the library, and sometimes there was nobody at all.

But on the afternoon when she came across the symbol, it was just her and James.

It took her by surprise, as she leafed through a book on the Luminarium, when it was printed plainly on the page. No fanfare, no difficult search – just there.

Surprised, she self-consciously turned her wrist, trying to reflect the light off her fading scar so she could compare.

Without a doubt, it was the same curling upside-down T pattern with two slashing motions above it.

The book she read was titled ‘A General History of the Luminarium: Trials and Tribulations.’ It was boring reading material, covering the formation of the Luminarium Council after the Cataclysm, as well as recording some of the difficulties they’d encountered bringing unity and direction to the magical orders of several different countries. There was a lot of vague and tedious information: governmental allowances, details on the transport and purchase of magical goods, even statistical information on the number of magicians in each house across multiple countries.

The picture was on the top of the page, beside a chapter titled: ‘An Analysis of Enduring Issues for Elder House’. But there was no actual information provided in the text that expanded upon the challenges of Elder House, and the chapter barely made it across one page. She skimmed over all the information, but it didn’t offer any insight, just several statements on how few mages remained, and how Elder House magicians within one hundred years of the Cataclysm had been unable to cast any Elder spells.

Elvie sighed. Answers always came with more questions.

‘Why’re you so glum?’ James peeked up from his writing to enquire.

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‘This book isn’t interesting,’ Elvie resolved to try a different tact. ‘In fact, it doesn’t tell me anything about Elder House I don’t already know. But… I was curious about this symbol. I thought I might have seen it somewhere else; maybe I saw it in Elder House somewhere.’

James turned the book to have a clear view of the symbol. ‘Ah, I remember having similar thoughts when I read this book a few years ago. If you look at any of the documentation in this library, you’ll only see it a handful of times; such is its rarity.’

‘Do you know what it is?’ she asked, trying to maintain a calm demeanour.

He paused, thoughtful. ‘It’s quite interesting, from a historical perspective at least. The bottom component looks like a triskelion, which would be Greek or Celtic. And yet, at the same time, the symbol is reminiscent of a Hindu aum.’

‘I’m sorry, I have no idea what any of that means,’ Elvie told him.

‘Don’t worry too much about the details. As with all symbols, they are used to represent another idea. For example, the triskelion, or triskele, represented ideas such as motion, but most commonly it symbolised the number three due to the amount of spirals. I’ve always thought the similarity to the Hindu aum was interesting, which is strongly connected with the number three, but also the idea of the universe and its shape.’

‘But together, they don’t mean anything?’

James shrugged. ‘I have a theory based on the design.’

‘Would you tell it to me?’

‘I guess there is no harm in that.’ He pushed his hair off his forehead and adjusted his glasses. ‘If you think about it, all the Houses have a basic concept. Oak House is nature and animals. Willow is healing. One of my own houses, Hazel, well, that’s knowledge and memory. So the logical question following on from these assumptions is: what is the concept of Elder House?’ She didn’t answer, but James wasn’t expecting her to. ‘As I said, I’ve speculated a little.’

‘And what do you think?’ Her curiosity was piqued.

He shrugged. ‘It isn’t the easiest question to answer. The two spells Alistar has told me about, relate to summoning, but that isn’t an answer in itself. Other houses have abilities to summon – spirits or animals. In a sense, you summon water in Ash House. No, the question has to go deeper.’

‘Deeper, how?’

‘Summoning animals demonstrates a connection to the animal’s mind, so you know the animal is the key to the house. Summoning spirits creates a path to the realms of the beyond, so again, you know death is the central component to Holly. The question is, what is causing the actual summoning? Personally, I think the answer relates to time.’

Elvie blinked in surprise. How clever he was!

‘When the summoning spell is used on metal objects, they leave their place and appear in another instantaneously. So there is one logical connection to make. Time – a path is forged through time.’

She tried to remain calm, but it was difficult not to react to his words. Here sat a man who was genuinely smart enough to help her.

James continued. ‘If you think about it, the problem isn’t knowing the words or having the correct gestures. If you had the will, in theory at least, you could cast the spell. The problem lies more with the fact you don’t know what will happen and, I assume, messing with time has the potential to be quite dangerous. Knowing the scope is also an issue, as it’s possible you could fray without realising.’

His words crushed Elvie’s spirits. ‘Is there any hope for Elder House then?’

‘Of course there is, with effort and study. Greatness isn’t achieved without application! Alistar knows this, as does Callum.’

Elvie nodded, mollified. ‘How does the symbol connect with this?’

‘I suspect this symbol here, is the symbol for Elder House – the symbol for time itself.’