CASPIAN POV
"Five have come. Five who seek truth. Five who will bind themselves to me, or five who will die trying."
The voice echoes through the catacombs like it's coming from inside my skull. Ancient, hungry, and somehow amused by our terror.
"What is that?" Felix whispers, pressing against the stone wall.
"The Codex Animarum," Luna says, wiping blood from her nose. "The grimoire we came for. It's... aware."
"Aware?" I repeat. "You mean it's alive?"
"More than alive. Sentient. Powerful." Luna's eyes are distant, seeing things the rest of us can't. "And it's been waiting centuries for the right people to claim it."
"Are we the right people?" Aria asks, her hand still gripping mine from when I helped her up.
"I don't know." Luna looks terrified. "My visions only showed us finding it. Not what happens after."
The voice speaks again, and this time the walls themselves seem to vibrate: "Come, children. Time grows short. Your enemies gather above. Only I can give you the power to survive what comes next."
"It knows about my father," I say quietly.
"It knows everything," Ezra says, his shadow magic flickering nervously. "Grimoires like this were created by the First Sorcerers. They're repositories of knowledge, but they're also tests. They offer power, but only to those willing to pay the price."
"What price?" Felix demands.
"We won't know until we accept," Aria says, staring into the darkness ahead. "But we're out of options. Lord Silas will find us within the hour. We need answers and power, and that thing is offering both."
She's right. I hate that she's right.
We move deeper into the catacombs, following the voice. The tunnels get colder and darker, until even my Celestial magic barely pushes back the shadows. Strange symbols cover the walls—some I recognize from my father's forbidden texts, others that make my eyes hurt to look at.
Finally, we reach a massive circular chamber. In the center sits a pedestal, and on that pedestal rests a book bound in what looks horrifyingly like human skin. Chains made of pure magical energy wrap around it, pulsing with dark light.
The Codex Animarum.
"It's smaller than I expected," Felix says nervously.
"Size doesn't matter with magical artifacts," Ezra mutters. "Power does. And I can feel the power radiating off that thing from here."
The grimoire's voice fills the chamber: "Five seekers stand before me. Each carrying secrets. Each running from death. I offer you a bargain—bind yourselves to me, and I will give you the knowledge and power to stop what comes. But know this: once bound, you cannot separate. Your lives will be linked. Your pain will be shared. And should you fail in your quest, you will all die together."
"Quest?" I ask. "What quest?"
"To stop the resurrection ritual. To save the innocent. To face the darkness within your own hearts." The grimoire's pages flutter though no wind blows. "Thirty days you have. Succeed, and you go free. Fail, and your souls belong to me."
"Absolutely not," Felix says immediately. "I'm not selling my soul to some creepy book!"
"We don't have another choice," Aria argues. "Without the knowledge in that grimoire, we can't stop the ritual. Luna and I die. You die. Everyone dies."
"She's right," Luna says quietly. "I've seen it. Every future where we refuse the grimoire's offer ends in death. Every single one."
I look at the book, then at my four unlikely allies. Aria Nightshade, the girl I humiliated this morning who's braver than anyone I've ever met. Luna Ashford, the cursed oracle everyone fears. Ezra Wraith, the rebel searching for his sister's killer. Felix Zhao, the prodigy trying to save his family.
And me. The perfect prince who just betrayed his dying father.
"If we do this," I say slowly, "we're binding ourselves together. Permanently. Can we even trust each other that much?"
"No," Aria says bluntly. "But we can trust that we all want to survive. That's enough for now."
"Decide quickly, children. Your enemy approaches. I hear his footsteps in the tunnels above. He brings death with him."
My father. Coming to finish what he started.
"We do it," I say. "We bind ourselves to the grimoire."
"You're insane," Felix protests.
"Probably. But I'd rather be insane and alive than sane and dead." I look at each of them. "Who's with me?"
Aria steps forward first. "I'm in."
Luna follows. "Me too."
Ezra nods. "For Sarah. For all of them."
Felix hesitates, then groans. "Fine. But when this goes horribly wrong, I reserve the right to say I told you so."
The five of us approach the pedestal together.
"Place your hands upon me. Speak the words I give you. And accept the binding that will make you one."
Words appear in my mind, ancient and powerful. We all place our hands on the grimoire at the same time, and I feel the others' fear mixing with my own through the connection forming between us.
Together, we speak: "We five who seek the truth, bind ourselves to this Codex. Share our power, share our pain, share our fate. Until the quest is done or death takes us all."
The grimoire explodes with dark light.
Pain sears through my wrist as a mark burns itself into my skin—an intricate symbol connecting to four others, forming a complete circle. I hear the others screaming, feel their agony as if it's my own.
Then the pain stops, and something new floods through me. Knowledge. Power. And a connection to four other minds that I can feel hovering at the edge of my consciousness.
A translucent screen appears in my vision, glowing with magical text:
SYSTEM ACTIVATEDPARTY FORMED: 5/5QUEST UNLOCKED: PREVENT THE RESURRECTIONTIME REMAINING: 30 DAYSCURRENT LEVEL: 1
"What is this?" Felix gasps, staring at his own screen.
"This is my gift," the grimoire says, and it sounds satisfied. "A system to track your progress. To grant you abilities as you level up. To show you the path forward."
"And the price?" Aria demands.
"You already know the price, child. Succeed within thirty days, or your souls become mine forever."
A new notification appears:
NEW QUEST: ESCAPE THE CATACOMBSREWARD: +500 EXP, SKILL UNLOCKFAILURE: DEATH
"Why do we need to escape?" Luna asks.
Then we hear it. Footsteps. Dozens of them, echoing through the tunnels. And my father's voice, amplified by magic: "They're in the ritual chamber! Seal all exits! I want that Siphon alive and the rest dead!"
The grimoire speaks one last time: "Run, children. Your first test begins now. Show me you're worthy of the power I've given you."
The ground beneath us suddenly gives way.
We're falling through darkness, the grimoire's laughter echoing around us, my father's rage following close behind.
And I realize with horrible clarity that we just made a deal with something far more dangerous than we understood.
The system wasn't a gift.
It was a leash.
And we just put it around our own necks.