Valmira took me to the water.
We stood on the edge of Mirrorlake, where moonlight shimmered across still black water.
"There’s something down there," she said.
"Books don’t usually swim."
"They do when they’re cursed."
We dove at dawn, crossing into a submerged vault beneath the lakebed.
Inside were scrolls that glowed even in pitch-dark water. Texts the Codex refused to record. And in the center: a black tome wrapped in chains.
Valmira looked pale. "It’s the Origin Ledger. The first spellbook."
"What’s in it?"
"Every version of the world we’ve ever destroyed."