The Secret Library: Desert of Ash, page 17
“A regiment of soldiers has broken through,” said Darcy.
“Will she make it?”
“No,” said the golem.
But he was wrong.
I couldn’t tell if Vicious actually moved that fast, or if she had simply stuttered forward faster than physics would allow, but in no time at all, she was standing before The Library’s heart. It was hard for me to see, as the stack of fallen shelves only afforded so much vision, but I could make out enough of her movements to tell that she was drawing a sword from her side.
The Aeorankin didn’t stand a chance. She moved like a whirlwind of grace and steel. Soon, her opponents had all fallen. Then she was in the air again, resuming her combat with the titans.
“How is this even possible,” said Darcy, more to himself than anything.
She took on the minotaur-like titan next. The gem in its chest, it seemed, was a reservoir of power, glowing brighter every time Vicious cast a spell. Still, the creature could not move fast enough to catch up with her. The massive ax it swung through the air was as nothing to the lightning quick movements of the spiraling witch.
But then something caught her.
From within the depths of third Titan’s robes, a pair of tentacles whipped out. One of them caught hold of the witch. For an instant, Vicious seemed shocked, and then she was gone, whisked off into the darkness.
She was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
All eyes were on the titan. It seemed that the whole battle had come to a standstill. Only the whale-like creature still moved, circling over the battlefield.
There was a thud from within the monster, then there was a high-pitched squeal. The titan’s robes began to rapidly spin around a point approximately where the tentacles had been flung. The whole creature seemed to spin on the spot, becoming a blur of motion, before disappearing entirely. Vicious hovered there, smirking at the center, looking just as commanding as she first had when she stepped out of her own portal.
It was not long before the minotaur titan was destroyed too. This one destroyed by a particularly large energy blast, which shattered its chest gem. I could sense the power of the blast and was, for a moment, afraid that it might make another hole in The Library.
With the titans dealt with, Vicious returned to The Library’s heart. The sight of her approaching the heart reminded me of that fateful day long ago when she had tried to take its power for herself.
She placed her hand on the heart’s surface and bowed her head.
Moments later, the heart began to stutter, blue light fluctuating and pulsating beneath the cracked exterior.
And then, quite suddenly, the heart’s light burst out, radiant and wonderful, its blue rays spilling through the shelves.
A smile crept over my lips. I hadn’t known just how much I missed the presence of this small representation of the void of creation until now.
“This is not possible,” I heard the Librarian say. “I thought it was on its way out for sure.”
My joy was short-lived. No sooner had The Library’s heart returned to its normal glow than lightening began to pour forth from its surface.
The last time a storm like this had come from the heart, countless books had been corrupted by the forces of chaos. That was the storm that started all this. I turned to the Librarian, but she didn’t seem to share my concern.
“What is happening?” I asked.
“Just you wait and see,” she said.
I did just that, and sure enough the lightening was not like that which I had spent so long cleaning up after. No, this was The Library defending itself.
Skipping by the Lionkin and other soldiers, the lightning caught Aeorankin after Aeorankin, sending their twisted bodies back to whatever realm they were formed in. The lightning leapt across the water and up into the sea that was till pouring down into The Library. Moments later, the waters ceased to fall. Finally, the lightning claimed the whale-like creature, and we watched as it crashed down to The Library’s floor.
Impossibly, the attack had been fended off. What had seemed like the end of all things was only another chapter.
I sighed deeply, tears coming once more to my eyes.
Vicious landed before us, her dress pristine, her hair not one strand out of place. She stepped toward me, holding my gaze, a look of triumph in her eyes. A breeze blew a few strands of her jet black hair across her face. I could sense Darcy tense up beside me as Lilly took a step back.
I stood my ground and watched her come.
The witch walked right up to me, placed a hand on each of my shoulders, leaned forward, and kissed me on the cheek. Then, pulling back asked, “did you miss me?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“Is it really you?” I asked, looking into the witch’s eyes, trying to find some hint, almost allowing myself to hope.
She nodded. She certainly looked like Elaine, but there was something else there too. Something wild.
“You are different,” I said.
“Back to my old self,” she said.
“But how?” I asked.
“I left here to find myself,” she said. “What I found was the inside of the most terrible prison that has ever been dreamed of. Pnuvous, Rend’s principle correctional facility. It was, I’ll admit, a little cliché to become the prisoner of my own anger - and yet, there I was. Vicious on the outside, me on the inside. I never meant to be away for long. I just wanted to have a few words with myself.”
“Vicious is your anger?”
“Yes, and my anger, apparently, likes to be heard. For weeks, all I knew of what was going on in the wild worlds was what Vicious chose to tell me. She delighted in telling me things that might discompose me. She considered me weak, untested, and wanted to see me break down. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.”
“I was there when she met with that young Anglo-Saxon girl to bait you into her trap. I was there when, gleefully, she sent me news that The Library was failing. There was nothing I could do but listen as each day she manifested in the prison and delivered me the latest bad news.”
“Each day, I dreaded hearing that you had passed on. Each day, my hatred for Vicious grew and grew. She seemed to draw power from this hatred, gloating in my helplessness.”
“How did you escape?” I asked.
“It was because of you,” said Elaine. “Seeing her grow in power like that made it clear to me what I had to do. If pushing her away gave her power, then I needed to draw her in. I needed to let go of the hate.”
“It was only a short time ago that she arrived at my cell, where I was bound by each limb to the four corners of a terrible frame, to tell me that Aeoran had you all cornered with three titans on their way. I didn’t try to reason with her as I had done before, I didn’t try to explain how The Library’s destruction would shatter all creation. Vicious did not know how to respond to such reasoning. Instead I said, ‘OK,’ and tried to bring her into my heart.”
“She didn’t like that, of course. She had been in control for so long, but her control came from fighting me. Without me as an object, her control started to falter. She raved at me, of course, tried to tell me of all the terrible things that would happen to you, to all those that were under my protection. I can’t say that her words did not sting, but I tried to allow her hate and fury to wash right through me. I tried to remain open and curious.”
“Vicious broke down in the end, but not before she had screamed out the last of her venom. When eventually she fell to her knees, exhausted and weak, I saw her begin to fade. Her last words to me were, ‘I am sorry.’ I nodded and accepted her as a part of me. And now she is gone.”
“The schism has ended?” asked Darcy.
Elaine nodded.
“She is dead?” asked Lilly.
“Not exactly,” said Elaine. “She is still within me, struggling for supremacy. But she will only ever gain power if I fight her, if I heed her.”
“Sounds risky,” said Darcy.
“Not at all. Pushing her away was risky. Pushing her away was stupid. I don’t like being stupid, Mr. Knight.”
“I know not from whence you draw your power, Elaine, or whoever you are,” started the Librarian. “But you came in at quite the last minute. Things were grim.”
“I am sorry about that,” she said, turning to James. “I am sorry about a great many things.”
James nodded, his expression unchanging.
“Now,” said Elaine. “We have a lot to do.”
“We have to confront him, don’t we?” I asked. “We have to confront Aeoran.”
“You must confront him, Alex, yes. I have to see if I can fix all this mess I made.”
“Vicious made,” I corrected her.
“I made,” said Elaine sternly.
Just then, a Lionkin soldier came striding up the pile of shelves, as swiftly as if it were a smoothly sloping hill. It took me a moment to realize that this was the same eye-patched Lionkin that we had seen on that shattered world when he was hunting Aeorankin.
“Empress,” he said formally. “We have secured The Library. Much of it has been destroyed.”
“Thank you, Seb,” said Elaine.
“What shall we do about the, er, locals?”
“Leave them to me,” said Elaine. I noticed that she incorporated a slight affectation into her tone, as if imitating Vicious - or perhaps this was Vicious speaking through her lips?
The Lionkin looked like he was about to say something, hesitated, and then bowed.
“You are to take your troops and return to Rend. I have business here.”
“I will leave you a battalion of Alpha Mechs,” said the Lionkin.
“You will do no such thing,” said the witch. She snapped her fingers, and the portal began to form not far from where it had been before.
“And the trophies?” asked Seb.
“Take what you need and get out of my sight,” said Elaine quickly.
A look of fear washed over the Lionkin’s looks. He knew he was stepping too close to the line. “Yes, Empress,” he said, before turning about and retreating back to his awaiting company.
“Horrible creatures,” said Elaine. “I don’t really want anything more to do with them.”
“Many of them just died on your behalf,” said Lilly. “Seems a little cold to just send them back.”
Elaine shrugged. “They are murderers, the lot of them,” she said. “I did what I had to do.”
A smile escaped my lips. It was not for what she said. No, I could not agree with the wholesale disregard of an entire species as ever being appropriate. It was the way she said it. For the first time in a long while, Elaine put me in mind of the lone witch I traveled with through the woods of Avonheim.
“So we are just going to attack the snake?” asked Lilly.
“I will go alone,” I said.
“Nonsense,” said Elaine. “We must all play our part.”
“They will just get hurt,” I protested.
Elaine smiled and held up her hand. Energy pulsated from her palm instantly, distilled from the air around, distilled from nothing. She shot the energy fourth toward Lilly. Darcy looked like he was about to jump in the way of the beam, but it was all over as quickly as it started.
Smoke billowed about as Lilly looked down at her pendant, the place where the energy had landed. But the pendant was not just restored, the whole Rose of the Raven had blossomed there, purple and glowing, flickering with potential.
“Lemmy try something,” said Lilly, grinning. Black wings erupted from her back, feathered and glistening.
“The rose can do much more besides,” said Elaine. “Maybe ask your brooding friend about that.”
Lilly looked to Darcy.
“I mean your other brooding friend,” said Elaine.
“She means Mary,” I said.
“Where is she, anyway?” asked Lilly.
“Drinking somewhere, I suspect,” said the Librarian disapprovingly.
“I have something for you too, Librarian,” said Elaine.
“I do not need wings,” said the Librarian. “I am perfectly capable of getting around the old-fashioned way.”
“That was not what I had in mind,” she said, waving her hand over the gorilla. As she did, armor gathered around the Librarian, shining gold and silver, as grand as anything.
“Oh my goodness,” said the Librarian.
“That’s unusual,” said Lilly.
“On the contrary,” said the Librarian. “This was very usual back in the day. My dear, however did you know?”
“I found a very old book once about a warrior queen,” said Elaine.
“Hush,” said the Librarian, embarrassed. “It is not exactly common knowledge.”
“What does she mean?” I asked.
“Let’s just say that I wasn’t always a librarian,” said the gorilla. “I had glory in my day.”
“And these will help us defeat Aeoran?” asked Darcy, his tone hollow and lifeless.
“Perhaps,” said the witch. “Perhaps not. I just think that it is important that you all face him whole.” With that, she strode up to Darcy and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Mist curled about the golem, seeping into every crack in the armor, pouring out of the hollow eyes from where Darcy peered. Darcy scrambled, panicked, and pulled off the golem’s head, revealing a messy mop of dark hair, a boyish face, and a look of utter astonishment.
“Darcy!” yelled Lilly, pushing Elaine aside, leaping at him, and giving him the most passionate kiss I had ever seen in my life. The kiss, it seemed, was not enough for her. She was soon kissing his cheeks, his forehead, his hair, everything all over rapidly. Tears were in her eyes. They sped down her cheeks, dripping onto Darcy’s where they mingled with his own tears of joy.
It just seemed so right, seeing them together. After all we had been through, they needed this.
At length, Lilly came up for air, clambering down from the golem armor, but not leaving Darcy’s side. Every so often, she looked up at him, beaming.
“I have restored you, Mr. Knight,” said Elaine. “But I have not restored all your powers. What do you say to the return of your little upgrade?”
“I prefer to stay human,” said Darcy, his voice sounding strangely young after so long. “Well, mostly human.”
“Pity,” said Elaine with a wink.
“Just my sword, thank you. And some clothes.”
“All right,” said Elaine.
No sooner had she cast her spell than Darcy was pulling off the rest of the armor. It was the old Darcy under there, and, given that his human body was much smaller than the golem, he must have been quite uncomfortable standing in that armor before.
Lilly and Darcy kissed again, and I wondered whether they would be any help at all now that they were together again - really together this time.
“What about me?” I asked Elaine.
Elaine smirked. “There is nothing to restore,” she said. “Your power is the same as ever it was, pure and bright.”
I smiled at the compliment, but was not sure I could share her confidence.
“And my grandfather?” asked James, stepping forward, his voice echoing his pain and loss. “Is he really gone?”
Elaine nodded sorrowfully.
“Oh, people don’t really die,” said the Librarian, her voice full of her own pain. “Their stories are always there to be read again. But there will be no more pages added, not evermore, and that’s sad.”
James looked resigned, but said nothing.
***
The plan was simple and full of peril. Lilly, Darcy, Mary, and I would travel to Aeoran’s realm with Elaine. Lilly and Darcy would assist me in getting as close as I could to Aeoran. This had a twofold purpose. First, it was becoming clear to me now that this fight was between me and him, the Keeper and the World Snake. Second, it would distract the tyrant long enough for Elaine to use the power she had borrowed from the void to start putting creation back together. This, she assured us, was something that she could manage - though it seemed to me that such a feat was a bit of a stretch even for her.
The Librarian would stay in The Library, as was fitting. As armored as she was, she did not seem to mind being left behind.
Mary’s role was a little more ambiguous, but we all expected she would probably fly about menacing and cackling. I wasn’t sure if that would help, but wasn’t about to tell a death god what to do. Not today of all days.
All that remained now was for me to find Aeoran’s book again and take the leap into the unknown.
The Library, it seemed, was returning to its usual habits of providing for me exactly what I needed when I needed it, and it wasn’t long before I found the water-soaked book resting atop of a pile of similar such books that had been washed away by the seas but caught against a shelf in the current.
We were readying ourselves for this journey, trying to look hopeful, trying to hide our fear, when James approached us, staff in hand.
“I want to go with you,” he said.
Lilly and I exchanged glances.
“Why don’t you sit this one out,” said Darcy kindly.
“I don’t think so,” said James. “That damned snake killed my granddad. I wanna look him in the eye.”
Darcy looked to me, doubtingly. “Fair enough,” I said. “But you should know, we are not expecting to return.”
Silence hung in the air.
We were all thinking it. It was just, well, no one had yet said it out loud yet.
“If you don’t come back, then there soon won’t be anywhere to come back to,” said James. “I know the physics. I’ll take my chances.”
“Alright,” I said. “Put your hand on my shoulder.”
I then felt a claw press into my back. I might have been frightened if it was not so familiar. “Hello, Mary,” I said without turning around.
