The Shadows of Starpoint Mountain

by Bill Albert

  He scanned the area to make sure no one was watching before taking a few steps back. “And don’t do it again,” he warned the stuffed bear as he put the broadsword away. As he turned, the point of the sheath brushed against a case and a book that had been sitting precariously on a higher shelf slipped loose and fell on his shoulder.

  There was a blur of movement with Blinks a hundred feet away before he dared to look back.

  ***

  Once they got to the second level Jakobus and Luvin went in separate directions and Jakobus began a methodical search. He walked down each row regularly glancing at the titles and authors until he could discern what section he was in. He would walk five paces and check the books again to see if the topics changed before continuing.

  He didn’t pick up a book until he found himself in a section where there were radical differences in the size and shapes as well as titles. The title of one was slightly familiar so he opened up Darvagon: The Serpent King and glanced at the pages. The fact that the book was both familiar and unusual fascinated him. He had read a story like this to his infant son, Pyro, many years ago and it was the young dwarf’s favorite. However, the story he had read was Dargon the Serpent by name, but the tale was the same. Dargon’s wife, Croma, was named Cloma in this story. The scales were dark green in the book he held at home but red in the pages before him. It was definitely the same fable, but he was amazed at how it had shifted over the centuries. Despite the fascination he returned the book the shelf and moved on.

  He continued searching for the next half hour stopping only occasionally. The children’s section had been followed by a large collection of poems and short fiction. He came across a massive amount of full-length fiction before a sudden change to nonfiction. He was disappointed that there was no section on theater and wondered when that art form had been developed.

  The next section was on biology and investigations of different races and he increased his pace. There were hundreds of books on the life cycle and anatomy of dragons. He knew there were historians and doctors across the Land of Starpoint who would envy where he was. He couldn’t resist the temptation to read them and memorized as many facts and figures as he could.

  He came to a complete stop when he found a thick volume entitled The Development of the Dwarven Society. This one he refused to pass and steadily went from page to page.

  This book, at least a thousand years ago, had speculated on the future of his kind with startling accuracy. It predicted the development of a dwarven Under City after the Great Northern Migration centuries before it had taken place. It had even given a geological description of where the Under City would be located that was near the actual location. He believed that the legendary knowledge of the dragons was not a myth and he wondered what else he could find.

  Despite his interest his pace increased until he found another interesting text. Even more shocking than their speculations of dwarves was the knowledgeable accuracy of the elves. The elves had been a peaceful and civilized culture far beyond anything known today, including the Giant Lords.

  His hands shook as it occurred to him that the information in the book could have as much effect on everything that they knew as the fall of a mountain.

  ***

  Luvin’s search had been frantic and quick and he had covered more territory than anyone. He hadn’t stopped to look inside any of the books but had just run down the aisles taking glances at the titles or topics. Books on the proper care of cows, horses and other farm livestock flew past him. He whirred through a detailed account of crop development and irrigation and sprinted past a mind bogglingly large account on the development of weapons.

  After forty minutes of running and franticly looking for clues he came to a stop panting hard as he leaned against a book rack. He looked up and saw several manuals on war hammers and thought of the weapon hanging at his side. With a sudden flash of anger, he desperately wanted to pull his weapon and smash the shelves to splinters until he found what he was looking for. He knew that Gallif would not approve of those actions and sank to the floor to calm his heavy breathing and rampant emotions.

  “Damn it! The elf said the library would give us what we needed. I need an answer to this, damn it! I need an answer to save her.”

  Luvin looked up and watched his breath fade into a damp mist. He could feel the cold and rubbed his fingers to keep warm knowing that in a cast environment such as this it was an unnatural cold he was feeling. This had to have been generated from someone, so he stood and looked in all directions for Gallif, Marassa, or anyone at all, but saw no one. There were very few other options, so he decided to follow the trail. He took a few steps in each direction until he felt the temperature rise, then turned toward the cold. He repeated the process until the cold path stopped. He waited with his hand on the war hammer for several minutes, but the cold did not diminish nor did anyone else approach.

  “Who is this?” Luvin asked. He stood silently listening for any response and when he heard none, he repeated the question. “Is there someone here?” he added and felt his nerves tingle when he heard an answer.

  “Me.”

  “Me?” He waited and realized the temperature was slowly starting to rise. “Do I know you?”

  “Yes,” came a barely audible response.

  Luvin exhaled slowly and could barely see his breath. What he could see was a shadowed figure standing near a rack of books. He felt no fear, he knew the ghost was friendly, and he approached it steadily, but it began to fade and was completely gone by the time he got there.

  He looked around for another sign but found none. He remembered what he had originally been looking for and grabbed a book off a shelf. To his disappointment he found that he was not in a section about medicine and treatment as he had hoped, but only saw manuals on lizards, snakes and frogs. He didn’t understand what the point was, but there had to have been a reason for being guided here so he looked at the first book closely and carefully. Then he chose another, then another…

  ***

  Jakobus was disappointed that the manual on elves stopped at the end of the Dragon War with no mention of the curse. He returned the book to the shelf and looked around for any indications of where to start next. He looked at several different racks but there was nothing that gave a sign it was what he was looking for. He was following a row of shelves standing against a wall when he came to an intersection. He looked to the left, the right, then straight ahead and was about to continue forward when he realized he was exactly where he wanted to be. This couldn’t be a four-way intersection because he had been so close to the wall. The only way there could be a path off to the left was if it had been cast here. He concentrated hard, repeated why there should be no left-hand path then asked his god to show him the truth. When he looked again the left path was replaced with a blank wall. He looked ahead to see that the books and shelves before him had also changed.

  There were now many wands, potion bottles, powder bubbles, casting stones, focus stones and other items kept in solid glass cases and pedestals. These were all marked with detailed descriptions as if they were ordinary exhibits instead of powerful tokens. Each of them was bathed in a colored light and Jakobus had no doubt that reaching for the items would be a big mistake.

  He looked along the wall and found a very large and detailed painting of a blue dragon leisurely flying around Starpoint Mountain. He was surprised at the shock of being reminded about the mountain.

  He turned away and suddenly found himself standing at the base of a flight of steps leading up to the third floor. These had not been here before, he was sure of that, so he tried to reject the illusion, but the stairs remained in place. Without looking away he walked a few steps backward and after three paces the steps disappeared. He took a step forward and they became visible again.

  He wondered what types of books would be at the top of a hidden staircase. He looked up and saw very little light. He knew that this room was not inside the actual library. It suddenly o
ccurred to him where he was, and he bolted up the stairs as fast as he could. Even before he reached the top he knew he was right. The very wise dragons would not have left books concerning curses out in the open. They knew these curses were dangerous and he knew the answer would be found there.

  There was a rich, powerful aroma in the area from the incredible mix of spices, powders and liquids. The room was darker than the rest of the library and was lit only by small candles evenly spaced along the walls. He carefully held a hand over the candles and ran a finger through the flames to find these gave emitted no heat. It was hard to tell the actual size of the room as the walls were in shadow; the lights of the candles didn’t spread in every direction and he could not see the ceiling.

  On four large tables mug sized braziers were burning with a steady bubbling of multi-colored liquids in the glass containers above them. Jakobus approached one and examined the contents of the orange colored substance. He leaned over to try and smell it and was surprised that he felt no heat even though he could see steam.

  From where he stood four racks of bookshelves lead off in each direction. Try as he might Jakobus could not see how far the rows went. Though there were candles spaced regularly, each path had a distinct color glow to it.

  One path had a series of candles with red, blue, and green glows. Jakobus recognized the colors as those emitted from leather cast armor but had never known of anything more advanced than red and blue. He wondered if there was information on casting metal armor somewhere in the books.

  The second had various candles of orange, red and other very warm colors. Jakobus took a look at the closest shelves and saw several pads of notes and drawings and realized it was ingredients for potions and spells affecting the body.

  The third was dark with only one third of the usual candles and Jakobus knew this was exactly what he had been looking for. Only in a dark and ominous path would you find curses and he stepped into the shadows.

  “Are your intentions good or bad?” a voice from everywhere asked him.

  Jakobus contained his initial shock and looked around for the questioner without fear.

  “Are your intentions good or bad?” the voice asked again.

  “Where are you?” Jakobus asked back.

  “Over here, just to your right.”

  Jakobus turned and saw a thin beam of light near him. In the center of the beam floated a simple wooden wand.

  “Directly in front of you, in the light,” the wand informed him.

  “Who are you?” Jakobus asked.

  “I’m the guardian of this path. I keep it protected and safe. Are your intentions good or bad?”

  “Good,” Jakobus said after considering it.

  “Liar,” the wand protested and bounced up and down. “If your intentions are good why did you come looking for curses?”

  “To stop one, to free countless numbers.”

  “Ahhh,” the wand sighed and began to float gently.

  “If everyone who comes looking for curses is bad why did you ask?”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “It’s okay, I understand,” Jakobus shrugged.

  “I have to warn you to be careful. There are some casts that are best left in books.”

  “I’m looking to remove a curse, a terrible one, cast by a dragon.”

  “On a scale of one to ten, with seven being the highest, how bad is it?”

  “Well, I guess, a high seven then.”

  There was a terrible shrill as the wand shivered for several seconds that Jakobus realized was a laugh.

  “Got you with that one. Took me years to work that one out,” the wand chuckled.

  “Alejan didn’t mention you.”

  “Did you release her?”

  “I didn’t, but a friend did.”

  “That’s nice,” the wand spun in place happily. “I wonder why she didn’t mention me.”

  “I can’t imagine how she’d forget.”

  “That’s sarcasm, right?

  “Yes.”

  “Well done,” the wand said bouncing up and down again. “Anyway, your curse, I forgot about that. Follow me,” the wand said and slid out of the light beam.

  Jakobus quickly looked around but could see no sign of the wand. He took a few steps forward but still saw nothing. “I can’t see you.”

  “I’m right here.”

  “Which direction?”

  “Well, there’s only one path and you’re at this end of it so there aren’t that many directions to go, are there?”

  “That’s sarcasm, right?”

  “Maybe,” the wand giggled and started moving again.

  It was hard to tell exactly how far and how long they walked. The candles on the walls were spaced so evenly and the sizes and colors of books were so varied it was impossible to keep track. Jakobus estimated it was nearly twenty minutes, but it could have been more, when a beam of light appeared, and the wand took its place in the stream.

  “I think we’re near where you want to be,” the wand announced.

  “How do you know? I never even told you what I was looking for.”

  “No, but the library did.”

  “Then why did you ask me all those questions back there?”

  “Still had to find out what your intentions were.”

  “What would have happened if I had lied?”

  The wand jerked back quickly and there was a brief green spark that shot towards Jakobus. There was a brief shimmer as he fell to his hands and knees. When the shimmer cleared Jakobus tried to stand but stumbled forward. He looked down at what used to be hands and brayed; he was now a rather hairy goat. He snorted and lowered his head getting ready to charge when there was another shimmer and Jakobus, the dwarf, returned.

  “You could have just told me,” Jakobus protested as he quickly stood.

  “Where would the fun in that be?” the wand giggled again. “The book you want, the one with the curse, is near here.

  “How do I find it?”

  “Well, this is a library full of books and what do you do with books?”

  “Oh, I see,” Jakobus said looking at the closest shelf.

  “Well.”

  “I’m not going to say it.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’ll make you happy.”

  “Was that sarcasm?”

  “No,” Jakobus said and before he knew it the wand disappeared again. He looked in both directions feeling it was still hovering around and watching even though he could not see it. He pulled the first book he saw of the shelf and started reading.

  Again, he lost track of time but worked through the books as quickly as possible. He would read several paragraphs from each and then jump to other random pages until he was sure it was not what they were looking for. In the meantime, he found some horrible and frightening curses and he prayed no one else would ever find this part of the library. He found one telling of the victim’s body being turned inside out over a three-day period and kept the poor soul aware of it the entire time. Another continuously gave the impression that the victim had spiders crawling over their body. A third was to remove the target’s toe and fingernails one at a time. After closing each book Jakobus prayed for forgiveness, and forgetfulness, over what he’d seen.

  Finally, the pages turned to curses that would affect the mind. Though some of the terms and procedures were beyond him he could tell it was closer to what he needed.

  His breathing was heavy when he opened a book that dealt directly with the curse on the elves. He smiled as he scanned through the pages and imagined how Gallif would cheer to know that there was a way to remove the curse and free the eleven souls. He put his hand to his heart and thanked his own god for being part of this. Then the smiles and warmth were ripped from him as he realized there were only a few casters strong enough to engage it. They weren’t giants, they weren’t dragons, they were worse.

  ***

  It had never occurred to Luvin that there were that ma
ny different types of snakes and lizards. Though he wasn’t afraid of them, he wasn’t a fan either, so he kept looking. There were types that flourished and died out even before the time of the dragons. There were some that had remained unchanged to this day and there were some that he’d never heard of. One of the few things he knew about the tarna was that it was believed to have elements of both snakes and lizards so there was a great deal of area to cover.

  After going through the first dozen rows of books Luvin closed them all and just paced for several minutes. The information he had read was so confusing he needed to work it through logically.

  Some snakes, like the dithone, he had learned, nested in cold and dry places so he knew they would not be similar to the tarna. The paqua lizards nested in conditions that were so disgusting he had to stop reading before he became physically ill. The foma lizards liked warm and damp places and often gestated their eggs on their wombs until right after hatching so he let that line of investigation go. The trail of books moved away from those types of creatures, so he stopped reading to sort it out.

  He kept asking himself what connections he had missed. There must be something that he had just not put together yet. As usual his thoughts went back to the school to see if there was something, he had learned there that could be used here. As always, his thoughts ended up on Gallif.

  He had been quite taken by her the first day Rayjen had introduced him to her. He was fourteen then, she was sixteen, and her striking red hair and sparkling green eyes had entranced him. She had smiled at him and they had a friendly lunch together before splitting up for classes. They established a routine, he had made sure of it, and they had lunch together three times a week. He was thrilled to find that her room was only a few doors away from his, but even then, they rarely saw each other away from lunch.