by Bill Albert
As his skills at shadow forming improved he got more daring and began practicing in the hallways at night. One night he had been a shadow across a doorway when she came into the dorm. She had left the door open in her room, so he faded down the hall to see what she was doing. She was reading a book on history and, confident that he would not be seen, he moved closer and closer. Then she suddenly got up and closed the door so quickly she almost broke his nose. He fell out of shadow and lay moaning on the floor as she opened the door and looked down at him.
“That was okay,” she said smiling. “You should have stayed closer to the frame instead of trying to cross in the middle.
“Sorry,” he said hoping he didn’t look as embarrassed as he felt.
“It’s okay. See this?” she asked holding up a red felt bag tied with a black string. “Try and steal this from me.”
He nodded that he would and went back to his room as she closed the door. That was the night he had fallen in love with her.
He had worked very hard to impress her and she had grown quite fond of him. She had also been a big help to him in his studies and he remembered how difficult some of them had been. She had tutored him in the studies of crops and farming and let him learn from the notebooks. Her handwriting was difficult to read but it gave him more excuses to spend time with her.
“What kind of crop is a coim? He asked looking up from her page scrawls.
“What?”
“You write about having coim being as high as the bees by early summer.”
“There’s no such crop,” she said looking at her own work. She looked at it sideways and then once again before batting him lightly on the shoulder. “It says ‘corn’ should be up to your ‘knees’.”
“That’s not what you wrote.”
“Is,” she snubbed him.
“Not,” he countered. “Or is this the dragon alphabet?”
“You sound like my teachers,” she laughed and shook her head.
“They’re right; but I guess that’s what happens when you grow up on a ‘tarme’,” he said pointing at her papers.
Instantly Luvin sat upright and looked back at the books. He had changed the words she had written into something familiar, but not exact, in order to understand. What if the casts that allowed them to read the dragon language had done the same thing?
He quickly found the book on foma lizards and started looking at it more closely. He checked the drawing and read about their lifecycles. He also read more on their development and the dangers of foma eggs accidentally being eaten by other animals and how they hatched inside. Before long he knew the foma that the dragons knew of were the tarna that nestled in Gallif’s belly.
There had to be a cure. There had to be a way to stop the infestation. He devoured the words and soon got an answer to the question he wanted most.
“That cold, heartless bitch,” he growled in a whisper.
***
Once Blinks was sure that the stuffed bear was not chasing him he slowed down to trot. After a few more looks over his shoulder he came to a complete stop. He looked around and saw he was surrounded by racks of books and exhibits with several drawings and replicas of bodies. Upon still closer inspection he discovered they were giant’s bodies.
One exhibit was a detailed chart of the giant’s digestive systems and he laughed at the thought of them having some of the same problems that everyone else had from time to time. He shook his head at how he had been so used to thinking of them as ‘Giant Lords’ that he had forgotten that they had some of the same frailties as everyone else.
Several other stands contained drawings and sculptures, but he walked past them until a large brown book with a red trimmed cover caught his attention. He held it carefully in his hands and looked wide eyed at the title. He found a place to sit and started working his way through The Strengths and Weaknesses of Giants.
***
Gallif rested with her hands on the bark of the oak tree. She had used her own healing powers to settle the disturbance in her belly but knew she would need to do more soon. There was little damage inside her, just the displacement of the eggs, so there was little to heal. She allowed herself a few minutes to enjoy the feel of nature against her side until Lincilara got her attention.
“Shoo,” Lincilara was saying. “Go away! Shoo!”
Gallif looked up to see a squirrel had been working its way down the tree and was now resting just above her arm. Lincilara was hovering nearby trying to chase the furry invader away.
“It won’t hurt me,” Gallif assured her. The squirrel climbed on to her shoulder as she stepped away from the tree.
Lincilara peered closely at the squirrel, avoided a swoosh of its tale, and then warned it that she would be keeping an eye on it before looking back at Gallif. “Now what are we going to do?”
“Start in the center,” she nodded and started walking towards the larger tree.
The squeaking they had heard came from a water wheel. A small stream ran through the library, over the wheel, and into a small pool. Gallif sat on the edge and splashed some of the water on her face. She looked at her reflection in the water and was shocked at how pale and sickly she looked. She remembered looking at her reflection in the bath water at the house in Primor. She had much more depth and color to her face then, some of it the dried red blood from combat and reminder of how much she had lost in her lifetime. Again, she wondered why it was that she had always survived.
The squirrel chirped at her and jumped from her shoulder into the pond. It swam across to another tree where a second squirrel was waiting, and the two critters climbed up into the foliage and disappeared.
“What was that?” Lincilara asked.
“Mrs. Squirrel,” Gallif said, then stood and started walking.
The tree in the center of the library was even more amazing than any tree they had ever seen. At first the leaves all looked dry and pale, but as they got closer it was clear they were actually pieces of paper hanging from the branches. Closer inspection found that each leaf had words written on them. Words were appearing on the attached leaves as if they were being written as the leaf aged. As Gallif read one the words reached the bottom and the paper fell from the tree like a falling leaf. She resisted the temptation to grab it and let it fall to the stack on the ground. She looked at them and was even further amazed they were all numbered in the proper order. She looked back at the branch to see another page, the next in sequence, almost full and the following numbers also growing. Despite the incredible miracle they were seeing they knew they couldn’t watch any more.
“Let’s go looking for answers,” Gallif said.
“I love books,” Lincilara said flying in loops.
Gallif agreed that she did as well and started reading.
By examining the titles she found it difficult to deduce exactly what part of the library she was in. One book titled Boats was on the same shelf as Bread Recipes and Anatomy of Ants. Another shelf had a detailed investigation on The Lifecycle of a Leaf, How to Build a Tent, and An Investigation into the Importance of Pigeons to the Dragon Food Chain based on Observations made from a point 10 miles east of Cape Columpia along the Southern Shore to Yulburropilantrope City taken during the Late Afternoon in Early Spring over a Four Year Period. She couldn’t help but look inside the book and found many details had no charts or drawings.
“You know, I’ve seen entire books that don’t say as much as that title,” Lincilara giggled as she fluttered about and Gallif slid the book back on to the shelf. “This is a pretty one,” the fairy smiled and shot ahead of her. “Open this one.”
“Just a second,” Gallif said as she looked at the next book in the row.
“Really, really, really! I want to see this one.”
Gallif finally agreed and joined her. She looked at the manual and had to admit it looked pretty impressive. Both the spine and the cover had The Book of Circles inlaid in gold letters. At first it appeared to have various circles pressed into the
leather but, after close inspection, she realized they were clock faces. Each face had a different time and she could swear some of them were ticking.
She opened the book and leafed through a few pages, read a random paragraph, then checked the beginning again wanting to make sure she was on the right track. There was a three-shelf rack nearby, so she laid the heavy book down to read it better. She was so caught up in the book she ignored Lincilara’s calls for attention. A reference made her jump ahead to several sketches towards the back. Reading the captions several times over she finally put her hands on the top shelf to steady herself.
She remembered her first meeting with Zaslow in the northern city of Primor. She had thought, until now, that his attempt to hire her to help him find the Bridge of Immortality had just been a lie to distract her. That bridge had been part of a children’s story since long before she was born and very few believed that it had ever really existed. According to this book there was such a place and it even told her exactly where it was.
Lincilara franticly flew into Gallif’s face to get her attention. “What is it?” Gallif asked unable to pull her eyes away from the book.
“She’s trying to warn you about me,” a female voice said and there was a loud snap followed by the stings of a whip wrapping around her arm. The whip was pulled back and Gallif was twisted around to face Marassa.
Gallif instinctively tried to draw her flame sword but Marassa yanked the whip again and it remained out of her grasp. She reached for her frost sword and managed to get a tight grip on it before Marassa could unbalance her again. She swung the sword to try and cut the whip but Marassa stepped to one side to catch her off step. There was no cast on the sword now and she hacked at the whip cutting through it on the fourth try.
Marassa discarded the rest of the whip and pulled out both of her flame swords. The flames were not as strong as usual but Gallif knew the burn threat was still there.
Gallif took both swords in her hands and met Marassa’s attacks head on.
Lincilara was in a full panic flying rapidly in circles around Marassa’s head. The distraction worked and Gallif was able to strike the older woman twice in the side and then back away as she recovered.
“Lincilara,” Gallif called. “Jakobus, Blinks, Luvin find!”
Reluctantly the fairy flew off as fast as her wings would carry her. Gallif was relieved that her friend was safe and concentrated on her enemy alone.
“Where’d you find your new friend?” Marassa asked deflecting an arc of Gallif’s attack.
“Right under your nose,” Gallif said looking at the casting stones hanging from Marassa’s necklace. She chopped over and down with her right sword and did the opposite with her left. Marassa countered and the swords collided above them. She also managed to hold off the lower attack but had to extend her reach to do so. Gallif took advantage with a push forward to knock her off balance. Marassa skidded back but refused to go down any further. They were close enough to feel the heat from the flame swords. Suddenly Marassa spun letting Gallif’s momentum bring her forward. Marassa slammed her shoulder in to Gallif and the women pushed against each other. Marassa tried to kick her but missed and Gallif struck Marassa’s arm with the handle of the sword in her left hand. Marassa shuddered and Gallif used her feet to push her away.
Marassa found her footing and turned back in time to stop Gallif from advancing further. She struck at her with both flame swords and hit Gallif’s bare arm with a glancing blow. Gallif took a few steps back but kept moving never taking her eyes off the other woman.
“You should have put defensive casts on your armor instead of attack casts on your swords,” Gallif taunted.
“I don’t need defensive casts, but you do. I still have what you need to stop what’s growing inside you.”
Gallif couldn’t help but laugh at her. “You mean the worthless salt? she asked jumping forward and striking Marassa’s leg. “That lie won’t work twice,” she said jabbing at her shoulder and parrying a glancing blow. “SALT,” she yelled in anger and struck with such an accurate and powerful blow Marassa had to duck to prevent herself from being decapitated. Marassa ran to one side and managed to put the small pond beneath them.
“Not so easy this time,” Gallif kept moving.
“You’re not good enough,” Marassa said matching her every step.
“Not so easy when there’s no curse on the handle of my sword,” Gallif announced glaring at her. “That was gone before we came inside.” There was a slight twitch in Marassa’s eyes and Gallif was unsure if she had known about the curse or not.
“I’m a caster. I have the advantage,” Marassa snapped back brandishing her flame swords.
“Your advantage is in the cast,” Gallif said matching her show of swords. “My advantage is determination.”
With that Gallif broke into a run to close the distance. Marassa left the pool and started running between rows of books. Gallif jumped as far as she could and managed to close the distance considerably. Marassa surprised her by suddenly stopping and holding both swords directly in front of her. Gallif deflected the points of the flame swords but the momentum made them crash into each other and fall to the floor. Gallif landed with her face close enough to the flames swords to see the groves on the blade. They rolled entangled for several seconds with each trying to get an advantage and rise. Marassa succeeded by elbowing Gallif in the jaw but the younger woman was fast enough to get out of the way before the flame swords struck her.
Gallif leapt to her feet and tried to advance but Marassa managed to hold off her attacks and stay out of reach. Gallif took a wide swing, but Marassa side stepped out of her way. She managed to hold her weapon before hitting any books. Marassa came running at her and Gallif ducked and rolled backward. They had switched positions and Gallif was now moving backwards.
Marassa aimed for Gallif’s right arm again but Gallif’s reflexes were faster. She slipped clear of the arc and the flame swords bounced against some of the books. The ground beneath them shuddered and they were both shocked by a painful moan that echoed through the library.
Gallif realized what was going on and quickly glanced over her shoulder. As she expected she could see the entrance to the library still quite some distance away. She used all of her strength to strike at Marassa then turned and ran before the wicked woman regained her orientation.
It was a full two minutes before she got to the exit of the library stopping just inside the doors. She could hear the rage and panting of the other woman not far behind her.
She turned to wait and tried to do the same trick Marassa had pulled on her. Unfortunately, Marassa was ready for her and came out with both swords swinging in alternating circles.
Gallif tried to counter the swings with one sword and strike inside with the other but Marassa was able to continue her pattern and knocked what would have been the frost sword out of Gallif’s grasp. Gallif dropped and rolled again to retrieve her weapon. Marassa was about to jab downward when Jakobus’s axe deflected the flame swords path. Wide eyed with anger Marassa stepped back to avoid getting caught between the two of them.
Gallif was quickly on her feet again and she and Jakobus followed Marassa as she backed away from them.
“You’re in the library, now,” Gallif said. “You’re in the library just like you wanted.”
“Yes,” Marassa said unsure of what Gallif was trying to do.
“I’ve seen some of what’s in there,” Gallif said.
Marassa refused to speak and took a few steps in Gallif’s direction while Jakobus retrieved his axe. In a surprise move she took a long leap backwards and savagely cut at Jakobus. One of the flame swords struck Jakobus in the left leg and the other in the chest plates of his armor. Gallif rushed forward to prevent another hit on the dwarf. His metal armor was strong, but the heat of the flame swords could do considerable damage.
Gallif swung at Marassa with both of her swords and intercepted a strike on her dwarven friend. Marassa separated
her swords and tried to cut at Gallif from both directions but Gallif countered the attack and pushed her back. She kept pushing until she was sure Jakobus was on his feet and had his axe in hand.
Marassa repeated her scissor attack but Gallif anticipated it was coming and prevented it again. This time she slid her swords down the shafts of Marassa’s weapons until she clearly felt them strike the hilts. Gallif swung her swords around and back again using Marassa’s own tactic on her. Marassa spit angrily as the blades cut into her arms and she withdrew.
“You can have the library if you want it. Do you want it?” Gallif taunted her.
“Not as much as I want you dead,” Marassa sneered back at her.
“If you wanted to you could have killed me when I was reading the book, Marassa,” Gallif said matching her gaze. “They must need me for something.”
Jakobus tried to circle behind her but Marassa was close enough to the outer wall there was no way for Jakobus to make it. She held her swords before her and dared them to come after her.
“They?” Marassa laughed. “They are nothing, I don’t need them, but you are valuable. With the knowledge inside here I will have all the power in the world; but, for now, there are people who want you for their own purposes.”
With a crash Blinks came out of the library with Lincilara close behind him. Gallif called for them to stay back, but Marassa took advantage of the distraction. Before they looked back at her she had returned one of her flame swords to her sheath and replaced it with the whip. Unsure of what her next move would be Gallif and Jakobus stopped advancing on her and Blinks and Lincilara stayed close behind them.
Gallif suddenly shuddered and dropped to her knees with her face cringing in pain and her hands on her belly. Marassa looked gleefully at her. Blinks tried moving forward to protect her but the snap of a whip against his chest halted him. Before Jakobus could move forward there was another snap of the whip followed by a high-pitched scream. Marassa reeled the whip back and gripped the small fairy in an iron tight clasp.