by J C Gilbert
"What now?" asked Lilly. We were ducked behind a pillar, regarding the scene as Ravens charged their weapons and fired. Chyron, the Ram caster, was on the ground. We watched as he gathered up the last of his strength and fired at the Rose. Nothing happened. He collapsed, unmoving.
"Well, unless you can fly?" I asked, exasperated.
"Funny you should mention that," said Lilly. She held her hand forward and opened up her palm revealing a small purple petal shaped gem.
"Where did you get that?" I asked.
Lilly shrugged, "it was on the armor I was wearing. I figured it could come in handy."
"Does it work?" I asked.
Lilly nodded.
"It should be me," I said, "I have The Library. I'll get over there, take the Rose, and then come back for you when it is safely with the Librarian.
There was a crash. A figure was flung into the space. It skidded along the flagstones and then fell into one of the gaps. They caught at the edge and scrambled to pull themselves up. It was Darion, the former patriarch of the Rams. I wondered where Martin was now,
Kuyr landed just in front of Darion. He bent down in a crouch. With a great taloned hand, he carefully lifted up one of Darion's fingers. "I think this is the piggy that went to the market," said Kuyr. "People always seem to picture the piggy as waltzing off, basket in hand to gather supplies. That's not what going to market means when you are a piggy, I'm afraid."
"What are you talking about?" asked a puzzled Darion.
"Oh, hello," said Kuyer. With a swift movement, he buried his clawed foot into Darion's face with a sickening crunch. Darion fell to a lower floor with a thud. That's when Kuyr seemed to notice the Rose.
"There you are," said Kuyr, affectionately.
Kuyr started for the dais on which the glowing purple flower sat. But no sooner had he taken flight than another figure descended from above. It was Trist.
"Don't be a hero!" said Lilly, moving to get up. I pulled her back down.
"You don't be a hero either."
"What are we going to do, watch?"
"We need to get to the dais," I said.
But my gaze was pulled towards the figure. My heart sank for Trist. He had no idea what he was going to be up against.
"You and I are going to be good friends," said Trist. This caught my attention, and I stopped.
"I don't normally eat my friends," said Kuyr, "but for you, I will make an exception. You are not from around here, are you?"
"Not really," said Trist. He withdrew something that was clipped to his belt. A contained blue beam erupted from one end.
"Is that a lightsaber?" asked Lilly.
"Similar but not the same," I said. "There seemed to be some sort of electrical current running up and down the blade.
"That's good because Disney would be all over that infringement."
"Still, why does he have it? It isn't magical, I can tell that."
"You can? How?"
"I don't know. Library thing, I guess. Come on."
The two figures continued to speak as we weaved our way through the rubble, looking for a way to the dais. I didn't want to use Lilly's stone petal unless I had to. Wings would surely draw attention to me, attention we could not afford.
"Interesting," said Kuyr, "perhaps you would have made a good friend. Ah, well." Kuyr leaped at Trist, claws forward. Trist parried the blow with his sword. Lightning crawled over Kuyr's body and he screamed with rage.
"You don't really want to get hit by this," said Trist.
"I'll make your death a slow one!" spat Kuyr. With a few choice beats of his wings, he flew upward into the night, turned about and then plummeted towards Trist. Trist tried to dodge but looked like he was still getting the hang of his new wings. Kuyr caught him by the shoulder and careered him into the ground. Trist cried out in pain.
We were close to the dais now, and there seemed to be a clear path before us. Lilly and I exchanged looks and then ran forward. But before we had gone far, Kuyr was back on the roof. We dived for cover. The look in his eyes was manic, even more manic than before if that were possible.
"This is going to be a lot of fun, " he said.
Just then a shadow flew up below. Trist was not done. He lunged at Kuyr with his sword. Kuyr looked at him calmly. He easily dodged Trist's approach. With one talon he grabbed for Trist's sword arm and the other for his throat.
"I'll be taking this," he said. He dug his claws into Trist's wrist, causing the sword to drop to the ground and go out. "Now, let's see how much you like how this feels."
Kuyr picked up the sword handle with one great talon and activated its beam. His face was terrible in the dancing blue light.
Still holding Trist by the throat, Kuyr tossed him into the air and swung the sword at him like it were a baseball bat. For an instant, Trist was lit up in blue lightning. He did not scream, and must have passed out from Kuyr's grip. His body flew, limp through the air, and thudded into the flagstones next to where we hid.
"Don't be dead, you shit," said Lilly, "what is it with you people today. Alex, he's not breathing."
"We have bigger problems, Lilly, " I said steadily.
"You are the one with problems," she spat.
I turned my attention back to Kuyr. We were too late. He was at the dais. With a great tug, he ripped the Rose of the Raven from its place and held it up. He smiled. "Time to play," he said. Purple light erupted from between his fingers.
Just then, thousands of little stone eggs began to hatch.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Small beams of purple light crept through the cracks in the little eggs. "We need to go!" said Lilly.
I couldn't believe it. I had failed. We had been so close, and I failed. "There must be something I can do!" I protested.
"There is!" said Lilly, "but we need to get back to The Library."
"What do you mean?"
"I have a plan," she said.
"Fine," I said, opening up The Book of Martin.
"Trist is coming too," said Lilly.
"The Librarian isn't going to like that," I said.
"He is going to die if we don't help him," she insisted.
"Fine." I read the first line, and we fell into the pages. The darkness fell away, and we were once more wrapped in that storm of paper which carried us from world to world.
We landed not far from The Library's Heart. Trist was unconscious. "Librarian!" yelled Lilly. There was a thud-thud as the eight-foot gorilla came galloping towards us.
"What is it, is she hurt?" asked the Librarian. Then she saw me, standing as I was over Trist's body.
"I'm a little hurt, I guess," I said.
"It's Trist," said Lilly, "he was struck with - I don't know what it was. Help him, he's not breathing."
The Library's black cat jumped on top of Trist where he lay. It growled at the winged man.
"And who is Trist?" asked the Librarian, then remembering herself, she shooed the cat off, gently picked up the limp body, and carried it away down through the rows of books.
"Not quite human, I see," said the Librarian examining his charred wings.
"Its a spell," I said, "powered by the Rose of the Raven."
"Curious that it should still be in effect now that he has left that world," she said thoughtfully.
"Hurry," said Lilly.
The Librarian laid Trist out on a table in a marble tiled room. I had never been here before. It seemed to be a Grecian temple on the top of a hill. There was an expanse of green pasture in all directions. I knew better though than to trust in the illusions of The Library.
"Pass me that bag," said the Librarian, gesturing to a small brown satchel upon a low marble desk. Lilly did as she was bid. The Librarian took out a silvery glove. For a moment she looked like she was going to put it on, but thinking better of it she handed it to Lilly.
"Here," she said, "slip this on."
"What is it?" she asked, feeling her fingers into the delicate fabric.
; "It is a Grace Glove," said the Librarian. This might drain you a bit, so have a seat. Alex?"
I pulled up a chair for Lilly, and she sat down.
"I'm totally Arwen right now," she said. "What do I do?"
"I think you just glide your hand over him, sort of this way and that."
"What do you mean you think?" asked Lilly, alarmed.
"Look, I've never done this before. I watched Tabatha a few times. I think she sort of just sent good thoughts or something. She was always going on about good thoughts."
Lilly looked worried. "You will do fine," I said.
She took a breath and then focused. At first, nothing seemed to happen, and then Trist began to glow.
"I hope I'm not cooking you," said Lilly with a sideways look at me.
Trist gasped, heaving as he did so. He then began to shake violently. "Hold him," said Lilly. The Librarian gently pressed her massive hands onto Trist's armored shoulders. After a few moments, his nervous system seemed to calm. He looked like he was in a deep sleep.
"Did we do it? Is he OK?" asked Lilly.
"I think he is going to be fine, child," said the Librarian. "I can't say the same for his world, though."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"It's lost. Look at the book."
I took the book from my bag. It was charred and destroyed. I couldn't even read the front cover. "They are all dead," I said. "But Lilly, you said you had an idea?"
Lilly looked guilty. "I'm sorry. It was the only way I could get you to leave. It's over, Alex."
"You can't save them all," said the Librarian. "Best you rest up. There are more troubles ahead for you."
I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. Only moments before I was in a world teeming with life, a beautiful world with sunsets and people and fish swimming in the shallows. How could it all be gone?
A deep sadness welled up from my innermost being. I felt like a complete failure. Poor Mary, I thought. She couldn't even have her last thoughts with a clear mind. One thing was sure though, the worlds were safe from Kuyr. That was something.
That night I dreamed, I'm sure I dreamed. They were fitful dreams of dark places and manic grins. I'm sure I dreamed. When I woke, I felt like I had grown years older.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
It felt like the life had been drained out of me. I didn't want to move, didn't want to eat, didn't want to think. Above all else, I didn't want to have those images flash before my eyes and have those feelings of guilt well up over and over. Sometimes I saw the face of Mary when she first found out that her father had died, sometimes I saw Martin's face, or Kuyr's. But what haunted me the most were the faces of the people of Kanboor. All those people had been living their lives with their worries, concerns, and miracles, and now they were all gone. They were more than dead.
I thought about how I felt in the market when we first arrived at the city and cringed over how rude I had been to them all. They were just people, all just people. They only wanted to make their way in the world, only wanted to live.
I let them all down.
The Librarian had solemnly placed the book on a shelf of its own. I didn't ask her why it needed a shelf on its own because I knew what it meant. It meant that The Book of Martin would soon have company on that shelf. It meant that others would be lost.
I went through the motions of life and school. It was like I was living in a fog now. Thursday came, and I was just preparing to spend another evening alone in my room with my thoughts when Mom called me down.
"Alex! Can you please come help Jonny with his homework?"
She appeared at the door, fighting to get an earring into her earlobe.
"You out again?"
"Mrs. Stephenson is-" she started.
"It's fine, I'll help."
Mom gave me a sad smile. "Thanks, Alex. I'll come by for a bit of a chat later if you like?"
"Don't worry about it," I said in reply. How could I talk to Mom about what happened? I couldn't. She probably thought my mood was to do with boys or something. I let her think that.
"If you are sure," she said.
I dragged myself off my bed and downstairs toward the kitchen table where Jonny sat hunched over his work. I wondered vaguely what he was doing with his pencil because I was fairly certain it would have nothing to do with his homework. I never did get out of him why he had been so spooked the other week. I thought it best just to leave Jonny to be Jonny.
When I got to the table, he was hard at work, but the paper was covered. "What is it today?" I asked, trying to sound cheerful.
Jonny looked up, startled. "Oh," he said, trying to turn over the paper. He wasn't fast enough because for a moment I saw what looked to be a series of graphs and lines in pencil.
"What was that," I asked, puzzled.
"Its nothing," said Jonny, "It's just- like- patterns." He turned the paper back over and showed me. Sure enough, it looked like patterns. It reminded me of a design schematic, the sort you always see on blue paper in the movies.
"It's very nice," I said, frowning.
"Thanks," he said hesitantly.
Underneath the lines, I could see his homework. It had all the answers filled in. They looked like they had all been done correctly. "Did Mom help you with this?" I asked.
Jonny shrugged.
"Alright," I said, turning the paper again in my hand.
***
I was walking home from school on Friday when I got to thinking about the Cheathr Ark. I had taken to carrying it around in my pocket. As far as I knew the Librarian didn't know I still had it, and I could probably have snuck it back into the Lower Vault easy enough, but it was just too good an escape for me to give up so quickly. Anyway, so I was thinking about the stone and how it worked when I was struck with an idea which made me stop in my tracks.
The stone worked by focusing my attention on its core essence, the way many magical artifacts worked. What if I tried to use that same focus to get back into The Book of Martin?
Hope kindled in my chest.
It was a long shot, but I was willing to grasp at anything. I immediately changed course and started to head to Lilly's house.
I arrived at Lilly's house, almost completely out of breath. I paused for a moment and then knocked. Lilly answered with raised eyebrows. I smiled the biggest smile I had had all week.
Once in her room, I pleaded my case.
"We have to try," I said, desperately.
"It's over, you heard the Librarian. Look, I'll come with you to check on Trist, but I think you need to let this go."
Lilly let me in, and we walked up to her bedroom. I was greeted by the familiar scent of incense and the ever-crowded shelves of Lilly's den.
Once we were inside, we were immediately approached by the Librarian. "I don't mean to pressure you, or anything Keeper, but I haven't seen that much of you recently, and the worlds are in quite a bit of danger. I mean, I don't like to mention it, but we did just lose one world, and I'm rather keen on not losing any more this month."
"We will be right on it," I said, trying to hide the hope which danced in my heart. "Just need to check on Trist.
The three of us made our way through the winding and ever changing corridors of The Library at the center of the universe. "I've seen no change, I'm afraid," said the Librarian. "Don't get keep your hopes up. It seems that whatever it was that struck him - "
"Trist!" called Lilly as we entered the temple. He was sitting up in his bed, looking around, confusion hanging in his looks.
"Lilly? Hey. where am I?"
"That's a long story," said Lilly.
"We have some bad news, I'm afraid," said the Librarian.
"What the shit -" blurted Trist at the sight of the Librarian. He fell off his bed, collided with the floor and yelped in pain.
"Oh come off it," said the Librarian, "what is it with you people and gorillas? We are perfectly nice people."
"Sorry, it's just where I'm from -"
"I mean, we would, but gorillas you see-" started Trist, "gorillas, they cant -"
"Don't worry about it," said the Librarian, turning to go with a sigh. "I'll put the jug on."
"I'm so glad you are OK," said Lilly, staring at Trist intently.
"What's this about bad news?" he asked, trying to avoid Lilly's gaze.
"Don't worry about that," said Lilly.
"The last thing I remember was - my sword, where is my sword?"
"Kuyr struck you with it," I said. "He has it now."
"Then I shouldn't be alive," said Trist flatly.
"Ingrate," muttered Lilly.
"I'm serious. That sword is lights out. There's no coming back."
"Lilly brought you back," I said.
He regarded her with suspicion. "Thank you," he said, hesitating. "But if Kuyr has my sword then that's a big problem." He winced in pain and lay back again.
"Not only that, but he has the Rose of the Raven too."
"Then we need to get it back now," said Trist. "Where are we again?"
"It's a secret place," I said, "I think we can go back now, but I need to try something. I'm very sorry, but we are going to have to blindfold you."
"Go Alex," said Lilly, raising one eyebrow.
I ignored her and looked about for something which would serve as a blindfold. My eyes rested on a white scarf on one of the tables. I wondered if it had always been there or if this were another example of The Library providing what was needed.
Trist did not seem at all keen on having his eyes covered but did as I asked. "Alright," he said, "can't see your secrets now."
"Excellent, hold tight," I said.
"You really think this can work?" asked Lilly in a whisper. I could hear the hope dancing in her tones.
"I can still hear you, you know," said Trist, "blindfolds don't block sound. Or at least, this one doesn't."