Gliding beside me was the woman who had stood by the Dewvera Leaf. She kept looking at me. It was hard for me not to just look right back. I had to keep moving my attention around, or else someone would notice. And how would I explain that I was just looking at a shadow woman? They would think I finally lost it. I concluded to myself. But I desperately wished to talk to her. She glanced at my cousins and aunts and uncles who were so oblivious. “It must be hard for you to see and hear and not be able to prove that to your blind companions.” She seemed amused to me. “I must say that I truly wish to know how you can so obviously see and hear. I can see from the look in your eyes that you wish to know the same. And more.” She smiled knowingly.
“Let us meet some other time in order to actually have a conversation, human. Sit by the large oak in the backyard of your home estate this evening. I will meet you there. Then we can have this conversation. Until then I bid you farewell.” She broke into hundreds of midnight black ribbons that streaked away into the darkness. Many of the other shadow people did the same, leaving only a quarter of them following us to the edge of the forest.
Cool. I have a date! I thought before considering the creeper aspect of the shadow’s words. Obviously it would know I was from the village, but how had it known about the large oak in the back of my home estate? Did they watch the village? If they did, then why hadn’t I seen them before this? Then another thought entered my mind I would have to hurry home tonight. Jay might want to walk home together, but perhaps I could claim to have some chores that I need to do before dinner and rush back... I plotted as we continued to walk.
The Clan Library was an old and dusty place despite the ongoing task of dusting in any spare moment. The front of the library wasn’t so bad. There were plenty of windows and lights and people, which meant there was plenty of activity that kept dust from building up. Plus, there were plenty of library assistants to clean away any that dared to build up in corners.
At a table in this livelier part of the library Jay and I had set up camp, so to speak. Our chosen spot was conveniently located in a quiet nook, near Uncle Lyrel’s desk so he could easily find me to go fetch a requested document from down in the Archive, and the hall that led to the stairs. I noticed that Jay had chosen a seat facing toward the hall but was also unable to easily look down its length. I thought it funny but didn’t say anything.
Supposedly the library was haunted. Especially down in the Archive. And I could see why people would think that, especially if they have an imagination… and want to creep themselves out. Downstairs is noticeably old and much dustier. Cleaning around books was a tad difficult given that water would damage them, and a strong blast of wind would just disorganize everything. So I and the other Library Assistants had to use mundane dusting tools… not that I and a few others could use magic yet. The point is we would never be able to use magical aid. Which was fine by me and caused the others to grumble.
A lot of that grumbling was a mask to cover their fear of being down there. Eventually, I realized what an opportunity this was. I convinced them to let me do all the dusting in the Archives. They thought it funny, potentially entertaining should I come screaming back upstairs and got them out of the creepy place to begin with. Its never been entertaining for them, but at least they didn’t have to go down there. And I found a haven. A haven full of mysteries, treasures of the knowledge kind, and peace.
And it was a deep peace. A soul-deep one I found in only one other place, the church. Which made sense considering that the two were connected. Not that any took advantage of the underground connection. In the back of the library and in the church, I had never once felt the terror of my tormentor. They were my true havens…
Which furthered confused me about why other people thought the back of the library was haunted. Perhaps the uneasiness most felt had more to do with the memories that clung to every page, cover, binding, and dust particle. That and the sure knowledge others now long dead had once walked through the same rows of shelves. And if they ran into a vision from beyond the grave, they were in trouble. According to popular lore, magic did nothing against ghosts. They were not physical and thus physical attacks were ineffectual. Which meant that if ghosts and the lore were true than even the most talented child of the Ano family would be as helpless against a ghost as a non-gifted.
Which in my opinion was something one needn’t ever worry about considering that a ghost wouldn’t be physical. How would a memory hurt you? But that was just my humble opinion.
“Going in the Archives really doesn’t bother you, does it?” Jay observed after my latest run to fetch a copy of History of Magic’s Guardians by Vim dae Bren and The Kings of Eldenhart by Thom dae Sorin. Both of which were favorites of Gerna dae Plavea to have students study over the winter months.
I sat back down in my spot with a shrug. “It's just dusty down there. I try to keep a handle on it, but it’s a large space. I don’t think the dust has much to do with ghosts.”
Jay sat back in his seat with an interesting mix of expressions on his face. I would guess he was incredulous, uneasiness, and confusion. “How is it that the scariest place in town doesn’t bother you one bit, but your own shadow causes you to have a panic attack?” I flinched and pulled away from him. “I’m not picking on you Kel. I’m not Mol or Lily. I just want to understand.” He said quickly.
I eyed him for a long moment, trying to decide if he was genuine or not. He looked earnest enough. And he was right. He wasn’t Mol or Lily or any of the others who made me need to seek out havens and run every day so I could outrun them should I ever need to. He was Jay who had asked me for help. I believed that he really was trying to understand. But how could I explain something that no one else could see? That no one else would believe existed? That I had spent most of my life trying to not think about least I call my Fear to me?
I ended up shrugging. “I don’t know why. I just like it. So how is it going?” I asked switching the focus to him.
The look he gave me told me that he didn’t find my answer to be enough and that we would probably return to this conversation later. “Slow.” He replied. “I’m…” he bit his lip looking down at the open book before him. “I’m not the fastest of readers.”
“Neither am I,” I said leaning over. Sure, I hadn’t taken too long to find the book requests and return to the front of the library, but he should have at least been able to turn to the next page. “Is the handwriting too hard to read?” I asked.
“Yes,” Jay answered quietly. “I can read print no problem, like what our textbooks are written in. But script…” He shook his head. “Not so much.”
I eyed the page before us. The script was beautiful, legible, and readable to me. But I was used to squinting at handwriting. Compared to some of the stuff I’ve read, this script was easy. It had been intended for others to read, unlike some journals and such. It was a teaching tool. But if one wasn’t used to reading script than I could understand Jay’s problem. Practice was really the only way I could think of that would help him to read script faster, but I didn’t want him to feel discouraged either.
“Here’s my suggestion, this is a really good herbal. Keep working with it. Going slow is better than no progress at all, and you have a better chance of not missing anything if you take your time. I will go see if I can’t find some others that are printed.”
Jay looked relieved at my words. “Thanks Kel.” He said going back to the script in front of him while I went to the card index. All the print stuff was in the front of the library… which was why I needed the extra help finding where stuff was. I found a few titles to look for and I went in that direction.
I was kneeling in the herbal section searching for the books on the bottom-most shelf because of course, they would be there when I felt a presence beside me. Suppressing a groan, I glanced up. I had been expecting one of the other assistants or someone else who wanted to make my day worse. Instead, I found myself looking up at an older woman with an appearanc
e of kindness instead of grouchiness towards us with fewer years. Good humor danced in her eyes. She wore the traditional gray-silver robes of a decently skilled wind mage. Based on her clothes I guessed she was so-and-so- dae Sorin.
As a member of the Plavea plant mages who were the lowest family in the hierarchy in the clan, it actually wasn’t too surprising that I didn’t know who this was. We were respected, but our power depended heavily on plant life while the other families drew more directly from the sun and were thus more powerful. While my father and mother were part of the council, I was not. I was not yet a mage, and thus I was to focus only on my studies and stay out of trouble.
I got to my feet as quickly as possible. Respect was respect after all. With a slight bow I inquired “Can I help you with something, ma’am?”
Oddly enough she didn’t reply. Instead, she smiled at me. She looked at me with pride. I shifted awkwardly. Finally, she spoke. “I’m sorry, lad. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just – so good to see you.” She reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder. It was such a gentle touch that I could barely feel it. I could feel the coldness of her hand better than I could feel the weight of her hand. “Study hard, grow strong in faith and body, and be the courageous lad I know you are. I will see you again.” She then placed a gentle yet cool kiss on my forehead and then walked away.
Chapter 6
Back at the table, I rubbed the spot where the strange dae Sorin had kissed me. Jay was too busy taking notes on the print herbals I brought back to notice. I was trying to focus on the script herbal Jay had been reading. He promised he would come back to it tomorrow, his eyes just hurt from trying to decipher the handwriting.
“Alright everyone. Either check out your materials or come back tomorrow.” Uncle Lyrel announced from his desk. I blinked up at him before turning my eye to the clock. Time had gotten away from me again. There was a small rush as people approached the front desk to either check-out materials or ask that it be held for them to work with tomorrow. A few other library assistants were already busy with the task of helping Uncle Lyrel out.
I turned to Jay. “You want to check that out or put it on hold?” I asked.
“I’ll check this one out. Can we reserve the rest?” he said tucking his notes into the book he had been working from and closing it.
“I don’t see why not. Let’s get in line.” I replied. We didn’t have that many books out, though I could have easily loaded the table with them. I figured eight books had been quite controlled on my part. I didn’t want to scare Jay away… but he had still looked surprised at the stack of books I had brought over.
The line winnowed down quickly. Those at the desk were quick and efficient. They also wanted to go home to dinner as quickly as possible. Jay and I were taken care of quickly and we were out the door with his single print herbal in hand. I had the script herbal and another book on elementals. Again, tame on my part. Extremely tame. The assistant on duty had given me an odd look when he saw the two books before me.
“Are you feeling okay?” My cousin Leef had asked checking out my selections. It did not take him long to do.
I shrugged. “I have chores to do tonight. Doesn’t leave much time for reading.”
“You read all the books you normally check out in an evening?”
“Mostly,” I replied. He shook his head, a look of disbelief on his face. I collected my books and tucked them into my bag. I felt kind of weird not laden down with more books than just the two. Everything felt too light. I didn’t just read the books. I also ran with them in my backpack. My muscles might have hated me in the beginning, but they have gotten used to it. Now they complained things were too light.
There is just no satisfying some things. I thought amused, reminding myself that I hadn’t forgotten something because the bag was light. It still felt odd though.
“How many books do you normally check out?” Jay asked as we left the Library.
I thought about it for a second. “Normally eight to fourteen.”
Jay gaped at me. “I’m afraid to ask but… how many books do you normally pull out to study at the library?” he asked hesitantly.
I just grinned at him. “More than I did today, I’ll tell you that.” I glanced at the sun before saying. “Hey, I’m sorry to do this to you, but I need to hurry home now. I have some chores to do. See you tomorrow.” I said before running toward the Plavea Estate. I heard Jay yell ‘see ya,’ but I didn’t stop.
The lightness of my pack made me feel very light, which made running easier. I felt like I was flying. Thankfully the streets weren’t too crowded. Even so, people still called after me for rushing about. I needed to be more careful, according to them. I didn’t even come near to causing anyone an issue. Whatever.
The Plavea Estate consists of a large mansion made of stone. Artful growths of flowering ivy climbed the walls. Before the stately building was a wide brown brick walkway edged with white round stones. Beyond those on either side are some of the most beautiful gardens in the world. They surrounded the house with a lush sea of green and brilliant, living color. Butterflies, Flower Fairies, hummingbirds, and bees made the extensive gardens their home.
I stepped off the main path far short of the door and started making my way through the garden paths. While this way was winding, it was, in fact, faster than going through the house would have been. Going through the house meant actually getting assigned chores. While I did have some assigned chores to complete, I could get them done quickly. And later.
All day since meeting the fascinating shadow people I have been both nervous and excited about meeting with the one. And now it was almost time.
I managed to reach the back gardens without getting nabbed by any of my gardening relations. I was quiet and they had been engrossed in gossip and their work. I love when people are distracted. The back was mostly vegetable and herb gardens. Some of the said plants were quite lovely, but many were not that spectacular in appearance, just in their usefulness for mundane and magical reasons. Because of that, they were in the back. And lording over the back was a massive oak tree.
Many called it the Lord of the Garden. And while it wasn’t a Tree Lord, there was something wise about it. Many often sought a shady spot under its boughs to spend a lazy moment thinking or dreaming. More adventurous folks would climb it. It didn’t ever seem to mind. We were just children who came and went as the tree continued on. The shade it cast was cool and deep. And quite wide given the reach of the branches.
I found a deeply shaded spot far away from the few relations who were enjoying the shade. One was napping and the other two were sketching. None of them saw me as I had come from the opposite side from the one they were facing. People from the house wouldn’t really see me either since the tree blocked me from sight.
I found a comfortable perch and sat down facing the wall surrounding the estate and its vast garden. Beyond that wall loomed the Old Wood. It was always there, just watching. Or rather, just waiting for the foolish to live up to their name and doing what it had been doing for ages: living.
Waiting for my shadowy visitor, I pulled out the elemental book I had borrowed to see if I couldn’t find any hint as to what type of elemental she was. A gentle laugh whispered in my ear “Oh silly human, you won’t find my people in that book.” I was told as I jumped, barely catching the book before it hit the ground. I turned to see her in the deepest shadow at the trunk of the oak. Only her top half was defined, the rest was lost to the deeper shadows. As if she was connected to it.
My hand rested over my thumping heart, willing it to calm and stay in my chest where it belonged. “Don’t do that!” I hissed. “You nearly scared me to death.”
Her hand covered her smiling mouth as she tried to hide her mirth. But truly, it was a failed endeavor with her eyes glinting with amusement. “It was not my intent to scare you… but the opportunity was too good to pass up. You were so focused.”
I growled under my breath. Nothing
intelligible, mind. But it was enough to amuse her further. I sat down so I was facing the tree and my guest. The book was safe in my lap. “What do you mean that I wouldn’t find your people in this book? It is comprehensive.”
“I’m sure it is.” She replied becoming even more defined as she sat in my original spot. Thief…
“Then why wouldn’t your people be in it?” I pressed.
She shrugged. “You are the first human I’ve ever heard of in these recent days to see me and my kin. Since that is the case, I doubt your book would mention us. Humans only write about what they can see… or somehow interact with. Normally there are no interactions between mine and yours.”
“Not in recent times. So what about in the past?” I asked. “Did your elders tell you anything?”
She nodded. “They did. Its been a few hundred years since any of them could remember a human seeing a Sha’meir.”
“Your people are called the sha’meir?” I asked my companion. She nodded. “Do your people have individual names?” I asked realizing that I had been kind of rude neglecting introduction.
My companion chuckled. “We do have individual names, Kel. Mine is Nimla.”
I stared at her, feeling truly nervous for the first time. “How do you know my name?”
“I have ears, Kel Plavea. Your cousin called your name back by the brook.” Nimla frowned thoughtfully at me. “It strikes me as strange that you are of the Plavea family when the last person the elders remember seeing us was of the Sorin family. Are you by any chance related to them?”
Lore Rune (Rune Trilogy Book 1) Page 4