by K A Riley
“Wait—you were the one who set the whole thing up?” I asked, recalling my terror when I’d seen Charlie’s and Rufus’s glowing eyes on High Street. “But how…?”
He nodded, a sly smile crinkling the crow’s feet surrounding his expressive eyes. “Guilty as charged. Though it took a lot out of me. Casting the Old Magic across worlds isn’t easy, you know.”
I stared in awe. “You’re a wizard,” I breathed. “You’re some kind of freaking inter-dimensional Gandalf.”
“I have no idea what a Gandalf is, but suffice it to say that I use the gifts of my bloodline, as you did to get here.” Merriwether sidled over to position himself next to me, gesturing broadly to the lands around us. “I’m sure you’d like to know why it is that you’ve been called to this place,” he said. “A place that remains largely untouched, peaceful, quiet. Much like your little town of Fairhaven. For now.”
“For now?” I asked. “You’re telling me this place and Fairhaven are going to change?”
“I’m telling you exactly that, yes. Unless the coming war is stopped in its tracks.”
“War?” With the utterance of the word I found my fingers trembling. I’d stepped through a door into something so much bigger than I’d ever imagined, something momentous and terrifying. “War against the Waergs?”
“The Waergs are merely agents of the enemy,” Merriweather explained. With another sweep of his hand, the landscape began to alter. Lush green grass turned brown, then black. The charming thatch-roofed cottages in the distance turned to ash and blew away, littering the sky with ominous, dark gray snowflakes. Even as I watched, the feeling of profound calm that had settled deep inside me turned first to sorrow, then abject terror. An apocalyptic scene was unfolding before me to reveal the horror of pure destruction.
Then the ash blew away, and the hills around us, too. In their place, the town of Fairhaven shimmered to life. High Street, with the Commons on one side, the row of friendly shops on the other. I puffed out a sharp exhalation, relieved to see a familiar, happy sight. But just as it had happened to the Otherwhere, Fairhaven began to burn, to crumble to dust before my eyes. Fires raged here and there, the ancient trees in the Commons stripped of their leaves and incinerated, turning to black, skeletal remains of their former selves before crumbling to the earth.
“Who would make this happen?” I asked, tasting foul ash on my tongue as I fought back tears. “And why?”
“The why is simple: Because she thrives on chaos,” Merriwether said bitterly.
“And the who?”
“They call her the Mistress.”
The Library
The Mistress.
The word sent a shiver trembling down the middle of my back. The last time I’d heard it was in the dark alley in Fairhaven, on the lips of the strange and terrible man who’d tried—and failed—to take the key from me last night.
“Who is she?” I asked. “Why would she want to destroy such a peaceful place?”
Merriwether swept his hand over the air once again, and the world around us altered for a third time. The ruins of Fairhaven disappeared, and green hills cropped up on all sides of us, a mesmerizing sight causing me to exhale a sigh of relief.
“Her servants call her the Mistress. But we call her the Usurper Queen,” the Headmaster said. “She stole the throne some time ago, though we’ve managed to keep her forces at bay for many years. But she’s rising in power again. She’s been building massive armies, capable of ravaging this land as well as your own. Which is why you—and others like you—have been summoned to the Academy to fight alongside our own forces. We need one of your kind—a Seeker—to help us take her power from her.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I don’t quite understand. Even if I was selected—even if I somehow won these Trials you’ve mentioned, how could I possibly help you to take her power?”
“Because it’s a Seeker’s fate,” Merriwether replied. He tilted his head like a curious dog before adding, “But of course you don’t understand. Why would you? This will require some explanation, and visual cues would be helpful. So please, close your eyes.”
I stared at him, confused as to how I was supposed to receive visual cues if my eyes were sealed shut.
He let out an impatient sigh and said, “Just do it. Please. Trust me.”
I wasn’t exactly in the mood or the position to trust a total stranger. On the other hand, he seemed honest enough. Plus, he knew Callum. And, on top of that, if he really wanted to harm me, he could have done so in a million ways by now, all with my eyes wide open. I did a quick mental calculation and figured my chances of being hacked to pieces by this guy were pretty low, so I closed my eyes.
Just not all the way.
“No peeking,’ he said, sounding slightly annoyed. “It won’t work unless you’re fully accessing your mind’s eye.”
“Okay, fine,” I sighed, clamping my eyes tight, my fists in a ball just in case I needed to throw a couple of punches in self-defense.
With my eyes closed, Merriwether continued, “Picture the inside of a large, many-levelled library, open at its center, with wrought iron spiral staircases on either side. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“The expansive room is capped with a vast stained-glass dome. Carved into a series of stone columns supporting its levels are fire-breathing dragons and sword-wielding warriors clad in armor, fighting armies of wolves and other beasts. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“When you walk into the space, you smell leather and oak, and a feeling of familiarity permeates your mind…despite the fact you’re quite sure you’ve never seen anything like this before. Got it?”
“Leather and oak. Got it.”
As I answered him, an image unfolded in my mind as though I was opening up a large map, each square foot springing to life as I directed my gaze around the space. But even as I looked at one section, another would disappear.
“I’m picturing it, I think,” I said. “But I’m not sure I’ve got it right. It feels…incomplete. Like I can only see it in bits and pieces.”
“Open yourself to the idea of the library,” Merriwether said softly, his voice floating its way into my ears. “Invite the place into your mind, rather than trying to create it from scratch. Feel its wholeness, its existence, in your blood. Images of scholars, hanging on the walls. Books bound in leather. Glowing lamps on long tables, lighting the place warmly for readers. Feel the place, rather than merely thinking of it. Know how real it is, and it will become real.”
I did as he asked, trying desperately to open myself to the possibility I might conjure such a place from nothing. It started out as an impossible task. Then an improbable one.
But after a few more seconds, it didn’t seem quite so daunting anymore. In fact, the feeling of creation, the idea of me conjuring an entire environment from scratch felt kind of…right.
“I’ve got it,” I said quietly after a time, scared to disturb the totality of what I’d created.
“Good, good,” Merriwether said. “Now, bring us there.”
I popped my eyes open, shattering the illusion like a crystal glass. “Bring us there?”
Merriwether nodded. “That’s what I said, isn’t it? You are a Seeker of the Blood-Born, after all, but you’re not only that. You are a Summoner of Doors. Unless you don’t think you have it in you to transport yourself all the way to the Academy…”
“Of course I have it in me!” I shot out defensively before clapping my mouth shut. Fortunately, the look on the old man’s face told me he was amused by my determination rather than annoyed at my outburst.
“Sorry,” I said. “I just need a moment to find it again.”
I closed my eyes for the second time and pictured myself standing once again in the massive library. My mind filled with everything from the scent of wood polish to the detail in the stained-glass ceiling and its rainbow of scholars, dragons, knights…and something he hadn’t mentioned: a large, gray castle-like st
ructure, perched on the edge of a cliff.
“The library where we’re going,” I breathed, “it’s inside the Academy?”
“Yes, it is.”
A smile made its way across my lips. Merriwether might have been right—maybe when I’d first opened the dragon door and stepped through, it was with rage and revenge on my mind. But now all I wanted was to find the place where there were others like me. A place where the entire purpose of being was to make the world a better place. To fight against people like this one they called the Mistress.
When I opened my eyes again, a new door hovered in the air before me. This time it was crafted out of pure white wood, an open book carved elegantly into its face. I was certain I could see letters and words floating nebulously in the air above the book’s pages, but each time I tried to focus on them, they disappeared into the ether like clouds of vapor on a cold day.
Without a word, I pulled the key from the chain around my neck and unlocked the door, pushing it open and passing through with Merriwether right behind me. When we were both inside, the door fizzled away behind us, leaving no evidence it had ever existed.
Just as Merriwether had described, a vast room stretched out before me, with long, tall shelves leading in every direction, each of them covered from top to bottom in leather-bound tomes. On the main floor in the center of the space was a series of long tables, lit with what looked like magically hovering oil lamps. On either side of the enormous space, iron spiral staircases rose ten stories into the air with a landing at each level.
Fiery chandeliers bobbed weightless overhead, mid-way up the interior of the enormous chamber, lighting the place with an orange glow that brought to mind the fires my family used to enjoy in our living room in the winter. A sense of bliss filled me, and I inhaled the scent of the space. I’d always loved being surrounded by books, and this library was like a finely-crafted dream of my own making. I couldn’t help wondering if it had been designed to calm nervous newcomers like me.
“As your powers increase, you’ll find that you can move very quickly between destinations,” Merriwether told me as he led me to the base of one of the spiral staircases and began to hike up. “Summoning will soon be second nature to you.”
“Excuse me. You said my powers will increase?”
“Yes. Your abilities as a Seeker. You will continue to change in the days to come.”
“Could one of my powers be the power to not throw up?” I asked, my arms clamped around my stomach. “Because I think I might be about to lose my lunch.”
Merriwether laughed like I’d told a knee-slapper, but I was totally serious. I was dizzy from seeing so much with my eyes closed, freaked out about how real it felt, and shaking from the fear that if I followed this path, I could die at the hands of the Mistress. But if I went back to Fairhaven, I could die of regret, which might be just as bad—if not worse.
“Don’t worry,” Merriwether said, stopping on the stairs to give me a reassuring pat to my shoulder. “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t supposed to be.”
“Can all Seekers do this thing?” I asked. “I mean, is calling up doors the special Seeker power or something?”
Merriwether stopped climbing again and turned my way. “No. They don’t all have your gifts. Nor do you have all of theirs—though you may find one day soon that you have more gifts than most. Now come with me. I want to show you something.”
I wanted to ask him what gifts he was talking about. What was it I could supposedly do, other than conjure doors to mysterious places in my mind?
As we continued to climb up the multitude of stairs, the chandeliers climbed with us, glowing beacons lighting our way. It was only when we’d gone up six or so levels that I realized we were alone in the library. Not a soul was stirring, rifling through books, or sitting at the tables far below. For some reason, we had the place entirely to ourselves.
“You’re wondering why no one is here,” Merriwether told me as if in answer to the question I hadn’t asked. “Why this place is empty, when it should be swarming with curious students.”
“Sort of, yes,” I replied. “I mean, if I had access to a place like this, I’d be here all the time.”
Once again, though, the Headmaster declined to explain anything. Instead, he guided me the rest of the way up the curving stairway. When we’d finally reached the top level, he led me over to a glass display case stretching almost the entire length of the library. Inside was a lengthy piece of parchment, and on it was a long, straight line drawn in ink, with symbols at various points that seemed to denote moments in history.
“What are these?” I asked, pointing to what looked like a series of dates. They were marked with arrows and words like “Selection XXIV,” “The Fall of the Dragons,” “The Usurping.”
“Those are important points in the history of the Otherwhere,” Merriwether replied. “The symbol that looks like a small circle marks an Opening.”
“Opening? Of what?”
“Of the portals that join this world to yours. I told you that not all Seekers can do what you can—your gift enables you to move freely between our two realms. But others rely on the Portals, which open every half-century or so. Unfortunately, the enemy also relies on them.”
“What for?”
“Many, many years ago, when a man known as the Crimson King was in power, he cast a spell that opened a series of doors between our worlds. For a time, his forces moved into your lands. Armies that would conquer entire territories. Dragons, even.”
“Dragons? But dragons aren’t real. They’re just in stories and movies and…oh, no. You’re going to tell me they’re real, aren’t you?”
Merriwether raised an eyebrow. “The old stories—the ones that seem so far-fetched now—come from a time when dragons, allied with men, flew through your skies.”
“Allied? But I thought…”
“You thought they flew around terrorizing humans,” Merriwether said with a sigh.
“Well, yeah.” I couldn’t help recalling my dream in which a horrifying flying beast had opened its giant mouth to unleash hell on me. The creature didn’t exactly scream adorable puppy dog.
“The truth is, for a time, the dragons and our people worked side by side toward a common cause. When they were in your lands, it was as protectors. Protectors of treasure, of armies.”
“So what happened to them?”
“An enemy of the Crimson King began to threaten his reign. He had no choice but to bring his forces back to the Otherwhere…and that included the dragons, who fought in his army. Many were killed, others enslaved, and the bond between dragon and human was severed.”
“Are there still dragons? Here, I mean?” I asked, looking around and half-expecting a giant fire-breathing lizard to melt a hole in the wall.
“There are,” Merriwether said. “But you won’t find them friendly. Most of them, anyway. There are, of course, men who can transform into dragon-kind, but that’s something I’ll leave you to learn about on your own time, as we don’t have all day.”
“Wait—hold on…” I gasped. “Did you just say there are men who can turn into—”
But Merriwether shot me a look that told me I’d be wise to stop asking questions.
“You have been wondering what’s been happening to you since your birthday,” the Headmaster said. “You’re trying to sort out why strangers have been pursuing you, threatening you. Why the key you have in your possession is so very important.”
I nodded. “Maybe just a little bit, yeah.”
“The Portals I mentioned—the ones between our worlds—as I said, they open every half-century or so, thanks to a spell the Crimson King set in place long ago. In times of peace, it’s not a bad thing. But now we have a tyrannical queen in power, and leaving the Portals open makes both our worlds vulnerable to infiltration. There is only one way to seal them again, which brings me to you.”
“Me?” I asked, my hands and legs trembling.
Merriwether nodded
. “Every fifty years, the Seeker selected at the end of the Trials is given an important task: locate the Relics of Power.”
“And those are—?”
“Four objects scattered throughout your world and our own. They were hidden centuries ago, during the days of the dragons. They are the only things that enable us to seal the portals and protect the Academy.”
“I don’t get it. You said a Seeker looks for these objects every fifty years?”
“I did.”
“But if a Seeker already found them, why search over and over again?”
“Because the objects fade, as does their power,” Merriwether said. “Like melting ice, they each wane over time and finally disappear and find their way to a new hiding place. At that point, a new Seeker must be selected to find them, and the cycle begins again. It’s our only way of keeping the peace and maintaining order.”
I let out a long, slow breath. This was a lot to take in, and my brain was starting to hurt.
“Don’t worry, Vega,” Merriwether said. “Your only job at the moment is to decide if you wish to stay here, to train, to compete in the Trials. After that, we can worry about saving the world.”
“I see. But you said there are other Seekers—other Candidates. I have to assume they’d be better than me at that particular job. I mean, you may find this hard to believe, but I have literally zero experience saving the world.”
Merriwether let out a chuckle. “Yes. There are twelve other Candidates, each with powerful gifts. Though it would be a pity to see you give in before you’ve so much as tried. You are, after all, one of the Blood-Born. You have it in you to be one of the best. Just like she was.”
“She?” I asked, my curiosity piqued. “Are you talking about the Mistress again?”
“Hardly.” Merriwether looked away, turning to a series of paintings on a distant wall stretching half the length of the library.
“Come,” he said. “I’ll show you.”
He led me toward the row of portraits, some of which featured men in doublets, others displaying women in elegant gowns, until we reached one in particular. A young woman with blond hair and blue eyes, her mysterious smile reminiscent of the Mona Lisa’s. Something about her was oddly familiar, like I’d met her. But where?