Dark Remnants (The Last Library Book 2)

by Jill Cooper

  She moved backward, feeling Timothy’s hands on her shoulders to steady her.

  “Ahh,” the minister laughed, “a strong child. A massive blessing to the Dark Lord Creighton, as all are.” He lifted his hat off his head. “Good luck on getting settled. Quotas for you will be at half while you get settled. Consider it a wedding gift.”

  “Thank you, Minister.” Timothy showed the minister back to the door. “And if we can’t make the quota?”

  The minister’s eyes darkened. “You don’t want to find out, young Richardson. Welcome to Beantown.” With a swirl of wind, he was off again, but Dani couldn’t get her mind off how he looked, how he talked like he knew them.

  They never even had to do introductions.

  “I guess we have our work cut out for us,” Timothy said with fear in his eyes. “I’m more nervous than I should be. We’ll get through it, right?”

  “Timmy,” Dani licked her lips. “Didn’t you notice who he looks like? Didn’t you see what I saw?”

  Timothy shook his head. “What are you going on about, Dani?”

  Her tone must’ve upset him, suddenly he was harsh—reminding Dani of his mother. “The Minister of City Affairs.” Dani rushed on. “They’re identical. I think they are one. I think they may share a common body, and maybe a common mind.”

  Timothy laughed. “Such things are superstitious talk, Dani. It’s best you lay that thinking to rest before it gets us killed.”

  He didn’t believe her? He thought she was crazy. “Timmy…”

  “I’ll listen to you later, I promise. Right now, let’s get ready for breakfast at our new friend’s place. Aren’t you hungry?”

  Hungry didn’t begin to explain it. She was starving, absolutely starving, but the idea she might be on to something about the ministers kept her from rushing off.

  “I am starving.”

  Timothy grinned broadly. “Me too. Let’s not forget, we are married. When we’re there, we'll need to act like we are close.” He squeezed her shoulder as he headed to get ready for the day.

  Dani watched the handsome young man go and thought pretending to be enamored with him wouldn’t be that hard after all.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Tarnish Rose

  We walked the old tunnels quietly as noises groaned and shuttered, echoing all around us. Quickly we followed rounding passages, walking beside train tracks, and helped one another up old rickety ladders back up onto fragile platforms. Between each subway line, we had to walk through mildew smelling passageways, pull back vines and cobwebs, and all the while the hairs on the back of my neck rose up in fear.

  Like someone—or something—hunted us from the shadows. Something watched us from the dark.

  We pulled ourselves out onto another platform, this one a little bigger than the rest. It was sprawling in all directions. It must’ve been a hub of activity at one time. There were countertops, glass dividers, and I could read a sign. “This place sold cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and popcorn.” I didn’t know what any of it meant, but my stomach growled in response. I at least knew what cheese was, but who would eat something made from a dog?

  Still, what I wouldn’t give for a hot meal.

  Ella and Sebastian were at the wall reading the latest map, so I joined them. Ella was holding on to the wall with one hand, and I saw deep lines of fatigue around her eyes.

  “We’ve made it to the green line. We’re getting so close now. Let’s keep on…” Ella pushed off the wall but started to collapse.

  Sebastian called her name out as I caught her. The light went out in her hand, and we were encased in darkness. I sat her down on the old wooden bench against the wall. “Ella?” I pushed her hair out of her face and felt how damp, yet hot, she was.

  Her eyes started to open, and the light in her hand came back on. “Sorry. We should keep going.” She tried to rise herself up from the bench, but Sebastian pushed his hand against her shoulder.

  “It takes a lot of energy to produce light, I’m guessing. You rest here a bit.” Sebastian took his back pack off and started to gather a food ration for her and some water.

  Ella moaned with a shake of her head. “No, we keep going. We have to.”

  “An hour won’t kill us, Ella.”

  She shook her head and looked mournful for once, a strange expression to see on her face. “Things live here. I should’ve been more truthful, but I knew this was the way we had to go. I just didn’t think I’d get this tired.”

  “Things?” Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “What things?”

  “Trolls,” I said. When Ella did a double take, I shrugged. “Warnings were spray painted when we first entered. I read them.”

  “But kept them to yourself?” Sebastian asked, narrowing his eyes. “Why?”

  “Because we need to be here.”

  “I’m a fool.” Ella lay her head back against the brick. “And you’re a fool for trusting me. They’ll eat us alive now. Skin us and use it for furniture. Use our bones as toothpicks.” She tossed her head around as if the idea physically hurt her.

  I reached inside my bag and pulled out the sphere of remnants I carried. It glowed gently. “I’ll keep the area lit and check it out, make sure it’s safe. Okay?”

  “I’ll go with you,” Sebastian said.

  Ella yanked on his arm. “Please, don’t leave me here alone.” The fear in her voice was mirrored on her face. She was afraid, really afraid.

  “I won’t go far. Just, keep an eye on her.”

  I crept away, Sebastian’s eyes burning a hole on me in the dark. Into the next tunnel I went, walking near the edge beside the tracks. A gust of wind came through. I must’ve been near a staircase leading to the surface. It smelled like fresh grass, mingled with the smell of oil from the subway station.

  As the wind tore through, pieces of paper blew in sideways from the wall. Intrigued, I turned and saw an alcove with a partially shut door. It was wedged tight when I tried to move it, so I put my back into it, edging it further open.

  I gasped loudly as I entered, seeing the pile of books stacked on the desk against the wall. In the center of the room was a metal machine on tall legs. I didn’t know what it was, but the books… I rushed over to them and browsed through them quickly, reading the titles.

  Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, The Christmas Carroll—what was Christmas, I wondered? I discovered books weren’t the only things here. I slid out a cardboard box from beneath the desk. Dust shot out, and I coughed as I breathed it in, but oh, it was worth it.

  Artwork in color, sheets of music, and some scrolls bound up tight with ribbon. I was about to untie it as I heard Sebastian call my name. I held the remnant crystal up and out. “In here!”

  Sebastian was at the doorway, and he shielded his eyes from the bright light. “I was worried about you.”

  “Sorry.” I lowered the remnant. “How’s Ella? You shouldn’t leave her alone.”

  “She’s asleep, and I thought we should talk about what we’re doing. Where we’re headed. What we should—” Sebastian took in the sight behind me. “Books.”

  “And these.” I pulled the ribbon off the scrolls I held. The paper was delicate and fragile, the most fragile I had held in a long time. I unwound it and held it out. “It’s a… I think it’s a proclamation.”

  Sebastian’s eyes lit up, and he licked his lips like an eager child. “Can you read it?”

  I nodded. “Declaration of Independence, 1776.”

  “Heavens,” Sebastian whispered. “This scroll is ancient. Absolutely ancient, and it looks like the original.” He outstretched to touch it but stopped short.

  I read the words on the page. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed — That whene
ver any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.”

  The right of the people. Not the ministers and not the dark lord, but the people.

  “Tarnish.” Sebastian’s eyes widened as the words on the scroll glowed brightly. They didn’t just glow at all, but they burned brightly. My eyes felt like they burned just to stare at them, just to watch.

  With a puff of smoke, words appeared in the air above us, and I smelled parchment. I heard the sounds of muskets firing, orders from generals shouting, and the ringing of a great bell. In that moment, history came alive for me because I read the words. Its truth became my truth.

  I read some more.

  “—And to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.”

  “No wonder this document has been hidden,” Sebastian said.

  The words on the page still glowed as I rolled it up. I secured it with the ribbon and slid it into my bag. It was important; it had to be.

  “To think I wouldn’t have found it if Ella…”

  “Ella hadn’t deemed it was important to come down here.”

  “I think—” I paused, a noise in the distance drawing my attention. It seemed reading the Declaration had brought us some unwanted attention. I ran to the doorway and peered left. The sound of clacking, an eerie series of clacking, hurried toward us. “Spiders!” I screamed.

  Horrible, giant spiders the size of dogs rushing down the corridor, walking along the walls and crawling around the ceiling.

  “Oh God. I left Ella,” Sebastian whispered, his eyes widening. Mine did, too, and my heart raced.

  He was right. We had to get to her before the spiders did. “Run!”

  I pushed Sebastian out into the tunnel, and he ran toward Ella. I jumped out, backing up with the remnant pushed out toward the spiders. Their thick hides were black with red stripes with hair on their legs, and the one in front clacked and licked its mandible, salivating as its many eyes watched me.

  It struck, lunging four of its legs for the remnant, a gaping noise coming from its fangy mouth. They were drawn to it, I realized, as Sebastian shot an arrow into the leader. It shrieked when it was hit as another arrow flew through the air, and it jarred me into action. I turned and ran toward where Sebastian stood, my heart pumping, unable to swallow.

  “Run!” Sebastian screamed and let me run past. He charged and followed after me.

  Maybe I should read, maybe I should stop them, but they moved so quickly above and beside me, I didn’t think I’d get the time to form a sentence.

  “Ella!” I shrieked as the mouth of the subway platform was in view. I could barely hear myself speak. Instead, all I heard was the clacking of legs against the stone wall, tapping along the brick as the spiders suspended themselves in front of us.

  They wished to stop me, they wished to take from me what was mine.

  I swung my staff, batting the spiders far out of the way as I went. Ella was just rising up of off the bench, the look of sleepiness in her eyes replaced by fear as the spiders I hit slammed into the wall. It took them only a moment to regroup back onto their feet and hurry toward us.

  “I leave you alone for two minutes and look what you unearth!” Ella yelled at me as we approached.

  “We need out. Now!” Sebastian yelled.

  The spiders surrounded us on the left while those behind us hurried to catch up. The spiders moved toward us, blocking a stairway to the outside world. It rose up on its hind legs and squat in front, shooting poison toward me. Ella raised her hand, the poison hitting her coat.

  “What do we do?” Ella asked. “What do we do?”

  I didn’t know. I just didn’t, so I did the next best thing I could, I held my staff offensively and took a step forward, batting the spider with it. It grabbed it and tried to take it from me.

  This was no mere spider.

  The spiders gathered around us, and behind them I heard something new. Someone made a whooping sound, a loud gnashing of teeth, and swords clanking together.

  Ella gasped and grabbed my arm. “Trolls, they’re coming.”

  We couldn’t push past the spiders, and we couldn’t stay here. There were no clear answers, and a cloud of doom circled overhead as in the darkness a male’s voice called out. “Make your escape! Run!”

  Arrows flew out of the dark clouds in the subway tunnel. The spiders turned with confusion, and I took the lead running up the stairwell, Ella’s hand firm in mine, and her other hand in Sebastian’s.

  ****

  “Quick! Run!” I screamed as my feet met the soft blades of grass surrounding the stairwell.

  We were back in a ruined city, but this one was far worse than the one of New York. This one barely had any houses standing, only crumbled piles of concrete. Many foundations, but nothing resembled homes or buildings I could see.

  Ella ran out of the stairwell first, and then Sebastian. I moved to secure the doorway to the stairs when Sebastian stopped me. Was he crazy? A moment later, a man and two women ran out after him.

  “Close the gate,” the man ordered. He wore leather armor with thick straps and chest plates. On his head was a metal helmet that came to a pointy top with a cross.

  I closed the door and latched it just in time to get a spider mandible caught. Sebastian helped me lock it down tight.

  “I’ve never seen them want something as badly as you,” the woman said and extended her hand. “Ana. This is Robbie and Beatrice.”

  I shook each of their hands while at the corner of my eye I saw Ella cross her arms and pout. Clearly, she wasn’t going to make this easy.

  “Tarnish Rose. This is Sebastian and El—”

  Beatrice and Robbie both pulled off their helmets, but it was only Robbie who spoke. “You are that Tarnish Rose? The woman who can read?”

  I wasn’t sure how to answer or if I should give him false hope about what I meant to do. “One in the same.”

  “Word of you is spreading through the free lands. What you can do and what it is you’ve set out to accomplish. Is it true? Have you really come to rid the world of Temptress and Creighton?”

  Ella grabbed my arm. “Don’t answer their questions. They could be lying scoundrels.”

  “You’d so easily judge us?” Robbie asked. “We saved your life.”

  “You risked a lot,” Ella countered, “and surely you wouldn’t without a good reason.”

  The strangers stared at her as Sebastian stepped up closer. “These are resistance fighters, Tarnish. I’d know them anywhere, and the quality of their hearts. They wear the seal, so others may recognize it.” Sebastian tapped a space over his own heart at the small emblem he wore.

  Robbie and Ana did the same, and I knew we could trust them.

  Ella’s eyes darted around the group, and I had to wonder why she was so nervous, so ready to be rid of them. “It’ll be okay,” I said to her gently. To the others, I nodded. “I’m who you think I am. I could use your help.”

  Robbie sandwiched my hand between his. “You will have as much help as you need.”

  “Then we’ve lost,” Ella said. “There’s too many of us. The Temptress will see us approach with this many.”

  “Temptress?” the woman Beatrice asked. Tall and fit, she had soft brown hair braided around the crown of her head and a splattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose.

  I nodded. “We head to her tower to rescue some children she kidnapped. I’ll need help returning them home while I head to get the last remaining remnant.”

  “You are too trusting!” Ella cried. “You just met these people, and you tell them everything. You’ll be the end of those children, me, all of us.” She stomped away, but Sebastian grabbed the rope fluttering behind her and gave it a yank. With a loud cry, Ella fell to her back on the ground.

  “She is your prisoner?” Beatrice asked with wi
de eyes. “What has she done?”

  Sebastian moved to answer, but I held up my hand. “What she did doesn’t matter. She’s with us and under my protection. She can sense where the Temptress’s fortress will rise, and we’re headed there now. We’ll rescue the children. If you want to help us, cross the dry riverbed and help ensure these children return home…”

  The new group glanced at one another before nodding. Robbie went down on one bended knee and removed his helmet. “We’ll do whatever we can to aid you, Tarnish.”

  “Good,” I smiled. “Welcome to our party. Just know these children are as precious to me as my quest. If I find you don’t return them home, if you mean them harm, I will find you. You will answer for yourselves.”

  Robbie met my eyes head on. “I’m sure by the time the children are rescued, you’ll trust us fully as we trust you. The stories of you, what you’ve been doing for years, are the things of legend.”

  “Let’s keep going, then.”

  I offered him my hand and helped pull him to his feet. I led the group down the road but stayed close to Sebastian and Ella. Sebastian took a deep breath that rose his chest, and I saw pride in his face. Maybe he had been right about my ability to lead. I put on a good show, but did I feel ready?

  Ella sneered and leaned in close. “You think one threat makes things better? What if they cut you in your sleep? What if they steal the remnant?”

  “I have you and Sebastian to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  For a brief second, her face fell. “What? Me? You trust me to save you?” She snorted. “I think you’ve forgotten who you’re talking to.”

  “Maybe I did, but you helped me in the tunnels. You didn’t need to show me the way you can create light from your hand, but you did. You want to help.”

  Ella seemed to consider my words, but her face twisted up into a scowl anyway. “I want to live. There’s a difference!”