Second Chronicles of Illumination

by C. A. Pack

  Myrddin instantly appeared.

  “Gōdne ǣfen …” His image flickered. “Good evening.”

  “More than a day has passed,” Johanna said. “Is there anything new you can tell me?”

  “Apparently, someone or something is after my life’s work.”

  “Is this person looking for something in your history to discredit you?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “What then?”

  “I have conducted a number of experiments in my laboratory that are coveted by others.”

  “What sort of experiments?”

  “Too many to detail. However, I believe the spells desired by the dastardly interloper have either to do with transmogrification or alchemy.”

  “Spells?”

  “They called me a magician. I had to have some magic in my arsenal of tricks.”

  “Alchemy is changing base metal into gold.”

  “Yes. And there are other uses. I experimented with various alchemic elixirs to prolong life.”

  “What’s transmogrification?”

  “As the young man said earlier, it’s … shapeshifting.”

  “You can really do that?”

  “Indeed.”

  “Successfully?”

  “Of course successfully. There wouldn’t be much reason for anyone to want my notes if my spells failed. They’re quite successful.”

  “Why were they sent here?”

  “This is the only Library of Illumination on Fantasia, is it not?”

  “You know about Fantasia?”

  He studied her face. “I know a great deal about Fantasia, as do you.”

  “Yes. But that’s because I’m a curator.”

  “Yes. Well. I, too, was a curator.”

  “Oh!”

  “And now, we must secure my memoir.”

  “There’s a vault downstairs.”

  “I know.”

  Johanna picked up the book and the wrappings and carried them to sub-level six. Myrddin trailed behind her. She found the seven doors and opened the one on the far right.

  The sorcerer walked inside and stopped in front of Pru Tellerence’s miter. He stooped down to study the constellation on the front. “Why is this here?”

  “One of the overseers left it here for safekeeping. I guess she forgot to retrieve it before she returned to Lumina.”

  “She wouldn’t be able to return to Lumina without it.”

  “But she did.”

  “Impossible. She must still be on Fantasia.”

  “She’s not. I’m sure of it.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “She said goodbye.”

  “That means nothing. However, traveling deans do usually lodge in Libraries of Illumination, which leads me to believe, if she is still within this realm, she remains here in secret. I must find out what she’s up to.”

  Johanna felt her face grow hot. “Is that any of your business? You’re a magician from the Middle Ages, and even if you were a curator at one time, you aren’t anymore. You have no business poking into Pru Tellerence’s business.”

  Myrddin huffed. He placed his memoir next to miter hat and then disappeared.

  Johanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly while she counted to ten. She locked the vault and returned to the circulation desk to find Jackson playing with the gong.

  “Where were you?” Jackson asked. “I looked for you from the cupola on down and couldn’t find you. I was just about to pound on this thing to see if you responded.”

  Johanna took the mallet out of his hand and placed it where it belonged. “I was downstairs, putting Myrddin’s memoir in the vault.”

  “What vault?”

  Johanna opened her mouth to answer, but didn’t want to get into a long explanation about Pru Tellerence’s miter hat. Instead she asked, “Why did you run out of here before?”

  “You know why. If you didn’t like my flowers, you should have told me. I could have given them to my mother.”

  “I loved your flowers. But I overslept this morning and when I woke up, Pru Tellerence had already cut the blooms off the stems and baked them into bread. I was just as stunned as you were to see them destroyed.”

  “The way you’ve been acting toward me lately, I thought you did it.”

  Johanna’s stomach quivered and her heart raced, but she tried not to let it show. “Nothing has changed between us,” she replied, barely above a whisper.

  “Show me.” Jackson pulled her over and placed his hands on either side of her face. He stared into her eyes as he rubbed her lip with his thumb.

  Johanna immediately stiffened. She forced herself to snake her arms around his waist and tilted her head.

  Jackson channeled a lot of emotion into his kiss, and Johanna relaxed and responded. Eventually they had to come up for air, and Johanna gasped when she noticed Myrddin standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest.

  ★

  “You’re back!” Johanna cried.

  “You must find whoever sent you my memoirs and ascertain the name of the person interested in stealing my work.”

  “How did you get out of the vault?” she asked.

  “I'm a sorcerer!”

  Jackson nodded. “You can’t beat that.”

  Johanna glanced at him, before speaking to Myrddin. “How are we supposed to figure out who's after you?”

  “You must go to Skokholm, to the lighthouse, and find the Eahta Frean fram Drycræft.”

  Jackson shook his head. “In English, please.”

  “Eahta Frean fram Drycræft is a secret brotherhood of sorcerers. It means the ‘eight masters of wizardry,’ and you must locate them.”

  “Eight, huh?” Jackson joked. “Why not seven? Or ten?”

  “There are eight specialties of wizardry: alchemy, transmogrification, time manipulation, prophecy, conjuring, healing, telekinesis, and totalis pereamus.”

  “Right …. What is totalis pereamus, exactly?”

  “Total annihilation.”

  Jackson narrowed his eyes. “So, like, he can get rid of someone or something that’s bothering him?”

  “Total annihilation, of either your realm, or if he’s exceptionally powerful, all realms.”

  Johanna raised one finger. “There’s no one who can actually do that, is there?”

  “There was once a sorcerer who possessed that power. He chose to turn his power upon himself rather than allow others to use him for nefarious purposes. We are all indebted to him. He is the only known sorcerer to possess that power, but who’s to say there couldn’t be another? Just because we don’t know of someone’s existence, doesn’t mean that person does not exist.”

  Jackson and Johanna just stared at Myrddin.

  “When you find Eahta Frean fram Drycræft, show them this.” Myrddin removed a ring from his finger and handed it to Johanna. The ring bore the same symbol embedded in the sealing wax found on the memoir’s packaging. “They will recognize it and know it is mine. You need to discover whom they believe is trying to decipher my spells, and what they think the usurper’s plans are. Time is of the essence. You must leave immediately.” The wizard’s eyes widened and he disappeared.

  ★

  Johanna handed the ring to Jackson. “You’d better go. I have to watch the library.”

  Jackson shook his head and refused to take it. “I can’t do this alone. Besides, he gave the ring to you. Maybe Mal will babysit the library. Or Jeeves. Or Mrs. Doubtfire.”

  “Do you really think Mal might do that?”

  “Get out his diary and ask him.”

  “I think I will.”

  It didn’t take long for Johanna and Jackson to receive an answer.

  LOI

  CHAPTER 23

  Terrorians quietly arrived in the foreign library and waited until their troop numbers reached the required minimum. They silently adhered to the plan laid out by Nero 51 and began demolishing books section by section. Within th
e hour, all the arcane books normally stored in the cupola had been obliterated.

  One of the troopers motioned to the others to remain still while he descended to the main floor. The cupola stairs in all the libraries were built as one unbroken circular staircase that linked the first and fifth levels only. There were no gateways to the other floors. The only way down from the cupola was that single circular staircase.

  The soldier quietly moved down the stairs—not an easy task for someone with big flat feet, but he had trained for stealth and made it to the main level without incident. He looked around for forms of life, but saw no one. He signaled the others to make their descent.

  It was a time consuming affair. The troopers had been advised to descend one at a time so their combined weights wouldn’t make the old metal in the circular stairs groan. When the next Terrorian had completed his descent, he remained in position while the first one quietly made his way to the farthest reaches of the next level and began decimating books.

  Each new soldier to make the descent relieved the one before him, freeing him to work on the destruction of books. Most of the books on levels one though five had been turned into dust before the door to the antechamber opened.

  ★

  Johanna and Jackson finished assembling a book that had come in for repair. The clock had just chimed the hour when they exited the antechamber. Johanna’s heart nearly stopped when she heard footsteps descending the cupola staircase. She and Jackson both looked up at the same time and she grabbed his arm and signaled him to be quiet, while she slowly nudged him into the shadows of the nearest stack.

  “What’s going on?” he whispered.

  “I don’t know. But remember when the building shook and you thought it was an earthquake?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think this could be related to that.”

  “You think we’re being invaded?” His volume increased.

  “Shhh…”

  “We’re dead. We’ve got no weapons. We’ve got nothing.”

  Johanna’s mind raced. There had to be something they could do to protect themselves. She carefully removed a metal bookend from one of the shelves and handed it to Jackson. “Maybe we can use these to crack a skull or gouge out an eye,” she whispered.

  “Great. Hand to hand combat and you think this will save us.”

  “Have you got a better idea?”

  The footsteps stopped.

  “The only way to get out of here alive is to throw this as hard as you can and run out the front door,” Jackson said. “On my count, one …”

  “A count of what? Three? Ten?” Johanna’s voice quivered.

  “Three. Okay? One—”

  ◍That will not be necessary.

  Johanna’s eyes widened. She peeked around the bookshelf. Selium Sorium stood beside Mal at the circulation desk.

  “Hi,” she said. “We didn’t expect you.”

  Jackson walked out beside her still holding the metal bookend.

  “I’m surprised at your surprise,” Mal said. “After all, you did ask me to watch the library.”

  ◍Without a time machine, Malcolm needed me to escort him to your world.

  “Right.” Jackson looked for a place to stash the bookend.

  “It’s just that the whole building shook before, and it unsettled me,” Johanna said. “It felt like something bad had happened.”

  ◍Indeed. We felt it, as well. But we have yet to ascertain if there is a threat.

  “Still, it seemed like a good enough reason for me to visit Fantasia for a while and watch the library so you two can go off on vacation.”

  “Vacation? We’re not going on vacation. We need to go to Wales because a magician named Myrddin claims someone is trying to steal his book of spells.

  ◍Oh dear.

  Mal leaned toward Johanna. “Merlin the magician was here?”

  “We received his memoir, and he appeared when I touched one of the illustrations. He said the only reason why the fraternity of magicians he belonged to would send me the book, is if someone is trying to steal his spells.”

  “Did he mention who he thought the culprit might be?”

  “No,” Jackson said. “He just told us to go to Wales and find eight guys who can help us.”

  ◍When will you leave?

  Johanna replied, “He told us to go immediately.”

  “But we can’t.” Jackson grabbed her arm. “I’ve got to go home and pack a few things and square things with my family. They’re going to raise hell if I just disappear again.”

  ◍Do it now, without haste.

  “I’ll be back within the hour,” Jackson called over his shoulder as he headed out the back door.

  “Hold on.” Mal handed Jackson a small leather book with his initials on the cover. “Stay in touch.”

  Jackson flipped through the pages. “Thanks.”

  “And don’t worry about the library,” Mal said. “I think I know a thing or two about how to handle the place.”

  Johanna finally smiled. “It’s good to have you back.”

  ★

  Furst approached the main reading room and immediately knew something was wrong. He could smell it. Having been to Terroria when the Fantasians were accused of spying, he knew what Terrorians smelled like, and his hair pulled into tight little ringlets as he covertly made his way to the bell tower entrance through a hidden door in the coatroom. He climbed the stairs to the bell tower and quickly made for the ropes. The sudden peal of the library bell alerted all Dramaticans that something was not right at the Library of Illumination.

  The curator poked his head out of a circular window in the tower to see if anyone emerged from the library entrance. He didn’t see any Terrorians, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He hoisted himself through the window and jumped to the walkway below.

  People hurriedly approached, but the curator prevented them from entering while he explained why he’d rung the bell. They amassed into a huge mob, afraid to go inside, but ready to defend their realm.

  Dramatican conciliators—law officers—congregated off to one side, discussing a course of action. They decided they were more in need of an army, so the head conciliator went to fetch the military provost. Within a short period, Dramaticans with “special training” stood outside the library. Unfortunately, their only duty in recent history had been to march in formal parades. Consequently, they were woefully unprepared for what awaited them. As for the provost, his only area of military expertise was to coordinate the parades and rehearse his militia several times a year.

  ★

  Five realms away, an official at a Russian orphanage ordered all three-year-olds gathered in one main room, before escorting Pru Tellerence in to inspect the children. It helped that the translation charm allowed her to speak perfect Russian in a local dialect and accent. Russia had a ban in place on some foreign adoptions, and officials wanted to be sure Pru Tellerence had no plans to facilitate an American adoption.

  She used a spell to put their minds at ease and calmly went from child to child, quietly questioning them while looking for birthmarks behind their ears. One little auburn haired girl pulled away when the overseer tried to check her ear. Pru Tellerence calmed her by telling her a fairy tale. When she felt she’d gained the youngster’s trust, she again asked if she could look behind her ear. The little girls eyes brimmed with tears. Pru Tellerence spoke softly as she held the girls hair back. She found a raw burn mark behind the three-year-old’s ear as if someone had used the child to snuff out a cigarette, or perhaps, used the cigarette to disguise a birthmark.

  ★

  Jackson returned to the library and found Johanna packing. “You’re taking a suitcase?”

  “I only want to take a backpack, but we’ll be gone a few days and I don’t know if I can fit everything.”

  “Well, you can’t take all that.”

  “I guess if I wear dress pants and a nice jacket on the plane, I can stuff my jeans and a couple of tee
shirts and underwear in my backpack, and a dress for dinner, oh, and a sweater or shawl and high heels, along with some makeup and my electric toothbrush and the flatiron for my hair and my hair brushes, and a pair of sneakers …”

  “Whoa. Do you really need all that stuff? Can’t you take a regular toothbrush and leave the flatiron at home? And ditch the dress.”

  “What if we want to go out for dinner?”

  “Then wear the dress on the plane. But I think you’re overthinking this packing stuff. It’s not like we’re going on our honeymoon or anything.”

  She felt her hair follicles bristle. “Fine. I’ll leave the dress, heels, and flatiron home.”

  “Now you’re talking.”

  She meticulously folded each item before placing it in her backpack.

  “I don’t know why you’re being so careful. It’s only going to get wrinkled in your backpack.”

  She inhaled deeply as she silently counted to ten. “Right.” She picked up the last few items and stuffed them in her bag.

  Jackson picked up a slim volume on Wales Johanna intended to pack. “Where do we get tickets?”

  She took the book and zipped it into the front compartment of her backpack. “I ordered them online. That’s why I’m still packing.”

  They heard Mal call them before he entered the residence. “I took the liberty of obtaining these for you.” He handed them a pair of booklets.

  “Don’t tell me they’re going to give us some kind of a crazy test or ritual in Wales,” Jackson said.

  “Passports!” Johanna gave Mal a hug. I didn’t even think of them. I’ve never been out of the country, so I’ve never had to apply for one.”

  Jackson opened his. “Cool. And look at this. It’s good for ten years.”

  “We won’t be gone that long,” Johanna said as she slung the backpack over her shoulder. She picked up her purse and stuffed the passport inside.”

  “And you’ll want to use this.” Mal handed Johanna a small plastic card with the Illumini constellation on it.

  “Is this a credit card?” Johanna asked.

  “Yes. You’re going away on official library business since it concerns one of the books remanded to our care. So the College of Overseers is paying for all your expenses.”