The Forbidden Library

by David Alastair Hayden

  “I don’t actually. I was betrothed to Awasa when I was three years old and she was two. She hated me until a few months ago. It’s a lot like slavery, really. Women in my society don’t have much freedom, not like they do here.”

  “That’s why your sister left with Zaiporo, isn’t it?”

  “Basically. I think they chose the wrong traveling companion, though. Look, I’m sorry about me and Kurine. Honestly.”

  “Well you didn’t intend it. And I am a slave. Like I said, what could she do? I don’t think she ever forgave me for becoming a slave.”

  “You had a choice?”

  “The alternative was that I could forfeit everything my father owned and be exiled from my people. So it wasn’t much of a choice. I think she had this dream that she’d runaway with me when I was exiled. Like your sister and Zaiporo.” Kemsu looked away, nervously. “Look, if Kurine survives and you and her … about Iniru … you can’t marry two women, so if I —”

  “If you’re about to ask me if I would be okay with you pursuing Iniru, the answer is no. Besides, it doesn’t really matter.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because she’s the one that gets to pick, not you or me.”

  Chapter 43

  A sailor opened the hatch leading down to the hold and poked his head in. “Captain Boki says you’ll want to come up now.”

  All of them were asleep except Motekeru and Turesobei. He was sitting with Kurine, holding her hand, hoping it would bring her comfort. Her fever was getting worse, even though he’d just given her another healing spell. She’d be dead before he could give her another.

  “Are we there?” Turesobei asked.

  “Nearly,” the sailor replied as the others were sitting up, rubbing their eyes, and yawning. “You’ll want to see.”

  Motekeru knelt beside Kurine. “I will watch the girl.”

  Turesobei woke his companions and they all climbed the ladder and joined Captain Boki on the foredeck. He shouted an order to trim the sails. The ship slowed.

  In the distance appeared the faint outline of what looked like a fortress on an island rising up out of the Glass Sea. From this far away, it was hard to tell how big it was, but Turesobei thought it must be nearly as large as the Palace of the High King in Batsa, the capital of Batsakun, his homeland. To the starboard side, a ship appeared. From its mast it flew a crimson flag that at first Turesobei thought sparkled in the sun, but as the ship drew closer, he could tell the flag actually glowed. It was a subtle magic in a world in which he had not seen any magic so far.

  “What does the glowing flag mean?” he asked.

  “They have a license to trade with the Forbidden Library,” said Boki wistfully. “Unlike me they can sail to the island and make port. Very few captains have such a commission, but those who do are famously wealthy. The Forbidden Library pays well for the finest cargo, and not even the most desperate pirates will attack a ship flying that banner. Those that did in the past … it was said that strange beings hunted them down and killed them, leaving a messy warning to all others.”

  “And no one in this world can fake the glowing flag,” said Turesobei, “which is convenient.”

  “Indeed,” Boki replied. “I applied once through an intermediary for a trading permit but was turned down.”

  The trade ship, traveling at full speed away from the library, passed them.

  The Forbidden Library came into full view: three dome-capped buildings linked together, sitting atop a flattened hill on a tiny island. A massive cylindrical building was in the middle, taking up most of the hilltop. The thinnest building towered over it to one side, while on the other side was a short building a little bigger around. The domes appeared to be made of a shiny black stone, obsidian perhaps, while the rest of the buildings were made of a common gray stone etched with patterns Turesobei couldn’t make out form this distance.

  Sailors rolled up the last of the sails and tossed the anchors overboard. The ship groaned to a halt. Turesobei handed the bag of pearls, gems, and coins to the captain. Boki immediately divided jade coins amongst his crew and promised more wealth after he could evaluate the gems.

  “Can’t have a mutiny,” he muttered to Turesobei. “Sorry I couldn’t take you all the way in, but I’d like to avoid execution today.”

  Turesobei bowed. “Thank you for taking us as far as you could, Captain Boki. I am deeply sorry for the two men killed by the yomon. The fault was mine.”

  “We live in a dangerous world,” Boki responded. “All my men know that.”

  “Nevertheless, please give a share of the money I paid you to their families.”

  “I always do.”

  Turesobei pulled out the pouch of coins Kurine’s father had given her as a dowry. He’d added as many gems as it could hold to it. “And split this between their families as well. I hold it on your honor that you do so.”

  “On my honor,” the captain replied solemnly. Turesobei trusted him to do so. This gesture was the best he could do.

  “Farewell, Captain Boki.”

  “I fear you are marching to your death,” Captain Boki said, “but I wish you well and hope you find a way back to your world.”

  And with that, Turesobei and his companions led their sonoke down the gangplank and out onto the ice. They strapped Kurine into one of the saddles. She woke halfway for a moment.

  “Sobei … are we … in your world?”

  “Not yet,” he replied. He hoped she wouldn’t have to go back to Okoro to be cured. He was already afraid she planned on going back with him no matter what. She needed to stay in her world with her own people. She didn’t deserve to be the only goronku in Okoro.

  “That’s … that’s too …”

  She fell back asleep. Iniru climbed into the saddle behind Kurine. Turesobei waved to the Falcon’s Cry as it pulled away. Then they turned and rode toward the Forbidden Library.

  Chapter 44

  As they neared the island, Turesobei realized that from a distance he had underestimated the size of the Forbidden Library. The main building dwarfed the High King’s Palace in Batsa and was easily three times bigger. The thin tower soared higher than Chonda Tower, the Monolith of Sooku, and the High Wizard’s Tower combined. Even the smallest library building dwarfed everything back home in Ekaran.

  A tiny village hugged the eastern coastline, as if its presence were barely allowed. A ship flying a glowing banner docked there. Steep cliffs blocked in the western side of the island. The southern end sloped upward to the library, intersecting a long staircase that climbed to a set of massive doors, but the climb was too steep for the sonoke.

  Since the southern end was closest that’s where they headed, intending to ride along the coast to the village. The sonoke would get better traction on the frozen beach than on the slick ice of the Glass Sea.

  Lu Bei flew overhead and announced that he didn’t see anyone, but when they reached the island, a tall figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The being, whoever or whatever it was, wore a charcoal-colored cloak with a deep hood that entirely hid its features. The tips of blue-and-white feathers poked out from under the hooded cloak. Turesobei guessed the figure wore a second, feathered cloak like Shaman Eira’s underneath. A steel rod no longer than Turesobei’s forearm hung in a sheath from the beings’s belt. What purpose could that serve? It was too short to be a club and it didn’t have a blade.

  Turesobei stopped his sonoke and started to speak a greeting, but the being held up a hand and said in a lyrical yet powerful voice:

  “You do not have permission to step foot on the Great Isle. We do not allow visitors —” He glanced at Motekeru and Lu Bei. “— of any kind. You must leave at —” He paused, and with his hooded head cocked to one side, he stared long and hard at Turesobei. “You wear a kavaru.”

  “Yes, I do.” Turesobei bowed. “I am Chonda Turesobei. Except for the three goronku with us, my companions and I come from Okoro, the world beyond the Winter Gate. We have come seeking a
way back to our world. Your library is our only hope. And Kurine, my betrothed, she was poisoned. She needs help. Soon.”

  The cloaked figure stepped forward and peered at Turesobei’s kavaru. “Chonda Turesobei?”

  “This is the kavaru of my ancestor Chonda Lu.”

  “Master speaks truth,” Lu Bei said.

  “The Winter Child opened the gate for us,” Turesobei explained, “but she died on this side and the gate closed on us. We were fighting to stop the yomon from coming into our world and unleashing destruction and eternal winter. The yomon pursue us even now. They’re probably not far behind.”

  “The yomon are of no concern to us,” the being said. “Our protocol normally forbids me from allowing you in. However, this is a highly unique and unforeseen situation. I will allow you an audience with the Great Librarian. If she accepts your cause on merit, she will argue your case before the Gathering. If they do not decide in your favor, you will be allowed to leave here. But I must warn you, if the Great Librarian will not take up your cause and argue your case, death will be meted out upon you for trespassing. This is the most likely result.”

  Turesobei gulped as several of his companions breathed in sharply.

  “If you are not willing to take that risk …“

  “Our alternative is to face the yomon,” Turesobei said, “and to have no chance at returning to our world. We accept.”

  Iniru urged her mount forward a few paces. “Wait. I think Turesobei may be getting ahead of himself. Before we put our lives on the line, could you tell us if such a way exists?”

  The figure nodded. “There is a way … of sorts. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be allowed to take it. And if you are given the chance, I highly doubt you’ll succeed.”

  “You’d be surprised what we can do,” Iniru said.

  “We accept,” Turesobei said.

  “What’s your name?” Enashoma asked. “You never said.”

  “I have two names,” the being replied. “One that you cannot pronounce and one that I would never share with a stranger. You may call me by my title. I am the Keeper of the Shores.”

  The guardian walked toward the warehouse. “Follow me.”

  He led them to the edge of the village where a group of men in heavy winter clothing met them. The men bowed before the guardian.

  “These men will see that your mounts are cared for,” said the Keeper of the Shores. “Your effects will be brought up if the Great Librarian allows you to stay. No harm will come to your things and nothing will be stolen. If your cause is not accepted and your are executed, your things shall be donated to the villagers.”

  Turesobei and his companions dismounted and the men silently took the mounts.

  “What about our weapons?” Iniru asked. “Should we leave them behind?”

  “I have no concern for any weapons you carry,” the guardian told her. “None here will. But the Great Librarian and my brethren might consider the presence of weapons to be impolite.”

  And so they also handed over their weapons the villagers.

  “Thank you,” Turesobei told the men. The men nodded in acknowledgement but said nothing as they left with the mounts.

  “The humans who live in the village,” said Turesobei, “are they allowed in the library?”

  “No one has been allowed inside except those of us who guard it in seven centuries. And the last three people we did allow in we executed within a day.”

  “Did they try to steal something?” Zaiporo ventured.

  “No,” the guardian replied casually. “After reflection the Great Librarian decided their causes lacked sufficient merit.”

  Everyone tensed. Worry knotted in Turesobei’s stomach. The Keeper of the Shores wasn’t the least concerned about the yomon. If the Great Librarian rejected their cause and they had to fight their way out, would even the Storm Dragon be enough?

  Motekeru lifted Kurine and cradled her in his arms.

  “We are ready,” Turesobei said.

  Enashoma tugged his sleeve. “Sobei, don’t you think you maybe should ask Narbenu and Kemsu if they want to risk their lives by entering the library? It might be better for them to buy passage out on one of the trade ships. They could make their way past the yomon safely. The yomon wouldn’t even know, and they wouldn’t care about them. Awasa only wants you.”

  “Could these two goronku leave the island on one of the ships?” Turesobei asked the guardian. “It’s not too late for them to leave, is it?”

  “The commitment is made once you step foot in the library. There will be no going back after that point.”

  “I’m not turning back now,” Kemsu said. “I didn’t come this far for nothing.”

  “And what if I say otherwise?” Narbenu asked.

  “Say otherwise all you want,” Kemsu replied, facing his master. “I’m going forward. Turesobei will see us through this, right? That’s what everyone always says anyway. Besides, I’m not leaving Kurine. She’s my oldest friend and they might have to take her to their world. I’m not going to let her be the only goronku there.”

  Lips pinched tightly together, Narbenu nodded. “I can respect that, even if I don’t like your insolence. Do not forget you belong to me still.” With a sigh, Narbenu relaxed his posture. “But it doesn’t matter, because I’m coming too.”

  “You really don’t have to go on, either of you,” Turesobei said. “We can manage without you now. You’ve done your part. You got us this far and risked your lives for us. We are honored and indebted to you and cannot ask for more. In fact, I can give you most of the money we got from the nozakami-ga’s cave to repay your people when you return.”

  “No,” Kemsu said flatly. “I’m staying with you. At least until Kurine’s well and you return home.”

  “I’ve faced death before,” Narbenu said. “Quite a lot since I met you, Turesobei. I battled a yomon and survived. I’ve seen a magic tree growing upside down and escaped its guardians. And now I’ve reached the legendary Forbidden Library. I can go in and see wonders none of my people have ever seen. I may even live to return and tell the tale. No, I’m going on. I’m finishing my grand adventure. I think it’s well worth the risk.”

  “If that’s what you want,” Turesobei said, sadly. He’d seen enough adventure and wonder to not think it was worth trading the comforts of a simple life without danger. Maybe he wasn’t all that much like his father after all.

  “Follow me,” the Keeper of the Shores said and he led them up a winding path toward the Forbidden Library.

  A narrow staircase with steps dusted by snow and coated with ice rose before them. Only the single handrail to one side made Turesobei think they stood a chance of climbing up it successfully.

  Suddenly his vision darkened. The pinkish afternoon sky deepened to blood-red. Shadows lengthened unnaturally, and the island turned a deep gray like the terrain within the Shadowland. Turesobei looked to his companions, but they were nowhere to be seen.

  A cloud like a shadow cast by the moon appeared, coiling around the library like an enormous snake. Blazing eyes opened within the shadow as it stretched down toward him.

  “I knew you would come to me one day,” said a voice, rumbling like thunder within the cloud. “You and I shall have our reckoning, Storm Dragon.”

  Turesobei collapsed to his knees as the shadow and the blazing eyes crashed in on him. A hand clutched his shoulder. The world returned to normal. The shadow was gone. His companions once again stood around him.

  The Keeper of Shores released his grip from Turesobei’s shoulder. “The nightmare cannot hurt you. And it will not visit you again. You are under my protection.”

  “Thank you,” Turesobei said. “What was it?”

  “Your doom should the Gathering grant your wish.” The guardian stepped onto the staircase and offered no further explanation. Turesobei didn’t even bother to ask. He’d find out soon enough.

  “Are you okay?” Enashoma asked.

  “I’m fine. Don’t w
orry about it.”

  “What was it?” Zaiporo asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

  Iniru sighed. “You’ve been hiding something from us, haven’t you?”

  “Just a nightmare I’ve had a few times since we came here. I didn’t think it was anything more than that until … now.” He decided not to explain about calling on the shadow in the nightmare Awasa had lured him into.

  Enashoma slapped him on the arm. “Jerk. Stop lying and stop hiding things.”

  “It’s not something you could’ve helped me with.”

  “What if something happened and we needed to know?” Iniru demanded.

  “Then Lu Bei could tell you,” Turesobei replied.

  Everyone turned toward Lu Bei and he held his hands up. “Don’t look at me like that! I can’t tell you private things unless Master allows it.”

  “Since when has that ever stopped you unless you were given a direct order,” Iniru said.

  Lu Bei ducked his head. “Well … I mean … you know … I — I can’t win here.”

  “Let it go,” Motekeru said. “Arguing accomplishes nothing.”

  No one wanted to disagree with Motekeru, for which Turesobei was thankful. He didn’t feel bad about not telling them. What was the point of worrying them any further, especially about something he still didn’t understand?

  Turesobei stepped onto the staircase and his foot immediately slipped across the smooth, ice-slicked stone, despite the treads on his boots. He stepped again, planting his foot firmly and grabbing the rail. The treads crunched against the ice and only barely held. The Keeper stepped lightly, completely unaffected by the ice.

  “Careful everyone,” Narbenu said, slipping as he stepped up beside Turesobei who reached out a hand to steady him. “We’d better go up single-file and use the handrail.”

  “Rig, Ohma,” Turesobei said, and the two amber wolfhounds rushed forward. “Climb up.” The hounds started onto the stairs and slid around, completely unable to gain purchase. “That’s enough and what I figured. Stop, both of you. Someone will have to carry them.”