Kemplan’s eyes widened at the mention of it. He had forgotten all about the loose page that had fallen from the highest shelves, the one he had thrown so carelessly into the fire. He was bound by the laws of the Great Hall and the law stated he wasn’t allowed to destroy anything unless it was by Tor’s command. He hadn’t even thought of it when he saw the images of the Ferryman and the Flame. He thought it was something that had long been destroyed. He stopped kicking and stared into Tor’s gold, lightning-filled eyes. They were like their own self-contained storms, irises spiking with jagged black lines every few seconds.
A growl rumbled in Tor’s throat, low and ominous.
“I burned ...it,” Kemplan said, barely.
“They found it,” Tor said.
Kemplan tore his gaze away from the livid eyes and fought for air. A second later he hit the floor. He coughed and curled into a ball. He didn’t want Tor to say their names. He thought the memories of them were long forgotten. It had taken forever to erase them from the Great Library.
“The Valtanyana know,” Tor said as he stepped away from Kemplan. He tore into the leather chair with his left hand, thick, clean claw marks marring the soft leather.
Kemplan winced at the destruction. “I never meant to,” he began, but his voice was nothing more than a faint whisper.
Tor turned, clenching and unclenching his fist. Kemplan was afraid of what he would do next. When Tor was angry it was hard to stop him from destroying things. “No one can know about the Flames. Erase them from the Great Library and they will fade from existence.” He sounded calmer until he opened his fist and a wind storm blew through the library, pulling books off the shelves.
Kemplan pushed himself to his feet, hair blowing back from the gale force of the hurricane wind. Pages flapped around him as he fought to comprehend what was happening. The Great Library contained every book ever written in any land, secret and shared, finished and unfinished, plus the literature of the Scryes, the Great Hall’s personal writers. Kemplan watched the maelstrom of books as it swirled into the skies of the library in a tornado of parchment and leather. He held his breath until it was over, wind dying down. Piles of books were strewn across the crowded corridors, tables turned over, chairs knocked down.
Tor snapped his fingers and a controlled blue blaze lit the books, turning each one to ash as the flames ate away the pages.
Kemplan’s heart dropped. “What will you do about the Valtanyana?”
Tor glared at him and bowed his head in defeat. It was Kemplan’s fault the Valtanyana had the original copy of the prophecy, the very thing that explained without confusion what the Ferryman and the Flame were meant for. He thought about the distant past, the way Tor had defeated the Valtanyana and locked them away. It scared him to know so much and to be able to do so little about it. He could never measure up to Tor’s greatness, the choices he had to make, the things he had to sacrifice. He glanced up to find Tor looking reserved and pensive.
“Their fate lies with the Ferryman,” Tor said.
Acknowledgements
I thought publishing a book was easy—until I did it. What I’ve learned about myself from publishing is that I’m a spazz case, control freak and perfectionist. I feel like most of the people I need to thank on this list I also need to apologize to, for all my author craziness.
A.P. Fuchs, Jennifer Laughran, and Natasha Heck, I have no idea how you put up with all my incessant e-mails or how you managed to encourage me to stick with it even when my whole world was a boatload of no.
Sue Dawe, I don’t know how to thank you enough for being honest with me and telling me not to Tolkienshire it up. It’s because of you that I have avoided many lawsuits.
Marc Wolfe, I don’t know what it is about your artistic vision but without it, I don’t think anyone would have gotten Kaliel and Krishani’s likeness. It’s like you took them directly out of my head and put them on paper and they look like real people, real non human people.
Primo Cardinalli and Hugh Rookwood, your illustrations were incredibly on point and accurate to the characters. I seemed to give you an idea and you ran with it, again, taking what was in my head and putting it on paper in ways I never could.
Tommy Castillo, for the painting that looked like it was something Michaelangelo painted five hundred years ago. That will always be my classic version of the Ferryman + the Flame and I don’t know how to tell you how much I will always love it.
Christopher Boll, I know you’re not a map maker anymore, but you certainly did a fantastic job on my map.
Regina Wamba, you fantastic lady you! We had a short deadline, not a lot of options, a whole lot of stubbornness on my side, and you managed to make me a cover that I can’t stop staring at, it’s sooo pretty!
Cory Putman Oakes, Evie Seo, Lucy D’Andrea, Molli Moran, Kathy Habel, Rachel Rivera, Sammie Spencer, Susan Haugland, Laura Kreitzer, Marie De La Rosa, and well the endless list of bloggers I’m forgetting to mention personally, thank you so much for your constant support and encouragement. I would have given up if it weren’t for people like you.
Rae Smith and Sabina Grosse, you two have been my little secret weapons, BETA reading well into the night and finishing my books in record time. I’m so glad I have written books that you ladies cannot put down. Thank you both for being there for me.
Lastly, you may have noticed I dedicated this book to Michael, because without him I wouldn’t be writing.
About the Author
Rhi is the weird one in the red lipstick. She writes Young Adult Fantasy, Dystopian, Urban Fantasy and sometimes Contemporary. When she's not writing she's reading minds, singing karaoke, and burning cookies. You can find her sipping iced cappuccino at www.yafantasyauthor.com
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Also by Rhiannon Paille:
Death Sentence (Last City on Earth #1)
East Side Boy (Last City on Earth #2)
Carnival (Last City on Earth #3)
Lantern & Poison (The Ferryman + The Flame #1.5)
Integrated Intuition: A Comprehensive Guide to Psychic Development
Table of Contents
Author’s Note
The Ferryman + The Flame Master Companion
0-The Great Library
1-Samhain
2-Mischief
3-Hard Lessons
4-The Lands of Men
5-Nightmares
6-The Great Oak
7-The Flames
8-The Valtanyana
9-The Royal City
10-The Witches
11-The Waterfall
12-Insomnia
13-Amethyst Eyes
14-Fire Festival
15-The Cave Behind the Falls
16-Hawklin
17-Parables
18-Dreams of Death
19-The Emerald Flame
20-The Amethyst Flame
21-Ferrymen
22-Goodbye
23-The Kiirar
24-Your Time Now
25-Heed the Call
26-Ruby and Quartz
27-Innocent Mistakes
28-Avred
29-The War
30-Village of the Shee
31-Winter Solstice
32-Weed of Temptation
33-Awakening
34-Explosions and Snow
Alternate Ending
Justice-Book Two Special Preview
0-The Great Library
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by Rhiannon Paille:
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SURRENDER (The Ferryman + The Flame) Page 32