by Casey White
Every one of those symbols was an object. A magical tool, with a magical owner.
Every one of those symbols was a mage.
Daniel shuffled forward until he stood before the nearest bookshelf, refusing to let himself stop there. He had to know—both of them needed to know. He reached out, resting his hand on the spine of the first book. Marked with...a spyglass, it looked like. It wasn’t right, but just for a moment, at the sight of the long, narrow object, his heart had skipped a beat.
“What is all of this?” Leon said. Even hushed, his voice echoed through the forbidden library. “What are we even looking for?” He fell quiet, but when he didn’t get a response, he inched up alongside the shelf. “Daniel?”
Daniel smiled grimly, letting his finger drag from symbol to symbol down the row. No. None of them were right. He turned to Leon, who even then stood there with confusion in his blue eyes, and reached out two fingers to tap the end of the pipe that poked from underneath Leon’s jacket.
“We’re looking for this.”
- Chapter Nineteen -
He’d been so confident when they started.
The longer they worked, the more Daniel’s confidence faded. The hidden library underneath Alexandria had always been big. With rack upon rack of emblazoned books before him, it might as well have been endless.
The pattern continued on—shelf after shelf, with a level of planning prior unseen within Alexandria. There was that, at least. They might be looking for a needle in a haystack, but it was an organized haystack. Each shelf was crammed full of matching books, as though they were some sort of sick, twisted anthology.
Daniel trudged onward, his excitement fast fading. “I thought it’d be easier,” he mumbled. “Sorry.” With every step, the bandages around his leg flexed, tensing uncomfortably.
“It’s not your fault,” Leon said. His friend crept down a row of shelves adjacent to him, leafing through books that weren’t more than a few dozen pages wide. “But, Jesus. Are these all-”
“Mages,” Daniel said heavily. He paused, letting his fingers rest against a spine—one thicker than the rest, marked with a slender object. A pen, he realized, and wrinkled his nose. Not it. But...He pulled it from the shelf, flipping through the pages. “Another biography,” he mumbled. “But thicker. This one-”
He stopped himself before he could say it. This one must have lived longer.
“What’s that?” Leon called.
Daniel thrust the book back into place. “Nothing.”
That was one door he wasn’t willing to open yet, even in the silence of his own mind. The fact that none of these mages seemed to live very long. That the few texts he’d perused between his own research and today painted a clear image of their bloody ends. And that Leon was now one of those very same mages.
Could be, he told himself, clenching his jaw. He could be.
“Is something wrong?”
Daniel glanced up. Leon peered at him from between two shelves, his eyes worried. “Is it your leg? Does it hurt? If I need to go back and get that first aid kit again, I can.”
“N-No,” Daniel mumbled, looking down. “I’m fine. There’s no need.”
“You don’t seem fine,” Leon muttered under his breath. “You seem-”
“I’m just...thinking.” Daniel sighed. “About all of these. About...like you said. About them all being mages.”
“There are more here than I’d have figured, that’s for damn sure.”
Daniel snorted, but the twinge of amusement was small, and tempered with worry. “Yeah. There’s...It’s just a lot.” He couldn’t quite say the second half of this, either. These were all mages—and if what he’d been taught was true, most of them would probably be more than happy to come after a target like the Librarian.
This was a room filled with enemies.
“I’m just surprised, that’s all,” Leon said. Daniel looked up again. Leon’s lips were pursed, his arms folded as he drifted from shelf to shelf. “If all these books are people, and all these people are magic...how’s it we don’t hear about any of that?”
“If these books are people, then most of the people are dead,” Daniel said dryly.
“Even still.” Leon swung his hand out, gesturing to the room at large. “That’s a lot of people to be hiding sweet magical abilities from the world.”
Daniel sighed, pausing a moment to lean against a wooden rack. His leg pulsed under the wrappings, throbbing with every beat of his heart. “There’s probably...something more going on,” he said. “They’ve got to be doing something to keep things in line. And if they haven’t let themselves be found…” He shook his head. “They don’t want to be found.”
“I guess,” Leon mumbled. He moved onward, leaning toward another shelf. “Just seems strange. That’s all.”
A chuckle rumbled from Daniel’s throat. “I know. You’re not wrong.”
The rack ended before him. Daniel hesitated, clinging to the shelf for a moment. The ache was getting worse. Alexandria’s medicine or no, he needed to get off his feet soon and rest, or he’d be useless.
But how could he, when he didn’t have what he’d come for? He glanced out over the room, frowning. “Are you really going to make us look through all of these ourselves?” he muttered.
“What’s that?” Leon called again.
Daniel swallowed a groan. “I’m- I’m just-”
“You talking to your book-lady again?” Leon laughed, shaking his head. “You’re lucky I know you’re not crazy, boy.”
“Well, she’s acting like a bitch,” Daniel said, casting a pointed look at the rows of shelves. “I’m pretty damn sure she could be helping, right now.”
“Ah...yeah,” Leon said, his laughter turning nervous. “She didn’t exactly seem happy at my coming down here. I’m assuming that has something to do with it.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve got to get this done one way or another.” Daniel pushed himself back into motion, tottering towards the next row of tight-packed shelves. “With or without her help.”
“She seemed really upset,” Leon said, more quietly. “Is this going to be okay? Maybe I should go wait upstairs, and you can-”
“She doesn’t like mages,” Daniel said. “That’s all.” He looked up, smiling faintly at the low-hanging, dark room around them. “She hardly wanted to show me this place. It’s just...dangerous. To make this stuff common knowledge.”
“I guess. I’m not going to tell anyone, though.”
“I know that,” Daniel mumbled. “But...if something happened…” He ground his teeth together. “Something is already happening. They already know, so what more damage can we do? If we don’t- If we don’t win this, if we don’t stop the people Indira roped into this fight, then it could all get out. There are already mages following us. There could b-be more, and they could spread the word to all their mage friends, and then-”
“Hey,” Leon said, standing bolt upright. “Hey, don’t panic. We’re still good.”
Daniel deflated. “I know. It’s just-”
“We’ll just deal with it,” Leon said. His eyes dropped to another shelf, but he seemed unwilling to turn away. “Whatever comes, we’ll just handle it. It’s as simple as that.”
“But-”
“If those mages know about you, we’ll…” There, Leon hesitated. Daniel smiled mirthlessly. That was the thing, wasn’t it? They couldn’t exactly make the mages forget. Their only choice would be to-
He’d forgotten. The thought slammed through his mind like a lightning bolt. There’d been a letter, hadn’t there? From Crow—from Jean. She’d made him forget.
Couldn’t they do something?
“We’ll figure something out,” Leon said, forcing a smile onto his face. “Don’t give up on it yet. Okay?”
“Y-Yeah,” Daniel said. His mind raced, though. How could he use this? If he could target their memories of him—But, Alexandria’s magic only worked inside Alexandria. His excitement ebbed instantly.
“It’s my own damn fault I’m here,” Leon said with a pointed groan. “I got spotted, Daniel. That’s all. If I’d been more careful, you wouldn’t be on the run with a bullet in your fucking leg. So don’t you apologize to me.”
Daniel opened his mouth to protest, but froze. His hand hovered in midair, inches over a smooth wooden bookshelf.
Maybe Alexandria had listened—or maybe his luck had just changed with sudden, poetic timing.
But there, under his hand, a long row of books waited.
And each of their spines gleamed with a slender, gold-edged pipe.
“Hey,” Daniel said. Excitement ran through his veins like electricity, clouded by the sinking realization that reality was about to crash down on their heads. No more assumptions, no more hopes. They’d have their answers, and whatever came with them. “Hey, Leon.”
“What?” Leon’s head bobbed, only a sliver of brassy hair visible over his shelf.
“I found something.”
“You did?” Just like that, Daniel saw Leon stiffen.
“I- I think so, anyway. Come here.” He could be wrong. There were a lot of ways to craft a pipe, and if this room was any indication, there were a lot of these magical tools out there. He was probably just reading too much into it.
Leon’s shoes slapped against the stone, ringing in his ears. Daniel didn’t bother turning to look. His fingers dragged down the row of books. Left to right—oldest to newest. He had to assume that’s how it worked. And if so-
He froze. All the way at the end, squeezed between the last book and the side of the bookcase, he could just barely make out a shape. It was just a page or two of paper, little more than a folder, but...he swallowed. And then he hooked his fingers around the thin cover, easing the ‘book’ from its hiding place. A tiny chain rattled at the motion, fixed to the corner of the pages.
A shape glowed from the book’s cover. A long, narrow pipe, gently curving at one end, with bangles and delicate chains hanging from its length. His heart hammered faster. It was the same. Exactly the same.
Already knowing what he’d find, he opened the booklet.
“You got something?” Daniel heard Leon say. His eyes were glued to the page, unable to so much as turn and look as his friend approached. “Hey, that- Oh. Is that-”
Daniel swallowed, tearing his eyes off the name printed there at last. He passed the narrow booklet to Leon, wordless.
“That’s...That’s me,” Leon said slowly. His brow furrowed. “That’s my name. But why-”
“I’m sorry,” Daniel whispered.
“Wait,” Leon said, shaking his head. “Wait, wait. Why am I in there? This doesn’t-”
Leon stopped. What little color had been in his face drained away steadily.
Finally, his eyes drifted up to meet Daniel’s. “Am I magic?” he whispered.
Daniel couldn’t help but snort. “Really, Leon?”
“I-I mean-”
“It’s why we’re here,” Daniel said softly. “I knew it was a risk. Since you still...you had that thing on you still.” He gestured to the pipe tucked into Leon’s belt.
Leon nodded, his eyes misty, and turned back to the almost-blank page. “So...I’m a mage.”
“So it seems.”
“But…” Again, Leon shook his head. “Does that mean I can do magic? Like, not in here. Out there. Like, I can-”
“Probably,” Daniel said. “Apparently. I mean, it’s- it’s not like I’ve ever met a mage before. But…” He reached out, patting the booklet. “I think this kind of decides it,” he whispered.
“Holy shit,” Leon murmured. He kept flipping through the pages. “Is there...Is there anything else?” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “This says it was made in...in…” His brow furrowed. “ I can’t read what it-”
“Jingzhou,” Daniel said, glancing over his shoulder. “It’s-”
“You don’t say,” Leon murmured. “Jingzhou, eh? And-”
Daniel couldn’t quite make out the tiny words printed farther down the page, but he saw Leon stiffen. “What?”
“U-Um,” Leon said. His hand came up, pressing against the pipe. “It says- It says this thing was made..That can’t be right.”
“What does it say?” Daniel said, craning his neck up. “Let me see. C’mon. Just-”
“The thing is a thousand years old,” Leon mumbled. “Holy shit. I shouldn’t- I should take it to a museum or something.”
“You can’t take it to a museum,” Daniel said. “Magic, remember.”
“O-Oh. Yeah.”
“Is there anything else?”
Leon shook his head, turning back to the booklet. “I...I don’t know. There’s headers for more. Bonding date...and that’s...that’s today’s date. This section is just called ‘Blessing’, and it says...Order and chaos? Whatever that means. But then-”
Daniel’s eyes traveled faster than Leon could read. He’d already grabbed another book from the rack by the time Leon spoke again. “It’s got this other section here, labeled ‘Abilities’, but...it’s blank. Is it supposed to be blank?”
“No,” Daniel said heavily, letting the book he held droop to the shelf. “This one’s not.”
“What’s that?” Leon said.
“The next one down,” Daniel said, lifting the book again as he spoke. “If I’m interpreting this right, it belonged to that asshole who kept chasing us.”
“The fire guy?” Leon said, somehow paling further.
Daniel chuckled. “Right. And when I look here…” His finger tapped against the text on the book’s front page. “Temperature regulation is listed under abilities. That sounds about right.”
“But then where’s mine?” Leon said. His voice hardened, turning mulish. “If...If you’re telling me this thing is magic, and if I’ve got a book here, then why-”
“It’s because we don’t know,” Daniel said, closing his eyes. His head spun, leaving him weak and wobbling. His fingers gripped the shelf alongside them, providing a scant modicum of stability. “A-Alexandria doesn’t-”
“Hey,” Leon said. He felt Leon’s hands grab his elbow, pulling him up straight. “Hey, take it easy. You shouldn’t-”
“Alexandria doesn’t create knowledge,” Daniel whispered, swallowing hard. His legs shook. “It just- She enables us to learn. She doesn’t give it to us. And so-”
“So it won’t be written here until I figure out how to use my magic?” Leon said. “That’s bullshit. Unless...Maybe, if that guy used fire, so can-”
“Doesn’t work like that,” Daniel said, allowing himself a low laugh. “That’d...That’d be too easy. I’ve browsed a little. They’re...They’re all different.” Every book. Every mage. There were patterns—he wouldn’t be shocked to learn that there were other fire mages among the pipe’s previous owners—but those patterns were nowhere near strong enough to make a guess off. “We’ll just have to figure it out on our own,” he whispered.
Leon’s fingers became iron bars, tugging him back. “Sit down, will you?” he said. “You look like you’re going to fall over.”
“I’m fine,” Daniel mumbled, brushing him off. “I’ll be okay. We need to…” He licked his lips, forcing some moisture back into his mouth. “We need to keep moving.”
“How, though?” Leon said. His voice was tiny and thin, worn-through. “I’m...I’m a mage. Okay. But...What does that mean? What do I do now?”
What do I do now? The question hung in Daniel’s ears. That was the question, wasn’t it?
What now?
Daniel pulled away from Leon, his limbs moving on their own. He drifted down the aisle, his eyes settling on a familiar desk at the end of the hidden Library.
“U-Uh,” Leon said behind him. “Daniel?”
He didn’t stop. They couldn’t
stop. They had to keep moving, or they’d both be pulled under the waves—all of them, really. James, and Maya, and even Olivia. They couldn’t afford to throw in the towel here.
Finally, his steps slowed. The wooden desktop pressed into Daniel’s thighs. He looked down.
A book stared up at him, right where he’d left it. The Basics was emblazoned across its front.
It hadn’t seemed right to leave it lying around in the Library, where anyone could find it. No, he’d returned it to its underground home—and here it was, ready and waiting.
Thanks, Alex. He smiled. I’ll do my best to keep everything on the rails.
The pressure inside the room changed, just a little, as though the Library had settled around them. As though she’d sighed. Daniel chuckled.
Leon crept up behind him. “Um. What’s-”
“You’re going to take this,” Daniel said, turning, and he pressed the book to Leon’s chest until his friend took it. “You’re going to follow me, and you’re going to read it. I’m going to get to work on my medical degree.”
Leon’s fingers clutched at the book, squeezing it like a life vest. “And then?”
Daniel turned away, starting the long trudge back toward the staircase. A ghost of a smile hung on his lips.
“And then we’re going to fix this.”
- Chapter Twenty -
“And you’re sure about this.”
Daniel leaned back heavily. The bench beneath him was comfortably padded, enough so for him to stretch his aching legs out. Alex wasn’t totally sadistic. “I’m sure,” he said, and lifted his arm. “Give it here.”
Getting back up the stairs, they’d soon discovered, was an utterly futile goal. He’d made it all of three steps before his leg looked at the next stair and said hell, no. His choices were to stay in the basement or try climb and wind up falling back down.
So here he was, stuck sitting on his ass, which irked him to no end.
Leon hesitated another moment, glancing down to the stack of books in his arms. Medical texts, all of them—ones he’d run back up to fetch. And now, the work began. “Only...We could just take you to a hospital,” he whispered. “What if we screw it up? What if it gets infected? I- I like you, y’know.”