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13 CAIDEN
Caiden’s head ached from the champagne as he pulled himself out of bed the next morning. The house was still asleep when he tucked the book into the back of his trousers and donned his cloak. A thick layer of snow fell overnight, making the street slick. He did his best to hurry to the library.
The massive stone building stood high on a hill overlooking the city of Vantris. Built after the War of Three Kings, the library and university housed some of Moriana’s greatest antiquities. Many of which were hidden during the Sylph and Elven War.
The enormous wood doors creaked open as Caiden entered. Rows of scholars and students lined the massive reading room where the starry night flickered overhead.
Ora sat hunched over a book. Her hair was tied back in a neat bun, save for two unruly pieces framing her face.
Caiden set the book he’d found on the table next to her. “I thought you might find this interesting.”
Her brown eyes flitted to the book.
“Look at the marking on the spine…” Caiden said.
She ran her finger over the symbol. “ A History of Moriana . Hmm… could be useful. Let’s see.” Opening the book, she scanned the pages until she found something. “Ah-ha! Look!”
She held up a page just like the one they’d found the day before, but the consolation was different. This time, the Trinity pointed to the constellation of the Warrior.
“The star on the tip of his spear…” Caiden said, more to himself than to anyone else.
“You’re right. It’s glowing.” Ora looked up to see the Warrior overhead. It wasn’t simply glowing, a beam of light stretched from the spear’s tip to the book’s star.
“It is part of a puzzle!” Caiden exclaimed, followed by the inevitable shush from the scholars.
“Should we take this to a Grand Master?” Ora asked.
“No,” Caiden whispered.
Ora scowled and signaled for an assistant, who came eagerly.
“We need Grand Master Quail to come here as quickly as possible.”
The assistant bowed and rushed away.
Caiden clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“We need his help,” she defended. “He can keep a secret.”
“Can he? Because I’ve heard of his penchant for drinking and gambling.”
“He’s not like that anymore.”
“Fine. If you say he’s trustworthy.”
The two waited silently for Grand Master Quail while other scholars shot them questioning looks. Ora shut the book, cutting off the beam. “Best not to draw attention.”
A few moments later, a fumbling man in black robes with a tuft of white hair on his head appeared, sweat glistening on his brow. “Ah, Master Ora, I heard you found something interesting.”
Ora cleared her throat. “Yes, Grand Master. What do you know of this symbol?” She pointed to the mark on the spine of the book.
Master Quail took out a pair of spectacles and placed them on the bridge of his button nose. “Ah yes, this is the mark of the Zylrith Weavers. It’s a knot of magic being woven together. Some scholars think the Trinity tricked the Weavers into doing their bidding, stole their magic, and then eradicated them from the continent. Others believe a certain disease wiped them out. Who can say? They were immensely powerful magus, and now their name is but a whisper in history.”
“Master, did the Weavers build this library?”
“I believe they did, yes.” Master Quail picked up Caiden’s book and examined it. “Where did you get this?”
“My father’s library. Lord Tonin Stormweaver,” Caiden said, leaning back on the desk, arms crossed over his chest.
Grand Master Quail straightened his glasses. “Well, that would make sense.”
“Why is that?” Caiden’s curiosity was piqued.
“An original family would have gotten something like this from the Lady Illya as a sign of gratitude.” The man’s shaking finger grazed over the ancient pages of the book.
“A book?” Caiden asked, cocking his head in confusion.
The Grand Master clicked his tongue. “Not just a book, my child. A history of the land. Of how we came to be.”
“Sounds like a shit gift,” Caiden huffed, crossing his legs over one another.
The old man scowled at him.
“They were numbered. Many are kept here for safety reasons. But some families kept them.”
“So, the Weavers built this library, wrote these books, and then just disappeared?” Ora asked, looking up at the Grand Master like he was a god.
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Grand Master Quail said with a little chuckle.
Ora tapped her lips with one slim finger, contemplating whether to show her mentor the books or not.
“What is it, my child? Is something on your mind?”
Ora’s eye flicked from Quail’s to Caiden and back again.
“Just show him,” Caiden said with a huff.
Cautiously, Ora opened the book, and light beamed out, connecting the two stars.
Grand Master Quail stared up at the ceiling in wonder. “Yes, a nifty little trick, isn’t it?”
“You mean you knew about this?” Ora’s mouth fell agape.
“Yes, the stars of the book connect to their respective stars on the ceiling.”
“But why? There must be a reason.”
“That, my dear, has been lost to time. If you’ll excuse me, I have a class to teach on ancient sylph calligraphy.”
Grand Master Quail shuffled away, muttering to himself under his breath.
“Well, that wasn’t helpful,” Ora said, shoulders slumping with disappointment.
“Yes, it was,” Caiden said. “He said most of the other books are here. I think if we line all of them up, we’ll get some answers, but we’ll have to do it later when everyone is asleep.”
“How will we get the other books if they’re locked away? I don’t have the clearance to check out books in the restricted section without a Grand Master.”
“Would a letter from a High Council Member be helpful?”
“That could work.” Her green eyes lit with excitement.
“I’ll get a letter from my father and meet you back here as soon as I have it.”
Caiden raced to his father’s office in the capitol, where aids hurried from one meeting to another. The sounds of their heels clicking on the marble floors echoed through the hallways. Tonin sat at his desk, hunched over some papers, his gray hair shining in the sunlight. Caiden wondered when his father started to age. Despite being nearly a millennium old, he looked to be around the age of a human in their fifties. He wasn’t frail, but he certainly wasn’t the fearsome commander he’d once been.
“Caiden! How goes it today?” His face brightened at the sight of his youngest son. Creases appeared around his pale blue eyes. Tonin was as close to an original as the sylph could get. Born from one of the original families, he escaped elven slavery and worked to free others.
A rebellion leader, he led the forces into battle in the Sylph and Elven Wars, only to become their captive again. He nearly died in a prison camp, but he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of killing him. Every sylph born after the treaty was signed knew who Tonin Stormweaver was. A legend among his people, Caiden hoped his signature would carry enough weight to get them into the library’s restricted section.
“It goes well. I trust Amolie took the portal to Ruska safely.”
“She did.” Tonin nodded. “Terrible that she had to leave so soon after her wedding.”
“Life does not wait for us, Father. You should know that by now.”
“True.” He sighed and poured himself a glass of amber liquor. “Want one?”
Caiden waved him off. “I’m here for a favor.”
“Oho, and what is it for?”
“I need a note to get into the restricted section of the Great Library.”
“And why would you need that?”
“We… er, I may have found something to help us locate the Trinity Wells. That book you let me borrow is part of a set—a gift from the goddess Illya to the original sylph families.”
Tonin scribbled something down—signing it with big, swooped lettering. “Say no more.” Dripping wax onto the letter, he stamped it with the seal of the Stormlands and handed it to Caiden.
“Thanks, Dad,” he said with a sheepish smile as if he were receiving a note to miss his tutoring lessons.
“Of course.” He smiled back at his son. “Now, go save the world.”
Caiden turned to leave, but his father called after him, “One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“I’m proud of you.”
Caiden’s chest warmed. “I try my best to make you proud.”
Tonin nodded at his son. “I’ll see you back at the townhouse tonight. Your mother is making a hearty stew.”
Table of Contents
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- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15 (Reading here)
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- Page 17
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- Page 20
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- Page 52
- Page 53