Lightgiver (20 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

They wandered across the mountainside, never staying in one place too long. Every once in a while, they would take a break for a few minutes, hidden under one of Lina’s illusions, but they never stayed for more than a quarter hour. The dim red sun remained a steady presence in the sky. It took Jez a while to realize that the oppressive heat he felt wasn’t coming from the sun but from the earth itself. The burning in his lungs grew steadily worse, and before long, he tasted blood every time he took a breath. Osmund had trouble walking, and Lina struggled as she constantly maintained her illusions. At one point, they huddled in a cleft in the rock as half a dozen chezamuts wandered by. They were larger than the soldier demons Jez had seen before, and they likely wouldn’t be nearly so easy to defeat.

“How much time do you think has passed?” Lina asked.

“I’m not sure,” Jez said. “Maybe three or four hours.”

“Jez, we can’t keep this up.”

Her voice wavered a little. She sounded almost as afraid as he felt. Jez started to reassure her, but he’d only gotten out a single word before falling into a fit of coughing so strong that he doubled over. When he finished, there was a spot of blood on the ground, larger than any other he’d made since coming here. He stared at it for a few seconds. Slowly, the ground absorbed it, and Jez tried not to wonder if the abyss was drinking his blood.

“You’re probably right.”

“Then, what do we do?” Osmund asked.

“Find another cave?” Lina asked.

Jez shook his head. “If we stay in one place too long, the demons will find us. This is their world.”

“Not all of it,” Osmund said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the library isn’t from their world. It’s from ours.”

“There have to be hundreds of demons there by now.”

“It’s a place big enough to hold thousands,” Osmund said, “and there are those warded rooms. I might’ve been able to get in, but I’m sure there are places demons can’t go.”

“If it was so easy to get in, we would’ve done it earlier,” Jez said.

“Earlier we weren’t just looking for a place to hide out for half a day. We don’t have to take it from them. We just have to avoid their notice.”

Jez pursed his lips. “You’re probably right.”

“How will we get in?” Lina asked. “The doors will be watched.”

“The light of knowledge,” Osmund said. Jez and Lina looked at him. “The brazier at the top of the library. There has to be a way down from there.”

“Do you expect us to climb the walls?” Lina asked.

“No,” Osmund said. “I expect us to fly.”

Once they’d transformed, Ziary and Luntayary were too powerful for Lina to hide them the way she’d been doing before, but she could change the way they looked so they resembled winged demons. The illusion of black scales covered them, and bat-like wings rose from their backs. Their eyes transformed into twin points of pale yellow lights, and sinuous tails swung behind them. Jez took Lina in his arms, trusting that she too would be shrouded by the illusion.

They spread their wings and took off. The air felt thicker than in the mortal realm, and it felt more like clawing through the sky than flying. After their experience with the fog beast, they avoided clouds, unwilling to risk accidently flying into something that turned out to be a demon. It didn’t take long for details of the library to come into view. The fire still flickered in the tower, seeming out of place on the scorched hillside. Beneath them, a hoard of demons had gathered. Many were twisted versions of those Jez had fought before. Some fought among themselves, and destruction magic flickered back and forth. Even from high above, Jez sensed the reckless energy about them. They were waiting for war.

Jez and Ziary kept their distance from other flying demons until they found an opening to reach the tower. They landed softly near the brazier. Jez just stared at it, and for just a moment, the image of great tower appeared in his mind. The fire burned golden yellow, and he heard whispers in his mind. They spoke of knowledge long lost. Without knowing how he knew, he was certain that the knowledge could be his if he had the will to take it. He found himself taking a step forward and staring deeply into the flames. He could almost see images dancing inside. He jumped when Osmund put a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” Jez said. “Mirel was wrong. This is no ordinary fire.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think ‘light of knowledge’ was more literal than we thought.”

“Do you think this is what Sharim is looking for?”

Jez shrugged. “Maybe. There’s definitely something stored in here.”

“Can you tell what it is?”

Jez put his hand right next to the fire. “It’s not hot.” Something tickled at his mind. It felt like a memory, but not exactly that. “I guess there’s only one thing to do.”

He plunged his hand into the flames.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

There was nothing around Jez. He was neither hot nor cold. Neither humid nor dry. He was in a black void, utterly featureless.

“Hello?”

His voice echoed for a long time. When it finally faded, a point of shining light appeared before him. A second later, it flashed. When the light had dimmed, a man with the dark skin of the lands beyond the eastern sea stood before him. Gray streaked his black hair, and he had deep brown eyes that spoke of a vast knowledge. He wore the robes of a scholar, though his arms bulged with the muscles of one more accustomed to the sword than the quill.

“Greetings.” He had a loud booming voice. He spoke with an odd accent Jez couldn’t place. “It has been a long time since anyone has come here, though I have to say, you’re not what I normally expect from a caretaker.”

“A caretaker?”

The man smiled. “A challenge then? I know your people like to play games, even if you pretend you don’t. Were you challenged by your fellows to get into the library’s tower and touch the light of knowledge?”

Jez blinked at him. “What are you talking about? Who are you?”

“I am the guard, of course.”

“The guard of what?”

The man laughed. “You’ll not get me to reveal my secrets so easily, and you’ve not been the first to try. The caretaker will be upset with you. You should know that I won’t hide what you did from him.”

“The caretaker was the leader of the library?”

“Of course.”

“There is no caretaker. There hasn’t been anyone in the library for over a thousand years.”

“That is ridiculous.”

“You said so yourself, it’s been a long time since anyone came here. How long?”

The man’s smile faltered. “I don’t know. I’m not aware unless there’s someone in the fire. I don’t have a good sense of time otherwise.”

“Take a guess.”

He let out a long breath, and his eyes seemed far away for a second. “Less than five thousand years. More than three hundred.”

Jez gaped. “That’s a big range.”

“Normally, I rely on the ones who come here to tell me when the last caretaker entered.”

“Fine. Is it normally at least three hundred years between caretaker visits?”

“No, it tends to be far shorter.”

“That’s because the last caretaker died so long ago no one even knows his name.”

The man stared at him for a long time. Jez felt a presence brush across his mind. He almost fought it off, but after what he had already revealed to Mirel, what did he have to lose? He compressed his wards so they only protected a few key secrets and allowed it inside. It wasn’t a strong probe. Whatever or whoever this guard was, he obviously had no great strength at mental magic, but after a few seconds, it quivered and withdrew. The guard let out a breath, and his shoulders slumped. He shrank a few inches, and the darkness around them seemed somehow larger.

“You’re telling the truth, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Jiral.”

Jez blinked. “What?”

“The last caretaker. Her name was Jiral.”

“What were you hiding here?”

“A rune.”

“That’s it? Just a rune?”

“Hardly just. The rune I know is the one representing the Keep of the Hosts.”

Jez stared at him. He hadn’t known there was such a rune. “That was the tower I saw in the fire.” The guardian nodded. “Why are you telling me?”

“You are a Shadowguard. I have no reason not to.”

Jez gaped for a second. This being hadn’t gone anywhere near that knowledge. “No, I’m not.”

“Look down at yourself.”

Jez did and realized his clothes had changed to shining sapphire robes. The crystal sword hung from his waist. He looked over his shoulder and saw the pure white wings that had emerged from his back. He turned to the guardian.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

“This is a place of truth. You appear as you are.”

“That makes sense, I guess. Why didn’t you trust me before, then?”

The guard shrugged. “I am what I am. My purpose is to protect the rune.”

“Fair enough. Why do you have the rune for the Keep of the Hosts?”

“The same reason we have any other piece of knowledge.”

“No,” Jez said. “I mean why do
you
have it.”

“Ah, I see. I have it because there is no safer place for such knowledge to be. I am a construct created for this exact purpose. My mind cannot be read. I cannot be coerced. If someone is too hostile, I can simply cast them out of the flame. As a last defense, I can snuff out the fire, destroying myself along with the secret. It is safe with me. Do you want it?”

“Why would you give it to me?”

“Why would you come here if you did not seek it?”

“An accident,” Jez said. “We were trying to find a way into the library. When I sensed this wasn’t a normal fire, I investigated. What could someone do with the rune to the Keep of the Hosts?”

“They could reach the Keep or affect all its inhabitants.”

“The pharim?”

“Yes. All of them, if there is enough power and if the mage is skilled enough to craft the proper working.”

A chill ran through Jez’s body. “By the seven, Sharim summoned Aniel into the world six months ago, and because of that, all of the pharim retreated to the Keep and refused to answer any summons. He could call them all. This was what he wanted from the beginning. That’s why he wanted to bring the library here. He didn’t just want a way out of the abyss. He’s going to strike back at them.”

The image of the guard flickered, and his eyes went wide. “Something is wrong. The flames are dissipating.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something is putting them out. They’re not even trying to take the knowledge. They’re trying to destroy it. You must take the rune.”

“No, I can’t. That will leave it vulnerable to Sharim.”

“My charge is to make sure the knowledge survives. You are a pharim. Guard it well.”

The man extended a hand, and pain blossomed in Jez’s head. He screamed as the guardian faded and the library’s tower came into view. His head was pounding, and it took a second for his vision to clear. Creatures that looked like living statues held Lina and Osmund. Mirel stood over the flames, and as she finished chanting, the fire puffed out without leaving so much as a wisp of smoke in the air. The former Lightgiver met Jez’s gaze and smiled.

“I have to admit,” she said, “I did not expect you to fall into this trap so easily. Now, you will give me what you learned.”

Jez drew deeply of Luntayary’s power, but before he transformed, one of the rock creatures hit him in the back of the head. He lost his concentration as the blow sent him to the ground, but Jez was no longer the newly raised adept he had been the last time Sharim had been active in the world. He’d had half a year to train. As soon as he hit the ground, he sent a wave of terra magic into the stone. The ground shook, and while the stone demons didn’t falter, Mirel did. She stumbled, and immediately, Jez threw himself at her.

The demons struck again while he was in the air, but this time, Jez was ready. They were stone enough to be affected by his power. The heavy fist crumpled to dust, and though it got into Jez’s eyes, it didn’t bother him. He crashed into Mirel, once again drawing on the power he had within. The demons weren’t close enough this time, and Luntayary’s form flared into existence. Rather than attack the afur, Jez rolled off of her and threw himself into the air. He flew several yards away from the tower before turning and launching a banishing at the nearest stone demon, the one with only one remaining hand. A distortion of air rushed toward the creature. Power washed over it, and rock collapsed to powder. Jez destroyed the other demon a second later.