Igni had always had a fondness for books. All angels did, it was carved into them. A need to understand the whys of the world. But Igni? He had always been special.

Lux remembered wandering through the archives; he hadn’t grown into his wings yet, nor leaned to smother his glow. So it was that a dark skinned boy with hair as white as clouds wandered through dusty ailes followed by a feather carpet of light. Journals and books of governance and people had been his target then, anything to learn the why of people. Why did the mortals war, how had humanity organised before their fall, were their progeny doomed to repeat their mistakes?

He’d learned much from those halls. When he found all he needed, he’d left. Content to find hind his own answers, in the world beyond. In the end books were just things to him, lovely things, but just things. His brother had a very different opinion.

He stepped past a group of librarians and one very tired attendant dressed in The governor’s colours. He gave the mortals a smile as passe. Then he saw Igni.

Mist poured from their wings as if each feather hid a limitless vent. What few feathers peeked through the flowing vapour were pale, twinkling gold. He’d changed into his usual wear at some point since he last saw them. The plain grey robe fell to the floor and covered all save for his hands and head. Combined with the pool of mist crawling across floor, it painted quite the picture.

Lux stood behind him and waited for them to notice. Igni flipped through the book far slower than he needed to, content to read at a mortal pace. Lux peeked over the shoulder. It was a book about flowers, specifically those that bloomed in the wetlands that became of the plains during the rains. It was about what he’d expected.

After three minutes passed, Igni put the book down and scanned the shelf for another. Lux cleared his throat. Igni glanced his way, and Lux got a clear view of their eyes. Mist danced in their eyes, the grey of their iris twisted and pilled from its boundaries in looping colours and shifting shades. Something shimmered in his pupil, the faintest trembling mote of gold.

Lux chopped them on the head. The spell broke. Ign rubbed their head, confusion replaced intensity.

“Why’d you do that,” the angel blinked owlishly

“You’re scaring the mortals, Igni. I’m pretty sure the governor’s guide is about to die of sleep deprivation.” Lux cracked a smile, delighted to see his brother up to the same antics.

“Really?” they asked, half concern, patt curiosity.

“No. At most, they’re going to pass out.” Lux cast a thumb behind him. A tall, lanky man swayed, their skin was bright red and speckled with black spots. There was a sheen to their skin, but it was dry and cracked in places. Lux wagered they descended from a salamander, or a frog. In either case, they hadn’t been watered it a while.

“Oh,” his brother intoned as reality caught up with them. Their gaze turned to flowing mist lapping their feet. “Oh,”

Lux snickered but managed to hold back a laugh.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

With a twist of effort and wave of gray the parched salamander wasn’t so parched anymore. They still weren’t well, but at least they weren’t about to fall over. “You can go back to the manor, I’m sorry to have held you here for so long.”

Relief almost did what sleep deprivation could not and sent the guard to the ground but after a brief war that was written across their face, they rallied. “I’m sorry I cannot do that emissary. I am to remain with you at all times should you permit it. Unless you send me away, I shall remain until you are done with your trip.”

Lux had to smile at the mortal’s gumption and how it made Igni fight a war of his own. Wandering spirit locked politeness in vicious combat. The mortals didn’t see that thought. They saw him tilt his head and hum faintly, but there were nuances to that hum. Little changes that hinted at his thoughts. Igni didn’t try to hide their thoughts, they were simply distant most of the time, far away things buried in the mist.

Lux decided to help out. “Don’t worry, my guide is here, go home and tell the governor to set up a rotation for however long Igni decides to stay here.” The soft skinned guard looked to Lux and made one of those ever-so-funny reverential faces. Like they were about to cry and break into song wrapped into one.

“That is a wonderful suggestion, Emissary Lux.” I shall see to it at once. They retreated, leaving Lux alone with Igni, the loitering librarian his guide and the people were eavesdropping behind the shelves. That was less fun.

Lux shook his head and walked down the aisle. Lux fell into step beside him; it was a familiar walk. Though the walls were a bit too close for their wings to stretch comfortably.

“Tell me what you’ve learned.” He said.

His brother did with a smile. “It’s a lot of small things….”

A hundred little details painted a picture. Lux learned of Spes Nova’s channels. How they flowed into underground rivers and buried lakes. Each a ciy onto inself, al the while remaining a small brach of the eldest ciy the people who lived there. The tale was scattered across a dozen different facts and anecdotes. It was the first of many. The brothers wandered through the library.

“How did you find this place,” Lux asked as Igni pushed their face between yet another tome.

They peeked from the pages, a fleck of yellow light in their eye. It flickered, and Lux realised it was only the lamplight.

Night had fallen and cast the tall rows into glow. Lamps burned isles of light in the dark. “Two told me about them before she focused on her studies.” Igni chimed before returning his gaze to the book.

Lux scoffed, “You’ve been in here for four weeks, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think she’s trying to keep you all to herself.” His intent had been joking, but when Igni tilted his head he saw the thought flicker through their head.

His brow furrowed. “She didn’t plan this did she.”

His brother hmned. That was all the answer he needed. “It is possible; she is rather smart, and I can’t tell what she thinks without don’t resort to improper means.” They chuckled, “It’s funny the mortal’s rub their souls over each other all the time. To fight, to posture, to understand. There’s fiction in these shelves, and though but fanciful tales, they speak a kind of truth.”

His brother gesticulated grandly, encompassing all. Their mist rose in concert, enveloping them in a bubble of vague outlets and deaded sound. “The first one told of romance, it told of souls touching, an intimate act. The next told of a hero facing a world at war and brining peace as they laid their spirit and the weight of conviction over a battlefield. In the third a lone cultivator stepped into the sky and stretching their will across eternity to ask a star a question. They’re just stories but… ”

“They are so close to being true.” Lux finished.

“Yes,” they said and smiled brightly, but lux could not share in it. Drifting strands of vapors gold encircled Igni. They shone with a light that matched Lux’s subdued glow, but despite that, their light singed just a bit. “You know I brushed her when I checked her taint. It wasn’t even a touch, the bare minimum really but… “ Igni’s eyes grew distant and their intensity grew, that wonderous fatal intensity. For a breath, Lux feared they might slip away. Then they sighed.

The wonder did not die, but it was joined by softened by something sad. “Lux”, they stared into their eyes. “They are so so painfully small. It was like holding a mite on the tip of my finger. Something smaller than a grain of sand yet still impossibly alive. Still full of hopes and dreams and fears and anger. I do not understand them. I cannot fathom how they can grow from such meagre things to sovereigns.” They chuckled, it was a breathy dismal sound but one drowning in wonder. “Humanity’s progeny they are such interesting things.”

They sighed witfully and turned back to reading. The bubble of mist popped and faded into nothing. As if nothing of note had happened. Lux was left staring at his brother.

He smiled, Igni, as amazing as always, he huffed and turned away. He stepped into the night trailed by a guide and began working his way back to the manor with a new bounce to his step. His brother was pursuing his path. Lux would return to his.

While he was at it, he’d make sure nothing and no one untoward bothered them.