Chapter 74

"Magic library!" Riley squeed, dashing down an aisle of curious shelves filled with dozens of diamond slots; within each lay a scroll.

The smells of ancient vellum and wood percolated around her, along with dust. A disused desk sat neglected at the main entrance, upon which was a floating crystal cube hovering over a metal circle.

Riley came dashing up the aisle to the right of the one she had descended down, sliding to a stop in front of Tobias.

"Where are the people? And the Magical doodads and the nightmare books that eat souls?" Her whiskers twitched in confusion.

"Haven't you had enough of eating souls?" Tobias mused, kicking off a pang of guilt within her.

"Fair, but there aren't many books," she scanned around. The ones she could see were all sitting on tables, at the end of the shelves, and chained there.

"It takes a lot of time and effort to print a book, Riley, and it is multi-disciplinary. Scribes must record, binders must bind, you need leather or metal for the cover..." Tobias trailed off, taking up the cube.

"Magical doodad!" Riley pointed at his hand, "You used magic to affix your patch; why not use magic to make a book?"

"You can, to be certain, but normally, that effort is applied elsewhere. Still, it does happen. I'd wager these works were all produced that way. Now, watch. I think you'll enjoy this," Tobias said, closing his eyes and holding up the cube in front of his face in both hands, cupping the tiny object.

Riley saw his magic flare in a bright orange aura for half a second, then the cube pulsed green.

An arrow appeared on the floor, pointing toward one of the shelves.

"Cool!" She bounced on her hind paws, skipping around the arrow.

"I guessed as much," he chuckled and began to move.

The arrow moved with him, its direction changing as he went.

Riley's ears went slack before giving chase.

"How's it do that? I want to know!" She asked.

"It's a catalog crystal, part of a sorting spell. Think of it like a filing system. You think about what you want, and the crystal finds it. Every scroll and book here has been tagged with a magical tracker, and that info is inscribed within this little cube here," he stopped and held it up in demonstration.

Riley could see the green light pulsing within.

"Are they always cubes? Is the shape significant?" She asked as the arrow chased up a shelf and highlighted a scroll.

Tobias took it, and the arrow reappeared, pointing them in their next direction.

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"I suppose it could be any shape, but that's more a question for Justinian than me," Tobias replied, taking another scroll.

"Do you think we'll see him soon? I hope he's ok." Riley asked.

"If we get assigned to the capital like the generals said, absolutely; don't see how we couldn't. It feels like it's been forever between then and now," Tobias mused.

"He's been at the castle, what, three months now? He might be a good source on the jerkface," Riley replied.

"That's the Duke of Jerkface; show proper respect," Tobias chided, finally coming to a highlighted book chained down.

"This is all there is?" He wrinkled his nose in disappointment before turning his head towards a gated entrance that led to stairs.

"Rangers don't seem like big readers on the main, no offense," Riley observed. The layer of dust on the desk and shelves seemed to speak in silent witness to her words.

"That's fair. Though Cid does know his theory. He certainly quoted it readily enough," Tobias said, distracted.

"The western tower is supposed to be all library, but this is just one level," Tobias looked around, pondering the mystery, setting down the scrolls on the table.

"This will keep a minute. Come on, Riley." He said, moving over towards the gate.

With a tentative push, it opened on squeaky hinges.

"Is this allowed?" Riley asked, scanning around like she was about to knock over a liquor store.

"To the best of my knowledge, yes," Tobias replied with a mischievous grin.

"That's not an answer!" Riley challenged.

"It is, actually," ascending the stairs, Riley reluctantly hopped after him.

Tobias' jaw dropped as they entered the next room.

The floor was coated in dust, showing years since the last visitor. Disused shelves contained row after row of books. Ancient tomes that stood timeless, their covers each made of some type of red scale hide embossed with golden sigils.

"Forgotten knowledge..." He muttered reverently under his breath, striding over to the first book within reach. He began to turn it over in his hands as Riley looked at the title.

The english words popped into her brain after a moment of scan.

"Fengvar's History of the Iilvis Mining expedition, riveting,"

Tobias looked at her with pure, shocked surprise, "You understand these symbols?"

"They only looked funny for a minute? I do have a translation power," she reminded.

"You do! Do you know what that means?" His voice rose high and excited.

"We're going to be spending a lot more time in the library?" She asked. The boredom of such a thought yawned before her like a dark abyss.

"Riley, who knows who wrote these. There are volumes of scrolls and dead language books like this all over Calaria. Who knows what secrets you could unlock!" Tobias sounded giddy.

"Before or after we kill the monsters?" Riley asked.

Tobias deflated, "I suppose you have a point."

He sat down the book as Riley felt a pang of guilt.

"It's ok. Maybe we should report this to our superior or something? It could be a side project? Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to be a massive nerd!" Riley pondered.

"Why would they care? If these books were dangerous, they wouldn't be stored here. Still, if you see something ancient and you can read it, tell me. You keep paying dividends on that silver we spent," Tobias patted Riley's head in obvious affection.

"Dangerous? It's a book. They don't look anything like the Necronomicon," Riley tentatively poked at one with her forepaw.

"Necronomicon?" Tobias shook his head.

"An enchanted ancient book that woke up baddies that devoured souls," Riley explained.

"What is it with you and devouring souls?" Tobias looked at her, puzzled.

"I dunno, it's kinda been on my mind lately," she admitted, nodding to her guilt lurking like a shadow.

"That's fair," Tobias agreed, "Still if these were enchanted like that, I doubt they'd be behind an unlocked gate."

"Well, if the books aren't going to hurt us, what's the harm? Why don't you pick a few, set them where I can scan them, and then you can go downstairs and do some research? I'll let you know if I find anything interesting?" Riley offered like an olive branch.

Tobias turned the ancient tome over in his hands, his eyes sparkling with curiosity, "I don't know."

"Come on. We're not going to tell anyone," Riley tempted.

"Agreed," Tobias took a deep, steadying breath, "You don't mind?"

"It's a magic library; of course I don't mind!" She said as Tobias began grabbing books.