“Speak, mouse! And, for that matter, speak up,” said the bear.

Dot shifted her weight and dropped her giant haunches on the basement floor. Mousey felt a tremor move through the ground beneath his paws, and the bear continued, “For just as the tiniest whisper from my lips is as the roll of thunder to you, so your loudest roar is barely above a whisper to me.”

“I… Um…” Mousey stammered.

“Shout, little one,” said Dot. “Belt from your chest and tell me why you have come.”

His paws shook, and his teeth chattered. All those times he spent imagining he was a bear who took no abuse from anyone. As a pup he’d constantly played as if he were a mighty grizzly and thought of such a beast as the greatest being he could fathom.

Now he was face to face with one.

But he had to remember; he was there with a purpose.

“I’m here,” he shouted up to the bear, “To learn the secret to reversing petrification.”

“I see,” said the bear. Her paws, which held claws like the hulls of longboats, moved across the ground, knocking bones out of her way. She reached up and plucked something from the shadows over her head, then placed it on the ground.

The book was larger than the floor under the Souris’ dining room, and the binding glimmered like jade.

Dot continued, “But you have only told me what you came here for. That much I could have guessed. I asked you ‘why.’ Why have

you come here? Why has someone brave enough to pass Vulpa’s test braved all the dangers of the ruins?”

“Why?” Mousey pondered the question a moment, then said, “Because my sister has been turned to stone.” He bit his lip. “And… it’s my fault. I have to make it better.”

Dot pointed one of her claws at his chest, looked him in the eye, and said, “That is a noble reason, if ever I heard one.” The corners of her mouth curled up in a smile, and Mousey reluctantly returned the smile. “Still so terrified?”

“Umm… y-yes… sorry,” said Mousey.

“Never apologize for wisdom,” said Dot. “If I am to allow you to read from this book, there are many things I must make you understand first.”

Dot hooked a claw between the book’s pages and flipped it open. There shone from inside the book a beautiful blue light, and the air above it sparkled as if filled with tiny diamonds.

“Her name is Zoi,” said Dot, “And she is different from any other magical book ever written. I inherited her from her previous guardian, a butterfly sorceress named Papillon.”

Dot paused, as if allowing Mousey to speak. He merely stared in silence.

Dot sighed, her hot breath snaking along the ground in clouds. “Surely you have a question about that?”

“Umm…” Mousey thought for a moment, holding his paw to his chin. “Oh! Right! You said the previous guardian was a butterfly! But… most bugs are not thinking creatures.”

“Indeed,” said Dot. “But you have undoubtedly heard of the summer fireflies, who speak their visions of the future? They were once unthinking creatures, but they came across a book of prophecy, and that was how they became so changed. Papillon reacted in a similar fashion to this book, Zoi.”

Mousey craned his neck to try to sneak a peek at Zoi’s pages, but Dot moved her paw in the way, then continued, “She teaches far more than how to heal those who have been turned to stone. She teaches the greatest secrets of medicine, healing, resurrection, and life. With her, any beast can learn how to increase their life span

many times over. Butterflies’ lives are short, and yet he had watched over this book for ages beyond counting.”

Again, Dot paused. It took Mousey a moment to realize that she was politely pausing for questions when they seemed most warranted. “Oh… Why is he not still the book’s guardian, then?”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“He told me he was ready to pass on,” said Dot. “He told me, ‘When I was but a caterpillar, I thought my days would always be the same. Then I felt different. The world grew dark around me, and my body started to shut down. I felt I was dying, and on pure instinct I built what I assumed would be my coffin. Only to awaken soon after to discover I’d grown wings and was as beautiful as any star in the sky. Now, I’m curious what wonderous change I’m delaying by prolonging the inevitable.’”

Dot raised a single claw into the air and made sure to look Mousey in the eye. “Now, I was just a cub at the time, but I sought the secrets of life because I feared the approaching winter. I was not old enough yet to realize that my hibernation was not only not permanent but would seem far shorter than I expected. I agreed to take this book because I feared an end to what I knew.” Dot brought her paw down to the ground again, and Mousey heard the bones underneath grind on the basement floor. “Now, hundreds of battles and countless hibernations later, I realize that new life follows death. It’s a change, but change is usually good. Things need to change, it’s how we know we’re alive.”

“My sister’s change has stopped,” squeaked Mousey. “She isn’t changing into something new, she’s stuck! That’s… worse than death!”

“Yes, it is,” said Dot. “And, for that reason, it is imperative that you restore her. But, understand that someday you may take her place in what may seem like a fate worse than death. If I let you read what you need from this book, you will agree to my terms. This book will one day need a new guardian when I have had enough and wish for the Long Hibernation. Once you have healed your sister, you must come here once a month to study Zoi’s pages, and I will teach you what I have learned.”

Mousey smirked, hardly feeling this was a sacrifice.

But Dot pressed the end of her claw to his chest and said, “For you will take my place when I sleep in the ground. You will

outlive everyone you know now, but if you have pups you will live to see their pups, and their pups, and their pups, down to the hundredth generation, or more, if you wish. Yet, you will never have peace.”

Dot gestured to the bones that littered the ground. “You need only look around you to realize just how coveted this books secrets are. And they must never fall into the wrong hands! I understand that mice now live as slaves? Imagine any of your slave masters with the secret to eternal life, and what a terrible world would result. But, this means you must never become such a tyrant yourself. Be wary of the reasons you call others wrong, lest you fail to realize when you follow the same path as they. Do you understand?”

Mousey scratched behind his ear. “I think so. You’re saying that if I read from the book for what I need, I need to come back to learn all its secrets. But that comes at a greater price; when you pass on I will become the book’s new guardian. I need to be careful not to become a bad ruler or… guardian during that time, because if I do it will never end. Then, I have to live long enough to find someone who can do the same. Am I right?”

“No,” said Dot, raising one claw. “You said ‘become a bad ruler.’ You are not to become a ruler of any sort, mouse. Do you understand? Power is a temptation to do wrong, and you will have enough temptation without inviting more. No, you are not to be a king, an emperor, a prince, a lord, or any sort of ruler at all. Do I make myself clear, mouse?”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” said Mousey, folding his paws in front of his lap.

“Swear it to me, Mouse!” growled Dot. She held out her paw and a piece of parchment appeared there, next to a quill and ink-well. “Better yet, put it in writing that you will never ever use your magic to rule over others. Once you have signed this promise, it will be binding, to take your life in an instant should you break it.”

Mousey took the quill in his hand, dipped it in the ink-well, and immediately began scrawling his promise as quickly as he could. He never had any intention of ruling over anyone, and he had a hard time imagining such a thing as possible anyway. Even with

all this power Dot was talking about, he would still be a mouse.

“No hesitation,” said Dot. “That’s good. Now, if you are ready, sign another promise: that you will never allow this book to fall into the hands of those who would use it to do harm. You shall not die if you break this promise, but rather shall live long enough to hunt them down and destroy them for their wrongness.”

Sopher whispered in Mousey’s mind. “I did not teach you magic, so you could destroy…”

“I know, Sopher,” Mousey thought back, “But it sounds like I’ll fix far more than I destroy… infinitely more!”

“Please keep that intention in mind,” pleaded Sopher.

“Do you trust me?” Mousey thought.

“What?”

“After all this time together, have you not come to trust me?”

“I… I have,” Sopher said. She giggled for a moment, then said, “Very well. I will trust you in this as well.”

“Why do you hesitate?” Dot growled, raising an eyebrow.

“I only pause at the thought of having to slay other beasts,” said Mousey. “But, I understand it may become necessary.” Mousey took the quill and signed his next promise.

“You hesitate to take life,” said Dot. “That is a good quality for the guardian of the secrets of life but mind you it does not keep you from your duties.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Mousey, nodding his head.

“Now, sign a new promise to me,” said Dot. “Promise that you will come to learn the secrets Zoi has to teach, and, when the time comes, you will take my place as this book’s guardian. Know that this means that you will live hundreds of lifetimes before you may pass her on, outliving everyone you love.”

Mousey’s paw hovered over the paper. He trembled, and spots of ink fell onto the page.

For Button…

Mousey wrote out the final promise and signed it.

Dot folded up her paw around the paper. “Very well, pup. Let us begin with the secrets you need.”