Raef gently turned the page of a thick book that seemed to be falling apart at the seams. As the page fell, he quickly turned away as a coughing fit hit him. The books in the guild library hadn't been touched in decades, and even a slight movement would stir the ancient dust that covered everything. His enthusiasm for study was constantly challenged by his weakness to dust in the air.

It was shocking to Raef that no one else seemed to realize the treasure that sat in the Thieves Tower. When he was a young child, Raef had been given a tour of the library in the Upper Triangle, which was a small building noted more for its finely carved stone architecture than the books inside. And the books? There were fewer than one hundred, nearly all of them in display cases. It wasn't so much a library as a museum, displaying one quaint aspect of Ness' distant past, when a guild of artisans made luxurious paper and bound volumes with words that told stories, relayed history, and illustrated discoveries. Raef wasn't even sure where the paper for bills and documents were currently produced in the city, perhaps a handful of bored Craftsmen who were focused more on utility than art.

At least everyone in Ness had to learn to read. It was a civic duty tied to the city's role as a center of commerce. Bills of sale, signs, and contracts were all part of the interaction of the citizens. Reading, like many aspects of the city itself, was a practical necessity, even if its practice was much less rich than in the past. But from that one visit in the library, Raef always saw reading as almost magical, and he could not understand how others missed the extraordinary treasures hidden in words.

The curator of the library came out and read a story about an epic hero of Ness' past—Glennis, the man who climbed the Great Mountains to see what was on the other side, something that was obviously impossible and yet kept Raef spellbound. He returned to tell a tale of distant cities, strange people, and fantastic creatures. Raef ate the story up and from that point on he wanted nothing more than to read all the books behind the glass in the library.

But he was from the Flats, and he hadn't ever returned to the library, let alone read its books. He became voracious in his studies, but despite his knowledge he had never read any stories of Ness' past, and neither had any of his friends. His interest lay dormant until he walked into the Thieves Guild Tower.

Taking a drink to clear away the dust in this throat, Raef looked around once again. There must have been hundreds of books in the Guild Library. He wanted to read all of them.

"There are more important things to be done." Raef spun around to see Alard watching him, his arms crossed. "I am sure it is interesting to read the thoughts of the long dead, but the Tower has been empty for many years, and you should be coordinating the restoration of the reception room, the living quarters, and the many other things that Ralan will need when he returns."

Raef went to push his chair back. Alard intimidated him, and Raef well understood that he was most likely alone in his perception that there was value in the old books. Still, the dusty book on the table called to him. It was the third volume of the Illustrated History of Ness. He had not been able to find volumes one or two. All Raef wanted to do was get an idea for when the history in volume three began. Was it one hundred years ago? Two hundred?

"Perhaps you can start with the stables. I have a feeling we will need to be much more organized with our efforts beyond the Wall." Alard's tone made it sound like it wasn't so much a recommendation as a command.

"I understand,' Raef replied. "I will do that as soon as I place this back in its spot. They are old and fragile, and it will take me some time to make sure it is not damaged as I relocate it." Raef looked at Alard, hoping that his excuse would give him the time he wanted. Alard shook his head, turned, and left without saying anything else.

Returning to the book, Raef read the first page. It was a short introduction:

This being the third volume of the history of Ness, we bring ourselves to the era following the Great Isolation. With the trade routes closed, this era found the sundered city turning its attention inward. The Great Guilds re-organized, the nation found new ways to feed itself, and the city's fabric of uniting others via commerce was re-spun into a fabric of self-reliance.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It is a testament to our great city that what could have been a period of great darkness was marked by only two periods of unrest. Both are covered in this volume. The eradication of the Magic Guild was a sad but necessary step as Ness moved to egalitarianism. While a difficult, lengthy, and often bloody stage, it led to a long period of prosperity. The second period of unrest covers the Great Migration to the North side of the Dragon's Tear. Similarly bloody, this necessary stage led directly to the vibrant, healthy, and strong Ness that survives to this day.

A Magic Guild? This was the second time Raef had seen a reference to the guild in the library. Raef had, of course, heard of magic, but it was a myth told of heroes and shared among children who believed in fantasies. It wasn't real. But how could there be a Magic Guild if it wasn't real? And the Dragon's Tear? Was that some nickname for the Great River?

Turning the page with excitement, Raef's heart fell. He realized why the book felt fragile when he opened it—the first two-thirds of the book had been ripped out. The next undamaged page was titled The Great Migration. It started with a discussion of agriculture in the wake of Ness' new isolation.

All of the discussion of magic, of guild re-organization, and what happened after the Great Isolation—whatever that was—was missing. Raef was still interested in reading the history of how the city moved from the Old Quarter to the new lands north of the river, but he was hoping to do that later, after he learned of magic, and unknown guilds, and things that no one in Ness had known in decades, perhaps centuries.

Wondering if perhaps there were some mentions in the back of the book, Raef gently turned large sections of pages to get to the end. About halfway through a sliver of paper slipped out. It was thicker than the pages of the book, and appeared to have been hidden among them.

Another thing caught Raef's eye. On the page where the paper was hidden, the following phrase, which was but a single sentence amongst many on the page, had been violently crossed out:

With no choice but to look forward.

In splotchy black handwritten ink was another phrase scribbled above it:

THAT WAS NOT THE ONLY CHOICE

Raef looked at the paper which had been hidden amidst the pages of the book. It was a single sheet folded into quarters. As he unfolded it, he noticed that the edges were scorched and it appeared to have been ripped out of another book. Opening the last fold left Raef breathless. It was a map. Not of Ness, but of a large world much bigger than Ness, with Ness a small dot in the center.

Down the center of the map was a large mountain range that didn't appear to have a single pass through it. Ness was nestled in a notch, with mountains on three sides. Raef took a deep breath. The Great Mountain was a huge mountain range that stretched from the edge to edge of the map, north to south.

At the top, it had a label: The Dragon's Teeth. Not the Great Mountain, Raef thought. How come no one in Ness knew the real name of the mountain? Raef's eyes went wide. That must be why the Great River is called the Dragon's Tear!

Ness stood right on the west side of the mountains. A dotted line indicating some kind of road wound to the west, through plains and then a desert. Far to the left of the map was a massive lake or river that stretched the entire length of the left edge. The dotted line ended at a large dot, which was bigger than any other on the map. It was labeled Kalisto.

The coast was dotted with cities, all connected with dotted lines. Each had an exotic name that Raef didn't recognize. In a small area on the border between the desert and the plains was another large city, although not as large as Ness or the coastal city. It was labeled Gaotteland. That must be the city of the Outlanders. Raef marveled over the massive size of the land he was looking at.

But what struck Raef more than anything was that the dotted line stretched right to the east of Ness, through the mountains. Directly on the other side of the mountains, practically right next to Ness, was another city. It was also large, about the same size as Ness. Three dotted lines stretched to the right in various directions through a massive forest. The lines ended at cities, spread amongst the forest. The largest looked to be at the far edge of the forest. It was nearly as big as Kalisto and was named Draque.

Blinking his eyes, Raef looked closer at the city on the other side of the mountains. It was called Ness. Another Ness? How could that be?

Raef took a drink of water. He wasn't quite sure what he had discovered, but he knew it was important. Ness was the center of the world, and it linked two large cities or countries, one to the west on the coast and one to the east across the mountains and forest.

As to Ness itself, what was missing from its lost history? Was it one city? Two cities? And what happened to the city across the mountains, mountains ominously named Dragon's Teeth?

[https://i.imgur.com/Xqgb2MS.jpeg]