182: Books
Waking up late the next morning, I made my way downstairs, followed by Crisplet, waving to Cameron and Tony, who were talking near the Sylverith statue. Today I would finally have a relaxing day. From my understanding, there were no visits planned, no events happening until the dinner in a couple of days, and nothing urgent I needed to cook or prepare for.
“Trevor!” Milo called out.
I halted mid-step. Had I jinxed myself?
“Mind coming to the library with me real quick?” Milo said.
Turning around to look at him, I saw what could best be described as a look of concern on his face, and that immediately made me worried.
“Sure?” I said as I headed that way. “Everything okay?”
“Probably. I’ll show you,” Milo said simply, which again didn’t give me a lot of faith.
Entering the library, though, I immediately saw what was probably concerning Milo. There were stacks of books everywhere, and they had not come from our own shelves, as from the small gaps I could see between the new books, the shelves still appeared to be full and untouched.
Milo stood beside me, looking into the library. “Yeah, so this appeared overnight. I’m guessing you are not aware of it?” Milo asked.
Shaking my head.
“I didn’t think so. So the only actual source for these books could have been Sylverith then,” Milo suggested.
I walked forward, picking up one of the closest books, and attempted to read the cover, but it was a language I had never even seen before. The next four books under that didn’t even have a title at all, and appeared to be collections of handwritten notes, most of which I couldn’t make out at all.
“Careful with that, dear. It is very old,” the voice of Sylverith came from behind us.
I jumped and noticed Milo did too. Sylverith had appeared seemingly from nowhere with another small stack of books in hand.
“Sorry for the mess. I borrowed some books from the Royal Library. I hope you don’t mind me doing my research here. It’s so cold and stuffy over there,” she said with a grin.
Milo’s jaw just dropped as he looked around.
“Won’t the king be mad you took so many? Surely he’d notice?” I asked, concerned.
Sylverith just waved it off. “Don’t worry about him. If he has an issue, we’ll talk, but truthfully I doubt he’ll even notice. They hoard enough knowledge there to make a dragon jealous, so I’ve borrowed a bit of light reading.”
I looked around again at what would have had to be a hundred or more books, unsure how this could ever be considered light. It would take months to read it all.
“Uh, I don’t mind, so long as I don’t get in trouble,” I said, still unsure.
Milo chuckled next to me. “They won’t blame you because a dragon decided to do something.”
“It’s true, dear. Most of my kin would rather just remove the humans altogether rather than engage in diplomacy, so this is a far kinder option.” She sat down in a chair by a small window and pulled one of the books toward herself.
“This is an odd mix of books you’ve got,” Milo said, looking at the spines of the closest stack.
“Yes. It’s a combination of history texts and the private notes of the late alchemist who had the seed,” she said.
I heard Milo mutter to himself, “History…”
Before something seemed to have clicked. “History! I wonder if it’s connected then. But your books, Trev—they are no normal history books.”
Milo pulled out both books, holding them in his hand, and at a quick glance, they both looked very ordinary. Both had a dull green cover with black text titles on the front that were almost hidden.
“These are Trev’s, but this one, Events that Formed the Kingdom, appears to be written from the perspective of someone who watched it all as a whole, as it covers the events from multiple perspectives, including the demons and dragons, but multiple other species as well. The other book is equally intriguing. It covers the events that started the demon and human war, from when they worked together to remove certain creatures to when diplomacy failed,” Milo said.
Sylverith practically dropped her book as she came over to take the two books from Milo.
“Where did you get these from?” she asked, looking at me.
“Uh, a bookshop in Farnox,” I said, before realising that although true, it wasn’t so simple. “Though I don’t know that the bookshop is always there. All four of the books I received appear not to be normal. The bookshop owner said his name was Morlin, and he gave me his journal. However, no one else can take it,” I said, pulling it out.
And despite my mentioning it, Sylverith still attempted to take it from my hand, running into the same force.
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“How curious. And the fourth?” she asked.
“This is something I’ve not even had a moment to speak to Milo about, but the cookbook I got is a direct copy from the kingdom’s royal kitchen, including their latest entry. However, the strangest part is that I cannot mark the pages at all. When I tried to write the recipe in the book, the charcoal couldn’t leave a speck on there, but I could mark the cover,” I said, pulling that one out too and placing it on the table.
“And all four came from the same place?” she asked.
I nodded. “Though my memory of the store now is getting hazy, and other than its owner being Morlin and it being in Farnox, I cannot remember anything else about it.”
Milo was nodding along. “Even the day you purchased it, I attempted to find this store, but every time Liane led me towards it, she got lost and ended up at the market.”
“Would you mind if I read these books, Trevor?” she asked.
“Uh, sure. I’ve only had a quick glance at them while we travelled,” I shrugged.
“You likely didn’t notice a difference because you’ve not seen the traditional history books. Traditionally, they are favoured towards the victors and push a certain ideology. These are incredibly neutral,” Milo said, now looking at the cookbook.
“Oh, while I remember, Trevor, your commission will be ready tomorrow. Max is putting the last finishing touches on it today,” Sylverith said.
But she didn’t say anything else, just sitting back down in the chair and opening the events history book and beginning to read. Milo was just inspecting the cookbook now, pulling out a small inkpot and a quill. He attempted to make a small mark on the corner of the page, and I watched as the ink sat there on top of the page, leaving it unmarked.
“Remarkable. I wonder if when the chefs write a new recipe down if it will appear on these pages?” Milo murmured.
“Best not say that to the chefs, or they’ll never use that book again,” I laughed.
“True,” Milo nodded.
I looked down at Crisplet, who just appeared to be inspecting some books. “Crisplet, if you want to go work on your statue, I’m just going to stay in here and read this journal for a while,” I said.
I just got a burst of sparks that all faded quickly before touching any books. As Crisplet made his way out of the library, I found a comfy seat and started to read through the journal again. If it was bound to me, surely there would be a reason why… right?
***
Several hours passed in silence while we all read. I expected the journal to just be a series of encounters in the sense that they were fights and battles, but I had spent most of my time reading the notes about a subterranean species that lived below Mt. Divinus.
I wondered if they are still there, since I didn’t even know they existed until now. They were called the Thelvun. They were a short, wiry race, standing roughly waist height—lean and compact—but their most striking feature was their hands, which were much larger than humans’, and their nails were hardened like metal to dig through stone and dirt with ease. They avoided going to the surface. However, they have been known to trade rare ores for some delicacies such as alcohol.
The journal went through being invited into one of their cities, and the struggles Morlin had with the size of doors and tunnels, as they were very clearly not made for someone of human height.
But it also went into depth about the threats they faced down there: earth elementals, golems, giant bats, and eyeless serpents, just to name a few.
My mind, however, went to what food they had down there. Surely, without the sky, it would be very difficult to grow anything.
“Milo, are the Thelvun still around?” I asked curiously, looking up.
“Thelvun? I’ve not heard of them other than some ancient history books…” Milo started.
Sylverith spoke up; however. “They are still around. They sealed most of their entrances, especially ones easily found by humans or near cities, as hunters clashed with them, because they are labeled as monsters, but they still trade with some forest tribes in the Dark Forest at the base of the mountain,” Sylverith said.
Every time her answers just gave me more questions. “Forest tribes?”
“Yes, dear. There are several groups who are at peace with the forest and live there without disturbing or destroying nature around them. Though the Thelvun are a very interesting group, and worth a visit if they accept you,” she said.
Milo’s eyes were wide right now, clearly learning something new as well.
“Incredible…” he muttered.
“You were right about this book being most intriguing, though. It’s written from the perspective of someone sitting above, watching it all play out without bias or influence, though it doesn’t make me feel better about how it played out. A couple of bad actors amongst the dragons hardly constituted a world-ending threat. It would make little sense for us to destroy the very world we live on.” Sylverith shook her head.
“More troubling is how they got the knowledge to destroy us. It seemed to appear overnight without explanation. They went from trying to kill us one at a time to attempting to destroy the sources of mana, though it doesn’t explain how the alchemist had the seed…” she continued.
This had been the most she had mentioned about the seed since she took it, and even then she told us nothing about it other than it wasn’t to be in the hands of humans.
“About that seed, why is it so important?” I asked curiously.
I got a hard look, one that looked like it was probing into me, before she let out a sigh.
“Young Trevor, I understand you’re asking out of a place of curiosity. However, I cannot tell you at this time,” she said.
“I tested the powder last night,” I said. I was careful not to mention the buffs, just in case a staff member was around, but I figured she’d know what I meant.
“Oh?” she raised an eyebrow.
“It was successful,” I simply said.
Her eyes lit up, getting a nod. “That’s excellent news. We’ll have a more private conversation later. Keep it to yourself for now.”
I nodded while Milo looked between us, confused. Clearly, Liane had not said anything, which was good to know, but he didn’t ask any questions, taking the keep-it-to-yourself to heart.
I went back to the journal, which was currently detailing the eradication of a King Rock Worm with the Thelvun people—the reason that Morlin was there.
It would have been just after lunchtime that a heavy nudge hit my side. Turning around, I saw both Lily and Liane there.
“Lunch?” Liane said hopefully.
Milo got up and stretched. “Sounds good to me. A break will do me good.”
Sylverith also got up. “I will join you, and this afternoon, what’s say we start your rune practice?”
I felt a rush of excitement go through me as I practically leapt to my feet. A quick lunch, then I can learn how to speed up time?