Page 96 of To Scale the Emerald Mountain
The wooden door opens on silent hinges when I push it wide with my pale hand. Another smile cracks when I take in the cavernous room ahead of me; a curved antechamber covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves with rolling ladders. I crane my head to see them stretch far toward the domed glass ceiling, tinted to keep the sun from damaging the books. Openings to both the right and the left cut into the shelves and lead to different parts of what is surely an expansive library.
It’s quiet.
Only the light clicking of a large armillary sphere in motion at the center of the antechamber gives any noise in the peaceful silence. Walking forward, I inspect the gilded celestial model. A small orb sits in its center, the name ‘Ellhora’ etched into its golden surface. Both moons as well as a blazing sun circle the small replica of this world. Tiny dots of precious jewels representing stars are strung throughout the web of the cosmic model, all suspended in the air by some form of incantation.
I pull myself away from the structure and scan the shelves of books. My lip pulls between my teeth as I consider where to begin. Walking across the worn sandstone floor, I opt to start directly infront of me, but all I find are books on science and mathematics; similar to the books sitting on the shelf in Alec’s study off my chamber.
But of course, I wouldn’t immediately find what I’m searching for in an open and obvious area. The texts I seek, if they still exist at all, would be hidden away. If they were easy to find, there would be no false histories believed across the world. Or at the very least, the skewed recordings would be questioned more. Perhaps I would have been more likely to find what I want within Alec’s study, so close to where I was.
Ask him. The thought is accompanied by a sudden tug pulling in my gut, nudging me to find him.
Swallowing the idea and the crippling weight on my chest, I stride towards one of the openings into deeper portions of the library, determined to both push him from my mind and learn something;anything. I quickly find a section of shelving holding books on history and begin pulling out whatever I can find that may pertain to the gods, the gems, and the Original War.
My aching neck protests the bent angle I’ve held too long.
Cracking it, I try to ease the strain built from looking down at a book for what must have been hours. Glancing back down at the text in my lap, I reread the same portion for the third time.
“Fifty years into the Original War, Ellhora took a final measure in her desperation to end the death and destruction, accepting her defeat in convincing the cruel gods to leave her world and return to whence they came. Both armies having suffered terrible casualties, Ellhora offered a magically bound peace treaty topreserve what was left of both the gods’ gifted armies and her own pure people, blessed by the Fates in their favor of the Mother and her children.”
I scoff to myself, my eyes skimming down the page to see this historian only mentions the banishment in the most vague sense, as if it were a divine blessing from the Fates, and not the haunting act reeking of despair and decay I had witnessed in my vision.
The sun is beginning to dip towards the horizon, light streaming through the tall windows dimming in the approaching twilight. The only texts I’ve found at all so far consistently glorify Ellhora as the loving and virtuous Mother of Creation. Nothing about the gems; nothing noting the foreign language of the old book mocking me on the corner of my table; nothing about Ellhora’s treachery against her siblings or any of their purposes in coming to this world. Certainly nothing claiming Ellhora was the one to kill the willowbane tree. I barely find anything mentioning the other three gods at all other than in passing.
All the while, I can’t shake the niggling questions in my mind, questions Locane encouraged me to ask myself.
Five gems, but only three gods.
If Ellhora’s magic was tied to the tree, why would she create a gem? Was it required after she petrified it? And who might have created the fifth gem?
Circling back to the same questions endlessly, I come up with no answers.
I’m nearly ready to drop my search for information for the day when quiet shuffling sharpens my senses. Unhurried footsteps pull my eyes towards the entryway leading into the antechamber of the library. My heart rate ratchets higher as that familiar presence comes closer. Steps echoing across sandstone floors falter then pause, their owner surely as aware of my presence as I am his.
I swear, Alec’s breath hums through the walls, trying to drink me in.
Alec’s tall frame is barely visible where I sit, sinking lower into my seat. Blazing heat embedded in my heart flares, growing despite my attempts to douse it. I watch Alec barely begin to turn his head in my direction.
Warmth spreads across my cheeks as I wait for him to turn to me fully; to come to me. But instead, he stills. His shuddering breath of defeat vibrates towards me before he turns and walks away from where I sit—never facing me at all.
Alec’s easy cadence dims with each step in the opposite direction.
In the agonizing silence, I try to quell the disappointment that I have no right to hold, squeezing around my mangled heart. A sheen of sweat coats my brow as I try to catch my hurried breaths.
It’s as if I’ve just run up an infinite flight of stairs.
Our last interaction was tense. My words I used to push him away in my fearful rage echo through my head, telling him I wouldn’t choose him; a hot sting pricks the backs of my eyes as my ever increasing guilt coils tighter.
That gentle tug in my stomach pulls at me again, tight and insistent. My skin tingles and itches, my very being trying to gravitate towards Alec’s retreating form. A physical need to be near him—to accept his safety and comfort—screams at me.
Simultaneously, my endless questions that I’ve pushed to the back of my mind since I returned to The Capital race through me, knocking furiously and demanding answers.
Closing my book between my fingers, I chew my lip, my eyes pivoting from the mysterious book on the desk to where Alecdisappeared on the other side of the library, knowing that he holds at least some of the answers I seek.
Before I can rethink, I throw the history book down with athunk, grab the old collection of myths, and hurry my way through the antechamber. My desire for knowledge momentarily outweighs everything else. My running feet echo loudly as I breeze past the armillary sphere and rush through the opening into an even more spacious portion of the library. Skidding to a halt as soon as I’m met with Alec’s back, black fabric pulling smooth against his broad shoulders, my resolve instantly crumbles.
My blood freezes in my veins.
This was a bad idea.
