Morose grimaces, her cat-like eyes darting across my face in small concern. I give her a smile and point to the last two books in front of me with a nod.
“I’m almost done. Then I want to share with you two what I’ve found.”
The old woman huffs and takes a seat at the table across from me as Golem stands behind her. I move along in my reading and finally close the second book, pushing both towards the discard pile with a sigh.
“Those won’t do...”
I reach for the four books I saved and spread them across the table, angling the titles towards Morose and Golem so they can flip through the pages.
“But these four are close. This is the direction we need to pursue. Two of these books reference the Ancient of Death and Exploration, Hirovale, and his ability to turn anything he touches to ash…”
Golem nods as Morose leans in on the books.
“Both books write heavily about the fall of the Kingdom of Aireal, and while the Ancient Hirovale was not a participant in the deal made between the Aireals and the two Ancients, his ability to turn things to ash is always referenced throughout at the same time of the deal.”
“That’s because he claimed their souls,” Morose looks up at me, pupils slanting.
“I’m sorry?”
“Hiro,” she gives me a hard look, “he claimed the souls of Damen, the Ancient of Power and Vigor, and Windsor, the Ancient of Tranquility and Peace.”
“What do you meanclaim?” I ask as Golem shifts quietly.
“When Hirovale touches a living being, magical or not, and turns it to ash, he is claiming their soul. The soul is his to do with as he pleases.”
“That’s …” My eyes go wide.
“Magnificent? Astounding? Powerful?” she nods, “more like all of those. The Ancient is heavily revered by our Kingdom and is the most beloved of the Ten. His bringing of ash symbolizes the power of the Tarragons whose breath of fire is so fierce that even the greatest of cities burn to ash under it.”
She frowns and looks at the two books on the table, “we were dismayed to hear the rumors that the Ancient chose to sleep in the Kingdom of Disce, but I still hold out hope that he’s decided to rest here.”
I could care less where an Ancient decided to rest, but what I do care about is her statement before that.
“So Damen and Windsor, the Ancients who made the deal with the Aireals, were claimed, not slaughtered?” I clarify.
“Oh, their bodies were slaughtered by the Elder Father and Mother, alright,” Morose lifts her eyes to mine, looking like a cat about to pounce, “but their souls were claimed by Hiro.”
I don’t know what to do with this new information and also don’t have the time to process it. I decide to push it to the back of my mind for another day and move along.
“Let’s keep a heavy eye on history books relating to the Ancient Hirovale and the deal made between the two Ancients and the Aireals. Look for any references of him turning something to ash.”
Both Golem and Morose nod in agreement.
“This next book is a catalogue of magical creatures,” I push it forward, “bird of ash is not specifically mentioned, but the text does have references to common birds still found today. It talks a lot about the firehawks in your mountains as well as the older creatures of the Old World such as the lost griffins of Aireal. I want to focus on these types of books that describe the Old World’spastcreatures. Hopefully they’ll lead to a reference of a bird of ash.”
“This is really starting to annoy me,” Morose frowns.
“What is?”
The old woman shakes her head, “I swear I know the term bird of ash. It’s ancient information, from the beginning of our Old World…”
“It’ll come,” I sigh as I push the fourth book forward, “this last book hosts an abundant of knowledge on summoning and how to practice it between all four elements. There are many references in here to magic being used for healing purposes, with the acts symbolizing a sort of rebirth. For example, it speaks of Leviathans using minimal water to sustain and bring to life a dying tree or large swaths of land… Aireals once calling upon healing properties to breath the air of life back into small beings. I don’t know where this search will lead, but it’s the closest I’ve came to the term reborn.”
“All of these texts are so different from the other,” Morose notes with a scowl.
“They are,” I agree, grabbing all four books and my travel bag, “and perhaps they’ll only aid in narrowing the search even more. Or perhaps we’ll get lucky and find a book with a little bit of each in it.”
Our small group moves up to the fifteenth height as we settle in and make it our new meeting area for the day. I lay all four books on the northern table and crack their spines for Morose and Golem to use asreference, no longer fearing their demise as I’ve already touched and opened them thoroughly.
