But the coffee is no longer serving its purpose and my heart has been pounding for two straight days. I know I need to reset, but I really don’t know how. The fire below won’t help me. If anything it’ll just lull me into a deep sleep until the evening. The small opening in the peak of the mountain, however, just may do the trick.
My gaze flicks back to the opening above, to the clear blue skies that rest outside. It will be cold,damncold, but I need to feel that bite against my skin. I need to feel the sharpness in my chest as my breathing becomes constricted, and the way that cold hum felt familiar in my bones.
Wait…
Why would my bones hum with cold?
It was if they purred as I got closer to the top of the mountain, like a soft hum vibrating under my skin and causing a chill that didn’t spawn from the weather around me.
Is there magic up there?
I need to ask Morose.
I quickly look around but don’t spot her or Golem anywhere, only the stacks of books that wait for me to finish. I clasp the black coat tighter and walk towards the same staircase in the southern wall that I used last night, determined to find out on my own.
One height up and I have to pull the hood around my face. The cold lashes against my cheeks as I place my hands deep inside the coat to keep them warm. Everything about this height is testing my resilience to freezing cold weather, and when I eventually reach the thirtieth rise, the chill is so strong that I fear if I don’t keep moving the frost will hold me forever. So I keep moving, feeling that cold hum come to life like a rush of ice that moves within my veins.
I look around this new height, noticing that the southern staircase I just ascended from is now the only staircase in the condensed area. This thirtieth height is so small and narrow that each circular wall around me only hosts one shelf of books and the smallest of catalogues. I walk around the expanse once and decide to move up towards thirty-one, scowling as my rough breaths come out in thick white clouds with every exhale.
Damn this cold.
I land on the thirty-first height of the library, it’s width no bigger than the size of a small child’s bedroom. The gaping hole above takes up most of the space, while everything else looks coldly desolate and alone. There’s only one row of frost covered books against the far wall, each spine taking the brunt of the icy air pressing in from above.
I slowly walk around the middle curve and let my eyes scan the small row of books. My body starts shivering heavily, my hands fisted in my coat and holding on for any scrap of warmth. There’s nothing of interest in the titles so I walk back to the southern staircase to start the journey to the thirty-second height.
The moment my boots land on the staircase, I feel the cold hum in my veins grow its strongest ever. The feeling makes me take on the stone stairs with a new level of determination, so anxious to find this book yet battling with a body that wants to give up.
My shoulders hunch over with every step, my body trying to protect itself on base instinct from the cold. Then the shakes in my limbs start to grow into aggressive trembles, every step of mine taken slower because I can no longer feel my toes. When I finally reach the top of the second highest height, I’m exhausted beyond all measure. But it’s not my body that makes me stop in my tracks, it’s the overwhelming sight of what greets me that has me stilling.
Ice.
Everything is covered in thick ice.
The walls are layered in ice, the ground below me is pure ice, and the books at the opposite side of the room look to be frozen inside the bookcase that is also leaning against ice. Everything is an astounding and opulent white, but the hum within my bones tells me that I’m close to where I need to search.
I take a hesitant step forward and walk as carefully as possible, not wanting to crash into the not-so-sturdy railings and fall into the endless library below. The harsh wind coming from the opening above is so strong that it pulls down my hood, the breeze slapping against my face in both challenge and warning as my nose and ears quickly turn as numb as my toes. I steady myself and take small steps towards the bookshelf, every muscle in my body starting to shake so violently that I’m not quite certain how I’m actually walking in a straight line.
I hastily move the hood back over my face and hold it there with my fingers, the hum in my bones still growing stronger with each step I take. I finally reach the wall of frozen books and peer over the frost-covered titles, looking for any sort of indication in the text that they’re what I need. None of them stand out, and I’m too afraid to even try to pull them from the shelves for fear of ruining them. I sigh in desperation and turn back to the southern staircase, despising that I’ll have to visit the final height of the library yet willing myself to find that determination again all the same.
The soft sound of fluttering pauses me about halfway to the staircase. I quickly look up to the opening in the mountain and search for birds in the sky, but the view above is as clear as ever with the sun settled well after apex. I take another careful step along the ice covered ground just as the sound of ruffled feathers greets me again. I shake my head in confusion, this time looking around the room, but spot no bird in the frost with me.
There’s nothing here with you,I scowl,you’re hearing things.
I sigh and bring a hand up to rub my temple, forcing my mind to remain calm. I take one last look around the room and suddenly stop, my heart thudding in my chest as my eyes going wide.
Fuck.
Now I’m really seeing things.
My gaze narrows on the very bottom shelf of the frozen bookcase, noticing that a thick and vibrant black spine is nestled perfectly between the other iced-over books. There’s no layer of ice covering that black, in fact, the frost that once graced its spine is now laying on the floor below it. The book looks to be in near perfect condition, the whole binding looking brand new against all the other weathered books.
How is that even possible?
My eyes widen again in disbelief as the thrumming in my bones starts to grow stronger and colder the longer I stare at the black. Despite the chill that has now settled in the very core of my soul, I let out my first smile in what seems like ages,
I take a hasty step towards the shelf, immediately slipping on the icy floor in my excitement to get to the book. I fall to the ground, my elbows and knees taking the brunt of the fall as the side of my face slams into the hard ice. A heavy sting greets my cheek as my knees and elbows roar in pain, the freezing cold doing nothing to alleviate the sharp aches. I groan and sit up with a wince, my eyes falling back on the book that’s still many steps in front of me, and start wishing that my fingers would just go numb so I don’t have to feel the ice below me. I hoist myself onto all fours and start crawling in bitter agony, finally reaching the shelf in the wall as I sit cross-legged in front of it.
I take a deep breath and watch as my exhausted exhale comes out in a thick white cloud. I eye the black book through the air and frown at its texture, noticing that the spine looks to be completely and utterly dry. By the time my breath disperses I’m able to see it even more clearly, and it’s then that the black leather binding decides to raise itself up before falling back into itself, almost as if it just took a large breath.
