The riddle reads:‘I am a world without end, my inhabitants dangerous, my doors locked. Enter at your own peril. To unlock the door, speak my warden’s name.’
“Ersil,” I whisper. “Ersil is the warden. It’s Ersil!”
I wait, heart pounding frantically, for the gate to open and let me inside.
Nothing happens.
“But it’s the correct answer!” I glare at the outlined door. “Ersil is your warrior librarian. Your guardian and protector.”
A story riddle, in the very best fae tradition of hidden doors, and if I can’t crack it, I’m going back home, having failed in my mission.
“The wordwarden,” Olm says in the thundering silence that follows, “can also meanmaster.”
“Master? Who is the master of the library? If it’s not Ersil, its librarian, then who…?” I slap my forehead. “Of course.”
“Of course, what?”
“Areon. This is the Library of Areon. For some reason, Areon gave his name to the library, so it ishislibrary.”
“Areon never existed,” Olm says shrilly, “or if he did, he died long ago. He’s ancient history.”
“Areon!” I shout, ignoring Olm, cupping my hands around my mouth. “It’s Areon!”
A grinding sound comes from deep inside the rock. Then the ground shakes, throwing me a step back. I struggle to keep my balance as the craggy surface of the rock face ripples and then shimmers, turning into a tall, shiny black door. Symbols in white decorate it in clusters, heraldic in form although they don’t look familiar, but also letters in a script I can’t read.
The door creaks, slowly swinging inward.
“It’s opening! The door is opening!” Despite my weariness, I do a little dance on the spot, giddy with excitement. “We did it, Olm! We opened the library!”
He harrumphs. “Why did I help you? I must be crazy. But leaving you to perish out here wouldn’t help my cause, would it?”
“Keep telling yourself that. The truth is, you’re not that bad after all.” Adjusting the straps of the satchel on my shoulders, I step toward the open door. “Here we go.”
May the Sleeping Gods help us, I think as I step into the dreadful Library of Areon.
CHAPTER NINE
NO WAY BACK
ADELINE
A force slams into me as I pass through the door, but I clench my jaw and push against it. Then I’m through. The entrance into the library is dim and my steps echo.
It seems to be a hole cut into the mountain. A tunnel. As I make my slow way inside, I don’t know what to expect except… shelves? It’s a library, right? However, it’s hard to gauge what is behind a door opening into solid rock.
I imagine a huge cavern with niches carved into its walls, filled with ancient books, covered in spiderwebs and bat shit.
A dim cavern. The darkness isn’t pleasant. If only there was some light to see by…
This is, in fact, my first time inside a mountain. I come from the plains. Our hills are soft, rounded and rolling. The few caves are either used by shepherds or closed off on the Queen’s orders because they house ancient temples.
As I move deeper, I hear rustling and wonder if there are bats. Or rats. Or snakes. Didn’t Naida tell me stories about caves full of snakes? Also, I think I hear water dripping in the distance, echoing faintly.
I walk further down the passage, and suddenly light hits my eyes, blinding me for a moment. Shading my gaze, I stop and wait for my sight to adjust, and then…
Then I find an entire world has opened up before me, right below my feet, bathed in a golden radiance.
“Oh Gods.” I feel my eyes go round in my face. “That’s…”
