Chapter 38 Baz
BAZ HADN’T QUITE REALIZED JUST how far back in time he’d gone until confronted with the library classification system of the period. The cataloging of titles felt confusing and impractical; had it not been for Clover, he would never have found what they were looking for.
“A Brief and (Mostly) True Historie of Elegyan Hauntings by Porpentious Stockenbach,” Baz read with a raised brow as Clover pulled the title off the shelf. “How are ghost stories supposed to help us with the wards?”
Clover looked just as dubious as he thumbed through the large book, which didn’t seem very brief at all.
“Perhaps the next clue is in here?” He read from the table of contents.
“ ‘Life Beyond Death’… ‘Damnation, Purgatory, and the Eternal Soul’… Ah yes, surely ‘The Phantom Animals of Stonehaven Farms’ will help us solve this mystery.”
Baz grinned at Clover’s sarcastic tone. “Definitely.”
Each team had been given a single clue to start the scavenger hunt: the name Porpentious Stockenbach, which had led them to the Noviluna library after Clover determined that the late author had been a Shadowguide. From the looks of it, they were the first team to have solved it.
Baz peered over the wrought iron railing of the second-story gallery that overlooked the main floor of the library, where a few students studied quietly at the long tables.
A chill ran through him. He’d never liked the foreboding gloom of the Noviluna library, with its austere black marble and dark-stained wood that mimicked the cold of a winter’s night.
He liked it even less as he spotted Wulfrid and his teammate—a tall, burly boy from Frons College, judging by his white frock and flowery badge—making their way up to the second level.
The two boys who always followed Wulfrid around like helpless pups were not far behind, they too having signed up for the games.
“Looks like we’re not the only ones who figured it out,” Baz said in warning.
Clover’s jaw tightened as he noticed the approaching participants.
He eyed the book, then the shelf, searching for whatever clue they needed next.
Baz was about to suggest he stop time while they figured it out, as they weren’t allowed to actually take any of the clues from the spots they found them in.
But Clover merely put the book back on the shelf, a curious smile tugging at his lips.
“What are you—”
“Trust me.” Clover spun to meet Wulfrid’s seething glare. “Gentlemen,” he said with a curt nod. “Best of luck to you.”
Wulfrid narrowed his eyes at them and spat an insult as they brushed past him.
“Where are we going?” Baz asked when they were out of earshot.
“Crescens library. The clue wasn’t in Stockenbach’s book—it was what sat next to it. Conversations with Plants: The Magickal Landscaping of Aldryn College.”
“That doesn’t sound like something that belongs on New Moon shelves.”
“Precisely.”
The brightness of the Crescens library was a welcome change from the gloom of Noviluna Hall.
Wintry sunlight filtered through the domed glass ceiling and high windows.
Baz noted the absence of music; whatever Wordsmith magic made the library alive with ever-changing instrumentals back in his time must not have been invented yet.
The musty smell of books mixed with the green scent of the plants that grew all over the conservatory-like library reminded Baz of the greenhouse Romie had spent all her time in. With a pang, he found himself missing her.
Clover beelined to an alcove between two pale-wood shelves, where ivy grew thick on the wall around a series of paintings depicting Aldryn College in different lights and periods.
Among them was an old, framed map of the college a few years after its inception.
A silver placard underneath read: Aldryn College grounds designed by Wordsmith Florien Delaune, founder of Crescens library.
“ ‘Founder of Crescens library’…,” Clover read aloud, frowning at the placard.
Baz could see the wheels turning in his head. “I’m assuming the next clue should bring us to the Pleniluna library?” he said, unsure of what to look for. He felt useless with Clover doing the brunt of the work.
But Clover beamed at him like he’d solved the mystery of the world itself. “Of course! The founder of Pleniluna library… perhaps they were a Wardcrafter, the very one who might have erected the wards around the Vault.”
With nothing else to go on, they headed to Pleniluna Hall.
Whereas the Waxing Moon library was reminiscent of a tranquil conservatory, the Full Moon library spared no expenses in its lavishness.
It was the biggest library on campus, downright palatial with its winding staircase and four stories of stately shelves and ornate columns.
It was dressed all over in white marble, with glistening silver chandeliers and gold filigree brightening up the space until it almost hurt to look at.
Clover tracked down the librarian in charge to inquire about the library’s founder. As they waited for an answer, Baz spotted Wulfrid and his allies hurriedly making their way up the stairs, gleeful looks on their faces.
Baz and Clover exchanged a look just as the librarian came back to them with their answer: “Lutwin de Vruyes,” she said. “He was a Purifier, founded the Pleniluna library… and, ah, he wrote a volume titled Purifying Practices Against Evil.”
She eyed Baz nervously. It was easy to guess what evil referred to here.
At Clover’s insistence, she pointed them in the book’s direction on the third floor. Every floor here was dedicated to a Full Moon tidal alignment, starting with Soultenders on the first floor and ending with Lightkeepers on the fourth.
Wulfrid must have easily figured it out, being a Purifier himself. They crossed paths while he was on his way down, a smug smile on his face as he told Baz, “Enjoy the very pertinent reading, Eclipse scum.”
If Kai were here, Baz was certain he’d shove Wulfrid down the stairs.
Clover did a better job at hiding his anger than Kai would have, but Baz felt it simmering off him as he grabbed the book in question off the shelf.
“I can’t believe they included such a book in the scavenger hunt.
They could have picked anything else, but they had to go for something that got a rise out of us.
” His eyes flickered to Baz. “Out of you,” he corrected himself.
“I’d understand if you hated me for roping you into this. ”
“No, of course not—it’s fine, really. Let’s just find the next clue and make sense of all this before Wulfrid does.”
“Fair enough.” Clover thumbed through the book, grimacing at whatever he saw there.
“It’s mostly theories on exorcisms of spirits and…
certain supposedly dark forces. Best you don’t look at this.
Lutwin de Vruyes was decidedly not an ally of the Eclipse-born.
” Disgusted, he put the book back. “At least the dean is more open-minded than her ancestor.”
Baz frowned. “Most of the clues so far concerned the library founders and the general history of Aldryn. If each clue’s supposed to bring us to the next library… isn’t The History of Aldryn shelved in Decrescens library?”
Clover lifted a brow. “How do you know that?”
Right. Only an Aldryn student would know that, and Baz was supposed to be from Karunang.
He was saved from coming up with a lie as two more groups of participants appeared at the top of the stairs completely out of breath.
The first duo gave Baz a friendly nod—two Karunang students who, just like their dean, did not look the slightest bit suspicious of Baz.
The second duo, two girls wearing the burgundy robes of Ilsker College, gave him a wide berth, eyes catching fearfully on the Eclipse sigil on his hand.
Clover motioned for Baz to follow him. They quickly found their way to the Decrescens library. Baz’s nerves stilled as he stepped into this place he knew by heart, its eclectic opulence making him feel right at home.
The History of Aldryn was mandatory reading for first-years even in Baz’s time. There was a whole shelf dedicated to it here, with multiple battered copies that freshman students would borrow for their coursework. And the shelf stood right beside the entrance to the Vault.
Baz eyed the laurel-leaf-crowned marble busts on either side of the slender archway that led down into the Vault.
Back in his time, the wards did not reach this far up; he still remembered the silver door at the bottom of these stairs, wrought with intricate motifs of the Tides, that unlocked to let in those lucky enough to peruse the Vault.
Here, though, the wards started at the archway, where a similar silver door now stood.
“Could the wards around the Vault be tied to the other libraries?” he wondered aloud.
“Perhaps.” Clover grabbed two copies of The History of Aldryn. “If the wards were erected when it was built, we might learn something about them in here.”
They found a quiet corner to peruse the large history book. Baz could barely concentrate. There was a certain magic about being in this particular library with this particular person, seeing as how it was said to be where Clover wrote his fabled manuscript.
By now most teams had made it here and were all doing the same as them.
Baz and Clover didn’t find anything about wards specifically, but they did find the names of each library’s founder.
All four of them had been prominent members of society whose money had gone into building the school.
Each of their names was associated with the library of their respective lunar houses.
The founder of the Noviluna library was Hilda Dunhall—Baz tried not to scowl at the name.
Then there was Florien Delaune, who’d founded the Crescens library; Lutwin de Vruyes, who’d founded the Pleniluna library; and Suera Belesa, who’d founded the Decrescens library.
“Does it say anything about a founder for the Vault?” Clover asked.
“Not that I can tell. Looks like there’s no name attached to that one. Maybe it was a collaboration between the other four?”
Clover tapped his fingers against the table pensively. “None of them were Wardcrafters, though. Hilda was a Shadowguide, Florien a Wordsmith, Lutwin a Purifier, and Suera an Unraveler.”
“So none of them could have erected the wards,” Baz said, deflating at this dead end.
“No. Still, we should read up on each of the founders, see if something about them leads us to information on the wards—and the Wardcrafter who must have created them.”
A sudden, disquieting hush fell over the library. The air turned cold, colder still than the wintry Noviluna library, as an unnatural wind blew through the shelves, ruffling loose pages on tables and making the hair on Baz’s neck stand to attention.
Then a bloodcurdling “Help!” pierced the quiet.
Clover was out of his chair before Baz could even think to move. Students were flocking toward the sound, which came from the entrance to the Vault—where one of the Ilsker girls from earlier was on the floor, screaming as blood poured out of her eyes and ears.
“What happened?” Clover asked, taking charge of the situation.
The girl’s partner knelt beside her bleeding friend, face pale as she said, “She tried to break through the wards. Thought she could do it with her Unraveler magic, but it must have triggered a curse.”
Indeed, the silver door to the Vault seemed to have come alive, lines of shimmering light running through its surface. That unnatural wind blew again, and Baz could have sworn the lanterns flickered and grew dim, as if death lingered in the air.
“It hurts,” the bleeding girl moaned, “it—”
Blood spurted from her mouth. She was choking on it, drowning from the inside.
Clover looked around him in a frenzy. “Quick, I need bloodletting instruments—”
To try to heal her, Baz realized. Something he could do with his Tidecaller magic without bloodletting, though not without blowing his cover.
The girl was going to die choking on her own blood before then.
Baz did not hesitate as he pulled on the threads of time.
He willed the blood to go back into the girl’s veins and reversed the damage done to her body, returning it to a time when it had not yet been afflicted by whatever curse this was.
In a matter of seconds, she was completely fine.
The blood that had marred her skin and darkened her burgundy robes was gone.
The library became nice and warm again, the lanterns glowing strongly.
The lines of white light on the door dimmed, becoming simple grooves on a silver door, as if the wards had never been triggered at all.
“Thank the Tides,” the girl’s partner exclaimed, drawing her in for a hug. “You’re all right.”
The Ilsker girl blinked in confusion at the door, then at herself. “I don’t understand. The wards were killing me, and now…”
Clover met Baz’s gaze. “I believe you have our Timespinner to thank for that.”
Everyone turned to Baz, who was suddenly very aware of the Eclipse sigil on his hand.
The girl looked at him through tears. “Thank you,” she murmured.
Her friend helped her up, and she planted a kiss on Baz’s cheek, mindless of the gasps from the gathered students at the impropriety of the gesture. “You saved my life.”
Clover started clapping, and all of a sudden, everyone in the library was following suit, beaming at Baz. There was no fear in their eyes. Only gratitude and something like awe.
Baz felt all the blood rush to his head. The dean had been right: these games were not to be taken lightly.