CHAPTER X #6
Everything, and I mean everything I’ve gone through has been something I can’t use.
I start doubting myself, wondering if I made the right decision in my analysis of the terms, or if I’m sending Morose and Golem on the wrong search path.
Or maybe they’re bringing back all the right books and I’m just missing the text in my reading?
Also, how long have I had this aching head?
I should probably sleep a bit, if only to feel that sudden sense of revitalization after the nap.
Or I could drink some more coffee… Yes, coffee sounds like the better idea.
I head back to the table and down a hefty gulp, picking up another book before pacing behind the table. I move steadfast through another stack until I find something worth noting.
“Golem!” I yell into the library excitedly, “Morose!”
Golem quickly appears from a hall on the southern side of the library two heights below. He grabs the railing and looks up at me in question, nodding when I wave my hand for him to come up. Morose takes a bit longer to reach us but her eyes are determined and ready to hear what I’ve found.
“Listen to this,” I hold up the large book that takes up both of my arms, “and in the entirety of the Old World, there was no being the Ancients feared more than that of their brother, Hirovale. For Hirovale also gave birth to the Bird of Ash, his will manifested into a powerful creature.”
Morose’s eyes widen, the flames under her skin moving quicker than I’ve ever seen before.
“That’s it! Ancients, girl, I know where I’ve heard Bird of Ash!”
She hurries to the western staircase and disappears in a blink. Golem and I wait anxiously for her return, the two of us turning when we hear her steps bounding down the southern staircase before she reappears again. She drops a book on the table and opens it up before I can even stop her.
“Firehawks,” she points to a drawing of a red hawk.
Golem and I bend over the table, my heart beating hard in my chest as I wait for the pages to turn to ash.
“It’s not common knowledge now, as they’ve been around for thousands of years, but their origins are still significant.
Our hawks are the very distant sons and daughters of the Bird of Ash!
Where firehawks are melded of fire with the flames roaring under their feathers, their father, the Bird of Ash, was rumored to be quite literally made from the discarded ash of the first battle of the Four Kingdoms.”
“And the Bird of Ash belonged to Hirovale,” I sit down hard as my eyes go wide, “a manifestation of his will.”
This is the first time all but one of the words are used in a single book. Not even that, but within a single paragraph.
“We’re getting close,” I smile, reaching for the canteen of coffee.
“You should take a break, Alexis,” the old woman replies.
Golem nods vigorously beside her.
“There’s no way I’m taking a break after this,” I laugh, grabbing the book she brought to read more about Pyre’s firehawks.
“Then at least eat your dinner,” she consoles, pushing a new plate towards me.
I stare at the food in confusion.
Dinner? Wasn’t she just here for lunch?
I reach for another roll and take a small bite, my head bowed over both mine and Morose’s texts.
After finding no other references to Zander’s words I move them to the keep pile and grab the next spine from atop a new stack.
I’m able to make it through two more small stacks before the creeping feeling of sleep begins to call for me, but at least I’m able to catch it this time and quickly stand up.
I stretch my body and will it to stay awake, glaring at the too many books still left on the table to read.
Don’t fall asleep.
I could take a walk down to the ground floor and let the fire wake me up, but the idea of walking groggily down a succession of stairs doesn’t sound safe at all. The climb up, however, can’t be all that bad. I think I could will my feet to move steadily up the mountain even if gets colder up there.
I tilt my head high above, now spotting that icy inlet that Morose mentioned yesterday.
Its dark opening is plastered with bright stars in the sky that look like tiny specks of snow, while the actual snow from above falls through that hole in small tufts before vanishing to the semi-warmth of the library inside.
I can feel the chill that comes from that opening even on this rise and decide to move towards it, letting the cold force me awake.
I make it to the twenty-seventh height before the freezing air pierces my body to a level that becomes unbearable.
My green cloak does nothing to divert the biting sensations against my skin or the cold hum in my bones, everything about me is just chilled to the core.
The walk does serve its intended purpose, however, and I now make my way back down the heights fully awake, ready to take on the rest of the books that are waiting for me.
There’s three more stacks on the table when I make it down to our hub.
Three more stacks that I know I can get through during the night and perhaps even have some time to take a small nap before the morning begins.
I grab a stack and bring it with me to the settee and sit down on the rug, then lean my back against the wooden leg in an uncomfortable position so that it juts hard into my shoulders and keeps me awake.
Unfortunately, the first stack offers nothing.
I discard the last book of that group and bring my knees up to my chest, bowing my head in exhaustion and more frustration.
My neck hurts in all the wrong places and my eyes are heavier than they’ve ever been before.
All of my limbs are turning stiff while the ache in my head just never seems end.
In my past searches I always had the leisure of taking my time, resting and eating and relaxing whenever I wanted.
But that leisure is not afforded to me here, and King Zander expects for the book to be found in Red Falls.
Fuck me, I’m so tired.
I sigh and shake out my body, trying to loosen my muscles before I stand again. I walk back to the table and start on the last two stacks, holding the books up to my face as my now trembling body fights to stay awake.
“It is dawn, Alexis,” I hear Morose state quietly.
I glance up from the book in my hands, the last one of the last stack, and reply firmly. “Then we will push through.”
Morose shakes her head, “you are no good to yourself like this. When was the last time you slept?”
Golem frowns besides her.
“Sometime yesterday,” I make my way to the settee, “when will the search end?”
“At sundown tonight,” she replies.
“Then we will push through,” I repeat harder, holding the book up to my face and blocking the two of them out of my sight.
It takes me a long while to get through the last text but I ultimately decide to throw it in the discard pile with the rest.
Fuck. Me.
I sigh and stand up, looking at Golem and Morose in small disappointment.
“I have no new leads aside from what we found earlier. Let’s proceed with the last of the eight heights and continue our search. I’ll bring these six books with me.”
Our group moves to the twenty-fourth height as the chill from the mountaintop cascades down in a heavy embrace.
I promptly reach for the extra coat Clair delivered at some point and wrap it around my green cloak, the warmth instantly comforting me from the cold that’s trying to consume my full being.
Ancients, I hate the cold now.
I put up with it during our winters, but I think it’s safe to say that I now want nothing to do with it after this trip.
I sigh again and take a look at the heights above us, noticing they’re indeed more smaller and condensed then the ones below.
The opening at the top of the mountain is now wider and bringing in the morning air with a stronger gust. I wrap the coat tighter along my waist as Golem places a small plate of breakfast on the table in front of me and walks away.
The berry crumble is nice but I immediately reach for the coffee, happy to let the caffeine take a hold of my heart and keep my body moving.
My breath is now coming out in soft white hues as I wait for Golem and Morose to bring back books for me to read. I rub my hands together and blow warmth into them, this height truly colder than any others we’ve made camp at though not nearly as cold as those remaining above.
I flick through the six texts we’ve kept as leads and feel my eyes droop at the thousands of words plastered over the pages.
My hands start shaking again when I flip through them, and soon enough, so does the rest of my body.
There’s a silent battle raging in my bones that wants to force me to sleep, so I focus instead on my steady and pounding heart, letting the caffeine fuel the tired muscle that’s beating on its last life.
Golem is the first to return with a new stack of books and places them on the table.
I give him a tired smile and reach for the top of the stack, my shoulders slumping over the wood in a heavy embrace.
I read and proceed onto the next, then the next, and vaguely remember two more small stacks being brought in.
At some point I feel my head slouch in my hand and my elbow fall off the table. I catch myself at the last moment before my forehead hits the table.
Ancients.
My body just tried to force itself to sleep.
I can feel the heaviness wanting to take over completely, every part of my body begging for a rest and a break from this damn exhaustion. I refuse to give into it and instead read even harder, each finger trembling and shaking as I flip through page after page.
When the exhaustion becomes too unbearable and my body tries to fall asleep again, I quickly stand up and tilt my head to the mountain peak with a large sigh, debating my next plan of action.
I know I have to stay awake. Today is the last day. There’s no way I can go back to Zander empty handed.