CHAPTER 6 #2
“Pyxis? It’s the name of the library,” she said. “The Great Library of Lortan is further north, in Dalhur. This one is smaller and belongs to the elven of Lomask. Its name is derived from the box once used by the gods as a storage vessel and is meant to represent the information stored within.”
Anama really was a walking encyclopedia.
We followed Osmanthius inside, where it was infinitely warmer. The reception was small and cozy. Flyers and leaflets were tacked onto a bulletin board on the wall closest to the front desk.
A petite elven dressed in beige robes sat behind the bureau.
She looked young, even by elven standards, barely older than Rayna.
She stared at us, noting the flush in our cheeks from the cold, Osmanthius – who looked exhausted from the flight, blinking sleepily – perched on Lana’s shoulder, and the fragile mortality coursing beneath our skin. “How can I help you?” she asked.
“Good morning.” Anama took the lead. Her entire demeanor had shifted as soon as we had entered Pyxis.
She seemed… calmer, more confident and at ease inside the walls of the library.
I realized as she spoke to the elven, scholar to scholar, that this place must remind her of home.
“We’re looking for information on the birthing of Lortan, the history of Lomask and the Mortal Trials.
And anything on the topography, wildlife, plants and herbs native to Lomask. ”
The scholar nodded, sliding out from behind her desk to escort us around the corner into the library proper, and I gasped at the sight.
Being sequestered in the governor’s kitchen had hardly left time for me to explore Serila and its own library.
This was my first time being somewhere filled with so many books.
And there were troves and troves of them.
Texts lined shelves for miles, stretching and curling along a wide staircase that spanned multiple floors, all the way to the ceiling.
The scholar led us along the winding staircase, the musty scent of old books and parchment intoxicating.
I struggled to keep my fingers at my side – they itched to run along the spines of shelved hardcover tomes.
I spotted several other scholars in the same beige robes, sorting books, as we passed the first floor.
“You’ll find what you’re looking for here,” the scholar said, leading us to a wall of books on the second level.
Several desks sat nestled between the shelves, and a few cozy armchairs were pushed near the window, through which the courtyard below was visible.
“No eating or drinking amongst the books is permitted and, unfortunately, mortals are not allowed to check out any of the books. You’re free to visit whenever you want, though.
If you need help, any of our scholars will be able to assist.”
With that, she turned and left, leaving us to examine the rows upon rows of books.
“Where do we start?” Lana asked, a defeated expression already on her face.
Anama rubbed her hands together, a glint in her eyes I had never seen before.
She was excited. Moric chuckled but didn’t say anything as Anama went to work, examining the books on the shelf closest to us.
She pulled one out from the third level and handed it to Moric.
“Let’s start by categorizing the ones we’re going to study.
Four piles: one for the history of Lortan, one for the Mortal Trials, another for the structure of Lomask and the last for nature indigenous to Lomask.
We’ll split the work between us and then share our knowledge when we’re done. ”
“Sounds like you do this for a living,” Lana teased. “I’m happy to take the section on the history of the Trials.”
“I’ll do the structure of Lomask,” Moric said.
“Lirah?” Anama asked, giving me the choice between the history of Lortan or its nature.
“History,” I said, more drawn to events and timelines than herbs and plants.
Anama nodded and shifted her attention to the shelves. We spent the next hour playing pass the book, sorting each one Anama handed to us into makeshift piles. Once she had covered the entire length of the wall, we collapsed into chairs beside a desk, exhausted.
I stared at the books before me. I knew the history of Lortan would not be a quick read, but I did not anticipate there to be twenty-eight books to sift through. Frustration gnawed at me.
Pale early morning light had given way to bright midday. Only a few days remained before the first challenge. Before I had to fight for my life.
Huffing a breath, I pulled the first book forward and began reading.
I knew the evening had arrived when the light slanting through the window and onto the desk shifted to hit me directly in the face, golden rays arching brilliantly across parchment and the hastily scribbled notes I had made.
Moric had sourced a notepad and a few quills from one of the scholars so that we could document our findings.
I now had nearly five pages of barely legible script on the pad before me.
Lana shifted in the armchair she was occupying. The piles of books she had been studying stretched the length of her calf at the foot of the chair. Her head rested against the back of the armchair and her eyes were closed.
I rubbed my eyes violently against the glare of the dying sunlight, stifling a yawn with the back of my hand. My brain felt like a soggy towel that had been wrung dry too many times.
“Shall we call it an afternoon, team?” Moric glanced at the rest of us.
Anama closed the cover of a thick tome she had been poring over. “I think so. I doubt any more information is going to stick if we keep going at this rate. Should we compare notes before we leave?”
Lana cracked one eye open. “Can someone else please go first? I need a minute to wake up.”
“I’ll go.” Moric reached for the notepad on his lap.
He rifled back to the first page, sticking his tongue out as his eyes scanned its length.
“Okay, so as you may know, Lomask is one of Lortan’s three cities.
Lomask is structured like a bowl, surrounded on one side by the summits and the other by the Forests of Dalhur.
The buildings are either made of iron, ore or brick and you’ll hardly ever find amber anywhere. ”
“That’s a huge ‘fuck you’ to the gods,” Lana mumbled. And she was right.
Amber was the material gifted to the mortals by the gods centuries ago.
It was the material used to construct the Amber Temple in Dorisport and usually adorned each household as a sign of fealty and respect.
The lack of the precious gem in Lomask announced clearly how the elven felt toward the gods.
Moric flipped to the next page on his notepad. “The Forests of Dalhur are not a great place to be stranded overnight.”
“Then that’s most likely where they’ll put us for the survival challenge,” I said. “Why? What lives in the forest?”
“All manner of creatures, ranging from woodland sprites to a species of gargantuan lacertilia, flesh-eating plants and panthera.”
“Wonderful,” I muttered.