41. Missing Chapters
A eden let out what must have been the fifteenth yawn since he’d sat down deep within the archives.
His eyes were heavy to a point where each time he blinked, he wondered how much time had passed.
Being in a dark room with the only light coming from the lamp he had placed in the middle of the table and the faint candles overhead wasn’t helping.
He could easily have placed his head on his arms and fallen asleep at the table, he was that tired.
That, however, wasn’t going to help him, and he didn’t want to waste any more time than he already had. He steeled himself and flipped the pages of the leather-bound book he was scrolling through.
He had lost count of how many he had trawled through, but up until now, he hadn’t found anything on the Battle of Weir. At least he was getting closer to the date that it had happened, according to the books. He was grateful that whoever was organising them had put them in some semblance of order.
He had left Harrison at the hatchery with Lyric, transfixed by all the hatchlings. He had even offered to help Lyric with the feeding, too. Aeden had been tempted to get involved, but doing that wasn’t going to help him get through these books and find the battle report he so desperately sought.
He closed the leather-bound index and returned it to the shelf. The last battle in the tome had covered dates around 490TV, so Aeden decided to skip the next couple of books on the shelf. He grabbed hold of the next one and pulled it free, then returned to the table to continue his reading.
A haze came over him, like he’d had one too many drinks of ale, and for a moment it felt like the codex visibly shook in front of him.
He knew logically it was just his eyes playing tricks on him, probably a sign that he should absolutely rest, but he was determined to finish what he started.
He didn’t want to leave the archive until he had found the battle report.
When he opened the tome, it startled him awake.
The first battle report read 535TV. He was getting close.
His heart skipped at the prospect of this being the report of the battle where his parents died, not that he knew exactly what this would bring him.
It wasn’t closure he sought, it was the truth of what really happened to them.
At least here he would be able to see the official documentation of the battle.
He turned the pages as fast as he could, flicking through at the prospect of finally finding it.
With each paged turned, he was getting closer and closer to finding the report.
One thing he had learned recently was that his time at the academy was finite, for a whole multitude of reasons.
That meant he needed to find what he was looking for as soon as possible .
His mood changed when he reached where the battle report should be. The pages were torn out of the index. He scanned forwards and backwards, the time jumping from before 585TV and after, missing the dates when the Battle of Weir had happened.
None of the other tomes, indexes, or battle reports were missing pages. These had literally been ripped from the book, pages that contained the details of the Battle of Weir.
This all just solidified what Aeden was thinking – that something wasn’t right with the battle report, that something was being hidden from everyone.
He had been right in not trusting what the academy had told everyone, this proved that.
Even now, though, he knew no one outside of his friends would believe him.
He didn’t even know if this was something that he could approach Lyric about.
After all, he was a member of the faculty.
Aeden stood up, pushing the book to the centre of the table, then quickly picked up the next book from the shelf. He flicked through the pages. They were intact, but the dates were mixed up, which confused him more. They were dated to 235TV, which was far before where he had even started.
He spent the next period of time pulling the books out, looking through pages and pages of battle reports, but none of them had pages torn out other than the ones which should have had details of the Battle of Weir.
The question was, why? He wasn’t delicate with the books, getting more and more frantic, desperately searching for something, anything that would shine light on the battle.
The books piled up around him as he tossed them aside, without a care about the damage he was doing to the archive.
His focus was only getting more and more intense .
Someone at the academy was hiding something, this without any doubt proved that. Aeden could not think of a single reason why the pages would be removed, unless he had been right all along.
He looked at the book on the table and decided he was going to go and speak to Master Carfyth, the Master of the Library. Perhaps this was something he was aware of. Maybe if they had been moved for any reason, he would be able to shed light on it.
Deciding that was the only realistic option that he had, Aeden scooped up the book and held it to his chest as he exited the archive, grabbing hold of the lantern with his free arm. He had set off down the winding corridor to head back to the library when something caught his attention.
He slowed down, unsure what it was he could hear. It seemed to be the echoed voices of someone nearby. He looked around him as he tried to figure out what direction it was coming from, before deciding it was from up ahead.
He continued down the darkened corridor, only guided by the small light that his lamp afforded. When he reached a cross-section, he looked to his left. It was the corridor that Master Carfyth had said was strictly forbidden for students and even most of the faculty.
He wondered what could be contained in such a room, what could be kept so secure inside the academy walls.
More echoed words reached him, skipping from the walls like a pebble tossed out across the lake. They were coming from further down this corridor, which only added to his intrigue.
Aeden was faced with two options: either continue straight back to the library where he would show Master Carfyth the index with the missing pages, or allow his curiosity to get the better of him and head down the corridor.
He didn’t want to go inside the room – well, he did, but that wasn’t possible.
At least he could see who did have access.
It was risky, though; he didn’t want to get caught, after all.
His decision made, he was about to walk back to the library when the echo that reached him became clearer.
“We need to find it.” It was a well-spoken male voice.
Curiosity taking over, Aeden found himself stopping in his tracks before spinning on his heels and tip-toeing down the corridor, practically holding his breath as he approached.
Ahead of him was an old wooden door with metal rivets along the outside and a metal bar across the centre.
The door was slightly ajar with light escaping through the gap.
As long as he stayed to the shadows, he should be okay. He blew out the candle in his lamp and lowered it to the floor, escaping into the darkness that now surrounded him. His only form of light came from the room ahead of him.
As he approached the door, the voices inside became clearer.
“Keep looking, the records must be here.” It was Orion Sable. But why would he be here, and what was he looking for?
“I am looking. Telling me to look isn’t going to make it any easier,” Rosheen said, irritation in her voice. “They have clearly covered their tracks well.”
“I knew the director was hiding something when we arrived. Someone at this academy is the key, and we need to find them before it’s our heads that are put on pikes,” Orion said .
Aeden could hear papers being rummaged through, and he decided against his better judgement that he wanted to get a closer look.
He got close enough to the door to peer through the gap, but all he could see was Rosheen’s back, who was in front of a wall of drawers. She was rummaging through papers, then throwing them carelessly behind her when they apparently didn’t contain what she was looking for.
“Are you sure this is the right room?” she asked. Her voice was low, but there was something threatening in her tone, something sinister.
“Yes, this is the room. It’s the only warded room in the archives, so it’ll be in here somewhere, we just have to find it.” Orion was beyond the door enough that Aeden couldn’t see him. Both of them sounded equally fed up.
Rosheen looked at a scrap of paper and tossed it over her shoulder. It fluttered down, landing just short of Aeden’s reach.
He couldn’t see what it said, but if he could just reach his arm in and grab it, maybe that would shed some light.
He could hear Orion looking through drawers the same as Rosheen, so he decided to risk it.
He crouched down and pushed his arm through the gap of the door, reaching for the paper.
He froze when Orion cursed, his impatience getting the better of him.
If they caught him now, he wondered what they would do to him.
They would likely have him expelled from the academy, he assumed.
“Director Vale is rattled by our presence at the academy,” Orion said with a swagger, as if he took pride in that fact.
“Do you fool yourself? Is it us that brings that fear out of her, or the master we serve? ”
Aeden continued to reach for the paper. Who exactly was their master if not the Conclave?
He made a desperate reach for the paper and just missed it. He took a deep, sharp breath again before reaching out once more. This time he was able to grab it between two fingers.
“I think the example we made of the Poldova boy will only serve to strengthen our hold over her and the academy,” Orion said.
“I still think it was a little extreme. Statistically our odds would increase if she worked with us because she wanted to, not because she’s scared,” Rosheen said.
“And what would be the fun in that? You know I’m a sucker for the theatrics.
Honestly, her face when we gave her the box with the severed hand.
Still, you would think she’d take responsibility for allowing such a poor calibre of rider into the academy.
Let’s hope none of the students venture into the woods anytime soon.
It would be a frightful shame for one of them to discover his flayed body before the wild animals have finished with him. ”
Aeden’s heart sank. Was he right in what he was thinking, in what he was hearing?
Had Orion killed Lucien Poldova, the student they had pulled out of Master Bennet’s class, because they perceived him to be weak?
Then he thought about what had happened to him since then, as no one had seen or heard from him since the previous day.
What exactly had the Sable twins done to him?
Orion had looked down on him with disgust, like there was a flaw in his bloodline, but all Aeden saw was a good person, one that had saved his life not that long ago .
“Honestly, that entire bloodline should be eradicated if you ask me,” Orion said.
“They bring shame to all that call themselves riders. It all starts with a minor dilution of a bloodline, but that student was evidence of just how far away from purity that bloodline has become. I mean, how much are they going to allow the bloodlines to be diluted through poor breeding? Well, at least it’s one less to worry about. ”
Aeden didn’t want to wait around any longer. His hand was trembling as he pulled the dropped parchment back towards him. He was no longer worried about being expelled if they caught him snooping.
He was scared they would kill him.
No wonder the director seemed so spooked by their presence. It all made sense now. The Sable twins were psychopaths.
Aeden stood and turned to leave, his whole body trembling now.
“We need to keep searching,” Orion said.
“It’s you that keeps talking,” Rosheen huffed, slamming a door shut. “I grow tired of this, brother. Do you really think the director would leave it in such plain sight?”
“Those wards would have killed anyone entering without the right access. They would not be placed in this room unless she is hiding something, or should I say, someone.”
Aeden’s mind spiked at that. They were looking for someone. Who?
“Our master thought the bloodline was wiped out, but Viroz has detected a bloodline, one that he thought was destroyed at the Battle of Weir.”
Aeden’s blood ran cold. Had he misheard? He wanted to hang around more, but he knew to do so just further risked him being caught. He stepped away into the darkness once more, holding his breath.
They were looking for a specific bloodline, and their master was involved in the Battle of Weir, but how? He would have to leave that for later. For now, he needed to get as much distance as he could between himself and the Sable twins. Who knew what they would do to him if they found him.
When he reached the library, Master Carfyth was standing at his desk, talking to a student.
“Find what you were looking for?” he asked.
Aeden didn’t answer, he just continued walking.
“Wait, stop,” he called out, disrupting the silence of the library.
Everyone looked up at him.
“You can’t take that book from the archive,” Master Carfyth said.
Aeden looked down and realised he was still holding the index with the missing pages. He quickly placed it on a nearby table. The female student researching on it was less than impressed as he placed it on top of her notes.
Aeden didn’t care right now. He needed to get away, and fast.
He rushed out of the library door and got as much distance between himself and the Sable twins as possible.
Every time he turned a corner, he feared they would be on the other side.
He kept looking over his shoulder with paranoia as if they were following him.
If they were willing to murder a student simply for not being to their liking, what would they do to him if they found out he was listening to their conversation ?
When he was satisfied he had made enough distance, he stopped, only to unfurl the piece of parchment that he had picked up from the floor.
It was a student transcript. It had the student’s name, Aer-Kin, bloodline.
The Sable twins were looking for someone specifically. Someone they believed was at the academy now.