Longfang (15 page)

‘I thought that “afterlife image” might refer to a ghost,’ Nolita offered. ‘Or something that looks like a ghost.’

Kalen looked at her through narrowed eyes and crossed his arms.

‘You look far too sensible a girl to believe in such things,’ he said. ‘People like to write stories about such nonsense to scare and thrill. What little study time I wasted on
so-called ghostly apparitions has convinced me they are nothing but superstitious nonsense. No, it’s the clause “unreal, yet real” that gives us the best clue. It could be that it
refers to someone who pretends to be a ghost.’

‘But the Oracle is a spirit creature,’ Kira protested.

‘The Oracle? I’ve heard that dragons talk of an Oracle. I thought it was one of their own kind – an ancient dragon that gives out quests to riders. A sort of high
leader.’

‘No,’ Nolita answered, her voice firm and confident. ‘We’ve encountered it twice now. It’s difficult to describe the Oracle. It’s alive, yet it appears
insubstantial – almost as if it’s made of smoke. It lives in a cave in the mountains of Central Orupee and is highly revered by the dragons. It sent us on this quest. The Oracle is
inspiring, scary and very real.’

‘Really?’ Kalen said, his eyebrows rising. He did not look convinced. ‘I’ve seen illusions created from smoke. They can be most convincing. But I hesitate to doubt the
word of a dragonrider, so I will not rule anything out. Come. Let’s go and look in the general reference section and see where our research takes us.’

The old scholar set out towards the interlocking maze of immense bookcases ahead of them. He weaved through the towering corridors of books with supreme confidence. Kira was glad of his
guidance. To her untutored eye all the bookcases looked the same. It seemed worse than navigating a jungle.

Looking up at the soaring dome above them, Kira realised they were approaching the very centre of the enormous circular chamber. Distracted by the amazing decoration on the huge dome roof high
above, she did not notice when Kalen stopped, and she accidentally bumped into him. Nolita was also caught by surprise, but managed to sidestep the scholar at the last moment.

‘Sorry!’ Kira apologised, taking a step backwards.

‘Think nothing of it,’ he mumbled, already studying the books on the shelf at chest height. He ran his right index finger across the books, his head to one side as he studied the
words and symbols. He ducked down and did the same on the shelf below until his finger came to rest on a thick black leather-bound volume with silvery writing across the spine. ‘Ah! Here we
are,’ he said, tipping the top of the book forwards before grasping it more firmly and drawing it out from between its neighbours. ‘Let’s take a look in here. Come. There’s
a study area just around the corner.’

He set off with a sense of purpose in his stride. Kira and Nolita glanced at one another and shrugged at precisely the same moment. Kira’s lips twitched into a smile. She found the library
intimidating and felt out of her depth, but Nolita’s simultaneous reaction to the scholar’s enthusiasm for the books made her relax.

‘Can you read?’ she whispered.

Nolita looked at her with surprise. ‘No. I assumed you could.’

‘I’m a hunter. What would I know about reading books?’

Their smiles broadened as the irony of their situation sank in. Here they were, surrounded by the largest collection of information in the known world, and neither of them could read a word.
They moved to follow the old scholar.

‘Let’s hope Kalen knows what he’s doing,’ Nolita whispered.

At the end of the next bookcase was an open area with half a dozen large tables surrounded by upright wooden chairs. Several scholars sat at the table with books and scrolls spread across the
surface. One or two of them glanced up at the new arrivals, but quickly settled their attention back to their work. Kalen seated himself at an empty table, opened the cover of the big black book
and began thumbing through the pages.

Kira and Nolita sat either side of him. The lines of curious symbols on the creamy yellow pages meant nothing to them, but they held the girls’ attention as Kalen flicked through page
after page of them. Occasionally there were beautiful line illustrations, which Kira found particularly interesting.

As the minutes slid by, the unintelligible text lost its allure and Kira found her mind wandering. She looked up and discovered that Nolita was also restless, looking around the Grand Library
for something to pass the time.

The silence in the huge chamber thickened. Kira gave an involuntary shiver. It felt almost as though a malevolent spirit inhabited the library, lurking amongst the labyrinth of bookcases. The
atmosphere was close and oppressive, as if a thunderstorm were about to unleash its fury within the enormous arching dome above. Her hunter’s sense was tingling and her eyes scanned the
surrounding bookcases with growing nervousness.

‘Pah!’ Kalen said suddenly, startling both Kira and Nolita and instantly dispelling the growing sense of impending disaster. He gave a snort of disgust and snapped the heavy book
shut with a thump. ‘Nothing! We’ll have to look elsewhere.’

‘Um . . . Kalen?’ Kira began in a soft voice.

‘Yes?’ he replied absently. His brow furrowed as his mind concentrated on where to look next.

‘Is there anywhere that Nolita and I might be able to get something to eat and drink?’

‘In the Grand Library!’ Kalen said, looking shocked. ‘Most certainly not! The books here are priceless. Food and drink are never allowed inside for fear of the damage they
might cause.’

‘I don’t want to offend, sir, but would you mind if we left you to the search for a short while?’ she asked. ‘We’re hungry and thirsty after our long flight. It
probably doesn’t help that we can’t read.’

‘Can’t read!’ he exclaimed. ‘Good heavens! How can you live without being able to read?’ He paused for a moment, but from his expression it was clear that the
question was rhetorical. ‘Go back through the main doors and turn to your left. About halfway along the colonnade you will find a door that leads into a street filled with vendors of food and
drink. I assume you have money enough to buy food?’

‘I don’t have any local currency, but I do have some silver and copper coins from my home country. Will these be acceptable, do you think?’

Kira pulled out some coins from her belt pouch and held them out to Kalen. He picked up a silver coin and turned it over in his fingers, inspecting it minutely. After a moment he gave the coin
back and nodded.

‘They should be fine,’ he said, ‘but the vendors will make you pay over the going price if you use those. Exchange some money before you buy anything. The moneylenders should
give you a rate of one to one at worst. Don’t accept anything less. Your silvers are slightly larger and heavier than the local ones. Whenever you buy anything – even exchanging coins
– be sure to haggle. Everyone haggles here. It’s expected.’

‘Thank you,’ Kira replied. ‘But I feel guilty leaving you to search out answers for us.’

‘Not at all,’ Kalen said, a broad smile across his face. ‘I can assure you it’s my pleasure. We scholars live to find answers. It’s what makes us feel most
alive.’

‘One last thing,’ Kira said tentatively.

‘Yes?’

‘How do we find our way through the maze of bookshelves to the front doors?’

‘A good question,’ he answered. He pointed up at the ceiling of the dome. ‘Do you see the dark blue line that runs across the diameter of the dome? That’s a meridian
line. It runs from the front of the building to the back. The front end has a gold band. At the rear there’s a silver band. Just keep turning towards the end of the blue line with the gold
band and you won’t go wrong. There are many ways in and out of the bookshelves. It isn’t difficult.’

‘Thank you again. We’ll try not to be too long.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Kalen said, waving them ahead. ‘There’s no rush. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to take me a while to find the reference we’re
looking for.’

Kalen walked behind them until they reached the shelf where the large black book was housed. He replaced the book and instantly began to search for another volume. The two girls continued,
turning to follow the meridian line as the scholar had instructed.

As they weaved through the tall bookcases, Kira’s hunter’s instinct began to tingle again. Her body prickled and tensed, much as it had before the ice worms attacked. Was something
stalking her here in the library? If so, what? The very notion was ridiculous. What manner of creature would hunt in a library?

‘Are you all right, Kira?’ Nolita whispered in a low voice. ‘You keep looking around. Is something wrong?’

‘I don’t know,’ she replied, leaning close and speaking softly. ‘But stay alert. My instincts are telling me trouble is not far away.’

‘Is it Kalen?’

‘No,’ Kira said quickly. ‘At least I don’t think so. But I’ll feel a lot more comfortable when we’re out in the open air.’

They reached the edge of the maze and the girls picked up their pace as they crossed the open floor to the main doors. Kira let out a long, silent sigh of relief as they stepped into the bright
sunlight. The air outside was not pleasant, but the sense of impending disaster lifted and she began to relax. They turned left and descended the great marble steps in a diagonal line towards the
colonnade to the left of the enormous courtyard.

Kira glanced back at the main doors and shrugged. I’m getting paranoid, she thought, pursing her lips into a thin line. I must be.

‘The place where shadows
dwell
. . . the place where
shadows
dwell . . . the place
where
shadows dwell . . .’ Kalen repeated the phrase softly
over and over again as his eyes skimmed the bookshelves looking for inspiration. He changed the emphasis each time to try to trigger something – anything in his memory that might give him a
clue as to where he had heard the phrase before.

‘What could such a place be?’ he muttered. ‘Could it be a puppet theatre? Puppets are figurative shadows of the people they are meant to represent. Or even a theatre of
shadows?’ His mind leapt back to his own crude efforts to form representations of birds, dogs and other animals by creating shadow figures with his hands. There were those who performed
amazing shows using only shadows. Could that be the meaning of the words? Was he looking for some sort of theatre house? Why then would the accompanying verse talk of an afterlife image? Puppets
were not ghosts. But what if a puppet theatre existed that only featured puppets that looked like ghosts? It was a ludicrous idea! He was trying to twist the words to fit his theory.

‘That’s not the path of a true scholar, Kalen,’ he told himself sternly. ‘Think!’

Were the girls right? Could he be looking for somewhere haunted? Where in the library would he find information about purportedly haunted places? It was not something he had ever taken
seriously, but he knew there were those for whom ghostly encounters were a most serious subject matter. There had to be a section devoted to such things, but where?

‘The master index,’ he muttered. ‘I suppose it’s the obvious place to go.’

It was humiliating to have to resort to the library’s index system. He had spent years in this library and knew certain sections of it so well he could recite the titles of the books in
sequence across the shelves without looking. The index book was kept on its own table not far from where he had been sitting with the two dragonriders. He re-entered the central study area and
strode between the tables with a gait that spoke of both purpose and a touch of anger.

‘Ah, Kalen, my good friend!’

Kalen stopped as if he had walked into a stone wall. The voice was unmistakeable. He turned and bowed deeply, careful not to make eye contact until he had completed his bow.

‘High Lord Tarpone,’ he said, trying to sound pleased. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure? We don’t see you here in the library very often these days.’

Kalen lifted his head from his instinctive bow and saw that the High Lord was not alone. Next to him stood a tall man dressed in black. He had dark hair and piercing eyes of the palest blue, set
deep under heavy brows. The man wore a smile that was as cold as the ice in his gaze. There was an aura of power about him far stronger than that of the High Lord. His posture screamed strength and
authority.

‘No, my old friend,’ Tarpone said gravely. ‘My duties keep me absent from my studies all too often these days. Alas, this visit is also not for my own benefit. I’d like
to introduce you to an old friend of mine. Kalen, this is Lord Segun, leader of the night dragon enclave.’

Chapter Fourteen

‘Pell! Don’t!’ Elian yelled instinctively, his panic rising as he thought of what might happen if the orb were smashed. He took a step towards the older boy,
his hands palm forwards in an unmistakeable signal for Pell to stop. ‘We’ve come too far. Do you want all that pain to count for nothing? Don’t be a fool. You’ve made your
point. Now give the orb to the Oracle and let’s get out of here.’