“The Guild must’ve made them,” Julian said, examining the small jar of green liquid that contained the preserved remains of some ocean creature. “Only the Guild would have the gear and the engineers to create carvings so high and so large.”
Byric took the jar from Julian’s hands and held it up so that they could better examine it. “Do you know what this is, Captain Tergus?”
Julian shrugged. “A sea horse?”
Byric’s dark eyes were alit with excitement. “It would appear so, but no. It is a merkind in its infant state.” He turned the jar to provide a better view. “One wouldn’t guess they’d be so small, eh? But you were right to think it a sea horse. This particular mermaid would have grown up to have a curved tail and lateral fins, as the sea horses do. Of course, we can only speculate as to her adult appearance, as merkind of the sea horse variety have rarely been witnessed near the surface due to their inability to navigate turbulent waters with speed or stability.”
Julian met Selena’s eye with raised eyebrows. She hid a smile in her hand.
“Fascinating,” Julian said.
“Truly,” Byric agreed.
The librarian set the jar back down. They had come full circle in the cavern and the Guildsman indicated Selena and Niven should sit at the long wooden table while Julian was given a silent nod of permission to continue wandering the library, inspecting its artifacts unsupervised. Tunney snored in the corner.
“You were telling us about the dragon sculptures,” Selena said after Byric had settled his bulk on the bench. She sat across from Byric. Niven sat beside him, while Julian admired a curved scimitar that rested on bolts hammered into the stone behind them.
“Ah yes. I was saying I’m quite certain they were not built by the Guild. Being a Guildsman myself, and an Archivist, I would have known if such an endeavor had ever been undertaken. Only the Order of Engineers would be capable of such a feat and there was no record of the Order ever having done so. And no Guildmaster, of ages past or now, would waste manpower for something that served no practical purpose. No, this canyon and the cavern we’re standing in were created before the Breaking.”
Selena’s eyes widened and Niven glanced around their surroundings with newfound awe.
“There’s nothing left from the Breaking.” Julian ran his finger along the unsharpened edge of the sword. “It was all destroyed by dragons.” His lips curled in a dry smile. “Big ones…or so I’ve heard.”
Selena shushed him. She leaned over the table toward Byric. “How do you know?”
“Because when the Nanokari showed me this cavern, it was occupied. By corpses. Very well-preserved corpses, sheltered as they were from the elements. Two men and one woman with ancient garments that fell apart at my touch. They didn’t wear the blue and silver—nor the colors of those devoted to other gods. Whatever texts or scrolls they may have possessed had long since turned to dust, much to my deepest regret. Nevertheless, I had the sense that those three were pilgrims, that this place was holy to them. I still do.”
He took up a jar of amber-colored liquid so that the candlelight caught it to reveal a mosquito the length of a man’s hand caught within.
“I believe their people worshipped the dragons. They were ignorant of the danger those beasts were about to wreak on the land, and so built this monument to them. With what tools, I can’t possibly guess. The Nanokari hadn’t known what to make of them, or the cavern, or the canyon in general, and so had left it all to me. I had the dead buried at sea and cleaned out the chamber here.”
“And you’ve been here ever since,” Selena said.
“I have. Most Nanokari, like Tunney over there, think me mad for preferring to live here. Mayhap you do too—”
“No, of course not,” Selena said at the same time Julian muttered, “It had crossed my mind.” She twisted in her seat to glare at him but Byric chuckled.
“No offense is taken, I assure you,” he said. “I’m not lonely, nor am I starved for companionship. The past….it speaks to me. These books and artifacts tell me their stories and I never get tired of listening. Of course, I enjoy visitors and speaking about this place, as I’m sure you’ve noted.” He smiled briefly.
“When Accora came to live on Nanokar for those two years, I had all the conversation I could handle. And I wasn’t sorry for it. She was welcome here, and I missed her when she was gone, torn book or no.” He regarded Selena somewhat apprehensively. “She was Bazira, you’re Aluren. There is trouble in there somewhere, yes?”
Selena fought for something to say that wouldn’t close him off to her. Just before her silence would have been suspicious, Julian slid onto the bench beside Selena, the light half of his painted face closest to her.
“There have been some disturbances with the merkind in the northern waters, and it is rumored she resides near here. She is wanted for questioning and that is all.”
“Aye.” Byric seemed relieved. “I’m not one to meddle in official Temple business. Besides, this was twenty years ago. She’d be an old woman by now.” He gave a small smile. “Old, like me. Nothing I can say is like to be important to your current affairs, I’m sure.”
Selena shot Julian a grateful look. “Anything you can tell us is helpful,” she said to Byric. “Tell us about the book she tore.”
The librarian hefted himself off the bench and went to one of the natural shelves along one wall. He returned with a heavy book with gilt edges. An old ribbon with a forked end stuck out from a section near the end, like a snake’s tongue. Byric opened the book at the ribbon and turned it so that Selena could see.
Tiny, elegant script written in Tradespeak formed neat columns on the page. The script framed a gorgeous image drawn with multi-colored ink that was flecked with gold and still luminous despite the book’s age. The picture was of a man kneeling prostrate before a full moon in a starlit sky. Selena smiled, for it was clear the man was an Aluren adherent. The style of his overtunic was different than hers but was the same deep blue color and edged in silver.
“This chapter details the Advent of the gods,” Byric said. “The holiest of chapters, as it describes the terror of the dragons, the turmoil of the Breaking, and how the gods brought peace to Lunos where there had been so much strife and destruction. And look here.” He pointed to where tufts of paper stuck up from the crease of the book. “Shameful.”
“What did she take?” Niven asked.
“A page that was already marred, truth be told. When this book came to my library from a merchant many long years ago, it was already flawed. A person of Ho Sun descent had scrawled some words in his language on the missing page.”
“Did Accora know what the Ho Sun writing meant?” Selena asked.
Byric shook his great shaggy head. “Nay. But she was bent on finding out. I suppose that’s why she tore the page, even after I offered to copy it for her. She had theories that she was serious about proving.”
“Theories?”