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Sorceress of Shadows: Excerpt
Shirina skirted the tree and headed into Tangia’s study. The footsteps of the running youths vanished into the distance, and the Keep was quiet, as though holding its breath. She did not fool herself into thinking she had time to waste. She crossed the threshold of the study and headed to the back of it, past stacks of books and ancient tomes, ignoring the knowledge that would be lost in them, her heart aching as she headed towards the only goal she could target.
She climbed the three stairs that led to the desk, the walls lined high with books. She ignored the smell of human waste and decay as she reached the desk. Its drawer was sealed with magic.
She reached down for it anyways, not having the time to examine it and cast counter-wards. Holding her breath she made contact. The magic buzzed against her skin before vanishing. Shirina exhaled in relief as she pulled the drawer open. Her mentor had put an exception for her in her ward. Otherwise, she would probably be dead, or at the very least incapacitated, to perish with Ravenhold.
A single notebook was in the drawer, its leather cover old and worn. Shirina recognized it. She grabbed it and tucked it in her robes.
She left the room in a hurry, trying to pay no heed to the books she had once studied, hardening her heart against the loss.
The tree was vibrating. Some of its branches snapped off and were caught by lower ones, others smashed through and hammered the ground. Shirina had barely cleared it when its great trunk cracked and the tree came crashing down, it highest branches tearing some of her cloak, her robes caught in the torrent of its fall.
She ran faster than she had ever believed possible, stones crumbling from the ceiling and crashing around her, the floor shaking with the tremors.
She jumped into the library and ran for the back, the books tumbling from the shelves as the Keep swayed. Shirina tried to grab some of the books, any book to save them, but before the books hit the ground, they dissipated into a fine black dust. Ravenhold was taking its secrets with it.
“No!” She screamed, grabbing some books off the shelf as they evaporated, vanished into the dust which remained suspended around her, caught in the currents of magic.
So much knowledge! All of Graydon’s history, magic and know-how was in these volumes, answers to questions thousands of years old, items written by Graydon himself, truths that could never be rediscovered.
Don’t take it all with you!
Shirina pleaded as the books she held crumbled to ashes through her fingers. She fell to her knees to try and grasp some remaining knowledge–a page, a paragraph, a sentence that would otherwise be lost forever. Did the keep not understand that the Circle was nothing without its knowledge? Why would Ravenhold destroy them so? Couldn’t it just take their lives instead, which were puny lights in the canopy of time compared to the wealth of these libraries?
Shirina could find nothing, her hands and robe covered with the remains of the books, dark patches as she stood and stumbled forward. The main libraries remained, as well as the sproutlings, and maybe things would be different there.
The youth waited for her, all keeping wide berth of the old man from Elihor. Grasky stood near him, finding familiar territory in age. They stared in awe at the black dust left behind by the destroyed books.
She hated them all. Didn’t they understand what had been lost? Not just for the Circle, but for all of Graydon?
They didn’t, and they might never, now.
Her eyes locked with Grasky’s, his features etched with sorrow and understanding. She fought back a sob. He was worth saving. If nothing else remained of the Circle, let Grasky remain, who understood as she did the loss Graydon suffered on this day.
Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she held up her staff and summoned her magic, the wood slicing the strands like a knife, feeding Shirina with only the purest magic.
She closed her eyes.
Keep of our Elders, please grant us escape from your grounds. No longer shall we be safe in your sanctuary.
Her heart clenched at the last words, and the magic of Ravenhold caressed her mind in an unfamiliar, soothing fashion. Pathways she didn’t even know had existed within her opened up, and she could feel and see everything around her for a moment.
They were teleporting! Shirina knew it, and could feel everyone else with her, though they were dark in the stream of consciousness, and she was light itself. She saw the world spread out around her, and Ravenhold forced her to look towards the horizon, where the Wall was completely gone, and the magic of Elihor was mixing with Graydon’s.
There will be nothing left.
