The Library: The Complete Series (All 8 Books) (2013) Read online

  Standing next to him on the stone balcony, overlooking the entire eastern side of the Library, I can't help but share his pessimism. From this vantage point, the war seems immense: covering hundreds of square miles, it burns the shelves and sends thick black smoke rising into the sky. While the front-lines move slowly, their progress is relentless and it is clear that within a few more years the entire Library will have been completely destroyed. It is impossible to comprehend a force that could ever be sufficiently powerful to stop the carnage.

  "The Librarian -" I start to say.

  "Fled," the Elder replies, with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "When it became clear that the war could not be stopped, the Librarian turned and ran. How a creature of such infinite wisdom could believe the flight would be the best option, I cannot imagine, but his departure broke the spirit of all of us in the Citadel. Most of the other Elders departed a few days later, the rest withered and died. I remain here merely because I cannot bear to be the one who leaves the Citadel deserted. I cannot bear to be the last of my people to leave."

  "I cannot believe that the Librarian would merely abandon the land," I reply. "Perhaps you mis-interpreted his actions? Perhaps he has instead gone to find help?"

  The Elder shakes his head. "It is quite clear that he has abandoned us. He has been gone for so many years, and he has left no word of his intentions. Before he left, he spoke of the Forbidders and suggested that there was nothing that could be done to stop them. He has clearly departed for the farthest reaches of the Library, where he will wait until the war eventually reaches him. Then, and only then, will he realize his terrible mistake, but by that point it will be far too late."

  "Not if someone goes and fetches him," I say. "He can be tracked down and brought back here. I will drag him if necessary, but he will return to this place and make a stand with the rest of us."

  "Do you know his form?" the Elder asks. "Do you know the sound of his voice? Do you know which way he ran? You could search and search for a million years, Vanguard, and you wouldn't even realize when you found him. You must face the truth; there is nothing that can be done. The Forbidders control the Library, and they encourage the war to continue. Only the Citadel remains, and even this place..." He pauses for a moment. "An emissary from the Forbidders is coming here, even as we speak. He has made it known that he intends to bargain for control of the Citadel. I have yet to learn what he will offer, but I see little reason to argue with him. Any meager offering will be better than nothing."

  "You will not turn the Citadel over to them," I say firmly.

  "But they want it so desperately," he replies. "Perhaps they will pay a handsome price?"

  "Under no circumstances," I tell him. "While we still have the Citadel, we still have hope. While the Citadel remains out of their hands, there will be a chance that we can fight back and defeat them."

  "And you would cling to that chance forever?" he asks. "Even when the rest of the land is burned up and gone? Would you prefer to still be standing here, looking out across nothing but ash, with no way of ever leaving the Citadel again?" He stares at me. "Such a cowardly option, Vanguard. I must have been mistaken when I thought you had more honor."

  "I will meet this emissary," I say. "I will look into his eyes, and I will listen to what he has to say, and then I will tear him apart with my bare hands. Besides, we both know we he wants. There is only one thing he and his kind have ever wanted since they first appeared in our land. They want death and destruction."

  "Do you really believe that to be true?" the Elder asks. "Is it not possible that they want something more refined? Something more specific? What kind of creature would lust after nothing more important than pure carnage?" As he speaks, a bell sounds from deep within the Citadel. "Perhaps you will ask the emissary this question when we greet him in the Great Hall. He is here now; we must go and meet him."

  The Elder leads me back into the Citadel, through its labyrinthine corridors and, finally, into the Great Hall. It is somewhat sobering to be here again after so many years; when I came to this place before, the Librarian held court over the land, and the Great Hall was always busy with the chatter of his assistants. Now the cavern is deserted, and the Librarian's throne stands empty at the far end. It is hard to believe that all the glory and honor of this room has been driven away, yet I cannot deny the empty, sober feeling that now lurks here as we wait for the entrance of the Forbidders' emissary. Despite my urge to kill the man as soon as he arrives, I know I must instead be patient and wait to hear what he has to say.

  "He comes," whispers the Elder, as the door at the other end of the Great Hall is opened. A group of soldiers enter first, followed by a tall, dark-haired man who walks with the confidence and poise of someone who believes he has the upper hand. It is quite clear that he views this meeting as a mere formality, and that he expects no trouble from us. As far as he is concerned, we are probably a beaten and broken group, with no option other than to accede to whatever demands he might make. Dressed in black armor and with a sword strapped to his back, he seems supremely confident.

  "I am Reith," the Elder says, bowing to the emissary. "I am one of the original Elders of the Library, and it is in that position that I welcome you."

  The emissary stands before us and stares at the Elder for a moment. "You are the last one?"

  "The others are gone," the Elder replies.

  "Gone?" the emissary says. "Or dead?"

  "They have passed," the Elder says.

  "Then you have sole power to negotiate?" the emissary continues. "It is important for me to know I am dealing with someone who has the right to deliver what he promises."

  "He will be making no promises," I say, stepping forward. "I am Vanguard. I am a Lord of the House of Lacanth. I have slain ten thousand men. I have led armies around the entire circumference of the Library, and I can assure you of one thing: you will not gain control of the Citadel. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever."

  The emissary stares at me, before finally smiling. "Well," he says, "I'm glad we can agree on something. The Citadel holds no value for us whatsoever. No offense, but it's just a lump of stone. Perhaps it has some symbolic value, but my masters aren't particularly bothered about that kind of nonsense." He walks over to the abandoned throne and inspects it closely. "Nice chair."

  "Do not touch that!" I shout at him.

  He turns to me. "No?"

  "That is the throne of the Librarian," I explain. "He is the only one who is permitted to touch it. If you go any closer, you will be performing a great disservice to this place."

  "Oh." The emissary steps away from the throne. "I'm sorry. It just looks like a fancy chair to me, but I'll take your word for it." Sighing, he walks back over to us. "As I said, we're not interested in symbols. We'll leave those to the people who place value in such things. What we want is somewhat smaller, but more physical." He smiles. "We want to end the war."

  "There is nothing that would give us greater pleasure," the Elder says, his desperation evident in the tone of his voice.

  "Good," the emissary replies. "There. We have common ground. We want the same thing. Plus, I've already shown my willingness to not touch any of your sacred objects. I wonder, do you perhaps have a non-sacred chair that I could use? I've been walking for quite some time and, well, to tell the truth, I'm rather tired." He stares at me for a moment. "Of the seven worlds, my masters come from the one made of fire. They have traveled here at great expense to their minds and their bodies and, I might venture, their sanity. They do not like this place, and this wish to leave as soon as possible. As soon as they have what they want."

  "And what might that be?" I ask, tiring of his games.

  "The book," he says. "You know which book."

  "I'm afraid you'll have to enlighten us a little," the Elder replies. "There are so many books here, we -"

  "The first book," the emissary spits back at him, suddenly seeming a little annoyed. "The very first book ever written in this land or a
ny other. I know it exists, and I know it is somewhere in the Library. My masters wish to possess that book, but if they cannot, they will happily destroy the entire land. Let me be blunt, gentlemen. If they cannot get hold of the first book, they will destroy every book in existence, just so they can be sure that it is gone."

  "The first book is -" the Elder starts to say.

  "I know, it's on one of the shelves somewhere. But where? And what is the title? These are the things we need to know. Tell us, and we can bring this war to an end, and you can keep your fancy Citadel and its crumbling walls."

  "Why is this book of such great importance to you?" the Elder asks.

  "There is a legend among my masters," the emissary replies. "The first book holds great power, and whoever has possession of that book, will control the domain of the Forbidders. That is the only reason they have come to your land. Otherwise, the Forbidders pose no threat to any world other than their own. All they want is the book, and then they can go back to our own land and leave the Library forever. I'm afraid your world has become caught up in a rather messy internal power struggle between two different sets of Forbidders. They do not value your world for any other reason. Give us the book, and we'll be gone by sunset. Then you can get on with the job of rebuilding your precious shelves, and everyone will be happy. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?"

  "Let me get one thing clear," I say. "All this death and carnage. All this destruction. All this pain and misery. It's all because of one particular book?"

  The emissary nods. "I know what you're probably thinking," he says. "You're probably thinking it's all a bit peculiar." He leans closer. "My masters tend to get fixated on things. They want the book, so they'll do anything to get hold of it. They'll destroy this entire land if necessary, and then they'll move onto the next, and the next, and the next until there's nothing left to destroy. The thing is... They thought they could detect the book's presence, and then when they got closer to the Citadel, they lost track of the damn thing."

  "And they would destroy the Library rather than allow the book to remain out of their hands?" I ask.

  "They would destroy every world in existence," he replies. "Perhaps even the dead world, if they can get to it. Believe me, once they have exhausted the Library, they will keep searching. This book is of huge importance to them. They can use it to settle a blood feud that has raged in their world for centuries. Whichever of their number gains control of this particular book will rule their land for the rest of time. You might think they're insane to believe such a thing. You might think they are wrong. But this is what they believe, and there is no way you can dissuade them of the idea."

  "Then we must give them the book," the Elder says, turning to me. "It's simple. We find the book and we give it to them. One book. That's nothing! We have billions of books, we can easily spare this title if it ends the war."

  "Where is this book?" I ask.

  The Elder opens his mouth to reply, but then he falls silent for a moment. "I do not know," he says eventually, "but we must find it. The Librarian would have known, but clearly he chose to run instead. Still, there must be records. There must be something that can tell us." He looks back over at the emissary. "I can assure you that we will find this book and deliver it to your masters. And if we do that, they will leave our world?"

  "Forever," the emissary says with a smile. "Once the book is ours, you will never hear of my masters again. They will withdraw to their own world and leave you in peace. But if you do not deliver the book, they will burn all seven worlds rather than give up. The choice is yours, but I would strongly suggest that you choose the option that doesn't lead to your imminent extinction."

  Claire

  Figuring that I'd rather keep well clear of the delegation, I decide to explore the upper levels of the Citadel instead. With no map and no other means of finding my way around, I end up wandering slightly aimlessly along a series of narrow stone corridors; whenever I come to a set of steps, I always head upwards, while trying to make sure that I can remember the way back to my room. It's kind of creepy to be in such an empty part of the building, but that sense of emptiness means that I'm not too worried about bumping into anyone.

  Although the Citadel is very large, it's almost completely deserted. Apart from Natalia, I've seen no-one else, although I know that Vanguard and Sharpe are around somewhere, and I've hear mention of various other individuals. I'm sure that this place was once bustling with life, and the sense of emptiness is palpable. Every room I find seems to have been abandoned in a hurry; in some cases, there are still plates of moldy food on the tables. I guess Natalia has been busy keeping the main part of the Citadel in order, and hasn't had time to come up here too often.

  As I'm climbing yet another set of steps, going higher and higher within the Citadel, I hear a noise from nearby. It's just a small, brief banging noise, but it's enough to make me stop in my tracks. I listen out for anything else, but all I hear now is silence. After a moment, I keep going, but when I get to the next floor, I hear the noise again, and this time it's much closer. Glancing along the corridor, I see a door at the far end, and this door is unlike all the others: a large lock holds it closed, and there appears to be a small grill set into the wood. It looks a hell of a lot like the door to a prison cell.

  "Hello?" calls out a female voice.

  I stand completely still, my heart racing. I definitely hadn't expected to meet anyone during my little wander, and the fact that the voice is coming from behind the locked door makes things doubly strange.

  "I know you're there," she continues. "I can hear your heart beating. I can hear you breathing. It's okay, though. If you just want to turn around and walk away, I'll understand."

  I open my mouth to reply, but I have no idea what to say.

  "It's been a long time since anyone came up here," she says. "A few hundred years, at least. I'd started to think that maybe they'd forgotten about me, but..." She pauses. "Have you come to visit me?"

  I turn to walk away.

  "Goodbye," she says sadly.

  Stopping, I glance back at the door. The woman's voice is soft and gentle, and it's hard to believe that she could be dangerous. Then again, I know better than to judge things too quickly.

  "You're still here," she continues. "I don't mind if you leave, but if you're going to stand around, the least you could do is talk to me. I'd like to hear another voice."

  Again, I open my mouth to speak but no words come out; it's as if my throat is too dry for any words to form.

  "It's okay," she says eventually. "I understand. You'd prefer to keep your distance. I suppose my reputation has traveled quite far, although to be honest I was hoping that perhaps my name had faded from memory. Tell me, do people still talk about me?" She waits for me to answer. "I hear such terrible sounds from outside," she continues. "I have a small window, and I see smoke rising in the distance. I know something has happened, but I don't know what. The Library seems to have fallen very quiet, though. Is everything okay?"

  "There's a war," I say suddenly, my voice sounding strangely weak and hoarse.

  "A war?" She pauses. "You have a nice voice. I could tell when you arrived here in the Citadel. I could sense another presence immediately, but you seem different somehow. You're not a native of the Library, are you? You're from one of the other worlds."

  "I guess," I reply, deciding that I probably shouldn't reveal too much to this person. After all, even though she sounds friendly, I'm pretty sure it'd be a mistake to judge people on superficial qualities. Someone clearly decided to lock this person away and forget all about her, and I'm not about to come strolling in and assume I know best.

  "I remember when I was out there in the world," she continues. "I took it for granted. I never believed there might come a day when I wouldn't be able to look up at the sky and choose my own path; I never thought I'd be bound by the limits of a small cell... Things have changed so much. I never thought I'd be so grateful just to hear someone else's
voice." She pauses. "It's okay. I understand. You don't know me; you don't know what to say. Just say anything, anything at all. I want to hear another voice. Even if it's gibberish, even if it's just random words strung together. Let me hear you speak."

  "I don't know," I say quietly.

  "Speak up!"

  "I don't know," I say again. "I'm not really supposed to be up here."

  "Of course you're not. No-one's supposed to be up here. Apart from me, anyway. I'm supposed to be up here; I'm supposed to be up here forever and ever, with no visitors and no chance of ever being released. Don't feel sorry for me, though. I deserve everything I've been given." There's another pause, and I hear the sound of her shuffling about in her cell. "If you're thinking about maybe opening this door and dragging me out, I have some advice for you. Don't. Whatever you do, don't do it."

  "If you're trying to trick me, you're going a funny way about it," I reply.

  "Trick you?" She laughs. "Oh, I see. You don't understand. That's only to be expected. Tell me; how do you manage in this place? Aren't you driven mad by the strangeness of it all? I've heard so many stories of the human world, and it sounds like a very ordered and safe place. Do you even have libraries there?"

  "Yeah," I say, "but they're... smaller. More contained. Less dangerous."

  "I can't imagine," she continues, laughing again. "It's so refreshing to talk to someone new. I've had to talk to myself for so long, which is rather difficult since I usually know how I'm going to respond to everything I say. Still, sometimes I manage to surprise myself, though. In fact, I've learned a lot about my own nature. In some ways, I feel as if I've discovered that I'm not what I thought I was at all. Have you ever done that?" She pauses for a moment. "I know people think it's crazy to talk to yourself, but what was the alternative? Complete and utter silence? I couldn't bear that. I started chatting away to myself, in my head at first but later out loud. In fact, I can't help but wonder if maybe you're just part of my imagination. Perhaps I've gone a little crazier and now I can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality. I suppose this argument could just go on forever, couldn't it?"