Moon Shimmers(77)
“That is because I never leave this library, even in visions. This is my home. It is where I’ve always been, and it’s where I’ll always be. I’m only visible to those who enter the library. I can neither be summoned nor called upon. To enter, you must possess one of the talismans—and those are not given lightly. See that you never let your key out of your possession again. It will be safe for the moment, but when you re-enter the outer world, you must keep it with you forever or it will be destroyed.” Sesarati vanished then, stepping into her personal portal—or whatever that dark line of energy was.
I let out a sharp breath. I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding it. “This library could be worth…”
“It’s priceless,” Bran said. “The wisdom of the universe lies in here.”
“And to think that the Akashic Library is in Otherworld.” Delilah folded her arms, shaking her head. She looked just about as stunned as I felt.
“This isn’t Otherworld,” Venus said. “Nor is it Earthside. The moment we walked into the barrow, we ceased to be on any planet. We’re somewhere tucked away in the depths of the universe, I’ll wager.”
“He’s right,” Trillian said. “The Akashic Library is universal. My guess is that Sesarati wears many guises, depending on who visits.”
The thought of where we were kept washing over me like waves. Boom. We’re in a universal library. Splash. We’re in a room that contains the wisdom of the ages. Whoosh. We’re standing outside of time and space. And probably outside of our galaxy. And I have a key to the library.
I searched for something to say but once again, found myself speechless. I still felt the desire to pull up a chair and read forever—to just keep searching through the scrolls to learn everything I could possibly learn, but Sesarati was correct. Knowledge without application wasn’t the most useful path in the universe, and what good was anything I learned if I couldn’t apply it to my life? To my loved ones’ lives?
Another moment—we were all lost in our thoughts, it seemed—and the line reappeared, and Sesarati stepped out of the narrow portal. She had a scroll in hand, which she held out to me.
“This now goes into your possession. Use it wisely. The knowledge contained within the Akashic Library is never given lightly. Results are expected, if continued use of the library is to be allowed.” With that she motioned toward the door.
I glanced at it. At some point in the past few moments, it had shut behind us. “How do we get out? I left my key outside with friends in case it was a one-way situation.”
“Oh, there are no problems leaving the library. It’s the getting in that’s the hard part.” As she spoke, the door began to open, and—scroll in hand—I thanked her and led the others back toward the outer world.
WE EXITED THE barrow and the door slammed shut behind us. I immediately took possession of the key, and then held up the scroll tube. “I supposed I’d better make certain this is the right one.”
“You didn’t look while you were in there?” Chase asked.
I shook my head. “You’ll understand when I tell you about what happened. It wasn’t anything that I expected, either.” I glanced at the sky. Dusk was approaching and I was tired. “We need to make camp and rest. I’m hungry and tired.”
Bran pointed toward a small copse of trees a few hundred yards away to our right. We’d have the lake between us and the other side of the clearing, and a clear sight line to the barrow mound, although the door had vanished the moment we exited.
Delilah immediately began hunting for firewood. “We need to roast up the loopers and handover roots. It’s going to be chilly here by the pond. We’re at a higher elevation than we were last night.”
I tucked the scroll in my pocket as we made camp. I wanted to read it, to yank it out and unroll it, but it felt as though we should bivouac before doing anything else. We found a good spot, with enough rocks to ring a campfire, and while Delilah and Shade built the fire, Trillian made quick work of dressing the loopers while Chase washed the handover roots and berries. Bran went fishing again—he said that the fish bit better at dusk. Venus, Roz, and I laid out all the bedrolls, and Smoky carried fallen logs over to sit on. Within twenty minutes, we were encamped and resting beside the crackling fire, while the birds roasted on a makeshift spit, and the handover roots bubbled in the pan that Shade had provided. Another few minutes and Bran returned with a string of fish—enough to roast up for breakfast, as well. Cold fish in the morning didn’t sound all that appealing, but it definitely sounded better than an empty stomach.