Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Bala had come to aid her master.
Heart thudding, I quickened my velocity. Problem: Winslet stood in front of the force field, hunched over and gasping for breath, even as she stretched out her arms with a dagger in hand, as if she intended to stop me.
If I had to fight her . . .
Her gaze found mine. “Don’t let CURED win,” she rasped—and stabbed herself, slicing into her own carotid.
I skidded to a halt and gasped. Like Lolli, she toppled. Crimson spurted from her wound, coating the force field. The glittery air shimmered, and a doorway appeared. I stood there, floundering in disbelief.
She was dead. Had sacrificed herself, letting me live. Tears sprang free, streaking hotly over my cheeks.
“Arden!” Domino’s voice yanked me out of my shell shock.
The mission. Right. I kicked into motion, slipping through the new door. He ran at my side. I wanted to stop and thank Winslet, but that would have to come later.
Cyrus must have sent in an army as soon as he welcomed Astan, because soldiers waited near the growing Rock, their harbingers trained on us. Boom, boom, boom.
Domino twirled his sword, using it as a shield. Forget the army. The difference a single night had made in the structure boggled my mind. The Rock now reached my midsection. And it was still growing, right before my eyes.
A contingent of glowers followed us in, some hanging back to keep out feeders.
The guards continued to hammer at the triggers of their guns. I mimicked Domino, swirling my sword faster and faster until I, too, produced a shield. A conversation we’d once had echoed.
How did you become a librarian?
I bonded to the Rock on a deeper level, becoming part of the doorway itself.
The process required a sole individual. Domino couldn’t do it, I’d bet. He was already a doorway.
But I wasn’t, despite our bond.
As more roars pierced the air, smoke and flames billowed on the breeze. Vyle must be gaining strength.
“Get me to the Rock,” I told Domino. “I’ll do the rest.”
He cast me a glance teeming with admiration. “See you on the other side, Arden.” With the speed of a bullet, he launched at the guards and called, “Ember! Kenneth!”
Both glowers fought their way over, and together we fought our way forward. The countdown in my head morphed into chimes, signaling the last seconds on the clock.
Ding. Cyrus recovered from his injuries and joined the fray.
Ding. Vyle spewed a stream of fire into the throng as he flew through the door.
Ding. War sounds crowded in my ears. More clanging metal. Sharper grunts and groans. Piercing screams. Thuds as soldiers fell.
Ding. The Rock grew another inch.
Ding. The Rock widened.
Ding. An opening between the guards appeared, thanks to Domino. I dove through it. The soldiers noticed. One lunged for me, dragging his blade through my middle and over my thigh.
Searing agony consumed me as I collided into the Rock.
Ding.
The stony fragments grew another inch, their pointy spindles digging into my wounds—growing through them. I screamed as my world went dark.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Not every story has a happy ending.
—The Book of Soal 2.1.25.46
I floated in a space without time, where the past, present, and future all transpired at once, everything I’d ever done or would do happening simultaneously, always, and forever. As I slipped in and out of consciousness, I knew everything and nothing.
Awareness came with pinpricks of strength. A prick here, a prick there. Heat spread from the punctures, infiltrating muscles and bones, activating my mind.
I blinked open my eyes and gasped. I stood rooted in place, but I also somehow remained in motion, drifting through the skies of Theirland, peering over the entire expanse all at once. It was bigger than I’d ever realized, with four castles hidden in the far corners of the realm. They each topped a mountain.
The dual sensations I experienced mystified me as much as the worldview.
“Am I dead?” I asked, my voice echoing in the void.
“Far from it. You’re more alive than you’ve ever been.” Domino approached me and suddenly I—we—occupied a private room in the library. And yet, I maintained my awareness of the Rock. “You are officially a librarian.”
Me, one of the elites. Just imagine!
I scanned the unfamiliar areas and frowned. A lovely room with glass displays of weapons, a mystery tree growing in a corner, and a hologram projecting snippets from my life at Fort Bala.
“I don’t understand,” I said, spotting the sign that hung over the door. It read Arden Dawn Roosa. “What is this place?” Why was this place? Stretching out my arms to graze the flowers carved into the wood doorframe, I realized I wore a buttery-soft red cloak. I looked myself over and marveled. A robe like Domino’s.
“This,” he said, “is your memorial.”
“But you just said I wasn’t dead.”
He held up his hand, requesting quiet, which I happily gave. “When we do special things for Soal, memorials like these are erected. Members of the Tome Society can come, read about our exploits, and learn from our mistakes and successes.” As he spoke, he walked around, motioning to symbols carved into the wall. Just like the symbols on the Rock.