*****
The door of the library opened, the noise of hinges squeaking as if carping their disturber, and Raelia stepped in. She looked around her, trying to retrace the shape of the room in the gloomy light of her lantern. She had not been here for dozens of years. She had not needed to visit here, because she had all her most important books up in her chamber and thus the long descent down here was seldom required. For any less critical information she might require and did not have in her study, there certainly were many servants around who would hurry down here and clarify the issue. As powerful as she was in magic, she was still a woman who rather avoided the dusty, dry old library infested with spiders and their webs. The library room was quite large and her collection of ancient volumes was quite considerable. Thousands of books rested, in echelons almost majestic, on high oak shelves, carefully organized. Walking between the tall shelves she moved towards a heavy door in the back wall, standing still as if a part of the construction, with no lock or handle at all. When she arrived at the door she waved her hand in the air.
”Indoarath utoel”
With a shrill creak the door opened under the power of her spell, and revealed its contents to Raelia. It was a small and insignificant room, more like a roomy closet, but in the middle of it there was a low stone platform, on which rested the Decamod. Raelia entered the room. How will it react? Will it be accessible? Has it gone sour and will it punish her for disturbing its peace again? Raelia pressed her palm on the book’s leather-like top cover that looked suspiciously alive, and right away her body jerked in a spasm, feeling a burst of magic rumbling through her.
The Decamod was obviously testing if she was strong enough to explore its secrets. And it was ready to open up again. A small blue circle surrounded her as the magic showered from the book onto her body. She grinned with a full set of teeth, tasting a coppery taste in her mouth, and pounced upon the book and started to wrestle it. Her head snapped forward when she concentrated to change the direction of the stream of energy. Even she needed to use a great amount of her willpower – if not all of it. Her teeth gnashed tightly together and her eyes narrowed to stripes as she focused her mind to channel her magic. She clamped the book with her gleaming knuckles and her already sweaty hair glued on her pale face. She felt increasing pain as the book amassed its bursts of energy to counteract her powers. She opened her mouth to scream out her pain and rage, when all of a sudden the book drew all the energy away and she collapsed over it. She breathed heavily but grinned wide; the book had accepted her entrance once again.
She stepped back a little, and with her long sleeve swept the sweat away from her face and threw her hair back. She waited till her breathing had steadied and then she stepped ahead and opened the Decamod. And at that very moment all the voices in the room ceased to exist as if all the air had been sucked out leaving only a vacuum. The book immersed all the sounds and voices in it, thus assuring that no living soul could throw any spells against it. The same instant Raelia felt how something - like some tiny, reaching worm - tried to penetrate her mind, searching and gnawing its way in her thoughts. But she had cultivated her mental skills for years and easily dismissed the intruder, and the book let her continue further. She fixed her attention and in her thoughts sent a question to the book.
”Firnaraee?”
The book remained silent.
”Firnaraee?” she ventured again, but still the book did not react. Usually she would not have bothered to go any further, but this time was different and she was adamant. She gave it a third try, pushing the book with all her might until she felt her head was about to explode. Finally a faint light started to shine from within the book and its pages started to turn its pages slowly forward. Raelia caught her breath and steadied herself. The book geared up but still there was no voice or any sound in the room, not even from the now rapidly turning pages. Then the book stopped dead. Raelia raised her face above the Decamod and began scrutinizing the knowledge the book admitted her to read.