it means, ‘It’s my fault’.” Came a disembodied voice from the stacks.
I turned and frowned from the place I’d heard the voice come from.
“Shut it, Book,” Alexandar spit.
“Who was that?” I turned back to him.
“Uh...” Alexandar sighed and rolled his neck around while massaging his temples. “Some books in the library are enchanted.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, my head starting to hurt.
“It means that some of the books in the library will answer questions you ask them if the answer is contained within their volume.” Another disembodied voice called from a different stack.
“So if I ask questions aloud, I will gain answers just by being near volumes that have been enchanted?”
“Yes,” several voices answered.
“Hmm,” I processed that. “How many books in the library are enchanted?”
When no disembodied voice answered I looked at Alexandar.
“No one knows,” he said. “Though I would be careful with the questions you ask because you may not always like the answer. And the books cannot always be trusted.”
“What does that mean?”
“That there are books from all over the world in here, written by hundreds of thousands of different authors,” he said. “Do you trust everything you read?”
“If it is from a reputable source and has factual evidence of its findings,” I said.
“Then keep that in mind when you ask questions,” he said vaguely. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
“That reminds me,” I remarked. “How did we get wet?”
“You don’t remember?” Alexandar asked me.
“I remember that I was having a nightmare,” I said. “And that you woke me. Did you dump water on me? In the future, shaking or calling my name would suffice.”
“I didn’t dump water on you,” he chuckled lightly.
The sound send a charge up my spine as I saw the grin wink across his face for a split second.
“Then how?”
“You were attacked,” he told me.
“How is that possible?”
“It’s hard to explain,” he said. “When you sleep you leave yourself vulnerable. You believe you’re safe. Unless you take certain precautions you can be pulled into another realm, or what some refer to as a dreamscape. If you are trained you can defend yourself within that dreamscape utilizing the things around you. But you are not trained.”
“Like lucid dreaming?” I wondered.
“Similar,” he said. “Except these dreamscapes can have deadly consequences that follow your body in reality.”
“But that’s not possible,” I said as we continued walking.
“And talking books are?” He scoffed. “You have a skewed idea of reality when you pick some things to believe and others to reject.”
“I mean,” I said. “It’s not possible because I can’t die in my own subconscious.”
“How do you know?” He asked. “There have been hundreds of studies on dreaming and the sleep walking that can be deadly associated with it.”
“That’s true I suppose,” I nodded. “But why would I be wet with seawater? I don’t know that it’s possible that I sleep walked all the way to New York Bay.”
“That’s a puzzle isn’t it?”
Alexandar walked me all the way to a new doorway and showed me to a room. It wasn’t as large as other rooms I’d seen but it was more than serviceable.
“I should have shown this to you earlier. I apologize that you felt the need to sleep in the library. In the future please sleep here.” Alexandar said. “We’ve taken precautions in all of our rooms so that attacks are near impossible. Tomorrow I will teach you to protect yourself.”
“Umm...” I was never at a loss for words, but watching him turn to leave left me speechless. He paused and waited for me to continue. I wanted to ask him about his story, but I was still reeling from what Valerie had revealed.
“Yes?”
“Never mind,” I said. “Thank you.”
After he left I stripped off my still damp clothes and crawled under the covers stretched tight on the full sized bed. Quickly I fell dreamlessly into sleep.
I woke to darkness and for a moment I was disoriented. My loft was never this dark. Then it dawned on me. I sat up and rolled out of bed, where I found a candle and matches on a stand next to the bed. Striking one I touched the tip to the wick and watched as it caught then waved my hand to extinguish the match.
Across the room next to the door I found a neatly folded pile of clothes. A modest pair of jeans, t-shirt and hiking boots. I wondered idly if we would be hiking today. As I dressed I found the book I had begun to read yesterday under the pile. When I was done dressing I took the book and walked into the hallway to find some coffee. I felt groggy and a bit misty minded. I needed to clear the cobwebs.
The dining room was just as I’d left it the day before, except there were different foods available. I wondered again who put all of this together. My thoughts were swept away as I heard quiet conversation. After helping myself to the food I wandered to the table and took my seat. Though I could have sworn I heard conversation, no one was at the table. With no one to offend I opened my book and read as I ate. I smiled to myself, my mother had hated the habit.
The first page held a bunch of signatures, which I thought was odd. Did some people just want to sign the books they’d read? It made sense in a way, I supposed. With as many books that were in the library it may be a breadcrumb of sorts, something to leave behind confirming your literary journey. There was a cup of pens on a desk nearby so I grabbed one and sat back down. I wrote my name under the list and watched in awe as it glowed lightly then sealed itself on the page. I ran my thumb over it and what should have smudged held firm as if it had been written here hundreds of years ago. The book shuddered at my touch and began flipping pages to the exact middle of the volume, where a small ball of light glowed and pulsed like the beat of a heart.
“Greetings Tabitha, Daughter of Air,” it intoned.
“Daughter of Air?” I asked.
The book paused and the pulse beat quickly like fluttering pages.
“There are several references to the Daughter of Air in this volume,” it said. “Be more specific in your query.”
I furrowed my brows as I watched the light pulse. This must be one of the enchanted books.
“What is the definition of Daughter of Air,” I asked.
The pages flipped nearly to the front and the voice recited the section I was looking for.
“The Sons and Daughters of Air are descendants from the original Elementals formed at the beginning of time.”
The pages were filled with beautiful script and pictures.
“What are the Elementals?”
“The Elementals are the Sons and Daughters of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I stated as if to give a rebuttal. “Ok. Are the Sons and Daughters direct descendants of each other as its title suggests?”
“The Sons and Daughters are not direct descendants of each other.”
“Why is it not hereditary?”
“The Sons and Daughters usually do not live long enough to procreate.”
That answer took me aback.
“Why are the lifespans so short?” I asked, confused.
“The Elementals are warriors in the fight against the Void.” It said as if that answered my question fully.
“What is the Void and why do the Elementals fight it?”
“The Void is the absence of life and light. The Elementals fight against the forces of the Void to protect the Earth, where the Elements and its servants live in relative harmony.”
“What is the difference between Elementals and the Elements?”
“Elementals are the human vessel for the Elements,” it said. “Elementals, in return for being the sole guardian for its Element, are allowed it’s full or near full powe
r.”
“Like magic?” I asked.
“There are several references to magic in this volume,” it said. “Please be more specific in your query.”
“Uh...” I hesitated trying to best describe what I wanted to know. “Is the power of the Elements the same as magic?”
“Magic is not real,” it said. “But the power of the Elements are. With the power to control your given element, you can do things that will trick humans into believing that magic is real. Which is why the myth surrounding magic exists. Magic and Elemental Powers are not the same.”
My brow furrowed. Every fantasy book I’d ever read insisted that if you could control the Elements then it was through magic. But I suppose magic is subjective in a way. Giving a name to something that explains a connection when there are no facts to substantiate it. Like the air.
“How are the Elementals chosen?” I asked without even thinking about it.
“The Sons and Daughters are chosen by their respective elements at a moment when they choose life over death and are proven worthy of the power bestowed upon them.”
“What...” Before I could finish my question a movement to my right had me looking up. Alexandar sat down with a plate of food, then Valerie across from me with a heaping mound of food and Chauncy followed to my left.
“Don’t let us disturb your studies,” Valerie said as she began devouring her food.
“My mother beat it into me that it was terrible table manners to read at the table,” I said.
“I’m so sorry,” Valerie blanched as she dropped the fork she’d held, where it clattered noisily to her plate.
Valerie and Chauncy’s dire backgrounds had me realizing that they may take my words literally.
“No, I’m sorry,” I said