Kol Adair lies far to the south in the Old World. From there, the Wizard will behold what he needs to make himself whole again. And the Sorceress must save the world.
Shortly after Richard dispatched them as his roving ambassadors, they had encountered Red in her wilderness of skulls, deep in the Dark Lands. Nathan asked her to create a life book for him, wanting his own story preserved, and the strange witch woman had complied, but not in the way he expected.
Nathan held out the book now, touching it with his long finger. “We can’t dismiss the words entirely, Sorceress. Even though we didn’t know what this meant at the time, Red was absolutely correct. I have the heart of a wizard now, I have my gift back, but you, my dear Nicci, still need to save the world.” He tapped the page. “It’s written.”
Nicci took the book from him, closed it. “Prophecy is gone, as I said.”
“It need not be a prophecy,” Nathan replied, taking the book back. “Maybe it’s just good advice. ‘And the Sorceress must save the world.’”
They continued to watch separate contingents marching from the plain toward unknown destinations. Nicci didn’t disagree with the words Red had written, whether or not she believed the premonition. “I’ll save the world, for my own reasons.”
“That is always best. And I’ll help you in any way I can.”
CHAPTER 23
In the Cliffwall archive, Verna spent the morning inside a library chamber, drinking hot tea and studying the books that the scholars had delivered to her. Two other Sisters of the Light, Rhoda and Eldine, scrutinized volumes, whispering as they compared notes. Novice Amber cheerfully carried in a stack of ledgers, blowing dust off the embossed leather cover of the top volume.
“Here’s another catalog, Prelate.” She deposited the armful on the table, rattling Verna’s cup of tea. “These refer mainly to maps and descriptions. The scholar archivist is still trying to pull the right listings because many books contain more than one subject.”
Verna looked at the open volume in front of her and traced her fingertip down the lines of titles. Many were written in the expansive hand of Scholar-Archivist Simon, who had spent a decade compiling the catalogs, but the new entries were written by Franklin, whose penmanship was much tighter, more efficient.
The prelate looked up at Amber. “The titles listed here contain legends of magical creatures, abominations that were developed as weapons in the ancient wizard wars. The sliphs, for instance.” Verna shook her head at the long list. “And here, two entire volumes on the dangers of succubi! Those creatures were turned loose in the Old World to seduce and destroy men and thereby weaken armies that stood against the enemy wizards.” She pursed her lips in a frown. “I expect it’s quite salacious reading.”
Amber blushed, and Verna wondered how experienced the pretty young girl might be in romance or sex. Turning the page in the dusty old book, Verna recalled being so youthful, but that was more than a century and a half ago, when she and Warren were the same age, trying to keep a professional boundary around their growing affection for each other. When Verna left the Palace of the Prophets in search of Richard Rahl, she had aged during those decades, while Warren remained as young as ever. Dear Warren … she missed him so much.
She flipped a page back, looked at more listings. “Here, they have three books about the selka, one of them a log from an ancient warship captain.”
Amber leaned close. “The selka?”
“Humans transformed into water-breathing creatures that dwell in the oceans. They could battle an enemy navy from beneath the hulls.”
The young girl gave a visible shudder. “We are far from the ocean, here, Prelate. I don’t think I’d like to see them.” She frowned with worry. “I hope my brother’s all right. He’s still at Renda Bay. Do you think the selka might attack the village?”
“Captain Norcross is building defenses for a much more likely enemy, child,” Verna said. “Lose sleep over Norukai raiders rather than the selka.” She realized her words offered the girl little reassurance.
The young scholars Oliver and Peretta entered the study room. Although they had lived all their lives in the Cliffwall canyons, these two had volunteered at Nicci’s request to embark on a long journey to deliver a report for Lord Rahl. They had found Verna and General Zimmer in Tanimura and led them back here. The two shy, diligent scholars were glad to be back home in their sanctuary, but that journey had changed them. Verna could see a restless glint in their eyes, an appreciation of the adventure they’d experienced. The prelate supposed it wouldn’t be long before the two wanted to explore the world again.
“We brought books on healing lore,” said Peretta. She was a thin, large-eyed girl with a mop of dark curly hair. “I’ve memorized them all, but I thought you might like to have a look.”
“Healing spells are always appreciated,” Verna said, “and always useful.”
“It’s just a list of the books, not the actual spells,” Oliver corrected, squinting at the volumes he carried. Though he was young, he had spent so many years poring over illegible writing, faded ink, and crumbling pages that his vision was already waning. “A complete catalog is the first part of understanding the knowledge available to us.” He let out a tired sigh. “We’re working as hard as we can, but Franklin estimates we still have a decade or more before we even complete our list of the titles in Cliffwall.”
“The Sisters will help however we can,” Verna said, accepting the books from each of them. “When I first set foot in here, I looked forward to studying the amazing knowledge.” She paused, then smiled. “Now it seems we may spend years reading mere lists of books and none of the content.”
Oliver said, “Knowledge is one thing, Prelate, but knowing what you know is an overlooked skill.”
“I know what I know,” Peretta said with a sniff. “All memmers do.” She flushed in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound arrogant. My gift of remembering is a virtue, but you all have skills as well.” She flashed a quick apologetic glance at her friend. “Oliver is very smart.”
He responded with a shy laugh. “To me, these books are a great adventure of discovery. Once you learn something, it’s even more important to share your knowledge.” He looked warmly at her. The two of them had spent so much time together in the wilderness that they’d formed a close bond, maybe even a romantic one.
“Unless we know what we know, we’ll never be able to find what we need.” Verna reached into the pocket of her robe and withdrew a small glazed figurine of a toad. It was just a memento, a cute decoration that she had found when searching the ruins of the Palace of the Prophets. The toad figurine had no significance, as far as she could tell, although she thought it might have belonged to Sister Armina back in the palace. Now the toad was just a reminder of better days. Verna liked to have it there, silently watching their busy work.
Amber picked it up, and smiled at the figurine with delight before placing it back on the study table. “I remember when we found this.”
Renn bustled in, looking fresh now that he had rested comfortably for several days. He was dressed in clean gray scholar’s robes instead of his maroon silk garments, which badly needed mending after his long journey.
He strolled up to the study tables piled with books. “I must admit, Prelate, I am impressed with this archive. I’ve always loved books and the knowledge they contain. For centuries I devoted myself to reading the libraries in Ildakar, then reading them again so I could understand the nuances. Beneath the shroud of eternity I had plenty of time! But all these books in Cliffwall”—he clucked his tongue against his teeth—“it is like a river of knowledge. How could I possibly have time to read them all?”