Heart of Dorkness

Terror Forty-Six - Face

Terror Forty-Six - Face

Thats the building, Esme says. Shes pointing to a big building across the last stretch of the courtyard. It reminds me of one of those judicial buildings for some reason, all tall and stately at the front, but plain and boring on the sides. There should be some way to get in from the sides.

Lets try not to run into any more templars, I say as I walk over.

I explained to my friends already how walking as if were supposed to be here is less suspicious than being sneaky, but its hard to resist crouching down and slinking everywhere.

Im sure well be fine, Esme says. There arent that many templars, and I dont think they come here all that often.

Why not? This entire place is dedicated to their god, isnt it?

Yeah, but its not the only place in Montele that is. Hroe is a popular god, you know. Esme grins, then her grin turns into a pout. You should know. Hes one of the gods that hates monsters the most.

Mom says that hes a pompous butt, I say. Im paraphrasing a little there.

Felix giggles, but it makes Esmes pout turn into a glare. You shouldnt mock a god, especially not one of the good ones.

I dont know if there really are any good gods, I say. I think theyre mostly people, but... you know, more. With lots of power, and theyre usually really old. Like, not in-their-thirties old, but old-old.

Fifty? Felix asks.

That is pretty ancient. Nah, way older. Mom wont tell me how old she is, but Ive read a lot of history books that mention her, and some of those go way, way back. Like, you can see when a few of the other gods were just normal people, before they became gods. But theres no record that goes far enough back to see some of the gods, Mom included.

She cant be that old, Esme says.

Mom said that she was very excited when people invented writing, I say. She used to have to kidnap bards. Then theyd spread mean stories about things she did to them that werent true, so shed send monsters after them.

Your mom sounds, uh, weird, Felix says.

I laugh. Shes a bit weird, but I love her lots, and shes really nice once you get past her not-nice exterior. Shes like... Mom is like a pineapple.

I dont think Ive ever heard or read anyone calling the Goddess of Darkness and Death a pineapple, Esme says.

Shes not actually a goddess of death. Her domains are darkness, the void, disgust, loathing, and stuff like monsters and rebirth, but not actually death. I dont think there is a god of death. Mom wouldnt like them if there was one.

What? Why not?

Obviously because we need people to die to make more monsters and a god of death might meddle with that.

Esme pouts really hard at me.

Frankly, thats too bad. I dont mind putting a good spin on things, but were not going to be good friends if she cant accept me and Mom the way we are. I do want to be her friend, I really-really do, but I cant pretend to be something Im not all the time. Thatll be tiring and unfun, and I know Ill stumble and mess up eventually.

I probably shouldnt have hidden I was me for so long anyways. I know it wasnt nice. Cant do anything about that now, though.

We arrive next to the building and Esme points to a door. That leads to the first floor, near the back where all the washrooms are. Theres a staircase going up there too. They have a space at the back thats like a warehouse.

Is that where the books are stored? I ask.

I have no idea, Esme says.

Well, only one way to find out, then. I walk over to the door and push it open. The corridor on the other side looks about as plain as a corridor can be, and there isnt a team of templars waiting to ambush us. Its clear, I whisper.

Once were all in, Esme points to a staircase. That way.

Why did you think the books would be here? I ask.

Because this is the only place where they can manage a lot of stuff like books. There are offices and some rooms for storage, but its mostly all the space they have. I did some math... well, really it was more a lot of educated guesswork.

Alright.

So, there are a lot of books in the city, but so far theyve mostly been focusing on books being sold. Which means that the entire stock of any bookstore in the city is at risk. But they only need one copy of each book. Assuming theyre not just confiscating everything, which I dont think they are.

Why not?

Because Montele has six big bookstores and nine smaller ones, Esme says with the confidence of someone whos visited all of them. The bigger ones especially have enough books in them that theyd have to stack the books outside, or they wouldnt be able to use any of the buildings here. Also, I stopped by the store nearest to the library, and they were selling a small stock of books while the rest were cordoned off.

Right, okay, I say. So instead they mostly have a copy of every book, right?

Just one, if theyre well-organized and arent taking in doubles. Plus all the copies of the books that get outright banned.

I nod. And this is the only place with enough storage for all of that.

I think its meant to be a school building. The top floor has classes, and theres room for teachers and stuff below. But the two bottommost floors are all storage and offices.

Theres so much paperwork to run a place like this. Its nuts, I say.

The academy trains a lot of people who will become great warriors. Or just military people, I guess. Its mostly nobles who are sent here to get a strong second class that will help them fight monsters. And they have a big curriculum about Earth magics here.

Makes sense, I guess, I say.

We get to the top of the stairs and the three of us tense up as we cross a man moving by, a large stack of books in his arms. Oh, hello, he says.

Hi, I say while trying to make my voice manly.

The man tilts his head to see past his books. He has glasses perched on the end of his nose, and his robes are a bit nicer than ours. Not as nice as the templars. Isnt it lunch time? Most of us have moved out already.

R-really? Were just, ah, here to, uh... I glance past him and notice a mop and bucket waiting at the far end of the corridor. Mop the place up, clean things, I say.

Oh, you got up to some trouble and Henry handed out creative punishments again? Just make sure not to spill any water on the books, he says before trudging past us and down the stairs.

We stand there until he reaches the bottom and moves out of sight, then we all sigh as one.

Close one, I say.

The disguises worked this time, Esme says. And he mentioned books!

He did! I say. Were on the right track!

We rush through the corridor and past rooms that all have desks with books on them and some sheets of paper nearby. At a guess, I assume the people who decide whether a book is bannable or not read them here, and it looks like theyre all gone for lunch.

I wish that was part of my plan.

Here, Esme says. This leads into the big room below. She opens a door.

Its our goal.

A wide and tall room, with a bay below for carts to be unloaded. Books are stacked all over the place on wooden boxes that keep them off the floorif barely. There are pillars of manuscripts and piles of tomes and stacks of scrolls, enough to fill a whole corner of the library back home.

We move into the room, and I cant help but grin. We need to start picking, and fast, I say. Lunchtime wont last forever.

The door shuts.

I turn, expecting to see Felix, but shes right next to me.

Its the girl, the one we crossed earlier. Shes standing there with one hand on the door. Huh?

Her hand moves out and I gasp as a gust of wind tears my hood off.

She stares, confusion, then empty anger taking over her features. Who are you, and why do you have Lunas face?!

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