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For another day, she enjoyed herself with Ralf and Freya, and made occasional visits to the Librarian. She was able to ask the Librarian many questions about his work and the scripts he stored and copied. He was keen to share such knowledge with her. She was amazed by how much her father had taught her. And how much of it she remembered.

Finally, the Librarian spoke to her of Emma’s message, and the need for information about where Erann might be.

Sereh was relieved to finally be able to speak openly about her reason for seeking his guidance.

They sat, huddled around a copy of the Southern Chronicles, the Librarian was engaged in copying, his face lit by the still solitary blue flame. She wondered why he’d not relit it, and why he’d prevented her from doing so. But only in passing. Really, she was here to learn as much as she could about where Erann could be.

‘Tell me, Sereh, how did Erann disappear? It seems hazy to me at the moment.’ His words consumed her with renewed grief.

She coughed aside her sorrow, although her voice remained low.

‘We walked to a marker, one where he’d had a strange experience before. This time, he watched me expectantly, and I’ll be honest, I thought him quite mad. He had this crazed smile on his face. But then, well, then I see a wall seemingly made of purple light, and then I saw Skaldi, the dragon. It was, astonishing.’ Here, even now, and after all she’d endured recently, she couldn’t keep the amazement from her voice. She saw not the Library and the Librarian, but that magical moment all over again. ‘And then, he bent to examine the marker, or so I believe, and he was just… gone.’

The Librarian leapt from his seat, recalling her to the here and now, as he paced around the small space, wringing his hands although he didn’t speak.

A deep silence fell between them. She watched him carefully. Anything was better than remembering her desolation at the loss of Erann. Again, he seemed to forget he was an old man. His steps were sharp and concise, his agitation clear to see.

So, she mused to herself. He knows about the dragons, and the shield. It was curious, and explained why Emma had welcomed her journeying this way. But, right now, spending time with the Librarian wasn’t helping her find Erann. Admittedly, it was keeping her away from Jon, for which she was grateful.

But the Librarian was incensed by what she’d told him. He seemed to be gritting his teeth and his stance was rigid. But, he still didn’t speak to her.

After waiting a long time for him to talk again, she realised he wasn’t going to say anything else, not while he was caught up in his inner turmoil.

‘I’ll leave you,’ she murmured softly, standing far from quietly, her chair scraping on the stone floor, to return to the more congenial company of Ralf and Freya.

But speaking about Erann had reminded her of his loss, and how much she hungered for him. They’d had so little time together, well, little time when they were in complete understanding with one another. To have him snatched from her was too cruel. Even with the amusing mutterings of Ralf, she continued to feel morose.

She was eager to return to her bed, but her dreams were tormented by images of Erann alone, injured and hungry. She slept poorly and was more than relieved, as well as surprised, when the Librarian woke her from her twisted dreams in the first dull grey of another morning, Arrow adding her wet nose to the insistent shake of her shoulders.

The Librarian was calm, a change from the day before, but no sooner had they descended to his Library than she saw how he’d spent the time since she’d left him.

The entire Library was in disarray. Every surface was covered in weighted down scripts. There were more candles than she’d ever seen lit at one time and they occupied the spaces where there were no precious scripts. It was so bright in the library, it made her tired and grainy eyes water. As she rubbed her stinging eyes, she glanced at the solitary blue flame. Only it wasn’t solitary any more. Neither had the extinguished one been relit. She walked towards the desk, and realised the Librarian had lit a third flame. The three candles sat in a line on his cluttered desk, although only two glowed blue.

Distractedly, the Librarian handed her a steaming cup of tea, made by the heat of his blazing fire and not by Freya.

‘Arrow, lie by the fire,’ he ordered the wolf-dog, having given no indication Arrow wasn’t welcome within. ‘And don’t move,’ he added. Arrow offered what Sereh thought was an aggrieved look but skulked over to the spot indicated, making herself comfortable on the fur spread across the floor, turning round and round in a few circles first. Sereh was far from convinced, the cloak had been intended for the wolf-dog, but as the Librarian didn’t admonish the wolf-dog, she didn’t either.

She focused on one of the scripts laid before her. It was faint and exceedingly old, almost cracking beneath the weight of the rounded stones keeping it flat. She read the words with some difficulty, even in the bright light from the seemingly hundreds of candles. She looked to the Librarian for an explanation, her forehead furrowed.

‘What is this? I’ve never seen it before.’

His reply was spoken far too quickly. She doubted he’d slept since she’d last been in the Library.

‘Few have. It’s one of the oldest scripts available. It’s prophecy. We, as a society, have never had much call for it, but I… One of my ancestors believed he had a slightly different calling, and he recorded what he foresaw. It makes for fascinating reading, but it does have a problem. Take your time. Read it again and let me know your thoughts.’

She gazed in wonder at the words once more. Somehow, and she truly didn’t believe in prophecy, someone had written words about Skaldi and Erann meeting. She was unable to stop herself from minutely inspecting the vellum. She examined the faint green ink. If the ink had been brighter, she could have suspected the Librarian of writing it in response to what she’d told him. But it was impossible. The script was ancient, that couldn’t be disputed. The words and their import dizzied her with their implications.

Our home is not our home. In the future, we will be saved by one from the Eastern Lands. When disaster threatens and Gemini returns. He will have faced hardships and endured much. In his efforts to aid his family he will be sought and saved by one of them. They will bond, an unbreakable bond, and together they will unite and restore everything to how it should be. He will be alone; always alone because there will be no room in his heart for another. That is as it should be. They consume those they touch, and he will have nothing to give another. He will be challenged by our people. Nothing must stop him, nor break the bond. Our only way home is through him.

She read it again, and again. After reading it through five times, she looked questioningly at the Librarian.

‘Did you know of this document before now?’

‘Yes, but also no. There were rumours. It’s taken me all night to find it, as you can see.’ And he indicated the ruin of his tidy library.

‘How does Emma know of you? She’s been locked away for rotations in that place, and yet you seem to accept everything I tell you. You’ve not expressed doubt at my words, and you certainly know about the dragons. Explain all this to me. Please. And tell me what it has to do with me.’ Her tone was pleading but still he looked at her hesitantly.

While reading, she’d been aware the Librarian had flung himself down onto his chair and had been gazing balefully at the blue candles before him. Again she wondered what the relevance of the flames was as he failed to answer her stream of questions. It was so frustrating. She turned her eyes back to the vellum, unable to stop looking at it.