Ancient Tale

The staircase to the second floor was guarded by imposing soldiers. They made sure my feather was real, before they let me inside. Perhaps not surprisingly, the second floor was the smallest of them all. There were no aisles with categories, but rather bookcases and private tables. All of them separated by wooden walls. Nice carpets laid on the floor, and the dark oak wood seemed ancient even to touch. The middle had a statue of an imposing man. That was a similar concept to the library at the Academy, but the person was different.

I read the plaque that came with the statue. 'Emperor Endros' was written on it, together with a few details. 'This was the founder of this Empire? He's kind of similar to my father, or at least that confident gaze is. Hehe, this is a sculpture anyway, they could've made him into anything really', I thought and moved to one of the private areas.

The books in that area concerned the Edrosian Empire, its beginning and such. The records though, were much more detailed and extensive. I only flipped through a few books, but the battles of past kingdoms, the unification and the Endros' coronation. He then became an Emperor, while his family Ravensoars, took over after his death.

They didn't mention Endros' past, as in his early years. I found that weird, since he was the first Emperor, and such details would be noted down. The Great North had records of my father earlier days. He even had his own book, detailing the events from his past. Yet the first Emperor, the one who established that Empire, had no records of the past. Where did he grow up? What motivated him? My search brought no results.

'... They hid these records on purpose, or don't have them at all'. I recalled how the two masters of the forbidden Arts talked about the Imperials. They were scared of them, because they knew exactly what Art masters were capable of. They mentioned Endros a few times, but didn't tell me his history. One thing was certain, Endros was associated with one of the Arts. The Art of Hidden Weapons, which my father became the master of.

The Imperials weren't the most trustworthy people. Since they allowed false or outdated books on the first floor, they'd never disclose the fact that the founding Emperor was a practitioner of the forbidden Arts. Especially since they were trying to eradicate such people. I decided to move on from Endros and the Imperial family. There were other areas worth checking out.

'So, they have updated books about North after all', I thought after checking out a few bookcases. They informed people with access to the second floor, about the changes. Apparently, Imperials treated the North as enemies, even though Humans visited us once in a while. The visits became much rarer though.

They even blasted my father, and how he betrayed his kind. Of course he didn't, but who could argue with idiots? They went as far as to reward those who could provide useful information from the North. Anything from Formation knowledge, to our weapons, development and such. Basically, they asked people to spy on us.

Though they no longer entice Humans to actively seek out and kill Furians or Eterians, they didn't argue against it either. I wondered why such information wasn't available on the first floor? The second floor of the Grand Library was accessible only to selected people. One such example was the students of the First Class. Whether they were the top students or not, they had access to the second floor. Additionally, people who became champions in the Arena, had that privilege too. Officials and higher positioned soldiers could visit the top floor of the Grand Library as well.

The question was, why only such people were allowed? Surely, the information about the North would be useful to all individuals travelling there. Of course except the lies and spying thing. These weren't secrets either, which baffled me even more. 'They did that on purpose. Maybe their goal is to stir up trouble. People who aren't talented or work for the Imperials, don't matter in their eyes', I thought.

Whatever the case, they simply proved to be a bunch of arrogant and self centered bastards. I tried to find more information about Elysians, but not much was there. They didn't have many books on them, mostly because they weren't allowed inside. Perhaps they tried sending spies, but no records of that were present.

There was one book, which detailed the ventures of one Emperor. He tried to 'establish connections' with the Elysians, but that didn't work out for him. My father and others told me how Endrosians tried to steal Elysian secrets, and therefore they became enemies. The book had a different story altogether, which was simply amusing.

I was about to leave that floor, but then noticed another private corner. That one was at the back, and poorly lit. Seemed forgotten, and rarely used. The people working in the library didn't even bother to dust the corner, or the books on display. 'Weird… Everything's clean elsewhere'.

The books in that area were old, and mostly described some sort of legends. I wasn't sure why they placed them on the highest floor, since they were tales, not much else. Some of them spoke of large sea creatures that would attack ships. Others talked about land creatures that could induce nightmares.

While browsing though the aged books, I found something that seemed even older. The small tattered book, yellowed due to the passage of time. Perhaps that was one of the oldest books inside that library, or poorly looked after. The contents though, they were something else entirely.

The little book described how one of the Emperors set out on a voyage. The thing was, there were no mentions of a Falcon. That had to be before they were created, and the Emperor in question travelled aboard a normal boat. The book didn't even mention which Emperor, just what happened during the voyage. Moreover, the language was basic, with errors in every sentence. As if written by someone who barely studied the Common Language.

According to the book, the crew set out on a voyage to discover new lands. Though the waves and strong sea monsters battered their ship until it almost sunk, they persevered. They found an island, an island with another race to be precise. The author's writing was too basic to describe these creatures properly, but he tried anyway.

The beings of that race were tall, very tall. At least three times taller than Humans. Their eyes were big and piercing, but their head size wasn't proportionate to their tall build. Their heads were small, according to the author. None of them carried any weapons, and spoke in weird language between each other. A language no one, even the Emperor could understand. No scales were visible on their bodies, yet the author seemed sure it wasn't skin. Whatever covered their bodies was red in colour.

They were intelligent, and somehow much stronger than the Emperor. The author didn't know why, but these beings struck fear into him. They were peaceful though, and didn't attack the crew. The author mentioned how the Emperor befriended them in a way, and they helped repair the ship. They even provided a route back home, while the Emperor warned everyone not to deviate from that route under any circumstances.

He mentioned that the Emperor spent a lot of time with these beings, but didn't know anything they talked about. Once the ship got repaired, they followed the route and returned back home. The Emperor ordered to keep quiet about the events, and most people did. The author never stepped onto the ship again, and stayed on land for the rest of his life.

That book wasn't a book, but a journal or diary. Though the writing was bad, and some words didn't make sense, the words seemed genuine. Moreover, my father was out there before, there are other races elsewhere. The events from that journal could be entirely possible. 'It's a shame the author doesn't reveal how to get to that island… Maybe I'll ask dad once we meet up. Maybe he doesn't know about those beings either', I thought.

There was nothing else of interest to me there, and my friends were probably getting impatient. After all, it was afternoon at that stage. "Hey, don't mind us, you know? It's not like we don't enjoy spending our lives in a library", Tara complained. "She's right, you took your sweet time", Dawn added. "Don't act like a kid, actually both of you. A bit of knowledge will be useful for that empty brain of yours, Tara. Anyway, yea, I'm done here. Let's go eat something first, I'm sure you guys are hungry", I replied.