AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sena shakes her head once before taking flight.
Pursing my lips, I make a face. “Well, it was worth a shot. Thank you for all your assistance. Let's go back out to Olive.”
We enter the main room. Sena rests on my shoulder. The library reminds me of trees. Taller than life when you see them in person, which has grown together. The library is the most rugged part of the castle. Some leaves seem to be alive here even. Flowers in vases on decorative vines.
Olive is long gone, leaving fifteen volumes on the table. Sighing, I brush Sena cautiously, she nuzzles her head into my finger. “Sena. I'm bringing this back to my room. Thank you so much. Next time I see you, I'll have some biscuits as a gift for you.”
Her soft coos rumble in her chest before soaring off into the rafters of the library.
Piles of books rest on the abandoned table. Sighing, I make space, stacking the books off to one side. I pour through each page. For hours upon hours. Olive marked the relevant pages which helped tremendously but there’s scarce information about the plague. Mainly its effects.
One document that Olive dropped off for me, I found particularly interesting. The document appeared to have been sent from a ranking member of the patrol of the boundaries of Caelum to Apollo. She reports that they’re experiencing a higher number than the normal number of citizens of Caelum trying to escape the court. I read over the letter once more:
Phoebus Apollo,
I'm writing to you before our normal report date to inform you of a recent trend. At our guard post along the Veil crossing between our court and Poseidon’s Court, we’ve seen droves of citizens attempting to flee. Seeking refugee status from Poseidon. We, of course, have been turning back. Though this has done scarcely any good. Despite our patrols of the Veil at all hours of the day, we’ve witnessed several nymphs, centaurs, and satyrs fleeing through the paved pathways through the Veil. A small minority of those have made it across to the other side.
According to the reports from our contacts in our neighboring courts, they’ve learned that of those few who brave the monsters and face the Oneiroi. Our contacts have requested that any survivors be turned over to the guard, but they haven’t been agreeable to our requests. The mad old god Poseidon seems to be granting all the surviving citizens protection under the Laws of Xenia, spouting nonsense about asylum or something or another.
A frightening development has cropped up from the Veil. Shades have been lurking around the edge of the forest. Especially as the sun sets or into the evening. The umbra language and howls can be heard shrieking from the Veil. The shades of nymphs, centaurs and satyrs have further been walking the boundary. Many of which are recognizable to us. Ones that we turned back, refusing to allow them to cross over the border and seek Xenia with Poseidon.
We will be standing by and awaiting your orders of our next steps,
-Guard Aspasia
Hmm. Turning over the document, I found a date. This letter was sent only weeks before I was brought here. My heart feels heavy for the people trying to flee through the Veil. Given my experiences with the Veil, I know some of the terror that enters within its dangerous confines. I'm certain that the deeper you're in, the more terrifying it gets.
Handing the letter back to Olive I whisper a thank you to the bird as she refiles its papers. Peeking up at the glass domed ceiling, I'm surprised to see how dark the night sky is already. I would have sworn that I had hours to go before darkness.
Looking at Olive, I utter softly, “Thank you for the materials. Can you gather these and put them on a cart? I'll be back in the morning.”
If owls could groan, I swear that’s how she reacted.
“See you in the morning.” I smile before walking back to my room to get ready for bed.
“Wake up,” Arista shakes me violently.
“What? What’s going on?” I question while rubbing my bleary eyes.
Standing over me, my friend looks as pale as a shade trapped outside the River Styx. “Pandy, don’t you feel it?”
Pausing, I pat myself, doing a quick inventory. Yep, still whole.
Not Mud.
Feels like a good enough night to me.
Finding nothing discernibly wrong, I closed my eyes once more. Trying to return to sleep.
“What? Sleep? No, not now. Though I'm exhausted.” Flipping over, I shove my pillow over my head. Determined to ignore her.
Ripping the blankets from me, I groan.
“Come on, danger is afoot. I can feel it clear as day out in the evening air,” she warns me. “Let’s go spend the night with Artemis. Surely, she won’t mind.”
“But why not Apollo?” I murmur as I pull the blankets over my head.
Ari rips my covers off me. The cold air is pummeling against my body.
