Library of Rain

Side Stories 4 & 5

Commander Thea looked down at the reports on her desk. 

“Three unregistered classers popping up together overnight? There‘s no way this isn’t orchestrated. But who would risk three unique classers? And what do they hope to gain?”

Henrik, her Left Hand, didn’t appear to have any answers to her muttered questions and remained silent as Thea searched through the reports for any information that might give her an idea of what was happening.

“Is this accurate, Hand Henrik? These three took control of most of the organized crime in the Low Ring in less than a week?”

“That is correct, Mam. As soon as the rumors reached me, I had my best intelligence gatherers confirm the situation.”

Thea gazed down at the papers with the stare of a disapproving Drill Sergeant. If the papers had sentience, they would have been cringing in fright. Finally, she made her decision.

“Hand Henrik.”

“Mam!”

“Report the appearance of these uniques to the Arch Lord. Then have your men watch these uniques. I want to know what they’re up to and who they work for.”

“Are we not going to follow protocol and invite them to the Grand Academy?”

To question the orders of a Commander was usually the height of folly, but Henrik was a Hand. He had earned that right by repeated demonstrations of skill and mind. Thea trusted him to ask questions and find answers for himself, so it would benefit her to explain her reasoning.

“No, until we can verify the origin of these three, they would pose a risk to the young lords and uniques of the academy. We can't endanger our future.”

“Understood.”

With that, Left Hand Henrik left to fulfill his duty. Thea meanwhile stared down at the papers. 

“Sonja, I need you to return soon. Something gives me the feeling I’ll be needing both my hands to deal with this problem.”

*****

River regretted everything. She regretted her uselessness, she regretted her jealousy, but most of all, she regretted insisting on being included when she overheard Less talking to Ava about gaining a class. 

She had thought it was her chance to make something of herself to prove she could be as useful as Ava. She was wrong. From the moment she opened that book, she had known it was a mistake to come along. The pain was like nothing she could imagine. She could still feel her skin pulling, stretching, popping, rending. Her sight had disappeared, and her senses had gone dull. Everything she knew seemed distant as she found herself trapped in the dark, unable to move her body like she used to. 

She had no idea how long this went on or if it would ever end. She was trapped, beating at the walls of her mind, a prisoner in her own flesh, unable to interact with the world she could barely sense. 

Before long, she went from fear that the book was killing her to wishing it had. The nothingness was terrifying and absolute. She prayed to every god she knew that one of them would kill and free her.

Nothing

She tried to control her body in its current state. But without sensory feedback, her efforts would be forever doomed. Eventually, she gave up and resigned herself to a fate of endless imprisonment and let her mind drift off into a trance. And, of course, that was when She arrived.