The Fall of the Readers

by Django Wexler

  There was a moment of silence. Sitting against Ending as she was, Alice had felt the labyrinthine tense when she said “once and for all.” Just for an instant, but she knew what it meant.

  “There is a way, isn’t there,” Alice said. “Something you haven’t told me.”

  “It’s . . . possible,” Ending rumbled.

  “Why haven’t you said anything?”

  “I wasn’t sure you could do it. I’m still not sure. And if you fail, you will die for certain, and probably the others as well. There is no middle ground.”

  Alice shivered.

  The last time Ending had talked like this, Alice had ended up in the Palace of Glass, and nearly been pulled inside a mirror. But I did find what I was looking for . . . “Why? What is it I’d have to do?”

  “I told you why the labyrinthine serve the Readers,” Ending said.

  “You said that a long time ago there was a creature that threatened to destroy all labyrinthine,” Alice said, trying to recall the conversation. “The Readers bound it, and agreed to keep it prisoner in exchange for the labyrinthine’s service.”

  “Yes. The Readers need us to protect their libraries, but we need them more. My siblings are too frightened to risk rebellion against the Readers, to call this bluff. Releasing the prisoner would mean the end of everything.”

  “Can we find this prisoner?” Alice said. “Kill it, somehow? That would set you all free. You wouldn’t need the Readers anymore.”

  “To destroy the prisoner is beyond anyone’s power, I suspect,” Ending said. “But the Great Binding that holds it could be altered. If there were another Reader, if she were powerful enough to take control of the Great Binding, then the labyrinthine could fight back.” The big cat hesitated. “It might be possible.”

  “Me, you mean,” Alice said flatly.

  Ending’s voice was soft. “There is no one else.”

  Ending had talked about this before. She said she needed a Reader, but a different kind of Reader. One she could treat as an equal instead of a master.

  “What makes you think I’m strong enough?” Alice said. “I’ve only just started learning Writing.”

  “It’s not a matter of skill,” Ending said. “The required changes are simple to make. But the Great Binding requires a great deal of power. The drain could kill you outright.”

  Alice remembered when her simple ward had malfunctioned, siphoning away all her energy dangerously fast, as though someone were sucking the blood from her body and replacing it with ice. She shivered involuntarily.

  “Even if you survive,” Ending continued remorselessly, “the surge could damage you. Leave you feeble-minded, or worse.”

  There was a long silence. Alice thought about Emma, once a prospective apprentice, whose mind Geryon had erased when she wouldn’t obey. She thought about Jen and Soranna, lying injured on the library stones because of her. She thought about the creatures who might never find the friends they were now searching for outside.

  “If it doesn’t work,” Alice said. “If I . . . die. What happens to you?”

  “The old Readers will fix the Great Binding before it unravels, if that’s what you mean,” Ending said. “What it means for me, personally, depends on whether they are feeling merciful.” Her lips pulled back from long ivory fangs. “I am not optimistic.”

  And god knows what they’d do to everyone else here. But . . .

  “That’s no worse than what we’ve got coming to us already,” Alice said, forcing a brisk tone. “If we lose, I mean. And we will lose, in the end. They can hurt us, but we can’t hurt them.” In her mind’s eye, she saw ant-like specks vanishing in a blast of flames. They’re depending on me. I won’t fail them again.

  “Alice.” There was more emotion in Ending’s voice than Alice had heard before. “Do not make this decision lightly. Reaching the Great Binding will be hazardous enough, but taking it on yourself—”

  “It’s not impossible, is it?” Alice said. “You told me there’s a chance.”

  “There is,” Ending growled.

  “Then we’ll take it.” Alice blinked away the last of her tears. “Any chance is better than no chance at all. Tell me the plan.”

  The rest of the day passed in a blur. Alice returned to the assembled creatures and did what she could to help. Many of them were injured, with more coming in every hour as the search parties outside found those who’d been trapped or badly hurt. More than once, Alice had wished she’d bound some creature with healing powers; instead, she tied bandages, used Spike’s strength to fetch and carry, and did her best to keep the more excitable refugees calm.

  When Isaac and Dex asked if she was all right, she brushed them off. Tomorrow. I’ll tell them everything tomorrow.

  In the evening, Alice led a small delegation of the more daring creatures back up to the house to see what could be salvaged. Most of the fires had burned themselves out, and the water-sprites helped quench those that remained. The damage was not as bad as Alice had feared. Only a small section of the outer wall had actually collapsed, although the roof was essentially gone and most of the third floor open to the elements. Geryon’s suite, on the first floor, was safe behind its wards, along with its cache of magical books. Alice’s search party ransacked the bedrooms for undamaged blankets, filled baskets full of food from the kitchen, and went back to the library.

  Flicker crafted a small bonfire for his own dinner, which he kept under careful control so as not to endanger the bookshelves. He could shape flames with his bare hands, pull them apart, or mold them like wet clay. Periodically he tugged a chunk loose and popped it into his mouth like candy. Alice found herself wondering what it tasted like.

  Eventually, the apprentices settled down to sleep, along with those creatures that were human enough to need rest. Lool, the clockwork spider, and a few others who didn’t need sleep volunteered to keep watch. Alice suspected Ending would be a sufficient guardian, but she didn’t argue, only laid her blanket on the dusty library floor and collapsed, exhausted. Isaac spread out beside her, and after a moment she felt his fingers hesitantly intertwine with hers. Alice squeezed tight, and didn’t let go until she fell asleep.

  She expected bad dreams, nightmares of fire and pain, or else the eye from the Palace of Glass that had haunted her most nights. Instead, she found herself floating alone in warm, comforting darkness, with a familiar voice echoing through her mind.

  Alice.

  Like the eye’s voice, or Torment’s, but not. Another labyrinthine. The Dragon. She hadn’t heard from it since it had exhausted its power saving her in Esau’s fortress. Since then, no matter how hard she pulled, the thread that led to its prison-book refused to respond.

  I’m here, Alice thought back. Is this a dream?

  Of a sort.

  Have you recovered? she thought eagerly. We need your help—

  I am still too weak, little sister. Speaking to you like this is all I can manage, for now and some time to come. I must sleep.

  Oh. Alice floated in the emptiness, thinking. She crossed her arms, or felt like she did, though she couldn’t see if she had a body or not. Why talk to me now, then?

  I can . . . hear your dreams, sometimes. They give me clues as to what happens in the waking world. The Dragon’s alien voice seemed unutterably weary. I heard you talking to Ending. She wants you to go to the Great Binding, doesn’t she?

  She doesn’t want me to, Alice thought. I asked her for a way we can strike back at the old Readers.

  That is how she bends you to her will. Works her way into your confidence, until you think her ideas are your own. The Dragon paused. She is dangerous, little sister.

  You’ve told me that before. Alice felt anger rising up inside her. At least she’s doing something, even if it might be wrong.

  There was a long silence.

  I’m sorry, Alice tho
ught. I know you didn’t choose to be stuck in a book.

  I did, in a way. And there are times . . . The Dragon heaved a sigh.

  Are you saying I shouldn’t go to the Great Binding? I have to do something, or everyone here is going to die!

  I told you once that I would let you decide your own path. I can’t—

  That’s a bunch of nonsense, Alice thought hotly. You pop into my head with some kind of cryptic warning, but what good does that do me? I’m not going to let my friends get hurt if there’s anything I can do to stop it. They all trust me. I can’t let them down.

  Another silence. This one stretched on and on, until Alice was certain the Dragon was gone. Then, so quietly she almost couldn’t hear, it said, Be careful, little sister.

  CHAPTER SIX

  COUNCIL OF WAR

  ALICE AWOKE WITH A crick in her shoulder from where she’d held Isaac’s hand all night, and a warm, fuzzy weight on her chest. She blinked and sat up, which caused Ashes to tumble from his perch on her collarbone into her lap. He looked up at her accusingly, a small gray cat with all four paws in the air and his tail swishing dangerously.

  “This is the thanks I get?” he said. “I go out of my way to comfort you after a hard day, and you’re flipping me upside down as soon as you wake up?”

  “Sitting on my chest staring at me isn’t comforting, it’s creepy,” Alice said, grinning. “And I haven’t noticed you turning over again.”

  Ashes kneaded the air with his front paws. “Well. While I’m here, a little belly rub wouldn’t go amiss.”

  Alice shook her head as she scratched the soft fur of his stomach. “There’s this thing called dignity that some cats have been known to have. You might want to look into it.”

  “A cat is always dignified, no matter what position he finds himself in,” Ashes said. “A half-cat even more so.”

  Ashes was Alice’s oldest friend at the Library. He was the one who’d snuck her inside in the first place, and so in a sense it could be said that all this was his fault, although she suspected Geryon and Ending would have gotten her into the library one way or another anyway. He was Ending’s son, and claimed to be half cat, half labyrinthine, though he’d never displayed any particular powers other than a knack for finding his way around his mother’s labyrinth and an almost supernatural aversion to water.

  After a few moments of scratching, Ashes grabbed Alice’s bare arm with all four sets of claws, which was his way of signaling that he’d had enough. Alice yanked her hand back just in time to avoid scratches, and Ashes flipped over, yawned, and stretched before slinking off of her lap.

  “Where’s Isaac and the others?” Alice said. The makeshift bedrolls around her were empty.

  “Some of them went up to the kitchens to get some food for breakfast,” Ashes said. “They thought they ought to let you sleep in, given the day you had yesterday.”

  Breakfast, in fact, sounded awfully good. She reached out for the fabric of space her labyrinthine powers gave her access to, and felt for the tiny vibration that told her where other humans were in the labyrinth. A quick twist opened the way, and she and Ashes turned a corner and found the other apprentices sitting around a tablecloth spread over the dusty floor, overloaded with baskets of pastries and plates full of sausage, tubs of scrambled eggs, and oily potatoes. The invisible spirits that ran Geryon’s kitchen believed in breakfast in a grand, greasy style.

  In addition to Isaac, Dex, and Michael, Soranna was there, still pale-faced but sitting upright and helping herself to sliced ham. Flicker was also in attendance, looking a bit awkward as he incinerated handfuls of wood shavings from a small bowl for breakfast. All five of them looked up as Alice entered, and Soranna shot to her feet.

  “Alice!” Isaac said, getting up a little more slowly. His obvious pain made Alice wince. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” Alice said. “Please, sit. Soranna, are you all right?”

  Soranna nodded. “I was worn out, that’s all. I’m sorry I couldn’t help yesterday.”

  “You did enough just by warning us.” Alice turned to Michael. “How’s Jen doing?”

  “A little better,” the boy said. He’d recovered his glasses, and he adjusted them nervously as he spoke. “Magda said she thinks her life isn’t in danger, but she doesn’t know how long it’ll take her to recover.”

  Alice let out a sigh of relief. It was unfair to be too pleased, of course. Some of the library creatures had died. Still. Some good news. She grinned at Michael and took a seat beside Dex, helping herself to a pastry and a glass of milk.

  “I’ve been asking our guests if they know anyone who might be helpful fixing up the house,” Isaac said. He watched Alice’s expression cautiously, and she remembered her outburst the day before. “There are earth-sprites who can work stone. I’m not sure about the roof, but I thought maybe your tree-sprite could help—”

  He stopped as Alice held up a hand. Alice flinched at the worried look on his face.

  “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she said. “I know you’re helping.” She looked around the table. “You’re all helping.”

  “We’ll get through this,” Isaac said.

  “Brother Isaac is right,” Dex said. “Sister Jen will recover, and we will persevere.”

  “But we won’t,” Alice said. “Get through it, I mean. You had it right yesterday, Isaac. They’ll keep coming and coming, and every time, there’s a chance that more of us are going to get hurt or worse. Eventually there’ll be no one left to fight back.”

  There was a shocked silence. Michael cleared his throat.

  “But what’s the alternative?” he said. “You can’t be thinking of surrender.”

  “They’d never accept it,” Soranna whispered. “I’ve heard the way my master talks about you, his plans. Better to die fighting.” She swallowed hard. “Much, much better.”

  “I’m not giving up, and I’m not going to surrender.” Alice put her hands on the table, pressing her knuckles against the wood. “Ending and I have a plan. We’re going to free the labyrinthine from their service to the Readers.”

  Another silence. They all seemed stunned.

  “Are you certain that is wise, Sister Alice?” Dex said. “The labyrinthine are notorious for their deviousness.”

  “And their cruelty,” Soranna said. “Torment nearly killed us all.”

  “Without Ending, we would never have gotten this far,” Alice said. “I trust her. And we need to take risks if we want to survive. At the very least, if the labyrinthine turn on their masters, the old Readers will have a lot more to worry about than us.”

  “Not to mention they won’t be able to attack us so easily,” Isaac said. “But can you really release them? Aren’t they bound to the Readers by contract?”

  Alice explained, briefly, about the Grand Labyrinth and the Great Binding there, and how the fear of what it contained kept the labyrinthine in line.

  “It takes all the Readers to power the binding, and yet you plan to shoulder the burden yourself?” Dex said. “Sister Alice—”

  “You’ll die,” Soranna said. “It’s too much.”

  “Ending doesn’t think so.” Alice didn’t mention that even Ending had been uncertain. “The harder part is going to be reaching the binding to make the change.”

  “Where is it?” Michael said.

  “On an island in the South Atlantic,” Alice said. Ending had explained the difficulties of the journey in detail. “There’s a shortcut that will take us close, but there’s no direct portal. And the island is surrounded by the Grand Labyrinth, which all the labyrinthine helped build.” She raised one hand and made a fist. “I might be able to help push us through it, but Ending says it won’t be as easily controlled as an ordinary labyrinth. There are guardians, too—”

  “I would imagine,” Dex said. “Guardians and traps and wards t
o protect the most vital treasure of the Readers.” She smiled. “When do we depart?”

  Alice let out a breath. Every time she raised the stakes, they stood by her, even if it meant risking their own lives. Looking around the table, she could see this time would be no different. Michael was nodding, Isaac looked thoughtful, and Soranna bore an expression of grim determination.

  Flicker said, “I admit I don’t know this business of bindings and labyrinthine very well. But if there’s a chance to hit back at the old Readers, then I’m not going to miss it.”

  “You may change your mind when you hear the plan,” Alice said. “It involves boats.”

  A wash of green surged through Flicker’s hair, and he shuddered. “I survived the last time, didn’t I?”

  “We’re all with you,” Isaac said. “But what about the people here?”

  This is going to be the hard part. She took a deep breath. “Someone has to defend them. Ending can help, but . . .” She met his gaze and forced herself not to flinch. “Isaac, I want you to stay behind.”

  She could see the pain blossom in his eyes, and it tore at her heart. Hastily, she continued, “You’re the strongest fighter, after me.” Alice looked around the table for confirmation, and no one was willing to dispute it. “And it may not be for more than a few days. When something attacks the library, you have the best chance of dealing with it.”

  “I get it,” Isaac said. “You’re right. I just . . .” He shook his head. “I want to help.”

  “You will be helping,” Alice said. “Isaac, please. I can’t be in two places at once.”

  “But if something happens to you on the way there,” Isaac said, “and I’m not around—”

  “Nothing will happen to her, Brother Isaac.” Dex threw an arm around his hunched shoulders. “We will all make certain of that.”

  Soranna nodded fervently. Michael said, “I’ll be leaving Jen in your care, then.”

  “I’ll keep her safe,” Isaac said. “I’ll keep everyone safe.” He raised his head, looking from one face to the next, and his gaze finally came to rest on Alice’s. “Just . . . come back quickly, all right?”