The Library: The Complete Series (All 8 Books) (2013)

by Amy Cross

  "But the Forbidder are going to take her," Reith says. "It's too late, Vanguard. They're going to take her away and hold her on their world."

  "Not if I can give them another target," I say. "Not if I can make them want to do something else. I need to show them something that will change their minds." Looking up, I think of the eighth world, a dark sphere hiding in the void. "I need to make them see," I continue, "and then once they're gone, I need to ensure that Claire's blood flows through the soil."

  "Vanguard -" Reith starts to say.

  "We're not witnessing the destruction of the Library," I say, feeling the most intense sense of awe wash over my body. I turn to look at the storm ahead. "We're witnessing its rebirth."

  Book 8:

  Rise of the Forbidders

  Prologue

  Many years ago

  "Hey Claire," says my uncle, wandering into the study. "What are you doing in here?"

  Looking up from the pile of books, I start to worry that I'm in trouble. After all, my parents always tell me that my uncle is fanatical about his book collection, and I don't have permission to be in here. Filled with a sense of panic, I close the book I was reading and hurry back over to the shelf.

  "It's okay," he continues. "You don't have to be scared."

  I carefully slot the book back into position. There; he can't be too angry, not if I've put everything back to normal.

  "You like books, huh?" he asks, watching me from the doorway. In a strange way, he seems almost proud of me, as if he's glad that I've been drawn to the library.

  I nod.

  "It's your fourth birthday coming up soon," he continues. "Maybe you'll get some books as gifts."

  I smile politely.

  "It's okay to be in here," he says. "You should never feel bad about spending time in a library."

  "I just like the books," I reply.

  "Have you ever thought what it must be like to actually be a book?" he asks, coming over to join me at the shelves. He pulls out a book and look at the cover for a moment. "Imagine spending most of your day just sitting around between other books, waiting for someone to come and read you. It must be a pretty strange life." He looks down at me. "Do you think a book likes to be read, or do you think it's a horrible experience?"

  "I think they like it," I say.

  "You do?"

  I nod. "They get to sit on a shelf all day with their friends, and then sometimes someone comes and looks at them and reads them."

  "You're probably right," he replies with a smile. "Books contain knowledge, Claire. If you know something, don't you enjoy sharing that knowledge with other people?"

  I nod.

  "I just wanted to know if you could imagine being a book," he continues. "It's quite a strange thing to imagine, really. A book is very different to a person. Do you think there's any way that a book could become a person, or a person could become a book?"

  I shrug. Sometimes my uncle is pretty weird. He seems to be obsessed with books, as if they're all he thinks about. I guess he's happy, though. He works as a librarian at the local university, and his home is filled with books from floor to ceiling. There are so many, they're even piled up in the hallway. The weirdest thing, though, is that I've never heard of any of the books. I guess they're all for adults, but they have such strange titles. The one I was just looking at, for example, was called 'A History of the Grandapams', and it made no sense to me at all. I just liked looking at the maps, one of which showed a huge library.

  "How's your back?" he asks after a moment.

  "It's okay," I say.

  "I noticed you seemed to be a little stooped," he continues, with a look of concern on his face. "Do you have any pain?"

  I shake my head.

  "None at all?"

  I pause for a moment, and then I nod.

  "I think you should get it checked out," he continues. "There's a condition called scoliosis that can sometimes cause problems with your back. It's not serious, but it's less painful if it gets looked at nice and early."

  "Okay," I say, not really understanding what he's talking about. Still, I like my uncle. He seems to genuinely care about other people.

  "I need to speak to your mother and father," he says, seemingly lost in thought. "It's possible that your spine can't handle your new form. What about you eczema? Does that keep coming back?"

  I nod again.

  "Your pages are drying out," he continues. "I guess this is all to be expected, though. After all..." He pauses for a moment, as if he's trying to work something out. "Don't worry," he says eventually. "I'm sure we can fix the problem. It's still early days so far."

  "Can we go to the big library?" I ask suddenly.

  He stares at me, as if I've just said something completely shocking. "What big library, Claire?"

  "The one in the books," I continue. "The one that's as big as a whole world."

  "I..." He smiles awkwardly. "Do you think such a place could ever exist?"

  I nod.

  "Do you remember ever being at such a place before?"

  I frown for a moment, and then I shake my head.

  "If there is a big library," he continues, seeming a little relieved, "I'm sure you'll get there one day. After all, you seem to love books very much. But for now, I think you're going to have to be happy with small libraries. Normal libraries. Is that going to be a huge disappointment?"

  I shake my head.

  "Okay," he says, reaching down to take my hand, before leading me over to the door. "Come on, Claire. Let's go and find your parents. I want to make sure they're aware of your back problems. After all, the spine is the part of you that holds you together. If a book loses its spine, all its pages fall out."

  Claire

  "I don't know how to do it!" I shout, looking down at my hands as the huge storm rages high above, ripping a hole in the fabric of the sky. I've been trying for hours to change my body, to become a book, but nothing's happening. As I get more and more desperate, I can hear the storm becoming increasingly intense, as if the Forbidders' anger is spreading. "Won't it just... happen when the time is right?"

  "You must look into your own past," Gum says. "Remember your true form."

  "I've tried," I continue, still staring desperately at my hands. "I don't remember any of it. I swear to God, I'm trying!" I know they don't believe me. They think I'm stalling, but I'm telling the truth. Everyone keeps insisting that I used to be a book, that I only took on human form temporarily. Although the idea is clearly absurd, I eventually came to believe it, but I've never actually managed to remember my old life. All I remember is growing up in my parents' house in Orchard Street; my very first memory is of my uncle talking to me next to a huge bookcase, and then I remember growing up like a normal girl, and then developing crippling scoliosis as my spine began to bend. I don't remember being a book, and I don't know how I'm supposed to change back.

  Above, the sky cracks and splits, and bright light breaks through the holes that are forming. The Forbidders' bridge seems to be damaging this world. At least there's not much left for them to destroy. The whole place is just a wasteland.

  "I should warn you," Gum says calmly. "The Forbidders are not very patient. They've waited thousands of years for this moment. Can you imagine how that feels? To them, you're a holy icon. They want to take you back to their world, to venerate and adore you. They want to worship you. There's no point delaying anything, Claire. It's time to go."

  "I don't know how!" I shout, turning to face the three huge creatures that have arrived to take me away. It's hard to describe the physical appearance of the Forbidders: they're like huge lizards with skin made of fire, and they make a loud rattling sound every time they move. Their eyes are fixed on me, and every so often one of them leans closer and sniffs me. If I didn't know that they want to keep me as a relic, I'd be worried that they were planning to eat me. As they stare down at me, I search their eyes for some sign of intelligence, or compassion, but all I see is desire. They wan
t me. They want to possess me and to take me away from here so they can put me on some kind of pedestal.

  "Games won't save you, Claire," Gum continues, still speaking through Haley's head. "I warned you against trying to delay things. The only thing that matters right now is that you change to your original form. They're waiting for you."

  As if to prove this point, one of the Forbidders leans closer and lets out the loudest roar I've ever heard. I take a few steps back as the ground trembles, and the creature reaches out and brushes my shoulder with one of its large, talon-like hands.

  "Tell me how to do it," I say, my voice trembling. "I swear to God, I don't know, so tell me. Give me a clue."

  "This isn't a game!" Gum shouts. "You have a duty to perform! You said you were willing to give yourself to the Forbidders, so you must deliver yourself to them!"

  "I don't know how!" I shout back at them all. "I feel like a human! I feel like I was born this way! You keep telling me to go back to my original form, but this feels like my original form! I don't remember being anything else!"

  One of the other Forbidders roars, shaking the ground and knocking me to my feet. They start to move around me, and eventually one of them uses its nose to push me across the ground. Seconds later, another pushes me the other way. It's almost as if they've started to play with me, the way dogs might share a toy. As I try to get to my feet, one of the creatures pushes me back down and fixes me with a determined stare. It's clear that they're losing patience with me, and they're getting frustrated. I'd always assumed that the Forbidders were intelligent creatures, but right now they seem like angry, impulse-driven beasts.

  "Don't make them angry," Gum calls over to me. "You wouldn't like them when they're angry."

  "I don't like them now!" I shout back at her, rolling out of the way as one of them tries to push me again. There's a part of me that wants to turn and run, but I know I wouldn't get far. Besides, I've already tried running from them, and they crossed to another world in order to find me. Whatever happens today, I have to face up to my fate.

  "You have to think back to your previous existence," Gum continues. "You were a book on a shelf, and then you were kept in a great archive, and eventually you were taken by the Librarian and given human form. Surely you must remember such a moment? Surely you remember how it felt to have your dry, brittle pages suddenly become the warm, moist flesh of a human body?"

  I shake my head, as one of the Forbidders pushes me across the ground again.

  "Tell them to stop doing that!" I shout at Gum.

  "I have no control over them," she replies. "I'm just their humble servant. They listen to me, but only as an adviser."

  "So what's in this for you?" I ask breathlessly. "Why are you helping them?"

  "They promised me something," she replies, chewing some meat from a piece of bone. "A whole world. Granted, it's a dead world for now, but I'm sure I'll make something of it. Actually, I've been thinking that a dead world might be a rather fun place to live. There'll be no interruptions from other people, and no need to worry about what they want. I can just enjoy the destruction. Granted, I'll need a few servants here and there, but I'm sure I'll find someone from somewhere." Dropping the bone, he walks over to a pile of body parts that have been left next to a wrecked shelf. "This world was once home to the Library," she says as she picks up part of a broken, rotted head. "Soon it'll be the world of Gum."

  "But there's nothing here!" I reply, before I see the rotted head. "Natalia," I say quietly, as I realize that it's her body that Gum is eating. I watch with disgust as she tears a piece of flesh from her face and chews thoughtfully.

  "The Grandapams were good servants," she continues after a moment. "In a way, it's a shame I didn't keep a few of them around. Still, one must always look to the future rather than the past. Don't you agree?" He steps closer. "This conversation is over, Claire. It's too late to stall for time. Deliver yourself to your masters."

  "I don't know how!" I shout, getting to my feet. "Are you sure you've got the right person? I don't even remember being a book! Are you sure -"

  Suddenly a heavy thump knocks me back down to the ground. Turning, I look up and see one of the Forbidders staring straight at me.

  "Tell them!" I shout at Gum. "Tell them I don't know how to do it! Tell them I want to do it, but..." I pause for a moment, trying to come up with an answer. "Tell them to just take me as I am. Tell them that maybe I'll change once we've started the journey. Tell them that I don't have the power to change. They need to do something!" Seconds later, another of the creatures uses its nose to push me across the ground, and it's clear that they're getting rougher. Like some kind of disobedient toy, I'm being passed around between them.

  "Perhaps pain would be an added incentive," Gum says, walking over to me. "Pain can be a great spur in times of crisis, don't you think? The urge to end pain can really push you on to make a change." She pulls a dagger from around her waist and holds the blade against my face. "The only way to escape the pain, Claire, is to become something that never feels pain in the first place. I hope you understand why I'm doing this." With no further warning, she slashes the blade across my cheek, sending a searing pain deep into my flesh.

  Letting out a brief scream, I push Gum away and try to run, but one of the Forbidders knocks me to the ground.

  "All of this will be over," Gum continues, stepping up behind me, "if you just do what is required of you. You know what they want. You claim that you're ready to give it to them, and I believe you. So why not just get it over with?"

  "Because I don't -" I start to say, before I feel the blade slice into my shoulder. I let out an anguished scream as the blade is pulled out. "I don't know how to do it!" I scream, rolling onto my back. I can feel blood dribbling down my face. "I swear, if I could do it right now, I would," I say, staring up at the dark, foreboding sky. "If I could change and become what they want, I'd do it. Do you think I want to stay like this?"

  "You're being very disobedient," Gum says, standing over me. "Here's the problem, Claire. If you refuse to change, the Forbidders will get angry. Eventually, they'll take it out on me, and then they'll take it out on you." She crouches next to me, still holding the bloodied dagger. "It's going to happen," she continues. "You're going to change, so why not look deep inside your heart and find the solution right now? You were a book once, and you can be a book again," she says as she places the blade of the knife against my neck. "What's stopping you? Is something holding you back?"

  "I just want the pain to stop," I reply.

  "Then you're going about it the wrong way," she replies, slashing the blade across my neck.

  Screaming again, I grab my neck and feel blood pouring out over my hands. The blade didn't go deep enough to cut the jugular, but the pain is still agonizing. As I try to get to my feet, I see that Gum has taken a few steps back.

  "I can keep this up all day," she says, with a hint of a smile on her face. "Longer, even. Be under no illusions, Claire. I'll willingly and happily torture you for the next thousand years if that's what it takes. I'll cut you to pieces. I'll squeeze the blood from your body and I'll -"

  Before she can say anything else, there's a blur of motion and one of the Forbidders reaches down, grabbing Gum between its teeth and lifting her up. She screams to be released, but it's clear that the Forbidders have no sense of mercy. Seconds later, one of the other creatures takes hold of the other end of her body. Together, they slowly pull her body apart. I watch in horror as they chew on her body before finally swallowing her remains. Blood drips down from their mouths as they turn to face me.

  "I guess you were sick of her too," I say quietly, realizing that the Forbidders must have decided that they had no more use for Gum. After all, once she'd delivered me back to the Library, I guess she had nothing left to offer.

  As the three creatures come closer to me, I stare up into their faces and try to work out what to do next. If I could turn into a book, I would; if I could abandon my human body
and just become an unthinking, painless object, it's a sacrifice I'd willingly make at this point. The problem is, I have no idea how I'm supposed to complete the transformation. I guess I assumed that when the time came, I'd know what to do, but that's not the case. With the Forbidders staring down at me, I realize that time is running out. If I don't manage to come up with a solution soon, I'm going to end up like Gum.

  Vanguard

  As soon as I see them, I know that I'm going to die.

  Three Forbidders stand around Claire, staring down at her, waiting for her to change. She looks terrified, and she has several deep cuts to her face and neck. From what I've learned of the Forbidders in recent years, I know they can be violent, even brutish when necessary. They're impulsive creatures, filled with a passion for destruction but lacking much in the way of intelligent thought. If they're becoming frustrated with Claire, I'm quite certain that they'll push her around until finally they go too far and break her. Their fury, at that point, would be terrifying to behold.

  "You still lust after combat?" Reith asks, as we stand a few hundred meters from the Forbidders. "After all this turmoil and death, you still believe that you can take them on and win?"

  "No," I say, my eyes fixed on the creatures. "I do not believe I can win. If I must face them in combat, I believe they will tear me apart. You too, if they see you."

  "Then why be drawn into another battle?" he asks.

  "That is not my intention. I'm hoping to distract them."

  "But why go near them at all? There's nothing to be gained!"

  "Because this is the battle at the dawn of a new creation," I tell him. "Don't you remember the history of the Library? It began with a huge battle that soaked the ground with blood, and it was from this drenched soil that the Library grew."

  "The Library has been destroyed," he says. "It's gone. It's over."