The Legend of Rinth

by Amy Cross

  “We have to find Darvill,” Christian points out. “Did he arrive here too?”

  “I think so,” I say, looking over at the door as it bangs in the wind, “and given the way that our luck's working out, I'm going to take a wild guess that he won't have any trouble finding out where Libby and I live. He'll probably sense her or something like that, which means he's had a good head start on us.”

  “We might not be able to catch up to him in time,” Cromer says.

  “We still have one advantage,” I reply, before turning to him. “I'm pretty sure Darvill didn't know how to hail a taxi.”

  ***

  The taxi pulls to a stop outside my parents' house, and I immediately hand some money to him through the gap before opening the door.

  “Thanks a lot!” I stammer as I climb out. “Keep the change!”

  I turn to see that he's staring back in shock at the sight of Cromer struggling to get out of the vehicle. With his armor clanking and rattling, Cromer certainly looks pretty weird, and he cuts an ungainly figure as he finally steps onto the pavement and stands up straight.

  “The smell in there was very peculiar,” he points out. “Alex, I don't want to be rude, but... your world stinks! Even the rain smells dirty.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I say as Christian climbs out, followed by Rinth, and I finally swing the door shut. “I guess I don't notice so much because I -”

  Before I can finish, the taxi's wheels squeal as the driver floors the accelerator. He clearly wants to get away from us as quickly as possible, and I guess I can't blame him. The four of us probably look pretty weird, and the taxi almost slams straight into another vehicle before racing off along the street.

  As rain continues to come crashing down, I turn and look up at the house. I'm already soaked, but suddenly I'm horrified by the thought that a monster from the Great Library might actually have come back here and entered my family's home.

  “Is he really here?” I ask. “Darvill, I mean. Do you think he's found the place yet?”

  “There's only one way to find out,” Cromer replies, stomping past me and heading toward the door.

  “You'll need my key,” I tell him, “just -”

  Before I can finish, however, he pushes the door open with ease. I hurry after him, not quite understanding why the door wasn't locked, and then as I step into the hallway I'm shocked to see Nurse Hawthorne on the floor. I rush over to her, and I'm relieved to find that she's breathing. She's unconscious, although I can't find any injuries, and after a moment I realize that she must have fainted.

  “Who is this woman?” Cromer asks.

  “My sister's nurse,” I reply, before looking toward the stairs, where dirty wet footprints are very visible heading up toward the landing. “He's here.”

  After stepping over Nurse Hawthorne, I hurry up the stairs. I can hear Cromer right behind me, and Rinth and Christian too, but all I can think about is the fact that Darvill is alone with my sister. He might have hurt my parents, too. I race across the landing, my mind filled with panic, and then I push Libby's door open and stop as soon as I see Darvill standing next to her bed, holding his ax.

  “Don't hurt her!” I stammer.

  “Ah, you made it,” he replies calmly, glancing at me with a faint smile as another rumble of thunder causes the windows to rattle in their frames. “I thought it was fifty-fifty as to whether or not you would.”

  “Where are my parents?” I shout.

  “The young woman downstairs simply keeled over as soon as she saw me,” he explains. “I saw nobody else until I reached this room.” He looks down at Libby again. “So this is where it all started, is it? A young girl in a strange world, so sick that she requires all these machines in order to stay alive, but her mind must still be functioning deep in there. And she must have quite the imagination, because it's evident now that she dreamed up the whole of the Great Library. Everything from the Tiranian Abyss to the lost city of Gel, from the shores of the Boranian Sea to the horrors of the Tyop Wars, from the great librarians, the great scholars, the Soldiers of Tea and the Grandapams, and the citadels, and so much more... including me, and everyone I've ever known.. Every flower that ever grew in that place, every grain of sand beneath our feet... It all came from this girl's mind. I came from her mind.”

  “Leave her alone,” I say, as I take a step forward, “don't -”

  “No closer!” he snaps, holding the ax up as if he's getting ready to swing it down against Libby's comatose body.

  “Please, stop!” I gasp.

  “What happened to her?” he asks. “Why did she end up like this?”

  “She was hit by a car. It happened a few years ago.”

  “I don't know what a car is,” he replies, “but I suppose it must be something rather large and hard and fast. One of those metal things I saw in your streets, perhaps?”

  “She ran out into the road,” I tell him, with tears in my eyes. “It wasn't the driver's fault. It was no-one's fault, it just... happened.”

  “Indeed.” He pauses, still staring at her. “And ever since, she's been dreaming up her own world, the way we all do. Except she had time to make her world so much more real and vivid. I imagine all worlds start in the same manner.” He turns to me. “Do you know who dreamed up your world, human?”

  “I have no idea,” I reply, “but please, she's never done anything to hurt you. You've got no reason to hurt her!”

  “She made me exist!” he snaps angrily. “What good is life, what good is existence and self-awareness, if it has to end one day?”

  “Everyone dies,” I remind him.

  “I refuse!” he snarls. “To have a great life taken away, to have to face that dying moment, is a greater indignity than I can accept. That is why I would rather snuff it all out before it even started. I shall gain immortality by ending her life before she can complete the Great Library. That way, the Great Barrier will collapse and none of us in that world will ever have existed.”

  “Immortality via oblivion?” Cromer asks, stepping alongside me and adjusting his grip on his sword, clearly getting ready to attack. “That's probably the dumbest idea I've ever heard.”

  “It's the only way to escape the ignominy of death,” Darvill tells him.

  “You're about to become very much mortal,” Cromer replies, raising his sword and heading over to him. “There's no -”

  Before he can finish, Darvill raises his remaining hand and blasts a wall of energy straight into Cromer's chest, sending him crashing back against the wall. He thuds to the floor, and several pictures crash down with him.

  “I still have a little left,” Darvill chuckles, as he begins to raise the ax again. “I welcome oblivion, I crave -”

  “No!” I shout, rushing forward, only for another burst of energy to send me slamming back against the wall and slithering down onto the floor.

  “We need to find another way to stop him!” Christian says, as he and Rinth hurry over to us. “He's got us covered with that trick!”

  “Farewell, cruel existence,” Darvill says, slowly raising the ax again. “Here, at last, I shall finally know dominion over death, by denying that it ever had me in its grasp at all!”

  “Throw,” Cromer gasps.

  I turn to him and see that the tick on his neck is detaching.

  “New back-up plan,” he groans weakly. “Starts like the last one, ends differently. Throw...”

  Suddenly realizing what he means, I grab the tick and turn to see that Darvill is about to strike Libby. I hesitate for a moment, trying to figure out how I'm going to do this, and then I realize that I don't have time to think. Instead, I step forward and raise my hand to throw the little tick as hard and as accurately as I can, straight toward Darvill's face. At the last second, however, my foot catches on a loose piece of carpet and I fall, dropping to my knees. The tick, however, still flies out of my hand and hurtles across the room.

  “I've won!” Darvill cries out. “Death shall not have me now!”


  With that, he brings the ax swinging down against Libby's face. I scream, but at the very last second Darvill's arms stop moving and the ax comes to a juddering halt just millimeters before it was about to slice straight through Libby's head. Staring in horror, I watch as Darvill simply stares down at my sister, and then slowly he pulls the ax away and takes a step back.

  “What happened?” Christian whispers. “Why did he stop?”

  “It occurs to me,” Darvill says after a moment, “I could try to gain immortality through never existing, but on second thoughts, that's kind of lame, don't you think?” He sets the ax down and turns to me, and then he puts his hands on his hips. “I'm a big smelly lame idiot. Did I ever tell you that? I'm so stupid, all my soldiers used to laugh at me behind my back. I pretended not to notice, but really I did, and it ate away at me. Deep down, I'm terribly insecure and I have serious mother issues, which I suppose goes some way to explaining my lust for power.”

  “Cromer,” I stammer, before getting to my feet and stepping over to him. “Is that you?”

  Sure enough, the little gray tick is now firmly attached to the side of Darvill's neck, to one of the few slivers of skin that's actually visible beneath his armor.

  “Oh, Darvill's not happy in here,” Cromer continues, speaking through Darvill's body. “He's actually wailing and whining like a little bitch. I've been reading his thoughts, and let me tell you, he's a mess. Don't worry, though, I've got him under control. If I could control Cygnus when I was on his body, I can sure as hell control Darvill. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, although I have to admit that it's a good job you slipped as you threw me. You ended up more or less hitting the bullseye. I dread to think where I'd have landed if you'd stayed on your feet. I'd probably be somewhere on the curtain rail.”

  “That's Cromer in there?” Christian says, clearly shocked. “He's taken over Darvill's body?”

  “And I'm going to deliver him to the deepest, darkest gulag in all of existence,” Cromer explains. “Then I'll get off his neck and scurry off to seek fame and fortune elsewhere. I think I've been a pretty good hero over the past week. Does anyone fancy writing a ballad about me?”

  “You saved her!” I gasp, hurrying over to Libby and checking that she's not hurt. “You saved her life!”

  “Nonsense,” Cromer replies. “It was us, we did it together. And we saved far more than just your sister. We saved the Great Library.”

  “I'm here,” I tell Libby, stroking the side of her face. “I know you're in there now. I'm so sorry I doubted it, and I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you more!”

  I wait for a response, but of course she doesn't say anything. After a moment, however, I turn and look over at Rinth.

  “We need to get her back to the Great Library,” Cromer says, still speaking through Darvill's mouth. “That's where she belongs.”

  “Come with us,” Christian adds, stepping toward me. “You only saw a tiny fraction of the place. There's so much more I could show you, especially if we can borrow those Shakhasian Steppe horses for a little while longer. We should check with Bartleby first, of course, but then I can show you all the wonders of the Great Library, from shore to shore. We can even see about taking one of Cab Obslath's old pirate boats, if he'll lend us one, and we can sail around for a while. Doesn't that sound amazing?”

  “It does,” I reply, before reaching out to him. He takes my hand. “But... I can't.”

  “Why not?”

  “I have to read to my sister,” I tell him. “I made a promise.”

  “But you can always -”

  “I made a promise,” I say again, more firmly this time. “You understand, right? Besides, I think maybe the more she gets read to, the bigger and greater and more stable the Great Library becomes. It seems to still be a work in progress.” I squeeze his hand. “Maybe one day I'll come visit you, but right now I owe it to Libby to be here for her.”

  “Sure,” he replies. “You know, I'd really like to see a little of your world too, but I figure I need to get back and check on my brother at the farm. I think he needs me.”

  “Darvill really hates all this,” Cromer says with a grin. “He's seething in here. By the time I get him to one of the gulags, he's gonna have a nasty ulcer.”

  Next to him, Cygnus hauls himself up.

  “Come on, big guy,” Cromer adds, patting him on the back as he and the others turn and head out of the room. “We need to find our way back home. Rinth, do you fancy rustling up another portal for us? Do you think you're strong enough now?”

  They all step out onto the landing, except for Rinth. She loiters for a moment, and then she wanders to the foot of the bed and stares at herself.

  “I miss you,” I tell her. “Ever since that day in the park...”

  My voice trails off.

  Slowly, she turns to me. She hesitates, before reaching out from under all her hair and waving at me.

  I smile and wave back.

  She goes out and joins the others, and then a bright light bursts across the landing, along with the sound of crackling energy. I guess Rinth recovered her strength pretty fast, and a moment later the light fades, just as I hear the front door opening downstairs.

  “Oh crap!” I gasp, suddenly realizing that I have a lot of explaining to do. “Mum and Dad!”

  Racing out onto the landing, I look down the stairs just in time to see Dad helping Nurse Hawthorne up off the floor.

  “I think I must have fainted,” she mutters, rubbing the side of her head. “I don't... I don't think I remember exactly what happened!”

  “I'm so sorry!” I stammer, waiting for Mum to ask me where I've been for the past week. “I only -”

  “Let me get this straight,” Mum says, crossing her arms across her chest. “You were so busy up there tonight reading on your laptop while your father and I were out, you didn't even notice that Jane had collapsed.”

  “But I -”

  Stopping suddenly, I realize that somehow, impossibly, this must be the very same night that I left. It's as if the past week didn't happen here at home.

  “I'm reading to Libby, actually,” I explain.

  “You are?” She shrugs. “Huh, well, I guess miracles do happen after all. It's getting a little late, though, don't keep up her too much longer.”

  “I won't,” I reply as she goes over to help Nurse Hawthorne. “I promise. Oh, and Mum?”

  She sighs as he looks back up at me.

  “This might seem like a weird question,” I continue, “but what was your surname before you got married?”

  “Why are you -”

  “Just humor me. I forgot.”

  “Norman,” she replies.

  “And your grandfather...” I pause for a moment. “His name was Norman Norman, wasn't it?”

  “I don't see why you want to talk about that now,” she says, “but yes, it was. I've told you about him before, he disappeared one day on his way home from work when my mother was very young. No trace of him was ever found.”

  “Huh.” I reach into my pocket, and then I take out the ring.

  “What have you got there?” Mum asks.

  I hesitate, before tossing the ring down to her.

  “I'll explain later,” I tell her, as she examines the ring. After a moment, she looks up at me with a shocked expression. “You might have a little trouble believing me, but I'll do my best to make it all make sense.”

  As I head back into Libby's room, I catch myself wondering whether this can all have been real, whether perhaps I had some kind of weird psychotic episode. I mean, if the Great Library really existed, I'm sure someone else would have discovered it by now. Whole new realities don't just pop up on a rainy night in London, and people like me don't slip through little gaps and end up spending a week or so in a completely bizarre land. And then, spotting something on the floor, I reach down and pick up the copy of The Book of Libraries, and I realize that with the book and the ring I have all the proof I need tha
t it was real.

  Suddenly the book falls open, and I find that I can read every page.

  “Thanks,” I whisper with a smile, as I realize that the book must have decided that I'm worthy. “I'm busy right now, but... later.”

  I set the book aside, and then I go and take a seat next to Libby. She's still completely unresponsive, but I know she's in there, and I know she can hear me. I know, deep in my heart, that one day I'll find my way back to the Great Library, and I'll see Cromer and Christian and Rinth and all the others again, but right now there's something else I need to do. Something more important.

  “So,” I say as I open the copy of Alice in Wonderland that I left here a few hours earlier, “here comes one that's really gonna knock your socks off. It's an oldie, but a goodie. Are you sitting comfortably? Okay, then I'll begin.”

  The Legend of Rinth

  (and Cromer and Christian and Cygnus and Alex too)

  THE END

  BOOKS BY AMY CROSS

  1. Dark Season: The Complete First Series (2011)

  2. Werewolves of Soho (Lupine Howl book 1) (2012)

  3. Werewolves of the Other London (Lupine Howl book 2) (2012)

  4. Ghosts: The Complete Series (2012)

  5. Dark Season: The Complete Second Series (2012)

  6. The Children of Black Annis (Lupine Howl book 3) (2012)

  7. Destiny of the Last Wolf (Lupine Howl book 4) (2012)

  8. Asylum (The Asylum Trilogy book 1) (2012)

  9. Dark Season: The Complete Third Series (2013)

  10. Devil's Briar (2013)

  11. Broken Blue (The Broken Trilogy book 1) (2013)

  12. The Night Girl (2013)

  13. Days 1 to 4 (Mass Extinction Event book 1) (2013)

  14. Days 5 to 8 (Mass Extinction Event book 2) (2013)

  15. The Library (The Library Chronicles book 1) (2013)

  16. American Coven (2013)

  17. Werewolves of Sangreth (Lupine Howl book 5) (2013)

  18. Broken White (The Broken Trilogy book 2) (2013)

  19. Grave Girl (Grave Girl book 1) (2013)