Death stalked along the corridors of the ultimate library of books. They whispered their stories to him as he passed through the long shelves that towered up into oblivion and through time.
He extended his long arms wide and said in tones of ancient tombs closing:
I WANT THE BOOK OF PENNY FARTHING.
A thin, blue covered book fell into his hands from one of the shelves high above and three blocks down. He turned the crisp new pages to the last page and read the continuing passages…
…Penny reached down into the water and clasped her tiny hands to the pearl. It was cold and smooth, she held it up to her eyes and was mesmerised at its sparkling beauty sitting in her palm in the golden sunlight. She smiled, showing off her perfect white teeth and tucked it into the pouch at her belt. She ignored the calling voice but tilted her head to hear it anyway.
"Penniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee!" Penny brushed back her raven black hair and spread out her toes in the cool rushing water.
"Pen! Penniiiiieee! Where are you?" Still pretending that she couldn't hear Penny slowly slipped down the rock into the pool and sunk completely beneath its surface.
Under the calm peacefulness of the water she sank to the bottom onto the soft silt and kneeled, the best she could and pushed her hands into the dirt beneath until her wandering fingers found what she was looking for.
"Pen? Pen where are you?" Tuppence came to a stop at the bank of the pool and let out his breath. He took in the splendour of the area then spotted the bubbles rising from below the water and made an instantaneous decision…
Death shut the book and looked up to the blackness of the impossible ceiling.
SO…
That was all he said before he had chance to conclude his sentence, for he noticed the sudden and almost unrecognisable moment of silence from one of the books stored away on one of the thousands of shelves. He turned slowly, black robes flowing around him smoother than silk, blacker than space, and glared at the darkness ahead.
WHO HAS DISTURBED MY LIBRARY?
He said angrily at apparently nothing. But there was something, he kept his eyes fixed on the one spot and waited.
"We meet again." A soft light voice hummed behind him. Death turned.
YOU ARE NOT MORTAL.
"No, I am not. Not anymore."
THEN RETURN THE BOOK.
"I will not."
WHAT NEED DO YOU HAVE OF IT?
"You already know."
YES, I DO.
"Then why ask?" The voice was a smooth as silk but sounded as deadly as a snake.
I UNDERSTAND IT MAKES A CONVERSATION FLOW MORE EASILY IF ONE PRETENDS NOT TO KNOW WHAT THE OTHER HAS ALREADY SAID ONE POINT IN TIME. RETURN THE BOOK AND LEAVE MY DOMAIN.
The woman gave out a short harsh laugh and lifted the pages to the back.
"I think not…" She extended a hand and in a flash of octarine light a quill appeared. "Let us change a few things, shall we…?" Her hand hovered above the page, Death's steady gaze could have cut through steel.
STOP.
The quill froze a millimetre above the page. The dark haired woman looked up into the depths of Death's cold sockets and smirked.
"Why?" She purred. Death let go of the book in his hand and his scythe appeared in his other.
YOU WILL DAMAGE THE FRAGILE BALANCE OF TIME ANDREALITY, CENTURIES OF HISTORY WASTED, YOUR ILL THOUGHT ACTIONS WILL DOOM THE UNIVERSE INTO OBLIVION. LEAVE NOW OR LEAVE THIS WORLD FOREVER!
"I've heard it all before you know."
THEN WHY DO YOU NOT HEED MY WORDS?
Death stepped forward and swung his blade threateningly at her, she didn't flinch at all.
"There is no point, for they are just words, they have no meaning. I, one the other hand, have a reason to do what must be done and you, nor anyone else for that matter can stop me." She watched his actions carefully as he thought about what she had just said. Of course she knew he had heard her say it before and now that it was the time for her to say it he didn't know what to say back. She laughed.
"You know don't you? You know there is no way you can stop me and that I have won. So prepare for the end of your existence Death, in the new world you will not be needed." Her hand hit the paper, but was thrown back by a flash of blue light. Her face was a mask of anger and unexpected surprise.
"How can it?!!" She screamed in rage. "Why is it not working?!" Her hand was reflected back again as she tried to put the quill to the paper.
"You did this!"
I DID NOT. I CANNOT CONTROL THE WILL OF THE BOOKS, THEY DO WHAT THEY WANT TO DO, WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN TOLD TO DO BY THE CREATOR FROM THE DAWN OF TIME.
"Impossible!! I have more power than you or any of the gods; I am the most powerful sorceress in the whole of the Discworld!!!" She threw the quill away and slammed the book shut.
"I will return, O foul fiend!!" She raised her hand up and blinked out. Death's scythe disappeared, he walked through the space she had been occupying and waved out his hand to check that she was gone.
ALBERT.
"Yes master?" The old man appeared so quickly next to Death that you would think he had been there all the time.
SADDLE UP BINKY AND FIND THE DEATH OF RATS.
"Yes, master. Er, why exactly?" Death knelt down and picked up something from the floor. He held it up to his ivory white skull and peered at it.
THIS, IS THE KEY. IT IS THE ONLY CHANCE WE HAVE LEFT.
He clenched his whole bony hand around the glittering white pearl and turned round to face Albert, his manservant.
WE MAY NEED SOME EXTRA HELP, I CANNOT BE EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME AS YOU KNOW.
"So…?"
SUSAN. TELL THE DEATH OF RATS TO FETCH SUSAN, AND IF SHE REFUSES…
Death stalked past Albert and was suddenly inside the large room of life-timers, he took one at random from the shelf and grinned – he always grinned no matter what, but this time he really looked as though he meant it.
MAROLI GRIEGLES. HE WILL HAVE TO DO.
Death walked out of his cottage and stood next to Binky, his powerful war-horse that was so white he glowed when he thundered across the night sky. Albert saddled him up and Death mounted.
I WILL RIDE FOR SEVERAL DAYS PERHAPS.
"But what about the duty?"
SUSAN WILL TAKE CARE OF THAT UNTIL I COME BACK OR IF NOT HER, THEN HE WILL HAVE TO DO.
"Who?" Death produced the timer and held it up so that Albert could see.
"Oh, him. But why him?"
HE WILLHAVE TO DO.
"Right, okay." Death trotted Binky out onto the lawn and rode up into the air until he was out of sight. Albert shook his head.
"Bloody fine choice, really I don't know what's going on in his head anymore."