Lanva walked quickly through the slippery streets of Woodruff. She'd wrapped her arms around the book, and held it pressed close to her chest. Both in the hope that no one would look closely enough to see what it was, and to protect it from it from the splash of the puddles that she walked through on her way home from the bookshop.
She entered her apartment. It was a quiet place, one room with a single bed and several large piles of books. Lanva put the book down on her bed and stood there for a while, looking at the book.
Beware the black stag of doom.
Okay, she was bewaring.
Now what?
She sank to her knees, folded her arms on the bed and laid her head down on her arms, so that her face lay against the blanket.
She sat there a long time. Dreaming. Thinking. Hoping that maybe when tomorrow came she would awaken to find herself living in a different world. Maybe through the night her dreams would awaken and come true.
Later that night, she sat in her bed with the book on her lap. A burning lamp sat on a small table near her bed.
With some hesitation, wondering what she would find this time - another warning, or more blank pages? - she opened the book.
Another message. But not a warning this time. An instruction.
FINDE THE STOREIS
She reread the line a few times, then turned the page.
Nothing.
She turned the next page.
SEARTCH FORE THE MAGUSS AMONGST THE SHATTRES OF THE BROKYN WORLDE
She turned back two pages.
The lamp's light cast a yellowish gleam on the blankness of the white page.
She flipped ahead two pages.
Nothing.
She turned the next page.
Again - nothing.
But just as she was about to close the book and put it away, the flicker of a shadow caught her eye. As if the book was signalling to her. She flipped to the page where the shadow had seemed to emanate.
ANDE SAIVE THEM
She flipped through the book, searching for another hint. A warning. An explanation. Anything. The pages stayed stubbornly blank. All of them. The book would not reveal another one of its secrets tonight.
Lanva slammed the book shut in frustration. She tucked it under her pillow, blew out her light and lay down in bed. She curled up under her blanket, which was comfortably warm from her body heat.
She remained awake for a long time, the darkness of the night thick around her. As hard as she tried to figure out the book's riddle, her mind came up empty, again and again.
How could she save anything without knowing what it was?