Tori awoke from a dreamless sleep, the best sleep she'd had since her Awakening, to find the Abhorsen-in-Waiting sitting next to her bed. She held a book in her hands, an old volume with brittle pages that didn't bend when Lirael turned them; the covers were all but eaten through and the binding was unraveling.
The book had drawings of the monster, one after another at the far edge of the page that Lirael displayed. There as animal, and after as a human, and after that a –
Tori had to turn her head away; she didn't want to look at it, because looking at it would make her think of falling through the floor, and the tunnel, and the – the – the –
She shook her head to lose the thoughts. Think of better things, she told herself. Folding paper and glass murals and that time she used the wrong Charter mark and coated the steps to the Lower Refectory in ice. The tours of the Glacier she'd taken with her year gathering, the same day each year like clockwork. That time she and Alis had to work in the Refectory kitchens for a week because her mother said that –
Her mother.
Lirael finally noticed at Tori was awake. "How did you sleep?" she asked.
"Well, I guess," Tori responded. "What time is it? Can I get something to eat?"
The young woman nodded to someone on the other side of the cot, who left the room before Tori could get a good look at them. "It's the afternoon. You were asleep for six hours."
It was only then that Tori noticed the bags under her eyes, and it occurred to her that the Abhorsen-in-Waiting probably had barely slept since receiving the message about the monster from the Clayr. She'd most likely flown all night to get to the Glacier, and then – well, Tori didn't know what Lirael had done in those six hours that she'd been asleep, but it looked like it was weighing her down.
"Torethele," the Abhorsen-in-Waiting began. "Tori," she corrected. "I Saw what happened in the Library. After the floor collapsed."
"But how? You're not – you don't have the Sight, and besides the Sight can only See futures, not pasts…"
Lirael nodded. "My father was the Abhorsen Terciel, and my mother was Arielle of the Clayr. Because the two bloodlines converge in me, I am something called a Remembrancer. I can See into the past, but only while in Death."
"Death…" repeated Tori, and she shuddered. Death was a place, somewhere you could go, but all she'd heard of it were rumors and she had no idea what it was like. She contemplated asking Lirael about it, what it looked like, but decided quickly against it; it was probably cold and lifeless
"I went into Death after you fell asleep and Saw what happened, so you don't have to recount it again. Nor will I tell you what I saw. You've had enough panic attacks this week."
Tori closed her eyes in relief.
"After Seeing the rest of your account, I looked through the bestiaries in the Library to find out what creature it was–"
"But that's where it is!" protested Tori.
"We had half the Rangers as escorts," she replied. "It took as a while to find the creature, but we did." She lifted up the book in her hands, the old bestiary, to show Tori the book.
"What is it?"
"It's called a Wraedheren," she said. "And you have to help us bind it anew."
"It's part of the binding spell," Lirael explained to the Nine-Day Watch in a side room, where the rest of the Clayr couldn't hear what they planned. "Since Tori released the Wraedheren, she has to be the one to bind it anew."
"She's still only a girl," Kirrith protested; she was there too, with Haretha, the Chief Healer (her name was Linead) and Edishi, Tori's mother. "Lirael, there's another way and you know it."
"No, Aunt, there isn't. It's only been bound twice before, according to the bestiary, and both times the one who released it was the only one who could fix the damage. If there was another way, I would take it."
"You will not involve my daughter in this," Edishi declared.
Lirael rounded on the younger Clayr. "You involved Tori when you tricked Adera and Kirrith into placing her in the Library. No thirteen year-old should have been assigned a permanent post, least of all in the Library."
"You worked in the Library when you were her age."
Rage uncharacteristically burned in Lirael's heart. "I was older, more mature, and I asked to be placed in the Library."
"I don't believe you!"
Behind her, Sam grabbed Nick to prevent him from barging forward and saying something he'd regret later.
"Edishi, enough," the Voice said together; alone, Sanar said, "The circumstances were different then."
"You coerced your daughter and the women she trusted into following the path you wanted her to take," Ryelle said. "You have relinquished your right to speak for your daughter."
Edishi recoiled, but quickly collected herself. "You're going to get her killed," she muttered as she stormed out of the room, taking whatever optimism about the mission that was left with her.
Fortunately, Edishi's departure also signaled the end to any resistance to Lirael's plan; only later did it occur to her that her appearance –gethre armor with the surcoat of the Abhorsen's keys and the Clayr's stars; shiny black hair done up in a bun; sword hanging from belt, long and heavy and covered in spiraling Charter marks; and the bells, resting in their compartments on the sash, their power underestimated by no one present – played a part in their confidence in her.
The dress of the Clayr, while comfortable, did not at all make Lirael appear confident or mature, and she supposed the Abhorsen's traditional outfit simply fitted her better. It certainly made Lirael feel more confident, but she put that down to a year's training by her sister.
The Nine-Day Watch quickly approved of the plan, with only Kirrith voicing her doubts; but she too eventually placed her faith with her niece. With the Clayr on board with the proposed idea, Lirael only had one more obstacle: Tori herself.
Tori didn't want to do it. It was painfully obvious to all assembled, when she was brought into the room, that she was terrified of returning to the Library to face the creature, but Lirael had been firm in her declaration that the girl had to come.
She had been stoic while Lirael explained the plan to her, only asking two questions: how they would know the right door, and what they would do if she had another panic attack. Lirael had answered the first question easily – "We'll identify the corridor you went down, and go one level lower." – and the second reluctantly – "Unfortunately…we can't do anything except use the right Charter spells to suppress the attack and keep you going."
Tori had taken the second answer surprisingly well, and although it was clear that she didn't want to be involved in it, she understood that she had to be.
Two hours later, creeping softly along the main spiral of the Library, Lirael began to rethink her decision to confront the Wraedheren so quickly after learning what it was. True, the bestiary had said it would only grow in strength the longer it was out in the world, and true, the seals on the Library were corroding too quickly for Lirael to feel safe, even with her strengthening of the spells. Nick had offered to further enhance the seal, but his magic only corroded it faster.
This rash decision to move against the Wraedheren so quickly had nothing to do with her desire to get far, far away from the Glacier, she told herself. Nothing at all.
A sudden bitter taste rose in Lirael's mouth, but she resisted the urge to spit.
Tori stood on her right; Lirael had suggested her left side would be safer, as they planned to hug the outside wall of the spiral, but the girl had eyed the sword hanging from the Abhorsen-in-Waiting's left and declined.
The first sign of trouble came as they passed the Stacks and into the lower levels. The smell of Free Magic tripled in intensity, and Tori gagged; the Rangers accompanying them were too well-trained to react visibly, but Lirael saw their contorted frowns the same. She herself was accustomed to the smell, having had Nick accompany her nearly everywhere since he'd returned to the Old Kingdom.
Because of his history, and his peculiar combination of Free and Charter Magic, Sabriel had decided that he should be held under the protection – read, custody – of herself or her sister. Nick had to stay with the Abhorsen line at all times; only Sam had permission to break the rule for day trips.
They walked further down the spiral path.
Nick broke the silence: "Do you smell that?"
He startled Lirael nearly senseless, and Tori tripped and almost fell.
"What do you mean?" Lirael asked.
Nick sniffed and waved at the air in front of his face. "It smells like…smoke."
"Magical smoke?" asked Tori.
"No," Lirael said. She could smell it too, and if she squinted she could see the beginnings of it, too. There were no Charter marks, no extra-heavy doses of Free Magic scent, in the air. "Just…smoke."
She had to make a decision. "Rathielle, you and three Rangers, come with me," she ordered the head of the Guards. "Nick, stay back with the rest of the Guards and Tori."
Nick met her eyes. "You think it's spreading?"
Lirael nodded. The last thing she wanted to do was split the group, but she'd read about the many fires that the Library had suffered and she knew how quickly they could grow.
She broke off from the spiral wall and strode forward quickly down the path, the four Rangers walking in pairs behind her. They continued down for about a minute, before the Charter lights along the walls extinguished.
Lirael looked back for a moment and watched the lights behind her extinguish; this was apparently one of the Wraedheren's tactics, darkness. She sent up new Charter lights, but they only lasted moments before flickering out again, so she settled for the spells she and the guards could maintain in the palms of their hands.
They quickly came upon its second habit: fire. It had somehow carved a jagged crack in the path floor, stretching from wall to wall, a foot wide, and ablaze on both sides. Lirael stopped in front of the flaming crack and studied it; the fire was made of Free Magic, but it wasn't too effective a deterrent.
It did, however, confirm Lirael's suspicions that it knew they were there.
"Hanna, Panthen, go back and bring the other group forward."
Lirael studied the fire further while waiting for the others to appear. It seemed to hug the stone, as if it gained its strength from it. The stones were infused with Charter marks, yes, but what held the spiral together was a thin, sheen sheet of Charter spells that flowed through the stones in the whole of the spiral. Lirael wasn't worried about the structural integrity of the path so long as the sheet remained.
"It's Free Magic all right," Nick said behind her. Lirael turned and nodded at the others.
"I'll jump across first. Rathielle and Hanna will follow, then Nick and Tori. Half of the Rangers will stay here, and the other half can follow after Tori."
Hearing no objections, Lirael turned back to the crack, checked the anti-flammability marks on her surcoat, and jumped.
She landed with both feet on the ground – one foot was not a great distance to jump – and gestured for Rathielle and Hanna to follow.
As Hanna jumped, the stones beneath her gave way and she stumbled to a landing on the other side. The crack was now two or three feet at its closest.
Lirael thought on the spot. "Nick, can you pick up Tori?"
On the other side of the flames, Nick looked at the girl appraisingly and reached out his arms. Tori shook her head and looked at Lirael. "I'm too big."
"You can piggy-back," Nick replied. He crouched down with his back facing the girl. "Climb up."
"I don't know how…"
"Wrap your arms around my shoulders and keep your legs relaxed."
Tori complied, and Nick foisted himself up with her on his back. "Easy up on the arms," he gasped, and Tori adjusted her arms, which were pulling on his throat. "See? Easy. All kids like piggy-back rides," he said, grinning, and backed up from the crack.
Nick broke into a run suprisingly easily, considering he had an extra hundred pounds on his back, and he achieved a considerable speed before jumping. Lirael and the Rangers with her backed up to give Nick space to land –
And three feet of stone fell from where they had just stood, the fire roared across the crack and Nick, with his extra weight, landed on the Charter-marked sheet that still spanned the gap.
Lirael's shock wore off within a second, but not soon enough for her to notice that the sheet was fading, almost bending under the weight of the two humans. Or it wasn't the weight, could it possibly be…
"Nick, look out!" she shouted, a moment before the sheet gave way and sent both the young Clayr and the Ancelstierran plummeting.
Lirael and the Rangers stood, stunned; not even the two thumps they heard in quick succession a moment later, the second softer than the first, broke their shock.
"We're okay!" Nick yelled up after a few seconds. "Well, hold on, let me check…yep, I think we're okay!"
The Rangers looked at Lirael. You're the leader, she reminded herself. Be the leader.
"How – how many floors did you fall, can you tell?" she shouted down.
"Looks like just the one. I might've sprained an ankle but Tori looks okay!"
"We'll be right down!"
"Good!"
Lirael looked back at the Rangers; the group across the crack looked positively spooked, and the two with her didn't seem much calmer, but they still had their resolve, and none of them had run yet.
"Maintain your position," she told the group on the other side. "Rathielle, Hanna, with me."
They ran down the path, making no excuse to tarry; Lirael barely remembered to check ahead of her for other magical traps like the one she suspected had been set over the crack. She sent up Charter lights only for them to extinguish immediately, but she didn't care; anything to test this Free Magic creature's power was well and good.
With only their palm-held lights to guide the way, they literally tripped over Nick – Nick, who was bleeding, unconscious and alone.
The guards immediately began looking for Tori, but Lirael rushed to Nick. She fed Charter marks into him faster than his body could absorb them, and quickly he was roused. "Nick! Where's Tori?"
Nick groaned and propped himself up with an arm. "Something…something hit me from behind. No, pounced, like an animal. A tiger, maybe, or a large dog. Like the Dog. I…" he shook his head, "I don't remember after that."
Lirael's heart sank. The Wraedheren cycled through five shapes, each lasting quicker than the previous, until it reached its most powerful, but also its most vulnerable, the Voineley. But if it was already in its Winter shape, the man-beast, that meant that it would soon morph into the Voineley, and soon back into the slippery Spring shape.
"But why didn't it take me?" muttered Nick. "I have the Free Magic, and I'm more a threat to it…"
"No use worrying about that," Lirael said. "If it's attacked, that means it's close. She's not here, not anymore," she called to the guards. "The Wraedheren has her." She helped Nick up, noting the rips on his jacket backside. "We need to hurry. I know what it's going to do."
Nicholas Sayre, miraculously healed, led the charge from there.