Every Ice Blue Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Hitting the Books

Tam:

Tam and Marella made their way back to the Black Swan's meeting room. Everyone sat there, legs crossed and eyes far away.

"Sorry," Tam said awkwardly. "We're back now. You guys, okay? You look exhausted."

"Yeah," Keefe said, his answer a beat too soon. "We were just waiting for you lovebirds to finally come back."

"No? What? Certainly not lovebirds." Marella said, with a laugh. "I'm not into the goth aesthetic."

Everyone laughed, but their happiness didn't quite reach their eyes.

"We should probably find a way to escape, huh? A plan?" Tam said.

"I actually need to head to my room. Sleep is important." Maruca stretched. Invisibility overtook her before she left.

"What's up with her?" Marella asked.

"Nothing, really," Biana said, glaring daggers at Marella. Tam sighed. The comment from earlier was not forgotten. "We're just a bit tired."

Tam paced around the room. "Let's think. We have a forcefield we need to get through, an ogre that's a part of the Neverseen's guard, Fintan's daughter, and a Ro's ripple." Tam said. "Maybe Maruca can feel around with the forcefield? And the guards' shift changeover can be handled by Ro. Doesn't seem too hard."

"Uh, yeah, except for Ro's ripple." Keefe said. "Bangs Boy, I need some info on ripples. Blondie, I'm sure you have access to the library's books. Take a look there as well.

Marella nodded.

Keefe sighed. "Okay, I'll head to bed. Come on, Bangsie."

"Actually," Marella said, taking Tam's hand. Tam huffed in surprise. "If it's okay, Tam can come with me, and we can look at ripples. I'm sure the library has something."

Keefe glared at Tam. "What do you think, Tam?"

Tam winced. "I'll go with Marella. We'll get to leave here faster."

Keefe scoffed before activating his invisibility. Tam heard his steps as he walked down the hallway.

"Let's go." Marella said.

Tam and Marella, both invisible, passed old, tattered paintings with unrecognisable faces. Tam realised that the closer they walked to the library, the creakier the floors became. Every step was a precaution they had to take. Soon, they reached the doors of the library, quickly scanning their surroundings, Marella made sure no one had seen them before she pushed open the double doors.

It was just as messy as everywhere else in the building, but the library a towering room. With thousands of books, old and new, fiction and non-fiction, it was every reader's dream.

"Come here," Marella said, pulling Tam along. They stood in front of an obnoxiously large painting. "This is where my dad keeps all the forbidden books. It's everything he has about elven stuff. He thinks I doesn't know, but it's impossible grow up here and not.

"It needs to scan your finger for your DNA to get you in. It's a weird human thing, don't ask. Anyways, even though it isn't an exact match, it still works because I'm his daughter." Marella pressed her finger against the frame of the painting. The painting made a horrible gurgling sound before opening to a secret passage.

Marella pulled Tam along inside. Tam gasped. The library was small, but it had at least a thousand books. Marella began looking through them.

"I'm going to look for stuff on ripples," Tam said. He began scanning the books. Row by row, bookshelf by bookshelf. An hour passed, and he had to hang his head in defeat.

He sat down on a velvet stool, facing a dusty wall. He hummed to himself. The wall was strange, sticking outward more than it should have. He knocked against it and found it hollow. He gasped, pulling at the wall. It didn't budge. He grabbed a particularly tough, and strangely thin hardcover book and began prying at the door. After a few tries, the door fell backward onto him.

"Marella, come quick!" He spoke. Marella rushed over.

"What is- Woah." Marella gasped. It was a small cupboard, and it held old, ancient books.

"Did you know this was here?" Tam asked. Marella shook her head.

"I hardly come here," Marella said. She smiled sheepishly. "I mostly read science fiction."

Tam flipped through the books. Lo and behold, a whole chapter on ripples. "'Ripples are, in the simplest of terms, a tracking device. It is a strange, woefully wonderful concept by the human creatures. An idea they have sought after for centuries, none of them able to accomplish the feat of creating one. Elves, are however, more than humans. Our elven kind have made a version of their dream. A shade must have the device filled with the, as of now, unnamed elements of shadows. After this is done, the shade will keep a mental connection with the device at all times. To pull out a ripple, a shade, any shade, must pull out the shadows from within the device.'"

"Anything else?" Marella asked.

"Not at all," Tam couldn't hide his smile. "But this might just do it."