Darksiders: The Seed of Knowledge

Chapter Five

The next day, after returning from a rather sleepless night in the woods, she spoke to Ruah about the mysterious creature she had to find (not that she knew much, since Vulgrim had told her so little) and the Chancellor gave her access to his library so she could find the answers she needed.

It was a beautiful library, much more elaborate than the public libraries of the Third Kingdom.  The shelves were as tall as the high ceiling, lined up in rows by the dozens and stacked with books by the thousands.  Wooden ladders and stone balconies provided access to the less accessible heights.  Torches set at intervals provided illumination where the daylight from the windows could not.

And the books . . .  Well, they were the most beautiful things about the place.  Most were leather-bound, some were scrolls, and some were bound in twine.  They varied in size from fit-in-your-pocket small to don't-drop-it-or-you'll-get-pancaked large.  All were old, well-preserved and carried that wonderful scent of aged paper and faded ink.  Faith needed several moments to take it all in before racing to the nearest librarian.

The elf guided her to the section containing all manner of facts and lore about exotic creatures in the Woodlands.  She thanked him and waited till he was out of sight.  Then, looking around to make sure no one was watching, she reached out to either side and began trailing her fingers along the books' spines.

As a child, Faith had discovered that she could absorb the information of a book simply by touching its cover, as if the contact created some sort of telepathic link between her mind and the pages.  She didn't know how or why she could do so, or if it even counted as a superpower, but she'd always found it quite useful for research.

Ten paces down the line, she touched a bestiary of all the rare and endangered creatures of the Woodlands.  Knowing that this was the book she needed, she pulled it from its shelf and brought it to a nearby reading table.  It was slightly longer than her forearm, thick and heavy, but she had no problem carrying it.  Placing the book on the desk, she sat in the chair, opened the book carefully and began to read, turning and treating the pages gently and with reverence.

Faith was fascinated by all the creatures mentioned and described in the bestiary.  The author had taken care to keep his or her handwriting legible and the sketches thoroughly detailed.  Each beast had its own chapter describing its history, anatomy, habitat, diet, behavior, abilities, and cultural importance to the people of the Woodlands, both elven and Fae.  Someone had even made notes of the creatures' appearances and relevance in human mythos and folklore.

Finally, she reached a chapter about a rare, elusive creature that she instantly knew was the one Vulgrim had asked for.  And the more she read about the beast, the guiltier she felt.

The species had been hunted to near-extinction for their pelts, fangs, claws, and the mystical properties of their flesh, and the methods of slaughter were horrific.  The males had been brutalized in a rite of passage where they had been hunted, captured and restrained, then declawed, defanged and skinned alive before having their flesh ripped off their bones and eaten raw in a victory feast; the hunters had believed that eating the beasts in this manner would strengthen their physical prowess and amplify their primal senses.  The females had been hunted for their unborn young; the hunters would eat the fetus right out of the womb while the mother was still alive, believing it would improve the clan's fertility.  All this had been done eons ago by a primitive, barbaric race that the Fae and the elves, with help from one of the Four, had slaughtered to extinction in retribution.  Now, according to the bestiary, only one of this creature remained.

Something inside the girl nagged at her thoughts, telling her that she had much in common with the beast.  Setting that thought aside for later, she turned the page and continued reading.