Her mind was blank as she stumbled down the halls of the Spark, her feet moving automatically without direction. She ended up at the library though had no memory of how she got there. Avery had spent countless hours in the library that winter, scouring the shelves for books on chemistry or architecture, even art and history. She sought out any information on human preserves she could find. Old maps, censuses, indications of larger villages or even cities where humans might have gathered. The information was usually full of gaps or stereotypes, stories that sounded more like myths than history.
The library occupied an elaborate system of caves and tunnels in the mountain behind the Spark. The tunnels were carved out during the Tidal Wars as shelters when the city, then just a trading village, was being invaded. When the palace was built the tunnels were filled with thousands upon thousands of books all containing a wealth of knowledge and history that made Avery practically faint in excitement.
Now she found the books overwhelming. Instead of a font of knowledge she could tap, she saw a wall of history she could never possibly understand. But the tunnels were cool and quiet and allowed her to calm her racing heart. She fell into a meditative trance as she walked up and down the rows, tracing a hand absentmindedly along the spines.
She was so lost in her mind that she nearly collided with Tobias as he stepped around a large worktable covered with books. Avery blinked rapidly to bring her mind back to the present as she saw Sari and Niamh sitting at the table with paper and ink before them.
"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
Niamh sat back and stretched her arms in the air. "Well I'm not! We've been at this for hours so I welcome the break."
"In fact, you might be interested in what we're looking at," Sari added.
Avery approached the table but hesitated when she spied the carving of the fox sitting in the centre. Sari followed her gaze.
"We couldn't find any spell hidden within it. Just a plain wooden carving of a fox. You can take it back if you'd like."
Avery locked her gaze on the carving like it would jump up and bite her.
"But I'll get rid of it if it bothers you," Sari added.
With a trembling hand Avery took the fox and ran her fingers over its smooth surfaces and detailed edges. "No, thank you. I'd like to keep it, if that's alright."
Sari nodded and Tobias pulled out a chair for Avery to sit at the table with them. No one spoke for a minute as Avery continued to gaze at the fox in her hands. Sari cleared her throat and looked to Tobias and Niamh. "Actually, we were looking for some significance in the fox. Myths, folklore, but also spells, historical accounts, records."
Avery looked around the table in confusion. "Really? You're looking for information on foxes?"
"It's a bit of blind chase, but we had to start somewhere," Niamh added in frustration. "It might give us a hint as to where you came from."
"Of course, I mean, thank you. I'm just surprised, is all. I assumed you would be looking up important government...stuff," Avery said.
"Fair enough," Sari nodded. "But today we're looking for any clues as to why your fox might be significant."
Avery bobbed her head in appreciation. "What have you found so far?"
"Well, not much," Tobias sighed. "Foxes are resourceful creatures. They adapt easily to new environments—which I would say appropriately matches you, Avery—and are known to be playful and highly intelligent."
"However, they're also known as the tricksters. Some cultures believe that to have a fox visit your camp is a bad omen. The fox was believed to represent a debt collector and you would be forced to sacrifice something you love for the balance of life," Niamh added. She grimaced and looked down at the books for a different answer.
"Are there any fox faunids? I've never heard of the race but there are so many varieties out there, maybe I just don't know about it," Avery wondered.
Sari sat back in her chair and chewed on a fingernail. "Faunids were originally bred as super-beings. They were designed to breathe underwater like fish, fly like birds, see at night, or have massive strength or speed. So the common animals used were things like bears, hawks, cats, bats, or fish to blend those traits. I don't know why they would have built a fox faunid instead of a wolf or something more...menacing."
"But there are other, non-threatening, faunids too," Avery pointed out.
"The sorcerers experimented with all sorts of combinations. They made the Equus to work in the fields and carry sapiens into battle, and Oreamnos with their nimble goat-legs to climb impossible cliffs. Some were just a trial that they let loose and were able to find a habitat that suited them," Tobias added.
Avery's skin went cold at the mention of a sorcerer. Powerful human sorcerers who defied the earth-gods to create a better race made the original sapiens and faunids. Now someone who claimed to be a sorcerer was after her, and she had no idea why. Or if it was even the truth.
"What if a fox was just the only thing the person knew how to carve?" she suggested. "I mean, who says it had any significance at all?"
The trio hesitated, watching Avery's face carefully. Niamh fiddled with a pencil and Tobias tapped his fingers on the book in front of him.
Avery placed the carving on the table again and rested her chin on her hands while she studied it. "It could be... just a fox," she argued weakly.
"Do you really think that?" Sari asked.
"I don't know what to think anymore," Avery sighed deeply. "The first time I met the fox, it attacked me." She paused as she reached way back in her memory to that day at the Cabin. "I was in the forest and it appeared out of nowhere and grabbed my leg. I kicked it away and started running but it tripped me and ripped my pants. I threw it off again and sprinted for the Cabin. Ferrik was waiting."
Avery sat up again and wrapped her arms around her body but didn't take her eyes off the carving. "I thought the fox came with him and I cursed it. But when I regained consciousness afterward, the fox was chasing away the ravens and vultures that were waiting for me to die."
Tobias lurched to his and stalked a few paces away, fists clenched at his sides. Avery didn't mean to be graphic; she wasn't looking for a reaction. But once she started talking, the words poured out of her like a burst dam.
"Turns out the fox was trying to stop me from returning to the Cabin, not attacking me."
Niamh cleared her throat. "So...good thing."
Avery nodded. "Yeah. Good thing."
***************
The research party inspired Avery to spend more time at the library buried within the mountain. During the hottest parts of the day she would wind her way through the dark stacks, inhaling the musty smells of old books and ancient knowledge. She wanted to do some of her own research but felt uncomfortable sharing it with the others. She couldn't articulate why but talking about human magic with the sapiens made her wary. The words Sosia had taught her were burned in her mind, though the side-effects of doing the spell made her shudder.
From her pocket she pulled out the amulet she had used in the cave and placed it on the table in front of her. She had long since memorized its every angle and shade, but she lay it down on the books for comparison. The oval blue stone was wrapped in twisted silver like a spider's web. Avery spent days searching the library for any clues as to the amulet's origin or the power it held. She was hesitant to ask the librarians for help, keeping her requests vague and varied, giving no hint as to her true purpose.
She was concentrating heavily on a text when a massive body collapsed into the chair next to her. She nearly jumped out of her skin.
"For Ancestor's sake, you scared the living daylights out of me!" she exclaimed.
Arctos tilted his head back and laughed heartily.
"Seriously, you just took ten years off my already short life!" Avery clutched her chest as she tried to slow her racing heart.
Arctos looked as if he was about to say something, but instead sat back and put his feet up on the table and his arms behind his head like he was lounging at the beach and not in an institution of learning. "How did you not hear me coming, Half Pint? Are human ears really that bad?"
Avery frowned. "No, I was just concentrating and had tuned everything else out. This is a library, you know."
"No, it's not," Arctos huffed. "It's a war office."
"Uh, well the thousands of books kind of say otherwise. And if you doubt it, try organising an army in a whisper, because any louder and one of those librarians will drag you out of here no matter how noble your cause." She glanced over her shoulder like one might be lurking between the stacks, ready to pounce.
"It's those sapien ears. They can hear ants crawling on the floor," Arctos whispered conspiratorially. "But they didn't hear Kara coming."
Avery leaned in close, intrigued. "Kara, the alpha prime? As in Adelyn and Hayden's mother?"
"Grandmother actually. She named her daughter the same. Some called it vanity, others called it pride, but no one called it anything to her face. Alpha Prime Kara was a force to be reckoned with."
"In a library," Avery said with raised eyebrows.
"Yes, in a library!" Arctos exclaimed. Then he ducked his head and covered his mouth, fearing a librarian.
"Kara did not inherit the alpha role but took in a coup a thousand years ago. The reigning alpha line was arrogant and myopic. They placed more value on displaying their wealth and power than actually having wealth or power. Their magic was fickle and weak so they made up for it by keeping others down. When the people started grumbling, the alpha prime tried to keep order by imposing more taxes and rules. Slavery is against Common Law but most of the 'servants' were indentured faunids or poor sapiens. They worked to pay off impossible debts for life."
Avery bit her lip in concentration. She loved a good story.
"The first Kara was a simple prime, with minimal magic. But she was a visionary, a true leader. People were drawn to her and she won their trust and loyalty. It was a group of students who met here in the stacks that began their plot to overthrow the ruling government. Only sapiens! Faunids weren't even allowed in here. But Kara was a smart female and she saw the power of uniting a people."
Avery glanced around at the rows of books, imagining the sapiens huddled around this very table, pretending to study but really drawing maps and making plans. She could almost hear their tense whispers and feel the electricity in the air at the prospect of a revolution.
"And then..." she prompted Arctos.
"Kara challenged the alpha prime to a duel and won."
"Wait, that's it?"
Arctos shrugged. "In the end sapiens are really just fancy animals disguised as perfect humans. It's all about survival of the fittest."
"So why do all the planning? All the secret meetings in the library?"
"Kara didn't even really want to be alpha prime, she just wanted the ruling alpha prime to do her job and take care of the territory. The meetings were about manipulating government posts and getting services set up for the people. Kara only challenged the duel when the students stopped making progress. But I think the real trigger was when the alpha prime publicly executed a priest for defacing a holy relic."
"Execution seems a bit extreme for vandalism."
"That's what Kara thought. But the priest trashed the altars in the temple claiming it was the will of the Ancestors, so they put him down. The rest is history." Arctos sat back again and interlaced his fingers behind his head.
"So, you're saying that rule is not always hereditary, but can be won...in a fight?" Avery clarified.
"Well it's a bit more complicated than that. Someone could just turn around and challenge the winner right after and we would descend into chaos pretty quickly. The challenger needs to have support from other primes or areas of government and blah blah blah. But yes, might is power."
Avery chewed on that thought for a bit before Arctos slammed a book closed and made her jump again. A librarian appeared from nowhere and grabbed him by the ear. Her butterfly wings flared out in her rage as she easily lifted the Ursid out of his chair.
"The books are for reading not sound effects for practical jokes, Captain Arctos. If you cannot respect these texts you cannot be here." The librarian glared up at the huge faunid she held with one hand.
"You're very right!" Arctos gasped through the pain of being lifted by his ear. "I came to collect Avery who is late for her training session!"
The librarian shot the human a death glare. Avery's eyes snapped to the furious face of Papilio faunid.
"I read the books! Lots of books, full of words to read! No sound effects here!" Her huge eyes darted between the faunids. "We were just leaving!"
She threw the amulet over her neck and tucked it under her shirt then tried to scoop up as many books in her arms as possible, dropping half of them in the process.
The Papilio librarian hissed and dropped Arctos in the chair, then beat her wings with enough force to knock over the human. "Just go! I'll put the books back!"
Avery scrambled to her feet and Arctos didn't wait for a second order before they hurried out of the library.
Once out of hearing range from the librarian, Avery stopped and leaned against a post, catching her breath. Arctos paused with her but seemed anxious to put more distance between him and the house of learning.
"That was one angry butterfly!" he said.
"She picked you up with one hand!"
"Insect strength is disproportionate to body weight," he said in awe.
"Did you wrong her in some past life?"
"I didn't even know there were faunid librarians. Like I said: a lot has changed since Kara came into power."
A Corinthian guard came trotting up the hall at that moment and hurried to the pair. He gave Avery a quick nod before speaking.
"Captain Arctos, there's a disturbance at the docks. A flock of faunids has broken into the grains silos and begun loading their carts. They say that sapiens have taken all the seed from the fields and there's nothing left to feed their chicks."
Arctos groaned and rubbed his temples. "It's the third time this week! They can't just take it; we need to talk to Sari and see if she can straighten this out." He started walking away with the guard but then remembered Avery standing there and turned to issue an order.
"Half Pint, you still have to work out. Cardio and strength. It's not just enemy soldiers you need to worry about but apparently really pissed off librarians too!" He left her in the hall.