Sophia managed to get across the stairs over the open place by once again focusing on the far doorways. She breathed a large sigh of relief when she passed through the door back into her courtyard. The Main Stairs were light and airy, windows at every landing let in bright sunlight and warm breezes. Beyond the door was a small room with large bay windows overlooking a large garden
The dining alcove held a small table, with place settings for two, set in a large bay window overlooking a beautiful formal garden. A purple cloth bound book sat on the table with a quill pen and bottle of red ink resting next to it. She looked at it for a few moments, then entered the kitchen.
The kitchen was enormous with a large wood burning stove crouched in front of one wall, throwing heat out in great waves. Large wooden block tables held large knives, earthen bowls, and other kitchen tools. Along the far wall a marble counter contained three deep basin sinks and drain grooves for the dish racks on one end. Various cabinets and counters filled the rest of the space. She wandered around the space, opening cabinets, peering in drawers and into the ovens. A large cooler provided a wedge of cheese, the sink a tall mug of water, and one of the ovens a fresh loaf of bread.
Food and drink in hand she returned to the dining alcove and settled in. For a while she ate and looked out at the garden. When the food was gone, she slowly picked up the book and flipped it open. There were sections written in seven different hands on the first few pages.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Sophia - Library
Sophia slowly pushed herself off the bed, stood on still rubbery legs, and inched over to the nearest window. She stood, staring into the courtyard, until she felt like she could walk without falling. She took the stairs one at a time and slowly, noting the arched opening to the sitting room. The second landing ended at a short hallway leading to the courtyard. The scents of rich earth, flowers, and greenery greeted her. The late sunshine was warm on her face. 'No way,' she thought to herself, 'This can't be some constructed thing, it has to be real.'
The courtyard was narrow and long, sandwiched between the walls of the rooms around it. Two four foot wide by fifteen feet long flower beds stretched down the center of it and a small fountain splashed into a pool between them. At the end opposite her a bench sat, sheltered under an overhanging balcony, and facing the flowers. Two doors led out of the long wall to her right, a single passage continued behind the bench, and another door opened in the ivy covered long wall to the left of the bench.
The heavy wooden door, in the first doorway, opened with the squeal of long unused hinges. Beyond the door was a narrow wooden stairway over a yawning black void. It rose to meet a small stone chamber, seeming to float in the vast darkness. Other wooden stairwells rose and descended from the stone chamber to other floating stone chambers, as far as she could see in the light from the door behind her and spilling from the various floating rooms. Terror constricted her chest, driving her back into the sunlight. She collapsed onto the paving by the nearest garden bed and sat, head in her hands, shaking and breathing with great difficulty.
Within seconds the attack passed, leaving Sophia surprised but pleased. Rather than return to the door right away, she walked along the paved sections of the courtyard, listening to the fountain and soaking in the warm light.
Slowly she returned to the open door. Focusing her attention on the lighted doorway at the top of the stairs she hurried up the narrow flight. Vertigo pulled at the edges of her mind as she stumbled into the small chamber. A flickering oil lamp sat in the center of a rough wooden table, casting dancing shadows around the six sided room. A small wrought iron stool was pulled up to the table and a closed book, bound in a light tan leather, rested next to the lamp. Hanging from the center of the ceiling was a large bronze bell, dark with age and soot. A small mallet hung next to it.
She reached for a book in one of the niches and her hand passed right through it. The same thing happened with every shelf and book except for one. A small green volume came back from the last shelf she tried. Flipping it open she read a short, hand written passage.
Akhalt
Devil cursed and demon haunted Akhalt, center of the Galhai Wastes, where power mad sorcerers of yore called down to this earthly sphere a demon from beyond, to their unending sorrow... Akhalt, where the Undying One rules from the Glowing Throne to this very day... doomed, cursed Akhalt, which the very gods spurned, transforming all the realm around it into a burning waste...
Akhalt, where Tesch Mar and Nyigroth battled for the Star Stones, greatest of the Ancient Magics. Desolation is all that remains and the Star Stones are scattered to the winds.
She set the book back on a different shelf than it had come from and turned to the book already on the table. She had just flipped it open when a woman stalked in from one of the entries. "The least you could do is put it back on the right shelf," she said. Sophia jerked her head up in surprise and stared at the person in front of her. She was tall, almost six feet, with curly blood red hair on top of the most beautiful face Sophia had ever seen. Two strips of cloth dropped from her shoulders, barely covering her breasts, and fanned out to circle her waist. A small section continued down to mask her crotch while revealing most of her thighs. What caught and held her attention though, were the large, black, bat-like wings folded neatly against her back and the long, twitching tail just brushing the floor.
"I...I'm sorry..." Sophia stammered, jumping up from the table and backing to the offending shelf. She grabbed the book and held it out to the woman with shaking hands. "Where...where does it go?" she asked timidly.
The woman gently took the book, turned, giving Sophia a clear view of just how little the cloth covered, and placed the book on the original shelf. "Right here. If you are ever in doubt, place the books on one of these shelves. They will reshelve themselves from there." She pointed to a small niche next to each of the doors. "I am Kyira, the librarian. And you are?"
"Sophia...Nelson."
"Welcome to the Hut and to the library. If you need anything, ring the bell and I will come and assist you." Kyira turned to go.
"Could you...could you find a few volumes for me? A note from Irena said I should ask you for....for...oh, what were they again?"
"It's ok, I think I know the ones you mean." Kyira slowly reached up toward the ceiling. Sophia stared, mesmerized, at the way the cloth moved up Kyira's body. When Kyira lowered her hands they held five books. "Liking what you are seeing?" she asked, with a wicked smile.
Sophia turned bright red, stared down at the table, and mumbled, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare."
"That wasn't the question. Not just into boys, are you?" Sophia mumbled something. "What was that? I didn't quite hear you."
"No, I find both boys and girls attractive," Sophia said to the table.
"So, I'm so ugly you can't look at me?" Kyira teased.
"No, that's not why. I shouldn't stare, it's not polite."
"Maybe not where you come from. However, I find it a compliment, so stop cowering." She set the books down in front of Sophia. "These should get you started."
"Can you tell me about Irena?"
"What about her?"
"Who she is, what she wants, why I'm here, what I'm supposed to do, where I am?"
"No. That's for you to discover, sorry. Oh, and the Short History book, that only applies to one of the worlds, possibly the one the Hut originated from. Irena never said. And the diary on the table is from the previous owner, the one who gifted it to Irena. It's an interesting read, although it won't tell you much about your situation. Need anything else? Otherwise I have things I can be doing."
"I think I'm ok." Sophia answered. Her stomach cramped and rumbled as she reached for the first book. "Before you go, do you know where I could find food? I haven't eaten in quite a while."
"I was afraid that noise meant the Hut was falling apart around us. Go back to your courtyard and turn to the right from the library door, toward the overhang and bench. When you reach that area, take the passageway to your left. That takes you to the Main Stairs. Go down to the floor and take the door just to the left of the single staircase. This takes you to the dining alcove. The other door in the alcove takes you to the kitchen. Any other questions before I go?"
"Why can't I touch many of the books in these shelves?"
"I'm not certain. You can always ask me to find anything you need if you don't find it on your own. Do you need something in addition to these volumes? Or, if you want me to reach again, all you have to do is ask. The bell will let me know if you need something when I'm not right here."
"No, not right now, just curious, that's all," Sophia replied, eyes back on the table. She rose, still not really looking toward Kyira, and started for the door to her courtyard. "I've got to eat. I'll read through these later."
"Sure, they'll be here for you."
The courtyard was narrow and long, sandwiched between the walls of the rooms around it. Two four foot wide by fifteen feet long flower beds stretched down the center of it and a small fountain splashed into a pool between them. At the end opposite her a bench sat, sheltered under an overhanging balcony, and facing the flowers. Two doors led out of the long wall to her right, a single passage continued behind the bench, and another door opened in the ivy covered long wall to the left of the bench.
The heavy wooden door, in the first doorway, opened with the squeal of long unused hinges. Beyond the door was a narrow wooden stairway over a yawning black void. It rose to meet a small stone chamber, seeming to float in the vast darkness. Other wooden stairwells rose and descended from the stone chamber to other floating stone chambers, as far as she could see in the light from the door behind her and spilling from the various floating rooms. Terror constricted her chest, driving her back into the sunlight. She collapsed onto the paving by the nearest garden bed and sat, head in her hands, shaking and breathing with great difficulty.
Within seconds the attack passed, leaving Sophia surprised but pleased. Rather than return to the door right away, she walked along the paved sections of the courtyard, listening to the fountain and soaking in the warm light.
Slowly she returned to the open door. Focusing her attention on the lighted doorway at the top of the stairs she hurried up the narrow flight. Vertigo pulled at the edges of her mind as she stumbled into the small chamber. A flickering oil lamp sat in the center of a rough wooden table, casting dancing shadows around the six sided room. A small wrought iron stool was pulled up to the table and a closed book, bound in a light tan leather, rested next to the lamp. Hanging from the center of the ceiling was a large bronze bell, dark with age and soot. A small mallet hung next to it.
She reached for a book in one of the niches and her hand passed right through it. The same thing happened with every shelf and book except for one. A small green volume came back from the last shelf she tried. Flipping it open she read a short, hand written passage.
Akhalt
Devil cursed and demon haunted Akhalt, center of the Galhai Wastes, where power mad sorcerers of yore called down to this earthly sphere a demon from beyond, to their unending sorrow... Akhalt, where the Undying One rules from the Glowing Throne to this very day... doomed, cursed Akhalt, which the very gods spurned, transforming all the realm around it into a burning waste...
Akhalt, where Tesch Mar and Nyigroth battled for the Star Stones, greatest of the Ancient Magics. Desolation is all that remains and the Star Stones are scattered to the winds.
She set the book back on a different shelf than it had come from and turned to the book already on the table. She had just flipped it open when a woman stalked in from one of the entries. "The least you could do is put it back on the right shelf," she said. Sophia jerked her head up in surprise and stared at the person in front of her. She was tall, almost six feet, with curly blood red hair on top of the most beautiful face Sophia had ever seen. Two strips of cloth dropped from her shoulders, barely covering her breasts, and fanned out to circle her waist. A small section continued down to mask her crotch while revealing most of her thighs. What caught and held her attention though, were the large, black, bat-like wings folded neatly against her back and the long, twitching tail just brushing the floor.
"I...I'm sorry..." Sophia stammered, jumping up from the table and backing to the offending shelf. She grabbed the book and held it out to the woman with shaking hands. "Where...where does it go?" she asked timidly.
The woman gently took the book, turned, giving Sophia a clear view of just how little the cloth covered, and placed the book on the original shelf. "Right here. If you are ever in doubt, place the books on one of these shelves. They will reshelve themselves from there." She pointed to a small niche next to each of the doors. "I am Kyira, the librarian. And you are?"
"Sophia...Nelson."
"Welcome to the Hut and to the library. If you need anything, ring the bell and I will come and assist you." Kyira turned to go.
"Could you...could you find a few volumes for me? A note from Irena said I should ask you for....for...oh, what were they again?"
"It's ok, I think I know the ones you mean." Kyira slowly reached up toward the ceiling. Sophia stared, mesmerized, at the way the cloth moved up Kyira's body. When Kyira lowered her hands they held five books. "Liking what you are seeing?" she asked, with a wicked smile.
Sophia turned bright red, stared down at the table, and mumbled, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare."
"That wasn't the question. Not just into boys, are you?" Sophia mumbled something. "What was that? I didn't quite hear you."
"No, I find both boys and girls attractive," Sophia said to the table.
"So, I'm so ugly you can't look at me?" Kyira teased.
"No, that's not why. I shouldn't stare, it's not polite."
"Maybe not where you come from. However, I find it a compliment, so stop cowering." She set the books down in front of Sophia. "These should get you started."
"Can you tell me about Irena?"
"What about her?"
"Who she is, what she wants, why I'm here, what I'm supposed to do, where I am?"
"No. That's for you to discover, sorry. Oh, and the Short History book, that only applies to one of the worlds, possibly the one the Hut originated from. Irena never said. And the diary on the table is from the previous owner, the one who gifted it to Irena. It's an interesting read, although it won't tell you much about your situation. Need anything else? Otherwise I have things I can be doing."
"I think I'm ok." Sophia answered. Her stomach cramped and rumbled as she reached for the first book. "Before you go, do you know where I could find food? I haven't eaten in quite a while."
"I was afraid that noise meant the Hut was falling apart around us. Go back to your courtyard and turn to the right from the library door, toward the overhang and bench. When you reach that area, take the passageway to your left. That takes you to the Main Stairs. Go down to the floor and take the door just to the left of the single staircase. This takes you to the dining alcove. The other door in the alcove takes you to the kitchen. Any other questions before I go?"
"Why can't I touch many of the books in these shelves?"
"I'm not certain. You can always ask me to find anything you need if you don't find it on your own. Do you need something in addition to these volumes? Or, if you want me to reach again, all you have to do is ask. The bell will let me know if you need something when I'm not right here."
"No, not right now, just curious, that's all," Sophia replied, eyes back on the table. She rose, still not really looking toward Kyira, and started for the door to her courtyard. "I've got to eat. I'll read through these later."
"Sure, they'll be here for you."
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