Chapter 1

Ashur wearily raised his head from the ground and surveyed the carnage around him. His head hurt.

Although this was his ninth war with the Oudromore Kingdom’s army, he was hard pressed to remember the last time they had fought in such dense forests. The Earl of Rekrat’s cavalry had tried to follow his company across the light meadows outside this stretch of woodland but had been turned back by the archer platoons hidden in the brush.

Unfortunately, the mounted soldiers had been closely followed by their own infantry; armed with heavy shields that absorbed or deflected arrows with relative ease. Rekrat’s brown and grey sigils became steadily more visible to the retreating archers as the foot-soldiers purposefully crossed the woodline.

From there it had been a nearly even match between the two forces with Oudromore’s men slowly working their way around to flank the intruders. The archers that had been set up in tree stands helped to winnow down Rekrat’s men, but the dense forest made clear shots difficult. Eventually, it had come down to sword, shield, and individual close combat technique.

As Ashur looked around, he could see that he was one of very few of either side that were moving. His head throbbed from the blow behind his ear which had knocked him unconscious. He was fortunate that he had been dodging from his opponent’s thrust at the time. Had he stood his ground and parried, the soldier who had moved up behind him would have been able to solidly connect with a mace.

Lucky dodge or not, his gorge rose as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. The world wavered around him. Part of him was aware that he was in a bad position to defend himself from an attacker, but his body didn’t seem to care and he fell over onto his side.

Some interminable time later, he decided that he was up to moving again. The screams of battle had dimmed to a cacophony of groans and cries from the injured and mortally wounded. Ashur’s vision was as blurry as his thoughts as he got his feet under him. He remembered that he had been somewhere near the edge of the battle but with his mind fogged by concussion, he wasn’t certain. With his ears still lightly ringing, he stumbled forward toward what he fervently hoped was the Kingdom’s command area. Moving from tree to tree, his addled mind failed to register that he was leaving the noise of the battlefield behind and drifting deeper into the forest.

Eventually, all he could hear was the high-pitched tones in his ears and his own shambling footfalls. His head had cleared just enough that this fact could slowly insinuate itself into his consciousness. Ashur cursed lightly and, realizing that he had wandered off from the main body, turned to the direction he thought he had come from and started moving again.

Still forced to use trees for balance, he had covered nearly thirty feet when the rotted elm he had fallen against crumbled inward. His own weight, off-balance from the unexpected movement, pulled him forward into the hole uncovered by the disintegrating wood. His surprised cry was cut off as his head struck a rock jutting out from edge of the pit.

His eyes opened again in the dark as consciousness slowly tried to take hold of him once more. They were heavy and didn’t seem to want to obey him. His stomach roiled worse now from two head injuries which made rising to a kneeling position one of the hardest things he had ever done.

In the distance he could see a faint light growing larger as it moved towards him. Eventually, he could make out a slender, feminine figure holding the light. As she approached, a bright smile lit up her face and she leaned down; reaching out to him with both arms.

“Welcome O Chosen Receiver of the Secrets of… EWW! WHAT THE FUCK?”

Falling forward, Ashur lost the battle with his stomach. His last view was of her drenched feet and dress as his face hit the dirt floor.

***

He ached. Oh, how he ached! The dull throb of his skull felt as though it was the source of shooting pains down his back and into his body. Ashur briefly curled up into a fetal ball before stretching out to his full six-foot two length. Turning his head from side to side in an effort to stretch cramping neck muscles, he opened his eyes.

His first terrified thought was that he was somehow blind. After a moment’s reflection, however, he realized that he could see a dim source of light from somewhere distant. Groaning as he sat up, he began to take stock of his situation. His last conscious memory was of the battle. How had he ended up here?

Where was here?

Ashur’s nose took in the damp smells of earth while his exploring fingers found loose soil beneath him. Looking around gave him few clues as the subdued light did little to brighten whatever small room he was in.

Feeling slightly chilled, the injured man slowly realized that he had somehow been stripped of his armor and outer clothes; leaving him in nothing more than his linen under-shorts. Off to the side, he could just make out a rough blanket that he had apparently thrown off during his pained slumber. Pulling it around his shoulders, he gathered himself to rise.

With a sharp grunt, the soldier finally made it to a standing position. Although his efforts were rewarded with a new wave of nausea, he felt that he was otherwise okay to continue and started making his way toward the source of the light.

After a few steps, Ashur reaffirmed his earlier conclusion that he was somehow underground as his hands brushed soft dirt and stones from the wall he used to steady himself.

He soon stopped with a mild curse, however, as his bare shuffling toes rammed into flagstone and his nose and forehead collided into an invisible wall. Confused, he raised his hands to push against whatever was keeping him confined.

Increasingly harder thumps with his fist failed to break down the unseen barrier and it was no more than two to three minutes before he had reached the limits of his depleted energy. The weary soldier momentarily considered calling out but decided that he was unable to deal with an unknown captor at the moment. He was tired, hungry, and, above all, thirsty. He let his legs curl up and sat down against the earthen wall. Laying over on his side, he closed his eyes and slept again.

Something brought him back to awareness some undetermined time later. He was wrapped back up in his meager blanket and had curled up against the wall in his sleep. His foggy mind told him that the feeling of being watched was what had woken him.

Ashur blearily turned his head to the invisible wall and his eyes widened, then narrowed as he saw a woman unceremoniously sitting with her legs crossed on the stones beyond the barrier. Her perturbed and disgusted expression did little to distort her striking features. He was slightly shocked to realize that those features, as well as the rest of her body he could see, were a dark blue hue that bordered on black with an underlying crimson tint that shifted with her expression. Her eyes appeared to follow along with her skin; sapphire with red tinting the inner circle of her irises.

She was smaller than him, but not by much from what he could tell from her sitting position; perhaps five nine or five ten. Her frame seemed to be healthy and athletic but had soft curves that might have given him certain urges had he not been in such a sorry state.

“Well,” she muttered, “at least you’re still alive. I wasn’t looking forward to having to dispose of a corpse somehow.”

Her chest thrust slightly forward as she pulled back her shoulders and put her hands on her hips. Although he couldn’t see the exact shape through the brown rough spun dress she was wearing, her breasts were tantalizingly well contoured. At first, he thought he might be able to comfortably hold one in each hand, but as she shifted her weight to stand, he could tell they were slightly larger than that.

Rising to her feet, she stood glaring down at him; her arms folded underneath her breasts. Not knowing what to say, he decided that laying where he was seemed to be the best option. His silence only seemed to make her more angry and she eventually began to tap her foot on the stone floor.

“Do you have nothing to say for yourself?” she asked.

Moving his tongue around his mouth in an effort to bring some moisture to it, he gingerly sat up.

“I don’t suppose I could have some water, could I?” His voice cracked from the dryness in his throat.

“Water! After you…! You! You!” She spluttered at him for a few more seconds and strode away from him. He expected the light to follow her, but soon came to realize that the illumination was coming from the stone walls themselves. He watched her storm off and was treated to the view of her curved hips and backside quivering faintly with each heavy stomp.

Ashur had no clue what he had done to upset his mysterious captor, but if she was anything like the other women he had known in his forty-plus years, she would probably be back to tell him…at great length.

***

For a while, he tried to keep his eyes open; awaiting her return. Eventually, he had let them drift shut again. He awoke to a soft scraping sound in the dirt. He turned back to the outside of his apparent prison cell to see the woman waving two fingers in a vague sweeping gesture. There was a sparkle between them and he grasped that she was a mage of some sort. He would have to be wary around her as the mages he had served with in the army had been surly and guarded about their abilities.

Gazing up at her, he took note that her skin and eyes were no longer close to black but had lightened to a deep blue. The crimson tint had disappeared as well. She huffed quietly; obviously annoyed and crossed her arms again.

“Were you actually thirsty or should I take that away?” Her azure eyes shifted to his left. Following her look, he noticed a bucket beside him. She had obviously deposited it while he was sleeping so she could re-establish her barrier without worrying about his reaction.

With his thirst driving him forward, he grabbed for the bucket and was just able to stop himself from gulping it down. He cursed his reaction as that of an un-trained rookie and began to take small mouthfuls of the cool water.

Once his immediate need was quenched, part of his mind wondered if she had put some kind of spell on the water, but soon realized that, as he was now, she could do what she liked without subterfuge. He set the bucket down with most of the water left sloshing inside. He would drink more in a few minutes when his stomach was able to handle it.

“Thank you,” he said in a much clearer voice. He sat back and regarded his pretty jailor. Her exasperated expression had softened and he could see a hint of respect in her eyes at his control. It would seem that she had expected him to guzzle the water like some kind of animal and he had gained a few points in her eyes when he hadn’t.

“Where am I?”

Her annoyed face was back and a hint of red came with it.

“What do you mean?” she demanded. “How do you not know where you are?”

He shrugged. “The last thing I remember is an engagement in heavy forest. By the pain I’m feeling, I’m fairly certain I was struck in the head. After that…” He shrugged again.

The red was definitely back now.

“Are you serious?” she cried out.

Balling up her fists, she started stomping around in a small circle and shouting obscenities. He was confused by her anger but was enjoying the bounce of her chest. With his head clearing, he was able to take more note of her form and features as her tirade continued.

She was definitely beautiful. Even scrunched up in anger as they were, he began to wonder what it would be like to kiss her full lips. Her eyes, blue and red as they were, seemed to glow softly which entranced him even more. Her long hair, somehow the same shade as her skin, floated across her back and shoulders with her movements. From what he could see, it would be soft and fine flowing between his fingers.

Her invectives came to an abrupt halt when she noticed his appraising stare. For a split second, the red tint vanished completely to be replaced by a soft purple. Before he could fully register the change, the red was back and she turned her anger on him.

“Are you telling me that for the last three thousand years, I’ve been waiting for the destined one to arrive triumphantly at my doorstep and, instead, the first person I get to see is some barbarian who promptly pukes on me?” She threw her hands up in the air and stalked off; muttering curses under her breath.

Ashur took the opportunity of her departure to take another few sips of water. He felt considerably better now and decided it was time to take stock of himself. He stood and gently began to feel his head and neck to confirm his earlier assumption of a head wound. He winced when his fingers found a tender lump behind his ear and a large cut underneath his coarse black hair where he had struck the stone during his un-remembered tumble into the ground.

He could feel various other bumps and bruises. Some he knew to be from the battle, others he could only assume were from his trip to this unknown place. Just as he was getting ready to sit down for more water, his captor returned. He could tell that her sour mood hadn’t diminished by the stiffness of her spine and the color of her skin.

Expecting more shouting, Ashur crossed his well-muscled arms, leaned against the dirt wall, and waited. He chuckled quietly to himself when she stopped abruptly. She had obviously not been paying attention in her ire and had missed the fact that he was no longer on the floor. Her eyes widened briefly as she grasped his stature and build. Chuckling again as she took her turn to unconsciously study his body, he stayed where he was and watched her scrutinize him. This time he definitely noticed the purple flush when she realized that she had been caught out doing the same thing she had lashed out at him for earlier. While she was fully clothed, he was still in his under garments which seemed to make her inspection all the more embarrassing for her.

“At least you’re standing,” she grumbled half-heartedly. He could tell that she was trying to put some of her earlier anger into her voice, but it was obvious that surprise and the few moments of really looking at him had robbed her of it.

“I’m feeling better, thank you,” he replied. “The water really helped. However, I’d like to ask again. Where am I and who are you?” Her eyes flashed for a moment, but then she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her shoulders slumped as she waved her hand behind her. A tastefully elegant chair materialized a few feet away from the barrier. Ashur jumped a little but recovered quickly as the woman sat heavily and folded her hands into her lap.

With her anger gone, she almost seemed to be a young woman of twenty or so, despite her earlier comment about waiting for three millennia. Hanging her head, she took a deep breath and then looked up at him. His estimation of her age disappeared entirely. She now had a timeless look that defied his attempts to guess.

“My name is Zomera although most people just call me Mera.” She trailed off for a moment with a lost look as though remembering something. “Well, most people used to. I actually haven’t been around “most people” for a long time. I am the caretaker of this place and have been for a longer than I’d like to think about.”

Her face crumpled and her skin took on a pale cobalt tone. She was silent for several minutes. He waited patiently as it seemed that she was lost in a memory or two. Eventually, she shook her head as if to clear it and spoke again.

“Sorry. You tend to forget that kind of loneliness after a while. Remembering faces caught me off guard.”

Squaring her shoulders, it looked as though Mera would start over. Instead, she continued on.

“During the second millennia of my youth, several catastrophic events happened in quick succession around the world. None of them were connected and all were as natural as could be, however the leaders of various nations felt it would be wise to store repositories of knowledge just in case. As it turned out, they were wise to do so.

“For two hundred years, the major kingdoms and countries collected books, tales, instruction manuals, music, and any other form of records that might be deemed valuable to future generations. These collection centers became the reat Libraries and open to anyone who could read and write. They were marvels of architecture and magic; keeping untold numbers of manuscripts in a building that you could stroll across in less than fifteen minutes.”

Mera’s eyes had become bright and shining with the memory of such amazing accomplishments. Ashur might have had more difficulty believing her story if he had not been within arm’s length of such magic himself. As she continued, the light faded and her shoulders drooped again.

“Less than seventy years after the completion of the fifth and last Library, our world ended. None of us were certain of the cause, but city after city began to erupt in explosions and fire. Whole populations were wiped away. I do know that this last disaster was not of natural causes because only populated areas were affected. There were no reports of wild land or open spaces suffering from such damage.”

She was agitated now, exploding from her chair and pacing back and forth; obviously caught up in her own tale.

“Six months after the first reports came in, we received word that two of the other Libraries had somehow been destroyed. We were baffled as the Libraries had been built to withstand magical and demonic attacks of all kinds.”

Turning to face him with wild eyes, she threw up a hand with three fingers raised.

“Less than a month later, the third Library was gone. We sent our agents to discover the method of their destruction, but none of them ever made it back. Day after day we wracked our brains to find some way to prevent the last two from annihilation.”

Ashur held up a hand to get her attention.

“Who is “We”?”

He kept the question short so as to minimize the interruption. His attempt failed. Mera stopped her pacing, slumped against a stone wall, and slid down until she was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest; hugging them close. Her past was obviously an emotional subject and Ashur was taken aback by the rapidity of her mood shifts. Minutes before, she had been animated and driven. Now, curled up to the wall, she was withdrawn and despondent.

“I am the last of the Tibori,” she said quietly. “We were one of the original five races of humanoid to have been created by the gods. The other four have all but gone extinct. There was a group of around twenty of us Tibori left. We helped design, curate, and protect the Libraries.

“Traryn, Davsin, Galemir, and Jinviel were lost with the first one. Linhera, Iserien, and Tefheira went with the second. I don’t know who we lost with the third. By that time, three of us were ensconced here trying to protect this one.

“My partner, Colphon, and our leader, Eshava, gave the last of their energies to the magics that buried the Library deep under the earth. As far as I know, the last Library was lost with the capital city of Epidour although I have never been able to confirm that.”

Mera heaved another sigh and climbed back to her feet. She had been staring off into the distance and her past, but now gently turned to the man presently standing before her.

“So, now I have answered your questions. I would ask of you and your story, but I have still not decided what to do with you. I give you my word that I will not immediately kill you or abandon you to starve, but you will be staying here for the moment. I suggest you rest and recover from your wounds. Head injuries tend to take their own sweet time healing.”

Before he could respond, Mera turned and walked away.

***

Mera proved to be true to her word. For what Ashur could only assume were the next few days, she provided food and additional water at seemingly regular intervals. The lump behind his ear receded and the cut from his fall closed quickly although Ashur wasn’t certain that it hadn’t become a bit infected.

He mentioned this to Mera during one of her delivery visits and she soon returned with a salve that smelled bitter until he rubbed it onto the cut at which point he could just make out a floral scent.

For the first “day” or so, he found himself sleeping often and for long periods of time. He had learned early on from an old sergeant that you rested when you could in the army because you never knew when your next nap would be.

Unfortunately, once his body had decided that he was rested enough, he found it harder and harder to sleep. Using his finger in the soft loam, he played puzzles with himself and chuckled that he never lost. He made marks in the dirt at each meal to help him track time. Finally, when he could stand the boredom no longer, he confronted Mera about his internment.

She had been quiet and subdued since her explanation. Having lost many friends and family members to the various skirmishes and wars that were commonplace across the land, he sympathized with her loss. Others in his various platoons had been lost to memories and fallen into similar depressions. However, with each new “day” his empathy waned; replaced by boredom and then frustration. He confronted her during one of her deliveries.

 “As much as I enjoy having my breakfast catered, I’m starting to go a little crazy from staring at the same walls. Have you made a decision yet?”

Mera briefly shied away from his question but recovered quickly.

“No,” she said. “I haven’t.” Not giving him a chance to push the issue, she turned and walked hurriedly away.

Trying to be diplomatic, he continued to question her with every meeting, however his patience, already thin from prolonged incarceration, snapped two days later.

As his captor approached with his next meal, he slammed his fist against the invisible wall; startling Mera enough to drop the food.

“It’s been days! Why are you keeping me here? Am I a prisoner or just something you don’t want to look at! Either let me go or kill me but make up your fucking mind!” He punctuated each syllable with a fist to the wall. His bare chest heaved with his anger and a slight sheen of sweat had developed from his exertions.

Mera stood frozen in shock and then, tearing her eyes away from the unexpectedly angry man, looked down at the mess on her feet and ground. Her blue eyes flashed red and she stepped up to the barrier in front of him. This close, he could see that the top of her head came just up to his chin.

She glared at him and her own chest started to rise and fall rapidly with heavy breaths. This was the closest she had ever been to him and he was slightly startled to realize that he could actually smell her through the magic that held him prisoner. The aroma was very close to the salve she had given him for his head wound.

“Listen, you great oaf! It’s not my fault that you landed down here, but now I have to figure what to do with you! Do I wipe your memories and leave you a mindless husk? Do I send you to the other side of the world? Or would you simply have me drain the life from your body?”

With her last question, she took a step back and looked him up and down again as if to emphasize her point. Ashur could tell she was trying to be condescending and sneer, but her look stuttered a bit as she realized just how close she was. He caught another purple flush as she stepped another pace away. Mera was still breathing hard, but her eyes and skin were flashing between shades of red and purple so fast that Ashur had to stare at her dress to keep his eyes from hurting.

Unfortunately, this meant that he just happened to be staring right at her breasts when her gaze shifted back to his face. After one more purple flash, the red came back and stayed. She stomped her foot and huffed away, but just before she drew out of sight, Ashur saw her shading turn purple and then a soft pink.

Several hours later, she marched back into the small stone area in front of his cell.

“Can you read?” she demanded.

Glaring at her from his seat against the back wall, he rumbled, “Of course I can read. What kind of dimwit do you take me for?”

Mera seemed about to give a sharp reply but stopped herself and left the room again. She was back soon, however, with several books in her hands. She pushed the stack through the barrier and laid it gently on the soft dirt floor. The look she gave him was much softer than it had been during their fight.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the books. “This isn’t fair to you and I’m sorry.”

She leaned her head forward and rested her forehead against the barrier.

“Before Eshava gave herself to the protection of this place, she cast a prediction in order to determine if it would survive. Part of the prediction told her that, when the dust settled, I would be waiting alone. When I asked her for how long, she shrugged and told me that I would stand guard until someone unburdened by the angers of the world would come.

“When I found you, I thought that my wait was over, but it’s not. You have seen several decades and are obviously a soldier. I cannot see that you match Eshava’s prediction and so my vigil must continue.”

Ashur moved from his place against the wall and slowly approached the despairing woman. His previous anger had also burned itself out in the fight and he could see how much Mera was hurting.

“Look,” he muttered,” I’m sorry not to be the fresh-faced stripling that you were expecting, and I can’t imagine what it must be like to be alone for as long as you have.”

Ashur let loose of a long sigh of his own.

“Like you, I’ve seen friends die one by one or by wholesale slaughter. Hell…,” he admitted with a chuckle, “I’ve been on the giving end of that too. I’ve lost track of the deaths I’ve brought about both on the battle-field and off and I’ve even started to forget their faces as more pile up.”

Feeling a sudden connection with this eternal watcher, he raised his hand and placed it on the barrier where her head rested against it.

“To be quite honest, I’m tired. Tired of the killing and the fighting. I’ve been doing it for most of my adult life and it never seems to end up there.”

He looked at the ceiling as though he could see through the unknown amount of earth that separated him from the open air and pointed as if to the various conflicts and people caught up in them.

“It always seems as though there is war after war. We heal up from one just in time to fight another. Whether it’s for power or resources, it never ends…though I wish it would.”

Ashur turned his body to lay down. Strangely, his arm extended so that his hand remained in place as though touching her head.

“Do you know, I can’t even remember being a young man? At some point he was washed away in all the blood and now, try as I might, I don’t even recall when that was.

“I’m one of the oldest in my company and should have been an instructor by now, but I just can’t seem to stay in the background and watch younger men go off to battle without being there to help them survive.

“I’m sorry for what you have been through, Mera, and to be honest, the rest has done my body some good. However, the uncertainty and boredom will probably drive me mad soon enough.

“I’ve seen others go through what you are experiencing and I can tell you that you can only let yourself be caught up in it for so long before it becomes who you are and you never recover. Please find a way to snap out of this and make a decision where I’m concerned before too much longer.”

He closed his eyes and might have drifted off to sleep had he not felt a change under the hand that still rested above him. Suddenly, the barrier was gone and he felt silky hair beneath his fingers.

Apparently, Mera had not seen where his hand had been and was as startled as he by the contact. She started to jerk away, but something deep inside her that had not felt another person’s touch in an eternity made her stop. Her body seemed braced to move away and defend herself if necessary, but her neck stretched minutely to push her head further into his hand.

For several seconds they stayed that way until, with a small turn of her head, she moved away from him and stood. Stepping back, Mera stretched her arm away from his cell; inviting him out of it and onto the stone floor. Ashur felt he knew her well enough at this point that a trap of some kind wouldn’t show itself, so he picked up the seemingly forgotten books, rose, and took a tentative step forward trying not to crowd the lonely woman in the small space. That proved unnecessary as she walked away from him as soon as he started to move.

Confused now, Ashur made to follow her, but started as he heard a rustling sound behind him. He was astonished and slightly frightened to see the dirt cave that had been his cell suddenly filling in and collapsing. It was hard not to imagine what that might have felt like had Mera decided to solve her problem with his demise.

He watched for a few more seconds before turning to follow her. As he caught up, he saw that she had stopped and turned to wait for him.

“This is a Library, not a prison,” she commented sardonically. “We don’t exactly have a dungeon to keep criminals in.”

The hallway she led him down was only thirty or so feet long with an open wooden door at the end.

Waving the soldier through, Mera closed the door behind herself, turned, and moved a dial that had been set in the wall near the handle. She dismissed his curious glance with another wave of her hand and motioned him to look around.

What Ashur saw nearly drove him back against the wall. They were on a walkway high above a floor that he could only hope was somewhere below. Silver metal railings ran along the path as it stretched out into the empty space before them. Mera gave a small laugh at his reaction and began purposefully striding away; daring him to follow.

Ashur had never thought of himself as one with a fear of heights, but the vast expanse below him made him start to question that. Squaring his shoulders, he followed the azure woman; slowly at first, but with longer strides as his confidence grew. Soon he had caught up with her.

“I thought this was a library,” he said, gesturing at the hazy empty space. “Where are all the books?”

Mera looked over her shoulder at him and gave a sharp laugh.

“Just wait, barbarian. You’ll see.” Her own comment seemed to remind her of something, and she came to an abrupt halt. She tilted her head as though trying to remember something, then turned on him.

“What actually is your name?” she asked.

It was his turn to bark a laugh as he told her. She looked thoughtful for a moment and then continued down the walkway.

Looking around, Ashur was afraid that they would be walking for a long time, but only a few moments passed before he could see a circular platform in front of them. No more than eight or nine feet in diameter and bordered by the railing, it held a lectern of some sort in the middle.

Mera approached the lectern and, ushering him closer, laid her hand upon it. Abruptly, the walkway they had just come from vanished and a section of the railing replaced the opening where it had been. The soldier felt movement of some sort, but it wasn’t enough to make him feel as though he needed to hold onto something which was a small pity. His escort had brought him to within arm’s length of her and the faint floral scent was starting to do things to his body.

Mera looked at him oddly then turned back to the lectern. Wondering if he had somehow given his mildly lustful reaction away, he shifted his weight in the opposite direction in case he had inadvertently leaned in toward her. He was pleasantly surprised to note that she shifted with him.

“I can feel that we’re moving, but where are we going?” he asked. The fog around them did not change or shift to indicate progress of any sort.

Waving him to silence, Mera’s expression was that of concentration. Without moving her head, she explained, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been out this far and need to remember the way back.”

Ashur promptly tried to make himself as unobtrusive as possible to let the woman concentrate. Since there was nothing beyond the platform that he could focus on, he turned his attention to her. Even though he could not feel any sort of breeze, small strands of her hair seemed to float about as though blown by an inexplicable wind. It fascinated him to see that the movements changed from time to time giving him the impression that the platform had altered direction somehow. Unknowingly, his hand rose to her back without touching her and he let the fine threads waft and curl around his fingers.

There was no way she could have felt the interaction, but she raised a hand up in his direction anyway.

“Stop it. Hold Still.”

Her voice was mostly consternated at his distracting actions, but there was an undercurrent of amusement as well. Her skin had taken a hint of the pink color again. Ashur returned his hand to his side and assumed a sort of parade rest.

Eventually, the sense of movement slowed, then stopped. Mera looked up at him with a small smile and pointed behind him. Frowning in confusion, he turned to follow her finger. Behind him stretched vast shelves of books, scrolls, and papers. The rows went on so far that the shelves themselves seemed to come together in the distance.

He felt Mera brush by him and started to follow her. Looking back for the platform, he saw that it had become the center of a large atrium and more bookcases stretched past it. Shaking his head in wonder, he strode to catch up to the blue caretaker of this wonderous place.

Ashur had never been much of a reader. He had enjoyed stories told by his parents and friends but could never lose himself in a book. Gawping around like a country farmer in the city, he felt more than a little out of place.

As Mera led him deeper into the rows, he found he could see marking at the ends of certain shelves. He assumed these denoted the contents of the bookcase, but had no idea of the language they were made in. This understanding made him realize that, without his guide, he would soon be lost forever in here and quickened his pace to draw closer to her. She must have heard his footstep speed up because he saw her shoulders shake in a quiet laugh.

He was still bumpkin gazing when he realized that she had stopped and very nearly ran into her. With an awkward twist and stumble he managed not to plow her over but could feel something in his low back protest. His impromptu acrobatics ended up with him leaning to one side and spinning on the ball of his foot. He came to a stop in a hunched position in front of her and looked up to see laughter in her eyes and on her lips. In that moment, he found her extremely attractive. Straightening up, he did his best to mentally stop a different sort of straightening that she would be sure to see since he was still only clad in his shorts.

Her eyes went wide and her blue face flushed purple while the centers of her irises turn a deep pink. He was starting to think that the purple meant she was blushing, but still hadn’t put his finger on what pink symbolized. Either way, he still didn’t know what had caused her flushing reaction. He knew that his equipment hadn’t even come close to gaining any length and he was absolutely certain that his face hadn’t betrayed his thoughts since the pain in his low back had still been showing.

Bowing deeply despite his pain, he brought his arms out to his sides.

“For your entertainment, madam,” he quipped with a grin in his best norther noble accent. Her smile was that of someone genuinely pleased and he noted that her skin tone had softened to that of a bluebell flower.

With his antics concluded, he glanced around to see why she had stopped in the first place. His brows furrowed as he looked back and forth between Mera and what appeared to be the same platform they had arrived in. He was about to ask about it when he saw that there were markings on this one that had been absent on the last.

Looking a question at his guide, Ashur moved onto the dais at her nod. He studied the designs on the floor. At least he would have something to look at for this trip. Mera stepped up, placed her hand on the lectern, then pushed downward. Rather than disappearing into another foggy unknown, the platform began to sink noiselessly into the floor.

As it dropped down, Mera looked up at him with a wry smile.

“You were expecting more time to play with my hair?”

He raised an eyebrow at her question and her smile twisted a little more. Giving up, he looked up at the walls of the shaft they were traveling down which were very smooth; perhaps some sort of marble. At regular intervals, arched doorways opened out into more rows of bookcases. Ashur knew from Mera’s story that this was a wonder of magic and architecture, but there was simply no way to reconcile the difference between the unending height of the rooms on the other side of the doors and the space between them in the walls.

Resigning himself to not understanding the mystery, he turned back to Mera who had been watching him through all of this. He gave her a lopsided grin and was about to return his attention to the markings on the floor when the platform stopped. To his left was another doorway, but rather than revealing yet another impossible room lined with bookcases, he saw what almost looked like a regular room.

At Mera’s gesture, he stepped through the doorway and took in his new surroundings. The room was a large foyer with two statues of some sort of four-legged beasts that he had no name for and could not attribute to any animal he had ever heard of or seen. One was a brilliant white while the other was so black that it looked like a hole into the night sky. Paintings and other decorations adorned the walls and though they reminded him of a noble’s house, they were also somewhat alien to him. 

The room had three other doorways which gave Ashur the impression that this room was less of a foyer and more of a junction. He was used to such rooms only having one or two entrances; usually one to a sitting room and the other to the rest of the house.

Mera tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and beckoned him to the doorway directly across from the shaft. He stepped aside to let her go first and followed her into the next chamber.

In contrast to the opulence of the foyer junction, the next room was homey. Ashur had stepped from a mansion to a farmer’s cottage if not as small. This room was twice as large as the foyer, but the walls were a soft white as opposed to the foyer’s immaculate ivory.

To his right was a simple gathering room with a low couch and several stuffed chairs; one of which made him think of the seat that Mera had conjured outside of his cell.

Turning to his left, could see counters and a kitchen with many utensils and lots of counter space, but the actual area was much smaller than he had originally guessed at first glance. He took a step closer and realized that it had not been used in some time.

Mera moved away from him toward the back of the room. He followed and could see several more doors. Moving in front of one, Mera opened it to reveal a toilet area however it was unlike any that Ashur had ever seen. Everything was made of porcelain. There was a bath large enough for even his frame, but he was unsure of the brass tubing that came out of the wall several feet above one end of it.

Continuing down the hallway, he was shown the location of Mera’s room and, to his astonishment, one for himself. When he looked askance at her, she pointed to a light tunic and breeches that lay on the bed.

“I’m fairly certain those will fit you. I will have to return to the entrance to retrieve your armor and old clothes if you want them back. Please take a few moments to bathe and change and we will speak afterwards.”

With that, she walked back towards the common area; leaving him to explore his new accommodations.

Mera proved to be a good judge of body size as the clothes fit well. He took them off again and moved back to the bathing room. In her brief tour, she had not shown him where to heat the water for his bath and, after searching for almost five minutes, he was forced to head for the door to ask for her help.

He was brought up short, however, when he saw his hostess standing in the doorway leaning against the frame and her arms crossed under her breasts again.

“Um…,” he stammered lamely. “I cannot find the hot water pot, but I’m going to assume I need some sort of your magic to heat it for a bath.”

She studied him for a moment more. Under her scrutiny, he suddenly felt an irrational urge to cover his crotch even though he was still wearing the same under-shorts she had seen him in for however many days he had been incarcerated. He resisted the urge and waited until she moved into the room and headed for the tub itself.

Ashur wasn’t surprised when Mera turned a brass knob on the wall and water came pouring out. He had heard of such mechanisms several times though they were very rare. Usually attached to rooftop cisterns, the water came out cold and needed to be mixed with heated water from the kitchens.

What did shock him was when she twisted another knob and the water pouring from the wall began to steam. He was taken back yet again when she pulled on the final knob and the water stopped; only to flow once again from the tubing that he had taken note of earlier. Whatever fitting had been attached to the end of it turned a steady flow of water into something like a rain-shower.

“I sometimes forget what was truly lost in the cataclysm,” Mera said sadly as she pushed the knob in again. The water went back to gushing from the lower spigot.

“I keep remembering the great cities, monuments, and machinery of our world, but tend to forget the little things that we took for granted in our daily lives.” She stood once again and pulled open the door to a cabinet. Handing him a cloth and a small bar, she pointed out where the towels were kept and left; closing the door behind her.

Ashur stared at the door long after her exit. Before her demonstration of the water fixtures, she had been an oddly colored woman who could wield magic. Now, having seen a hint of the wonders of millennia ago, he thought he was finally started to truly grasp just how long and lonely her watch had been.

***

Emerging nearly half an hour later, he sheepishly returned to the room she had given him and got dressed. The soap bar had not been the rough, lumpy soldier’s issue that he had been used to and it had slipped from his grasp into the tub. Bending over to pick it up, he had forgotten about the brass protrusions in the wall and had nearly inadvertently violated himself.

Trusting that the walls and the sound of the running water had muffled his startled yelp, he walked into the main living area to see Mera in the kitchen stirring a pot of stew. She glanced up at him and then quickly back down at the pot. The purple flash and her obviously losing battle not to smile dashed his hopes and he smiled ruefully back at her.

“That will take some getting used to,” he groused. Then he sobered. “That’s assuming I’m staying here for more than one night.”

The smile vanished from her lips and she straightened. Her mouth set into a thin line and, squaring her shoulders, she motioned him to the couch and chairs. He looked at her then the pot and she shook her head.

“It will be fine,” she said and made her own way to the sitting area. She waited until he had joined her and seemed a bit disappointed when he approached one of the chairs instead of the couch. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of that but was experienced enough to have a small guess. After all, if he had been alone for so long, proximity to another person would be nice, even if you hadn’t known them very long.

He mused about that as he turned to his seat and missed the flash of astonishment and gratitude that crossed Mera’s face. By the time he had settled into the chair and given her his attention, the look was gone.

“I will send you home.” She moved to the center of the couch and lowered herself deliberately onto the cushions.

“Had you truly been some barbarian, thief, or other miscreant, the collapse you witnessed would have still happened but with you inside and I needn’t have worried about someone stumbling across your corpse.

“But you are neither barbarian, criminal, nor evil man and so I have decided that I will send you back to the world. It will take several weeks to gather the power to do so as the entrances and exits here were not meant for casual use.

“To be perfectly honest, they weren’t meant to be used at all until the Chosen One arrived. Eshava never actually said so, but she gave me the impression that he or she would have the power to return the Library to the world again when it was time and I would be able to rest.

“Until then, you have the use of the room and the common areas. Should you wish to explore the Library,” she waved at the unread books they had brought back from his cell, “please ask me first. As you have seen, it is easy to become lost without knowing our language.

“Your wounds have healed and there are areas I can show you where you may train or exercise or whatever soldiers do when not fighting or marching.”

Mera rubbed her face with both hands before looking at him again.

“When the time comes, I will remove any memories of this place and your time here. You will most likely be found stumbling out of the woods you came from; confused and uncertain which will fade with time. You will return to the life you had…and I will return to mine.”

She stared expectantly at him for a few moments and, when he said nothing, nodded sharply and returned to her stew. Ashur watched her go and then looked down at his clasped hands. He knew that it would be easy to return to his life. The fading cut on his head would explain any disorientation and lost time.

Finding his company might be harder, but eventually he would indeed find them and slot back into what was left after the battle. Perhaps he would be moved to another company. As he mused on, he wondered if perhaps it really was time to step aside and become an instructor. He would have to move his meager belongings from one barracks to another, but that was no problem. From there, he started to make more plans for his future after leaving this place.

Slowly, he noticed that the spoon stirring the pot was banging into the side more and more often. When he turned to the kitchen, Mera was angrily sloshing the stew into two bowls. He expected to see red in her complexion again, but it wasn’t there. Her skin had turned almost black again. She looked up from the bowls and he glimpsed unshed tears before she turned away from him and hurried to her bedroom.

Not understanding what had set her off, he followed and stood outside her door. On the other side, he could hear muffled sobs. He cursed under his breath at not knowing and the sounds from her room cut off abruptly.

Ashur stood outside her door for a while longer, then turned, went to his own room, undressed, and lay down in the bed. He stared at the ceiling; unable to sleep.

***

The next morning, or what he assumed was morning since the walls were glowing brighter than they had when he went to bed, Ashur opened the door to his room and looked across the hall to Mera’s room. Since her door had been shut during his tour, he had no idea if she habitually kept it open and so didn’t know if she was still in there.

He had tossed back and forth despite the bed being much more comfortable than a cot or the dirt floor he had recently used for sleeping. He was certain that Mera’s weeping had been at the prospect of being alone again but didn’t know what to do about it. She had decided to send him back to the surface so she could resume her solitary wait for the prophesized “Chosen One” which definitely wasn’t him.

On the other hand, he hadn’t been lying when he told her he was tired of the battles and wars. Perhaps, during the weeks she needed to gather power, he could give her a respite from her loneliness. She was definitely attractive and, if she really was part of the group that built this place, she was certain to be intelligent too. She had already shown a capacity for empathy and compassion which increased his attraction even more.

He wandered into the kitchen and noticed that, sometime in the night, the stew and bowls had been cleaned up. He leaned a hip against the counter where they had been as he continued on with his musings. 

What could he offer her? He knew for a fact that she was better educated and more intelligent than he was so he didn’t think he would be a very stimulating partner conversationally.

What about physically?

Ashur was old enough to know that a few glances and blushes did not constitute an attraction strong enough for a physical relationship. How many times had he pulled young idiots who had misunderstood a look or light flirting away from barmaids before the tavern bouncer had become involved?

No. He would have to keep his own attraction under wraps so that she could feel comfortable around him. It might mean a few frustrated nights, but he could do it for the few weeks he would be here.

With his new resolve, he figured that he would just have to spend the next few days trying to find a way to make their time together as pleasant for her as possible.

As the morning wore on, he stayed in the common areas; heeding her warning not to explore alone. He spent the time familiarizing himself with the kitchen and wonderous bathroom. The plumbing still fascinated him and he had been delighted to find a similar setup above the kitchen sink. He realized, however, that he could find no firepit. He remembered that she had been stirring the boiling stewpot above grates in the counter, but with no understanding of how they operated, he decided it was best to leave well enough alone and let Mera explain.

Around midday, the azure woman’s door opened and he heard her move to the bathroom. Taking a seat in the sitting room, he waited patiently for her to emerge. Looking rather disheveled when she did, she sat down in the chair next to his. Her blue eyes were tinged again, but this wasn’t the color from her changing emotions. Somehow, he could tell that she had probably spent all night crying and had slept as poorly as he had.

Reaching across the small distance, she laid her hand on his.

“I feel as though I am constantly apologizing to you, so I guess one more won’t hurt. I left you rather abruptly last night and I’m sorry. This has been rougher on me than I thought it would, but that doesn’t mean I should make you deal with it.”

Mera took in a deep breath and let it out explosively. Sitting up in her seat, she looked toward the kitchen.

“I’d like to make it up to you with some breakfast if you’ll let me.”

Ashur chuckled, thought of his plans to make their time together more special, and laid his own hand atop hers.

“I don’t have much choice. I have no idea where you keep the food or how to operate your cooking mechanism. I was going to ask you about both so that I could make you something for dinner.”

Her eyes brightened at his offer and she quickly stood to give him an in-depth explanation of the wonders of her house. Smiling to himself at her lighter mood, he rose to follow her.

***

The next day, Ashur learned the that the kitchen was almost the least amazing thing the house had to offer.

Once they had eaten, Mera had returned to the bathroom. She came back out some time later looking more refreshed and a great deal happier; bouncing to where he was starting to read one of the books she had brought to his cell. She reminded him of a young girl of twenty rather than a woman of…well, he knew better than to ask a woman her age.

Guiding him back out to the foyer, she turned to her right and headed for the door near the white statue. Ashur was somehow surprised to see that the platform was where they had left it. For some reason, his mind had assumed it would return to the floor above and they would have to call it back down.

On the other side of the door she led him to was, unbelievably, a house in the clouds. As she took him from room to room, he marveled at the magic it took so that he could look out and down on a mountain. When he asked her why she didn’t just shove him out one of the windows instead of going through the hassle of gathering power for the entrance, she laughed and explained that the images he saw were simply illusions. There was indeed a small mansion on a distant mountaintop somewhere, but the spells on the windows only projected the view and did not create portals to pass through.

Each of the rooms were also luxuriously furnished with decorations, hangings, and paintings that he had only seen during a short stint with the Palace Guard. Chairs and couches may as well have been thrones for the craftsmanship put into them.

Mera also showed him the offices and bedrooms that had belonged to the administrators, architects, and mages that had lived here before the cataclysm. At one point, she sat on a large bed that could have slept his whole squad. She leaned back while recounting a tale of the man who used this room and Ashur’s breath caught. Her head had tilted up as she rummaged through ancient memories and the angle of her neck and the swell of her upper breasts dragged his eyes away from her face. He wondered what it would be like to kiss that neck and breath softly on the spot where neck met shoulder.

He suddenly realized that she had stopped talking and her skin had taken on that pink shade again. His face must have betrayed him because her expression told him that she had a good idea of where his thoughts had been. Blushing slightly, he murmured an apology and asked her to resume her tale. After an awkward minute, she did, but stood beside the bed rather than sitting on it.

The tour of the administrator mansion had taken a good part of the afternoon so Mera decided to save the other door for the next day and they returned to the house. She kept sneaking glances his way and he began to wonder if he was in trouble. With her abilities, it wouldn’t take much to render him unconscious for the next few weeks before summarily tossing him out the front door.

Since she had shown him the pantry where her food stuffs were stored, he reached in and started to gather ingredients. The soft floral scent was his only clue that she had come up behind him. He turned with an armful of vegetables and looked down at her. She gave him a little smile and reached past him to take a crock of seasoning from the shelf behind him.

Her proximity and the scent she exuded made him glad that he was holding his ingredients at waist level. Before he could stop it, his penis decided that it was a good time to wake up. He mumbled something and shuffled around her; grasping the vegetables in front of his growing hardness. He kept his back to her and set everything on the counter; turning back once to see a considering look from her before she also stepped away from the pantry.

By the time he finished chopping everything for the meal, his cock had returned to a flaccid state though he knew he would need to do something about it later on when he was alone.

All through the meal prep and dinner, they talked. He told her stories of his youth and the people he knew. She described what life had been like before the cataclysm. Ashur was amazed by the things that her society had been able to do through the combination of technology and magic and constantly asked questions which Mera was happy to answer. He got the feeling that talking about the general aspects of it lightened her mood. She only drooped a little when the topics of her immediate friends and team were brought up so he would steer the conversation away as soon as was politely feasible.

Bit by bit, the walls began to dim and Mera stood to clear the table. Waving Ashur to stay, she gathered the dishes into a neat pile and set them in the large sink. He watched her intently as she went about her task; her eyes focused on what she was doing, but her skin was starting to take on that pink hue again. He was coming to find that shade adorable and wondered again what the full significance of it meant. His cock started to shift as the thoughts of kissing her neck and breasts from earlier returned and made him glad he was sitting down.

By her expression, she had been lost in her own thoughts, but suddenly shot a startled glance at him and then back down again. The pink melded together with purple and then came back with a vengeance and she dropped the utensil she was been holding.

While her skin changes were doing amazing things for his libido, he started to rise to ask her what was wrong and if he could help. He stopped himself quickly however to avoid having to explain the bulge he was sporting. On the other hand, he didn’t want to seem rude and blind to her difficulties.

“Are you alright?” he asked hoping that the answer wouldn’t require him to move and embarrass them both.

Mera jumped and squeaked as though he had pinched her.

“Umm..no! I’m fine! I was just lost in thought and you startled me!” Her eyes darting back and forth between the table in front of him and his face, she hurriedly turned back to her chore and finished cleaning; leaving the dishes on a drying rack.

“This has been a lot of excitement for me today,” she stammered,” and I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night so I’m going to turn in early.”

Before he could reply, she spun away from him and walked quickly down the hall to the bathroom. Moments later, he heard her cross the hall to her own room and he breathed a sigh of relief. While the reason for her consternation wasn’t entirely clear, he was glad for her absence so that he could try to coax his cock into a more manageable state. The pants she had given him fit well, but he was stretching them quite a bit in the crotch right now.

Finally, he felt comfortable standing from the table and returning the now dry dishes to their places in the cupboards and drawers. Looking around, he decided that it was probably a good idea to make his own way to bed.

Ashur entered the bathroom and her floral smell washed over him like a wave. He cursed under his breath as his manhood stood at attention once again. Trying to empty his bladder at this point would be difficult, if not impossible. He shook his head, grabbed one of the washing cloths and headed for his room.

He stopped when he heard a noise from Mera’s room that sounded vaguely like a moan. He shuffled closer to be certain and heard her squeak again. After that, he could hear nothing else from behind the door no matter how hard he strained his ears.

Giving up with a small smile, he turned to his own room. He had his own needs to meet.

***

The next morning, Ashur found Mera already awake and cooking breakfast. She had changed from her usual brown peasant garb to something with a few more frills. The pale cream dress had light blue embroidered hems which only served to accentuate her sapphire skin. This one rode lower on her shoulders and flowed outward more when she turned to some other part of the kitchen.

Glad that he had taken his time to build to a decent climax last night, he felt better prepared to be near his hostess without embarrassing himself further.

He slipped into the bathroom for his morning routine, but spent extra time enjoying the rain-shower in the tub. The heat and flowing water gave him a better feeling of being clean than any spring or bathing tub had ever done. He was disappointed that he wouldn’t remember this after Mera returned him to the world above. As he dressed himself afterward, he renewed his personal promise to give her happy memories before that happened.

Ashur stepped out into the common area to find that Mera had completed her preparations and was just sitting down at the table.

“Good morning!” she greeted him and gestured to the other place setting. A plate with eggs, toast, and some sort of meat was waiting for him.

“Thank you! Good morning yourself.” He gave her a bright smile as he sat. The food smells made his mouth water before he even picked up his utensils. “This looks amazing!”

“Well,” she laughed, “you really didn’t get a proper breakfast yesterday and I felt I owed you something for cutting short yet another evening.” Her wry smile made his own grow on his face. Remembering his speculations on why she had left so suddenly and the sounds he thought he had heard, he inadvertently grinned around a mouthful of egg. Feeling himself blush just a bit, he pointed his face down toward his plate. From the corner of his eye, he could see her hand pause and stutter before lifting a forkful of her own food.

Getting himself under control, he looked back up at Mera and tried to find a safe topic of conversation.

“So, I’m assuming you are going to show me what’s behind the other door today?”

From the fleeting look Mera had, she was also glad for the change.

“Um, yes. Since we didn’t get a chance to yesterday. Behind that door is how I keep informed of what is going on the world. I really haven’t been paying much attention in the last few centuries, but I thought you might like to check in on your friends and loved ones.

“I held off for today because the mechanism takes time and practice to use and starting so late in the day yesterday wouldn’t have been advisable.”

Ashur quickly and firmly stomped on his emotions when she mentioned loved ones. He had been the eldest of four children, but now, due to the wars, accidents, disease, and old age, he was the sole surviving member of his family. To make matters worse, army life had made relationships difficult. He felt a flash of guilt for not thinking of them in a long time, but swiftly suppressed that feeling as well. There would be time for explanations when she was showing him around and the mood they were both in right now was too nice to ruin.

They kept to small talk while finishing their meal and he insisted that it was his turn to clean up. Once he was done, she walked him to the door and started to lead the way to their destination.

He paused in front of the black statue and reached out his hand to feel the material it was made of.

“Stop!” Mera’s shout was close enough to his old instructor that his hand had frozen in place before his brain had reacted. “On your life, do not touch either of these statues.”

Returning his hand to his side, he turned to ask for an explanation.

“It would take too long to explain. Suffice to say that while I am the caretaker of this place, they are the guardians. There are more of them around the Library, but usually where someone browsing the shelves can’t reach them. These are the only two that are within arm’s length and will only allow themselves to be touched be someone connected to the Library itself.”

Ashur took another safe step away from the obsidian beast.

“What happens if I accidently touch it?” he asked warily.

“Umm..Just don’t,” she replied. “It’s best that way.”

Giving the statue even more distance, Ashur joined Mera in front of the door. She pushed it open to reveal an enormous chamber that held row upon row of seats arranged in large, half-circle tiers. They were centered upon a stage with a podium. In the center of the first and lowest set of seats was a ten foot long table that looked to be part of the structure of the room itself. Set into the table were dials and levers the like of which he had never seen.

The doorway itself opened up against a wall to the side of the stage and Mera led him away from the wall towards the long table. He looked around; trying to take in as many details as possible. Estimating the ceiling to be nearly thirty feet high, Ashur felt himself grow smaller with every step into the room.

Mera reached the table, sat down in a chair behind it, and motioned him to sit beside her. Once he had taken his seat, she reached across him to pull a large red handle near the center of the table. The heat from her skin and a small tickle from the strands of her hair that brushed his arm broke through his amazement of the room and made him take a firm grip on his libido.

The caretaker seemed oblivious to his predicament, but also refused to make eye contact with him as she moved some of the dials and levers that covered the table surface. Once she was satisfied with her settings, she turned back to him as an amorphous image started to form above the stage.

“The administrators and teaching staff used this hall for meeting and presenting. This machine uses some of the power of time itself to bring us views of the world. From here, we can set the viewer to display any moment from the last forty-five or so days to the present. We originally tried to tune it to see the future, but it blew out the entire mechanism and we had to build a new one from scratch.”

Shaking her head, Mera looked up at the stage where an image had started to form; completely missing the goggled-eyed look pasted across her audience’s face.

Time?! They had harnessed time! Ashur’s heart dropped in his chest at her matter-of-fact explanation. When she tapped him on the arm, he jumped and followed her gaze to the now complete image and jumped again.

It was him! The soldier could see himself in his tent, gearing up for the battle in the forest. His squad had been assigned near what would be the leading edge of the oncoming troops. The image followed around behind him as he started to remove his traveling uniform in order to don his battle clothes and armor.

With a start he remembered that he had taken the opportunity to change his worn, travel stained under-things at the time and quickly turned to Mera when he saw his own hands reaching for the short’s waistband.

“Ah! Um!” He managed to get out before she got a full view of his naked backside in the vast image above them. She was frozen with her hand reaching for another dial and he shook her shoulder to break her out of her shocked state. Her head turned toward him and she brought her hand up to her mouth. In the corner of his vision, he saw that his image had turned slightly towards the viewer giving anyone looking a side view of his manhood. For the life of him, he couldn’t tell if she had looked at him in time to miss that.

“I’m so sorry! I…!” She quickly returned her attention to the dials on the table and the image moved away to show the outer canvas of his tent. The caretaker’s face was flushed a full rich purple and her irises were almost completely pink. As she moved more levers, he saw that she had taken her bottom lip between her teeth and kept shooting him furtive looks.

Grimacing, he looked back up at the image. For some reason, he wanted to look around the room to make certain that no one else had witnessed his body displayed despite knowing that they were the only ones there.

“I set it for six hours before you passed through the entrance! I am so sorry! I just wanted to show you how it…!” She had obviously reset the dials and, with his eyes still fighting from looking around, he saw the image shift to follow him as he joined his troop and traveled with them to their assigned station.

They watched for a while as his squad shuffled in wary boredom.

“Not much happened for another hour after this,” Ashur informed Mera. She moved three levers and two knobs and the image rapidly moved forward in time. When he thought they were getting close to the beginning of the battle, he held up his hand. “Not long now.”

She slowly reversed a dial and time slowed down. The soldier watched as enemy troops charged through the thick forest and collided with his own forces. He saw his squad brace themselves and race forward to engage them. Stabbing and cutting with the skills he had helped them to sharpen from their basic sword training, they stalked through the Earl’s lines; cutting a strip that other squads used to follow deeper into the mass of opposing soldiers.

Then he saw it happen. Further along the line, the enemy had flanked Oudromore’s forces and begun to roll them up; forcing fighters to turn to face their foes on all sides. Frustrated that he could only witness, he watched his fellow troops taken down singly and in groups. His own squad was one of the last to fall and he watched helplessly as his own body fell from the blow behind his ear.

He felt Mera’s hand come to rest on his forearm as the battle continued. The Earl’s troop’s flanking maneuver had backfired on them when the Kingdom’s reserves were called forward. In the thick woodland, it was hard for the now tightly packed invaders to meet a full fresh line of battle and they were soon ground down and slaughtered almost to a man. Once they were certain of their victory, the reserves had moved on to another part of the massive battlefield.

Ashur watched horrified at the carnage. His eyes began to water with the effort to see more and he almost missed the moment that his own wounded body started to rise.

Mera pulled another lever and the viewer followed his stumbling path through the woods. They observed his random meandering for almost an hour. After the first twenty minutes, his steps had become less wobbly though he still need to lean on tree after tree.

Finally, they saw him stop and look around as though trying to figure something out. His image turned and shuffled forward again. When the tree crumbled under his hand, Mera quizzically tilted her head and winced along with him when his image struck the rock which had knocked him unconscious.

The viewer tried to follow him down the hole, but his body faded and vanished quickly; leaving an image of the hole which inexplicably filled itself in.

“Huh,” was all Ashur could say. His trek through the woods had captured his attention enough that he hadn’t noticed that the blue hand was still resting on his arm. He turned to look at her and saw sympathy and understanding in her eyes. He wondered if she had seen him staring at the bodies of his friends but decided that he would mourn for any that had been killed later in privacy.

“Why didn’t it keep going?” he asked. “Why didn’t it follow me down the hole?”

She gazed at his face for another few seconds before giving a small nod and answering his question.

“Even though it is traveling alongside the rest of the world in time, the Library is cut off from reality except for a few tethers that drag it along. Without those, our planet would have moved on through the universe and left the Library behind. Those tethers are the entrances and exits. When you fell through that hole, you fell along one of the tethers to the outermost levels of the Library’s space. That tether collapsed after your passage which is why it is taking time to send you back. The Library must build up power and energy to reinforce and open the tether again. Once you travel back through, it will do so again, but gradually over the next few hundred years. The viewing machine is anchored in the world and transmits its information along a different tether line so it can’t see what is going on in the Library’s space. Colphon set it up that way to minimize detection by whoever was causing the explosions.”

She stood and stretched her arms up and out. Still seated, her breasts were directly at his eye level which he could not help but notice. He was trying to drag his gaze away when she released her stretch and looked down at him.

“At least I know how to get your attention,” she mused. His face flushed a bright red and he shot to his feet.

“Ahem. Sorry. I really didn’t mean to…,” he stammered.

She patted the side of his arm and started moving towards the entrance.

“I don’t think I can really complain after earlier,” she quipped with a quick glance to where the viewer image had been. She looked back over her shoulder at him. “How about some lunch?”

His face, which had just started to regain its normal color, flooded again. He shook his head and started to follow after her.

As they passed the statue again, he wondered what it was about her that made him blush so easily. Before coming here, he hadn’t blushed in years. A soldier’s life spent in taverns and brothels had virtually wiped away any lingering innocence or modesty. Yet here he was, acting like a raw recruit on his first night with a woman.

Setting the problem aside for another time, he joined her in selecting food for their midday meal.

The afternoon was spent learning the function of the various knobs and levers. Although he would be leaving soon, she wanted him to be able to use the viewer without her as there were things she needed to attend to alone.

By the time Mera called a halt for the evening, he felt as though he had a general grasp of the machine but would need more practice later on.

***

They repeated the previous evening’s events(minus his accidental erection) and enjoyed each other’s company yet again. This time, however, he insisted on cleaning up, explaining that she had been cleaning up for several thousand years and deserved a break. Mera chuckled at him and waved her acquiescence. She watched him work while cupping her hands around a glass of red wine.

They chatted for another hour before Mera declared that she was ready to sleep. Feeling inexplicably restless, Ashur stated that he would stay up for a while longer. He pulled out the book that he had started the previous day and bid her good night.

He tried to read for several hours but couldn’t seem to calm himself. Something was niggling at the back of his mind and he put the book down and began to pace. Realizing that the room, though larger than the foyer, wasn’t big enough for him to stretch his legs, he made his way to the viewing room instead.

Once there, the tall man gave his legs over to long strides and his mind to itself in an effort to puzzle out what was bothering him. He knew it had something to do with the viewer but couldn’t quite tickle the thought out. Sitting down at the table, he tried to bring up his fall; intending to reverse his journey through the woods. His inexperienced fingers fumbled a setting and he cursed as the battlefield came up on the giant image. He reached out to try again but stopped with his hands halfway to the controls.

During Mera’s demonstration, they had followed him after the battle. Now, he let the viewer proceed where it was and watched the aftermath of the carnage. He had seen such scenes before. Years of wars had left thousands dead after such engagements but somehow this one was different to him.

Ashur finished his reach and stopped the viewer’s movement. Whatever was bothering him was right on the edge of his awareness.

Crews started moving through, picking up the dead and wounded. The dead were stripped of their armor and tossed into the carts while stretchers hauled the wounded to the medical tents. Seeing the kingdom’s emblem on the crew’s coats let Ashur know that his side was the victor, but whatever was bothering him dimmed any celebration.

It wasn’t until one of the carts headed away from the viewer that he realized what it was at the back of his mind. He doubled over as though gut punched and grabbed the edge of the table. He quickly moved controls to reverse the events he saw before him; cursing loudly when he made a mistake and had to try again.

The stricken soldier’s eyes widened as he played the scene forward again. He watched the stretchers collect their cargo then started it over again. And again. Hoping to see something different each time, he was disappointed to see that not one of his friends were carried away on stretchers.

Reaching out one last time, he kept his blurry gaze on the carts of the dead and, one by one, saw the last few people he had known and loved in the world be carted away to be unceremoniously dumped into a mass grave.

Ashur stopped the viewer and slumped back in his chair. He had lost friends in war before but had always had others to join in a victory celebration and toast lost comrades. However, staring at the static image in front of him, he saw the sallow and immobile faces of not only his platoon, but of others he had known looking back at him.

He zoomed the image around the battlefield in an effort to prove himself wrong. As he gained confidence with the controls, he was able to move faster and faster. After an hour of effort, he gave up. He had searched the entire battle and watched his mates be killed one after the other.

With shaking fingers, he returned the viewer to his squad where they had been waiting for the fight to start. They had joked and boasted with each other. Ashur paused again with the image of his brothers’ laughing faces glowing brightly above him. He stood and moved around the table to be closer to them one last time.

Reaching out, he tried to touch the men in front of him. They were vivid and close and he reached out to touch them one last time. When his hand passed through them and felt nothing, he broke. 

Curling down onto the floor, his chest heaved as he sobbed. He mourned for lost friends and brothers; for voices he would never hear again and happy times that were now forever gone.

And in the middle of it all, he realized that he was now alone. With his family long gone and his friends slaughtered on the battlefield, he had no one. He was alone.

The recognition of that hit him almost as hard as the loss of his comrades and he broke all over again. Rocking slightly, he poured out his loss to the empty and uncaring room.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been crying when he felt her arms around him. She lifted his head into her lap and held him while he wept. He threw his arms around her and held on as though she was the only thing keeping him from falling into oblivion.

Finally, the worst of his sorrow had washed away and he looked up at Mera. Her skin was a deep sapphire and tears matching his had left their tracks down her cheeks. In that moment, he knew that she understood. She knew the pain he was suffering for she had endured the same for so much longer.

How long had she lived with the memory of her own lost companions? How had she survived the many years without losing her sanity? His heart swelled and went out to her. His own pain felt small and petty in comparison.

Mera’s expression was that of someone who had seen ages come and go and she shook her head slightly at him. She stroked his sweaty hair back from his face, leaned down, and kissed his lips.

When she drew away, he opened his mouth to ask how she stood so much pain, but she cut him off by kissing him again. Drawing him up to face her, she put her arms around his body and held him to her with his face nuzzling into her neck. They stayed that way for some time before she pulled them both up to stand again.

Taking his hand, she led him back to the house and into her darkened room. He had never seen the inside, but right this minute, his eyes were only for her. Even though she had led him through well-lit rooms on their way here, he only now grasped that she was clad in a light nightshift that drifted against her as she moved.

The ageless guardian stopped next to her bed and turned to face him. Not speaking, she reached out and stroked his face before lifting her hand to the shoulder of her shift. His eyes widened when she pulled one side and then the other from her shoulders. The thin fabric whispered gently as it flowed down her body to land puddled around her feet. Ashur could see few details of her in the darkened room but could make out more of the soft curves that had been hidden by her dress. He stepped to her and raised his hand to cup the side of her face. Leaning in, he brought their lips together and kissed her softly. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. In them, he saw understanding and passion and leaned in to kiss her again. His lips opened in invitation and he felt her do the same. Ashur brushed her lips with the tip of his tongue as he kissed her. She opened her mouth wider with each kiss; inviting more of him into her.

He felt Mera pulling at the buttons of his tunic and, reaching down, took it off. She stroked her hands over his chest as he tossed the shirt away before reaching up to kiss him once more. With her hands still between them, he removed the rest of his clothing without breaking contact with her mouth.

Finally, when they were both bare, he pulled her close to him. He felt the heat of her skin where it touched his. When she raised her arms to wrap around his neck, he did the same with her slender waist and brought his hips forward, trapping his fully erect cock between them.

Not seeming to notice, she continued to kiss him fervently while his hands began to roam over her body. Along her spine and ribs, he could feel tiny bumps or ridges, but paid them no mind; stroking her softly. She moaned into his mouth from time to time and ground her own pelvis into his but was still intent on his kisses.

After some time of this, he nudged her back against the bed. Trailing tender kisses along her jaw, he nuzzled into her neck again and satisfied his earlier curiosity by pressing his mouth to the place where her neck met her shoulder and sucking softly.

Mera grabbed his hair in her hands and held him tight as her breathing quickened. Releasing her neck, he continued along her collar bone and down the slope of her chest. Bringing a hand up, he cupped her breast and lightly kissed the nipple. He squeezed softly and pressed his lips to her again; this time drawing her nipple into his mouth. Her hands, which had not left his head, gripped tight while he suckled.

With her moans, increasing in volume, Ashur dropped further down her body giving her skin small flicks of his tongue along her stomach and the crease where her thigh met her pelvis. Kneeling before her, he realized that the floral scent wasn’t from her soap or a perfume but was the natural fragrance of her body.

Mera pulled him back up into her arms and started to move back against the bed. He followed and lowered to the blankets with her. She opened her thighs and he moved between them. His cock nudged her opening, but he refrained from entering her. Leaning on his elbows, he tenderly kissed her again. She moaned into his mouth and began to pull his hips toward hers.

He felt the tip of his cock slide between her wet folds and he stopped as a small shudder ran through her. When her eyes opened again, he eased forward until he was hilted inside.

The feel of her was incredible. Her body was hot and it gripped him in ways he had never felt with any other woman. It took him a moment to adjust to the sensations surrounding him, but he was soon ready to continue. Pulling away from her lips, he saw the years of loss hiding in the depths of her eyes, but like him, she wanted to be lost in the sensations of being with another. She reached up to hold his face as he pulled himself from her until just his head remained grasped in her. They both gasped when he sunk back down. He started a slow steady rhythm that gradually built in speed and force. It wasn’t long before he could feel her getting close by the grip around him. Picking up the pace, he drove into her again and again. Her hands clutched at his hips and back as she brought her knees higher into the air.

Mera reached her first climax without him. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled herself up into him. With her face buried in his neck, she screamed as her body shook beneath him. He continued thrusting himself into her and he soon drove her to a second and third orgasm. Each time her body shook and her moans and screams filled the air around him.

Feeling his own release take hold of him, he grabbed her and lifted himself into a kneeling position. He pushed her down onto him as he came.  She flung her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his hips. Her own hips bucked as she felt his seed shooting into her in several strong bursts and his roar filled the room.

He stayed in his kneeling position and held her in place with both hands on her bare ass. She clung to him as he trembled through his own aftershocks. Eventually, his softened member slid from her and their breathing calmed as they came back to themselves. She buried her face into his neck and he was startled when her shoulders start to shake. Looking down at her in worry, he saw tears flowing freely down her cheeks and dripping onto his chest. Before he could ask, she stopped him with a kiss. She settled back down into him and he could hear her whisper something over and over like a mantra.

“Thank you.”