Lunar Flare Book 2: Midnight Eclipse

Chapter ???

William was pretty good at seeing in the dark. Well, not pitch blackness, but he was able to get by quite alright in very dim lighting. That was how he spent most of his time whenever he snuck into the restricted section at night, not wanting to make too much light which might bring attention to himself. The large windows in the library let in plenty enough moonlight for him to be able to find his way around, and he would make a very small purple light in his hand in order to actually read the pages of the books properly.

Many of the students of the academy often talked about how unsettling or even spooky they found the ancient castle to be at night. They even shared stories amongst themselves about seeing spirits or otherworldly beings in certain shadowy places when they were alone. The restricted section of the library had a particular reputation for being haunted, only William didn't believe that any other student had actually been able to get into it before, so he didn't put much stock in those particular rumours.

And besides that, William didn't believe in ghosts, so he wasn't worried about them at all. He certainly had never seen any himself around the academy; never run into any inside the hidden tunnels or even in the restricted section itself. To him it was all a bunch of superstitious nonsense from a collection of slightly paranoid overactive imaginations. There were plenty of dangerous monsters out in the world that he had read about from books in the library, but the academy was probably one of the safest places around.

This is why William didn't mind visiting the restricted section by himself so often in the dead of night. Sure, it was more fun if Cornelius was willing to come with him, but that was a rare occurrence, and Will wasn't concerned about going on his own. He would sit for hours in the quiet dark there, reading happily, perfectly comfortable in the solitary silence. Considering that Cornelius was his only friend, Will had become quite used to his own company throughout his lifetime, often even preferring it to being bothered by others.

This night wasn't all that different from any of the others William had spent here. A bit past midnight he had set out from his room as usual, and made his way through the secret passageways until he reached the still and silent library. Then he started exploring yet more of the many shelves that held countless old tomes that were locked away from all eyes but those of the Grand Magus. It would probably take Will many months to read every volume, and he had a feeling he would most likely get caught again before then. Therefore, he tried to pick out the most interesting books to read during each visit, especially any that might lead him to wherever Alexavier was keeping his brother's gem hidden.

One particular volume had caught William's eye due to the fact that it was bound in leather straps. It was one that had piqued his interest early on during his visits, though previously he had not been able to get it open. The way the book was sealed was no simple lock, instead the leather straps that wrapped tightly around it were covered in glowing runes. However, since his first visits Will had done a lot more research on dark magic, and he had begun to learn ways to counteract the light wards such as those that sealed that book.

During his last visit William had managed to break about half the wards, though had been too worried to take the book with him when the dawn light chased him out of the library, in case the magic that sealed it could be traced and lead to him getting caught. He didn't think the 'I just found it laying around' excuse was going to work twice, especially since Alexavier tightened the restrictions on access to this section. So now he quickly retrieved the volume again and took a seat at one of the small desks that were scattered between the shelves, to keep working on unsealing the tome.

It took a while, perhaps a few hours, William was not sure as he was terrible at keeping track of time. But eventually he managed to break through the final ward, the last of the glowing runes going dark, and the leather bindings around the book falling slack around the cover. A greedy expression on his face, Will quickly slipped the bindings off the tome and opened the cover, looking down at the first page eagerly.