The Hidden Incantation

Two: Weird Light Thing

 "Okay," I said, trying to process the new information. I took a step forward on unsteady feet, eyes wide as I tried to take in the battleground of snares and wards around me. The alarm blared in the background of our conversation, but after hearing it for long enough, it fell to the edge of my conscience."Wait, what? Traps?"

"Yes. The alarm is just to frighten intruders – it's harmless, I'm sure – but some of the other traps aren't. This library, like I said, was in its prime right before the dwarven war. You know the one, the civil war when the dwarves tried to overthrow the council to take control of magical societies, right?" Without paying any heed to the traps, Talia began to walk towards one of the piles of books on the dusty floor.

Sigmus nodded. "Yeah, because they wanted to be superior to non-magical people and take control of society. The council and the Athenaeum won, in the end, and now anyone who speaks of letting normal humans take part in magical practices is committing treason."

Picking up one of the books from the top stack, Talia smiled. "That's the one." She opened it to a random page before hopping over a tripwire and holding the book out to Sigmus and I to read. "Now, Alana, what do you notice?"

The letters, unfamiliar to me, blurred on the page and left my head pounding. "It's written in dwarven?" I guessed before looking away, unable to focus on the page any longer.

"And?" Talia gestured for more, but I shook my head.

Peeking over my shoulder, Sigmus said, "And coded. Magically."

She let out a loud trill of excitement, one of the Talia quirks that I had yet to grow used to. "Exactly! This library was under the control of dwarven rebels twenty, thirty years ago, and we didn't even know about it until now! But they weren't going to let just anyone in here, so they made sure that it wouldn't be passable to anyone who wasn't supposed to be here. Thus the traps," She waved her arm towards the room. "And the alarm."

With furrowed eyebrows, Sigmus shook his head. "But that still doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't the traps also make it hard for the dwarves as well?"

"Yes, so think about it," Talia urged.

"So, so...so there has to be a way to disarm it. A spell, of sorts, probably an abjuration enchantment, that can disable to magical wards and make the traps harmless." Sigmus waved his hands in the air as he spoke, as if feeling for something that he couldn't quite reach.

Letting out an exhilarated whoop, Talia grinned. "I knew you were clever! That's right, but where else can we find the charm? The charm that could possibly be used to disarm other, still operating rebel dwarven libraries?" She paused, as if waiting for us to answer her rhetorical question. "In these books! So start searching!" She gathered a large bundle of light into her arms, tossing it up towards the ceiling and letting it hang in the air above us. This magical orb was large enough that I could make out the tendrils of golden light that wove around each other, reaching into the air around them and casting bright light throughout the room.

Now that I could make out the small basement room in its entirety, I realized that, for a library, it contained a shockingly small number of bookshelves. The only shelves I could see were shoved against the back wall. Otherwise, all the books were clumped together in piles on the floor, surrounded by magical wards and dust.

Sigmus seemed overwhelmed, although his straight expression did little to give away his emotions. While he took in the room, I took a wary step forward, careful to ease around a large sigil painted on the floor. Saia stayed behind, leaning against the door with wide eyes. "C'mon, pup!" I encouraged, "It's no biggie, no permanent damage or anything." At my voice, the corgi waddled forward, weaving around traps as I had done before, and hopping into my arms.