Paragon - Book I

The Eye

The entrance to the library is an eye.

Stretching the height of two men, the wide, circular door is nested in a pocket of crumbling, moss-covered stone which is melted around the Eye like the ridges of a reptile brow, or lid. Inside that strange, flat, iris is another eye that has been carved tilted into the stone, spindling tendrils of design snaking out from either corner in dark swirls. Just below the tattoo rests a small, dark hole, a hands-width wide.

Allayria walks over, just behind Ben, and peers at it.

"What do you think it is?" she asks, her voice hushed.

"I think it's where we put the key," he says, his fingers brushing against the place where said object lies beneath his shirt.

Allayria stares at the hole, the back of her neck prickling.

"Are you sure?" she asks, her hand clasping his shoulder. He turns is head slightly and gives her a smile.

"No, but it seems the most logical thing to do, don't you think? I don't see any other keyholes on it."

She does a quick perusal and finds nothing either.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" he says, moving closer and peering up, wide-eyed, at the imposing structure. "Look at all these carvings. Even with all the moss and the stains you can still see the artistry."

"It's beautiful," Allayria agrees, but she keeps her distance. Back in Solveigard City Ben had said the Paragon could open the library without a key, but he never specified how, and now, here with it staring down at her, she is afraid of what would happen if she should approach.

Ben pulls the key out of his shirt, yanking it off the chain.

"Someone should open it," he says, and he turns to them. "Iaves?"

Iaves shakes his head, his face still ashen.

"Ben, you've spent your whole life looking for a way to get into this place," Meg interjects, placing a fist on her hip. "No one's opening it but you."

A ghost of a smile touches Ben's face and he turns, key extended between his fingers, and slides his hand into the hole.

The hole swallows his arm up to his elbow and Allayria watches as it twists and surely, somewhere, in the mossy darkness, his hand and the key twist with it.

There is a small click, and then a loud, groaning clang as the door begins to slowly move. Ben jumps away, a bark of laughter escaping his lips.

They all stand back as the Eye swings out and the wide, pressing blackness of the library greets them.

Stepping inside is like being swallowed up. Silence hangs, heavy and unbreakable, and the moment they all walk in the air seems to rush out as the door slides shut behind them, closing with a thunder of stone.

Thin streams of fire grow out of Allayria's fingers, breathing light into the cavernous hall as Ben pulls a lantern out of a bag. She lights it for him, and he holds its glow up so light is thrown against the intricate, faded design crawling up the walls.

They are paintings, Allayria realizes, looking up as far as the light reaches. She thinks they must depict the history of the island, for they feature the land mass and the hunched, dwindling figures in it wear clothes she has never seen before.

"Gothi," Ben murmurs, fingers trailing down the clipped, fading art. His eyes are wide and filled with awe as he looks up at all of it. Allayria wonders if this is his first time seeing gothi too.

"Looks like they got up to Pang's victory at Solveig," Iaves says, pointing to a panel featuring a blackened tree and a clash of limbs and weapons, "then they petered out a bit."