BATTLE SCARS: (Indigo Symbols Book II)

Chapter Seventy-Four: Hall Of Indigos

HUNTOR:
    Reina opened the trapdoor, and we jumped in. The first thing I noticed was just how clean the air felt, no dust, no scent of age. We walked forward and entered a cavern, like Rey said, was larger, so much larger. Larger, and, "It's a library." Sarah muttered. "A huge, extremely huge library." Sure enough, I smelled the scents of wood, paper, ink, and clay. "Ok," I said, as we stepped into the library. "Where's the catch?" I crossed over to a bookshelf at random, surprised to find braille there. I lifted a book, and opened it, and froze, "What's it say?" Reina asked. "To borrow a phrase," I said. "Why me?" I lifted the volume, "Dio, Indaco." I said. "We're going to find plenty of information on the Indigo, the Drac'on, the Keepers, the Higher Beings, both sets of Plains." "So, what we needed to find," Sarah said. "Was a library, deep as shit underground, under the White-House, which, we broke into, get passed stone statues, cross a demon filled lake, just for a damned library? What are the odds? What are the damned odds that we were lead here? That some Higher beings thought to bring us here, like dogs on a leash. What are the odds this was a serious, again, seriously good trap?" She asked. "There are no such things as quincikdences." Reina said.
    "No." I said. "No, there really aren't." So saying, I put the book back, and went to another shelf. "Prophecy And Tales." I read. I opened the pages, thumbing through until, "Holy shit." I muttered. "What?" Reina and Sarah asked. "This, this has prophecies alright." I turned to Sarah, "Your prophecy is in here." I said. "The title, is, The Tale Of The Snow Queen." Sarah stepped closer, her tiny feet making soft adorable thuds on the stone. "Read it." She whispered. "Daughter of the North awakens," I recited. "Merchant, traveler, thief, taken. Soul and heart chained, Raw power unleashed. Keeper's bane, goddess's release, the sea and sky must free, for goddess's release. All life will be silenced, icy chain, broken soul, goddess unleashed."
    I turned to Sarah, who was quietly crying. I pulled her into a hug and shushed her softly. Reina came over and rubbed Sarah's back. Sarah pulled away, and I set the book back on it's shelf. "Huntor?" Reina asked. "Everything is here." I said. "Everything, detail after bleeding detail. Everything we need to rebuild the Indigo is here. Right here." "That's all fine and dandy," Reina said. "But how the hell are we going to transfer all these books, all this info?" "We won't." I said simply. "This is the start, the start of remaking the Indigo Symbol." "Really?" Sarah's adorable, childish voice was filled with hope. "Yes, yes." I said, nodding. "We just have to figure this all out, maybe, maybe there's something in here that, that, that'll give us a key way in winning this war." I turned out of the Prophecy section, and moved to another stack of books, also in braille. "This has tales on everything, everything from the first time the Indigo rose. What happen to them, why the Keepers hunted us back then, why they were able to kill us off." I scanned the shelves with my fingers, searching, searching, searching. Then, "Ha," I waved a large volume in my hands, "This talks about the war before, well, not war, but what happened, exact details on how we were killed off before. What the Keepers used, how they used it."
    "The stone that they use?" Reina asked. I nodded, "It's all in here." I rummaged through pages, until, I felt that cold hand on the back of my neck. I snapped the book shut and slowly, very, very, very slowly, put it away. "Sarah." I said quietly. "Yeah?" "Never, ever, ever, mention the word trap, for as long as I live in this life." I heard pattering, like lots of large, heavy things were crawling over the bookshelves, coming our way. Then, I suddenly hated the Indigo World, hated the Higher Beings, Seeka, Theia, Vello, Ragni Di Morte, anything that had to do with them. Then, the smell, that same smell from the field, from the Plain, from said Ragni, Di Morte. "Oh shit." Reina whispered. "Fuck me." I muttered. Sarah, said nothing. "You will find, Dio Indaco," Said a beautiful male voice from above, "That the reason this place is so stock piled, and lasted so long, is because we've kept it that way." There was the sound of silk stretching, Then a giant thing hung, upside down behind us. We all slowly turned, and I lit an orb of Indigoism over my palm. It was just like the Plains, perhaps a bit smaller, but still the same thing. I shoved away the terror, the fear, the repugnance. I'd faced down these horrors and triumphed, I'd damn well do it again, especially with Reina and Sarah. I brought out as much bravado as I could as I said, "Skies, skies what is it with you ugly things and making dramatic appearances huh?"
    Yep, still the same creature, as it made those disgusting bone cracking sounds in it's head. "So, I'm arrogating that you all have this massive web of communication between you and the supposed Lieutenant told you I was on the Plain and what? Since she couldn't kill me, you will?" I frowned. "If you recall, I slaughtered her, and some of the others, not to mention I'm personal friends with the Uccisore Della Morte." That got a reaction I wanted. The spider actually trembled on it's silk line. THe others in the darkness above and around us all shifted, fear high on the air. I had no idea that demons could be terrified. But, well, there you go, right there. "Slayer of death." It didn't sound so beautiful now, now it sounded like it was, ugly, disgusting. "She will die, die by our claws and fangs." I rolled my blue eye, "I'm sure she will." I sighed. "So, let me guess, are you going to say, you can't have this library, my brothers and sisters have been studying these works for millennia. Learning about you, studying the Drac'on, blah, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada." I waved my hand as they hissed. "Sorry to piss you off, well, no, I'm not. We will claim this library as ours, it'll be the center of the new Indigo Symbol." "Dio Indaco," It hissed, venom spraying. "That's my name, don't tear it out." "I thought it was, wear, it out." Did Sarah's voice sound husky, or was it just me? I rolled my eye, "Whatever it is, yes?" "You will parish, you, Uccisore Della Morte." "All just bravado and empty threats." I said. The spider paused, as if confused. "Oh, I guess you don't know how to play the game. Well, you're old so I'll cut right to it." I smiled. "You try holding us here, we kill you all, we start designing the Symbol, then, we join our brothers and sisters, and the Uccisore Della Morte in battle." I looked down, as if checking the time. "Aren't you like what, three thousand years old? Way passed your bedtime." I summoned the Ragni daggers, probably some Italian name for them too. "Why don't we speed you on your way?" The Ragni Di Morte hissed, and started making those sounds again. More of them began lowering to our hight. Then it said, "Our power dwarfs your's Dio Indaco." Then Sarah, it was Sarah, who said, "Is that a crack about my height?" I swear, I couldn't help it, apparently, neither could Rey. We snorted a laugh. The thing snarled, really, it was a kinder way of putting the sounds it made in it's skull. Then, it noticed what I held. "Dio Indaco." Really, was that all it could say? I raised my daggers. "Yeah, your big friend gave me these, really nice I gotta tell you. Great weapons." The thing made it's unearthly scream, landed in front of us, and attacked.