Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 3 - Making Connections - III

  The sun was starting to go down as Rachel approached the old library. No matter how many times she came here, the cracked gargoyles and spiked archways unnerved her. Every step closer to the grounds chilled her bones a little more. She felt like there was a malevolent presence stalking the burned out husk of a building, though both Will and Kendra assured her many times over that nothing ever approached the fence.

  Nothing except herself, of course. Rachel had ventured into that building more than a few times, albeit rarely with any success. Will kept telling her there wasn't anything to be found, but Rachel was stubborn. She knew the library must have some clue, some hidden cache of knowledge. Something must have survived the fire.

  She clambered over the splintered wood supports, still layered with ash and laid out where they'd fallen. Her skirt caught a few times on the odd slab of unburnt wood. Navigating a caved-in library, with massive collapsed bookshelves and structurally-unsound staircases wasn't exactly one of Rachel's hobbies, but she did as she must. She felt it was her duty to find people using magic, and head them off before they could do too much damage. So far, she'd always managed to talk people down and invite them to a meeting, but she knew that lucky streak had to give way eventually.

  Rachel wasn't supposed to be doing this. The members of the Council would be appalled at the risk—and the breach of trust. The Council's official stance was to approach newly awakened as a group, with Hector as backup in case anything went awry. Rachel disagreed. She felt that such an overwhelming presence would frighten off far more potentially newcomers than it would welcome. A show of force simply lead to an instinct for combat and defensiveness. Rachel preferred a gentler approach, and paid Kendra well in favors to help her keep it from Council as a whole.

  She wished, of course, that no one would ever be awakened alone. In Rachel's ideal world, everyone wanting the ability to use magic would be carefully screened and selected to ensure stable, sensible growth, but world events conspired against her. The Three Gods had seen to that. Now the entire magical community had to deal with random awakenings on a regular basis. This would be the third such occurrence this month, and each was another burst of anxiety and fear for the Council. Would this next person be the one to topple their delicate balance?

  A faint noise was coming from one of the rear study rooms, the only sections to be made entirely of stone and thus survive the inferno from the year prior. Rachel's hand instinctively went to the pouch at her waist, resting gently atop it as one might with a holstered pistol. She couldn't really do much to someone who truly meant to hurt her, but she had enough tricks up her sleeve to get away at least. More importantly, she had plenty of allies to call on only minutes away, and Will was watching out for her. Even now, with the thick stone and the trees and the many streets between them, Rachel could feel his vague presence, as he made no effort to mask it from her. It was like a comfortable cloak draped around her shoulders, knowing he was watching when she went to find the newly Awakened.

  Rachel hadn't coined the term, and she wasn't exactly fond of it either. She felt like it implied too much superiority for people with magic. It felt hostile. By the time she'd gotten elected to the council, though, it was too late to try and push for a different name. So 'awakened' became the moniker for anyone with magic. Anyone who had read from the book, or—more accurately—one of the pieces they could find.

  She was here, getting ash and dust caked over her jacket and skirt crawling through gaps underneath the broken library, to see if there was someone who had access to a previously unknown remnant of the book. Little flecks of black soot fell as she entered a room, her presence disturbing their rest. She had never believed in ghosts, but this building seemed infected with restless spirits.