The Mountain Dancer

Chapter 7: Shaynike & Sila

She fled down the boreway.

The consequences for deserting the assembly would probably not be pleasant, but they were preferable to fainting or crying or otherwise making a huge spectacle in front of the entire academy.

I can say I was sick, Shay reasoned, which wasn’t even really a lie, as she felt she might puke at any moment now.

She wound deeper into the lower levels, past more kitchens, through the Lower Library and Lower Lecture Halls. The rooms were blessedly free of pupils due to the summons, and the various tutors, advisors and townsfolk luckily ignored her.

She continued down through the Temple and into the Reflection Hall, where she briefly considered stopping to recompose her Bodyanchor Artwork and maybe try to take in what had just happened. But Head Tutor Minyel had not yet released his grip on the mindtether yet, meaning that Artwork would be nearly impossible. At least it shielded her from the deluge of shardtrade that was certainly coming her way. She decided to continue down through the Reflection Hall and into the Grand Library.

Usually, Shay took a moment to admire the cavernous space from the top of the boreway before moving deeper, but she was too upset to care this time. The height of five or more Assembly Halls, the Grand Library was one of the biggest and arguably the oldest libraries in the entire world. A landmark of the realm, people travelled from all corners of the map to explore the wonders, works and secrets that lived within.

Most places in Tomecliff Pass bore the architectural traits of the Western Ranges of Massus – blocky, geometrical, and gridlike. Here, the influences of the Moonshadow Wood were apparent. The space was cylindrical, with a sloping path running along the perimeter. Shay imagined the path as looking like a huge coiled spring. Circular platforms of various styles sprouted from the central pillar that housed the boreway. Some connected to it directly, some had large hollow centres and were accessible by rope and wood bridges. The platforms rarely extended all the way out to the spiral edge – more rope bridges provided passage to the coiled outer pathway.

And of course, bookshelves beyond tally were everywhere. They were generally arranged in circular patterns when they appeared on the platforms to match the arc of the circle, but Shay knew you could find many areas with rogue and disorganized arrangements. There were even a few tricky bookshelf mazes if you knew where to look. There were short shelves, shelves built into the floor, shelves that were so tall that they physically connected one circular platform to another. Some of these had their own little staircases built inside of them (and made for great hiding places).

Soft orbs of Softshadow Artwork pulsed a lazy riot of colour throughout the labyrinth. The combination of reds, blues, yellows and greens generally referenced what kind of books one could find in the area, but that was a guideline at best.

The splendor was currently lost on Shay, who stomped down the boreway without so much as a sideways glance. Could they not have just broadsharded the contenders? she thought for the fortieth time. And why am I the only contender for Crown Academic? This was even more infuriating. Yes, she the most likely, but they usually didn’t single anyone out like that. Even Faevock had a contender, though everyone knew Ellawek was going to drop out to let Fae take it. Shay once again saw her hideous ‘official image’ floating up there, blown up over four stages and probably a few local mindtethers, there for all of Massus and beyond to see. She moaned.

After a time, she reached the bottom of the boreway. A heavy iron door blocked her way. The stairs did go down further, into the spire’s drainworks and catacombs below, but those were off limits. The air was cool down here, and the bookshelves had thinned out. The light was a ghostly blue. She couldn’t remember if she had ever gone right to the bottom before… she supposed she must have at some point, but it would have been many years ago. It wasn’t a cheerful place.