The Spirit Wilds: Magic of the Green Sage (Fall of the Sages Book 1), стр. 4
Perhaps one of the forgotten magics that she could learn today, though that wasn’t her goal.
When she pulled on the door, it didn’t budge. Not surprising, as she was a scrawny thing. She stepped back and gripped her staff in both hands. “Semla,” she said, a spell for opening things. Nothing. She tried again with a variation, “Semleki,” meaning to unlock. Still, nothing happened. Bishta frowned.
“Munla,” she called. The air rippled behind her and her gigantic, mossy-skinned friend appeared. He groaned a greeting, his burning red eyes like dying embers blinking at her. Bishta pointed to the door. “Could you be a dear and open this for me?”
The spirit nodded. Bishta gave him a wide berth since he was so large. He grabbed both door handles and pulled.
Nothing. Not a peep or a creak or anything. The sage grimaced and cursed. “Come on, you stupid thing!” She gripped her staff so tight that her knuckles turned white. “Ish kek cool por goleq,” she said, trying the same ward breaking spell she’d used on the Bridge of Memories. After almost a minute and several recitals of the spell, Bishta dropped her arms to her sides and shouted.
“Damn you!” she cried and chucked her staff against the door. It pinged and recoiled harmlessly.
“That’s not going to work, I’m afraid,” said a pair of voices in unison behind her. Bishta flinched and yelped. Her cheeks burned. She didn’t like being surprised and didn’t appreciate anyone seeing her in such a state.
She whirled around to find the culprits. And gasped. Standing—no, hovering—before her were twin spirits. Wait, it was one spirit, but it had two heads. It was long and slender and glowed blue with long, flowing robes that fluttered around it like fog. And its heads…a snake, a cobra as large as her torso. The other, an eagle head, with a beak that could impale her. Two sets of eyes, unblinking, stared down at her.
Bishta licked her lips. “Who are you?”
They smiled, which was odd looking. “We are the guardian of this place, Aga-Kalar. Why have you come to this place? It is forgotten for a reason, fleshling.”
Bishta straightened. “I am Bishta the Black, Sage of the Dark. I seek entrance to your great library. I seek knowledge and guidance.”
Aga-Kalar cocked its heads. “What knowledge do you wish to obtain?”
“That isn’t your concern, spirit.” She said that last bit with a bite that the guardian no doubt picked up on. Probably unwise on her part, but Bishta didn’t like dealing with their kind. If they were angry, they didn’t show it. Instead, Aga-Kalar chuckled, a low rumble that made Bishta’s skin itch.
“All are welcome to find the knowledge they seek, if they can answer our riddle.”
Bishta rolled her eyes and stifled a groan. “Fine, spirit. Give me your best.”
Another chuckle that grated on her ears. Then they spoke together:
What is greater than gods,
more evil than the demons,
the poor have it,
the rich need it,
and if you eat it, you'll die?
The sage frowned at the spirit. “This is really the only way in?”
“The magics at work here can withstand any spell or incantation. The knowledge of the world lies within. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is dangerous. It must be safeguarded to the fullest measure. So, do you wish to answer the riddle?”
Bishta groaned. She had no choice. Riddles and wordplay and things of that nature weren’t her strong suit. She was smart, but these clever brainteasers weren’t something she cared to learn. Now, it came back to bite her.
Maybe it was simple, maybe it wasn’t, but Bishta didn’t have the time to play these games with a spirit. She had the answers within her, she just had to find them. It was time to consult her past lives, delve into the nearly-endless library of knowledge that dwelled deep within her.
She sat crossed-legged, took a deep breath to center herself, pounded her fists together, and closed her eyes. Another deep breath, then she concentrated and emptied her mind. And she was off.
Thousands of years of memories flooded her mind, thousands of years of knowledge and experience of the past Sages of the Dark, whose powers and memories Bishta now inherited, as it was for all sages. She’d sifted through this bank countless times, but there was so much there, so clear and vivid, but so vast.
She knew she could do this, though. She pictured the library and then it appeared amidst the memories. Bright, new, not covered in vines and crumbling from the ravages of time. There was Aga-Kalar, same as they stood before her now. Bishta settled into the memory. It was hard to tell how old it was, but it had to be centuries.
Her past life sought to enter the library as well, requesting passage, though a lot politer than she had. And moment of truth… The guardian spirit gave its riddle, and it was the same one! Ha, what luck! One would think that a spirit of knowledge would vary its riddles, but then, maybe so few found their way here that it didn’t matter? For how many could get through the barrier around Paralea anyway?
Once she heard the answer in her memory, Bishta opened her eyes, the memories melting away and back to reality. Aga-Kalar waited patiently, arms crossed, four eyes staring down at her. Bishta grabbed her staff and stood, using it as a crutch to help her up. Aga-Kalar looked at her expectantly.
“Do you have the answer?”
“Nothing,” she said with a wicked smile. “The answer is Nothing.”
Aga-Kalar stood frozen for a moment. She couldn’t tell if they were upset. They didn’t show any emotion otherwise until they smirked. “Very good.