The Gathandrian Trilogy 02 - Hallsfoots Battle

uniqueness lies your salvation, and ours , also.
    As she finished speaking, he realised she’d left his mind, had withdrawn in order to allow him his privacy, not that he was sure what to do with it.
    “And that is the ‘something new’ you talk about? You think I must find my own way through this period of preparation in order to be ready to face Duncan Gelahn when he attacks us at last?”
    She nodded and spoke aloud once more. “Yes, that is exactly what I mean. And, if you wish to take the first step on that pathway, perhaps you should start in the Gathandrian Library. Though you do not credit it, this is where your mind has truly been directing you, is it not? You are, after all, a scribe. That is your gifting. You are a carver of words, just as my gifting is to be a sculptor. Both of us create beauty and order where there is none. Come, I will show the way you must go.”
    At the door to the street, she touched his head with her fingers and, at once, the scribe knew the way to his destination. Before she could withdraw her hand, he took it.
    “Will you go with me?” he asked her. “I would value your company.”
    Iffenia shook her head, taking her hand away quickly. “I cannot, though your invitation touches me, Simon Hartstongue. Up until now, you have had many Gathandrian companions with you. For this section of your path, you must travel only with those the Spirit has commanded to be with you. But know this: the minds of all who live here are with you, even when you are alone.”
    Then she stepped back inside her home and was gone.

    Duncan Gelahn
    One moment the mind-executioner is luxuriating in Tregannon’s master bedroom and smiling at the thought of the dispossessed Lammas Lands’ lord. The mountain dogs lie quiet. The next moment, a shiver of red rolls over and through his mind and his eyes are forced shut. Impressions of books, a voice he knows too well from his past, and two brothers, one murderous, fill his mind and, when he opens his eyes at last, he understands he is no longer in Ralph’s castle.
    This moment is truly his.
    For reasons Duncan cannot fully understand, but which he suspects must be to do with the scribe, he is back in the great Library of Gathandria. Not the hidden dungeon the Elders kept him in for so long, with its torment of books and legends, but the Library itself. Something has begun, who knows how, and he welcomes it. He wants to close his eyes to savour the sensations, but he is afraid to miss anything of what he has ached for. Instead, he breathes in the air, its hint of learning and dust, excitements and dreams filling him until he could almost be one with the great treasure house itself.
    Almost, but not truly.
    Because, even before he has begun to plunge himself into the stories and histories around him, the Spirit of the Library has caught and held his mind.
    You are no longer permitted to feed from me here.
    Nor anywhere, Duncan replies, his thoughts chasing after the jewels of words already vanishing. Why, then, am I here?
    He receives no reply, but the Library still holds him captive. This is power beyond that he’d enjoyed with the help of the mind-cane. Questions crowd his tongue, but he knows that speaking them aloud will do him no good. Someone, or something, has taken him from the Lammas Lands and brought him to the heart of Gathandria. Is it the contact he has here that he still dare not name? But how? It should not be possible. Neither is this simply a vision of his homeland; what he can see and smell and touch is real. He is here in truth, but unable to enjoy the benefits. He does not know whether this fact is an unexpected blessing for his exile’s life or a secret torment that will play him later.
    If only the mountain dogs were with him, he would tear through the Library’s adamant grasp and open the shining books his fingers long to hold. Even without the cane, he would be strong enough to do that, oh yes. Then the power he seeks would be his and the elders would be no more. This is the mind-executioner’s dream and this is what he strives towards. He is the true heir of Gathandria. He is the one who will save them.
    If the Library lets him go, there will be no need for the heat and sweat of battle to bring these people to their knees. He could have all his desire now.
    But the dogs are not here, and the power that has brought him home is stronger than he. Even though he struggles with all of his mind to free himself, Duncan can do nothing