A loose Page

The autumn wind filled the ferry's sail and made a mess of Melraka’s dark, wavy hair. She pulled her pointed, wide-brimmed hat deeper and closed her brown cloak closer around her robe, the robe of an alumnus of Halonnes University. She looked back to the shore. The city of Halonnes’ bright spires and towers rose into the sky, supported by elegant arcs and buttresses. Melraka looked ahead, a completely different sight; in the waves of the ocean several miles off the coast, there stood the Vault’s fortress-island. Its dark granite walls encircled the citadels and garrisons, all standing on rocky ground raised with powerful magics from the ocean floor just for this purpose. The Vault was the biggest and most important repository of books, scrolls, tablets, and powerful magical artefacts west of the salt river. Even as a hazy spot seen from the mainland, it was awe inspiring and as the ferry neared the walls, its magnitude became only more apparent.

Sitting next to crates full of food, water, paper and magic ingredients, Melraka waited for the short trip to end. She thought she would spend the journey over doing her own reading – Travel reports of a trailblazer by Valentine of Hozorcia – but instead, she watched the dark granite fortifications slowly crawl closer from the horizon, like blocks of dark and grim determination set on the ocean ground by a purposeful hand, sending a challenge to both, armies and the elements themselves. You think yourselves strong enough to fell us? Come and try!

The island itself had the shape of an equilateral triangle, three miles on each side, and at the corner pointing directly at Halonnes, the ship arrived in a small harbour. It had only one inlet, barely wide enough for a small ship, yet on the inside it had many similar small ships on a multitude of docks. Even if an armada could ever breach the closed harbour gates, only one small vessel at a time could enter. Melraka and the other passengers stepped off the boat and onto a plaza supposedly built for all sorts of purposes, but was in no way impressive, if one knew the city of Halonnes and its campus. Most buildings were imposing by their sheer bulk; all the stones were simple, hard-edged blocks with no ornaments or decoration. No mortar was used, they remained atop another through their weight of several tons each and their perfect cut, leaving no space between them, not even a hair would fit.

Staff and bag in hand and with quick step, Melraka followed the signs to the central register, accompanied by two other passengers from the ferry, a young woman of especially short and thin stature wearing the robes of a student of the university, the same blue, white and green as Melraka’s but lacking the silver trim; she also wore a stiff pointed, brimless hat and a handkerchief around her neck, both adorned with the same green eye symbol. Her reddish-blonde hair was tied into two pigtails with colourful ribbons, making her head look like a toy ball bursting with energy and fittingly, she skipped happily although not very fast, taking time to look around the place as she went. The second person was a man, not very tall but clean cut and well kempt in appearance, his greying and thinning hair in an orderly cut along with his beard. He wore robes of a city official, but with a quick glance Melraka could see the magically glowing lines of the university's seal on his right hand, as it was on hers too. His staff was straight and cleanly carved, not like the naturally curving one she herself used. He seemed to remain for a short moment at almost every building he came by, inspecting the stone and work of each as if assessing their true strength. Melraka did not come to admire architecture, she had a job to do and so she hastened her step.

The central register wasn’t far; it was a building smaller than most, only three stories in total, and its construction looked out of place, but welcoming, with red brickwork and wooden framing. To think the entire building was just one register, it impressed Melraka. The fifty feet of drawers full of index cards at her own workplace in the University's student library seemed tiny and insignificant now.

The building was welcoming from the inside too; the walls were decorated with floral patterns and the furniture was cushioned and elegant. In the large entrance room, behind a desk well-made but not much adorned, sat a face Melraka knew: Benedict, a former co-student of hers. How was it he got a position at the Vault but she didn’t? She wasn’t angry, just surprised. She never even knew he had been shooting for a position within the university. He had always been unexceptional, remaining silent, by himself and not very impressive in appearance, but friendly and nice to all.

“Ah, Melarka, isn’t it? We graduated together.”

“Yes we did, but just call me Mel.” She pulled a large leather envelope from her bag and let the folio-sized tome slam on the reception desk. “I’m here to replace a missing page of a printed book.” She opened the tome on the missing page. “I’ll need to see the original of Advanced mechanics of interior transmutation by Carolus-Turrain of Calestre.”

Benedicted hummed, wrote something down on a form and then handed it to her to fillin her own details. When all was done, he smiled at her. “I'll enter it into the task list. Please take a seat in the waiting room.” He beckoned to a door to his right. As she headed for the door, she could hear him read her name to himself as if seeing a foreign word for the first time.

The waiting room's walls were lined with paintings, depicting scenes of glory and victory of the university’s armed forces, political dignitaries received by the dean, and important inventions or discoveries made by alumni of the university. Mel let her attention wander through the scenes and vistas on the wall for a while, but eventually she sat down to finally get ahead in her reading. Before she could truly immerse herself in Valentine’s travels, the other two passengers arrived in the room. While the man quickly took place, the girl remained standing and seemed to prepare to say something.

“Hello, I am Tamaris, But you can call me Tammy! I am here today to read a very special book, I'm so honoured to be allowed in here!”

Mel didn’t exactly understand the girl’s motivation behind that, but she answered with a “Hello.” and turned back to her book, the man however answered the girl in a courteous tone. “Nice to meet you, Tammy, my name is Reginault.”

“Why are you here, Monsieur Reginault, if I may ask?”

“Of course, you may.” Reginault chuckled. He seemed to have been created for this girl, a pole of serenity to her enthusiasm. “I am an architect of the city, here to access the original records of the earliest land surveys the university did on the area where the city now stands. I believe some important details to be lost in later transcriptions that could hint to the cause of a problem we’re currently facing.”

The girl’s amazement was audible before she even spoke. “That is so interesting! Oh, I hope I get to do something important and honourable as you when I graduate!”

“If you keep your mind focussed, I am sure you’ll make it, Mademoiselle.”

Tamaris smiled and giggled. Mel decided she wouldn’t get any reading done with this much noise in the room and clapped her book shut. Just then the girl turned to her and addressed her too.

“And you, what is your name?” Her enthusiastic mood did not seem to be dampened in the least.

Mel sighed. This was unnecessary, but friends of hers had said that she needs to be more friendly to friendly people. “Melraka, but people just call me Mel. I’m here to get a book repaired. I work for the library and need access to the handwritten original to this.” She pulled a large folio tome in a leather envelope from her bag and showed it to the girl.

“Oooooh! Library business. There is always so much to be found in libraries, I love them.” Mel had to admit that the girl had something in common with her there. Before Mel could finish her thought, Tamaris went on prattling. “I came here in hope to broaden my horizon and gain the admiration and respect of my fellow students, thanks to the guidance of the Greene's foresight!” She pointed to her hat. “We are a group of select individuals with ambition and youth, who help each other in focussing our inner energy towards what is important and fruitful!” Tamaris finished with a proud smile.

“I wish you luck.” Mel tried not to dash the student’s hopes.

“Thank you! That’s so nice of you! Say, are you from Halonnes?”

This was a question Melraka heard quite often, her foreign-sounding name, her distinctively shaped eyes, her flat nose and the soft, round shape of her face stood out among the people of Halonnes. She had gotten these traits from her father, a trader from far to the west who fell in love with her mother during a stay at the trading post here in Halonnes which she managed. From her mother, Mel had gotten her caramel-brown eyes and her dark brown hair, framing her face in long waves.

“Yes I am, but my father isn’t.”

“Ooh I hope I have not offended with that remark. I thought maybe you had interesting sights to report from far beyond Ackarom!”

She did indeed live three years in that far off land, where a benevolent scholar-emperor ruled absolute, but she barely remembered that time, she was eight years old when she left, yet she still remembered the spicy cuisine. “No, you did not offend.” Mel never really understood the fuss people make about personal slights or their own image, and so she never understood people being “offended” by average ignorance.

“Oh good then, I hope we can continue to get along.” The girl turned back to Reginault to pelt him with more questions, all of which he seemed happy to answer. The two of them talked about all the different aspects of an architect’s job, how he used his magic to cut, lift and shape stone blocks and how important a university with a faculty of architecture was for the growth and stability of a city. The girl seemed to absorb each of his words with bright eyes. It was after a lengthy explanation of how an architect’s job interlinks with a city planner’s that the door to the waiting room open and Benedict poked his head in.

“Mel-… I mean,” he looked to a slip of paper. “...Mademoiselle Melraka-Tassepante, the book you requested has been brought to the reading room.” Mel jumped up, finally she could fulfil her task! She was almost at the door when a sound like a rhythm of metallic clanging came from outside, then shouts and panicked running started. An alarm had been sounded.