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Chapter 2
Axel lay awake in bed. Dinner had been a quiet business, with scraping spoons and forks. He had read for the rest of the time, and now he was supposed to be sleeping. But he wasn’t.
Suddenly, Axel felt a rustling at his sleeve! He jerked up, and grabbed at…a strip of old parchment. As he looked, words started appearing in the moonlight.
‘Human. Time is short. The bane of knowledge is free. And it wants revenge. Your ancestors used to be great. I just hope you are to. Come to the Mitchell library. More will be explained later. What are you doing, just lying there? Get up! The world and all in it are depending on you!’
Axel sat in the moonlight, contemplating his decisions.
‘Well, if this is true, and I don’t go, then we’ll all die apparently,’ he muttered. ‘If it’s false, and I go, then what is there to lose?’ Axel jumped out of bed, and ran to the window, and threw it open. He climbed onto the gutter, and slid down. Soon, he was at the ground, and he was running toward something that would change his life. Forever. He knew the path to the library well, and he knew the quickest shortcuts there. Soon, he was at the library.
It looked different in the dark. The Mitchell library cast a deep shadow over everything around it. a shadow so deep, it seemed to be a dark void.
Axel sneaked up the stairs, and came to the door. He knew it must be locked, but he tried it anyway. Instead of opening, the door melted away into nothing. He stepped through into the Mitchell Vestibule, and the door reappeared, putting him into complete darkness. Or almost complete.
A light was coming from the reading room, through the archway. Voices also came through; voices he didn’t understand. Then suddenly, the voices snapped into focus, and he could hear what they said.
‘E won’t come,’ a deep male voice said. ‘The big uman brute. All of em are like at. Brainless.’
‘Oh, he will Balg,’ said a higher male voice. ‘we’ve been sending him to many mind warps for him to not come.
‘I agree with Niggles,’ said a female voice, ‘the boy will come. In fact, he’s here now. Axel, come down please.’
Axel stepped into the light, and slowly walked past the bookshelves to the stairway. The rail cast a shadow that made Axel feel like he was in bars. Then, he looked toward the light, and his jaw dropped so far it could have fitted an adult human.
The light he had seen had come from a candle in what looked like a human’s skull. But that wasn’t what made Axel gape. There were three figures on the table…the ones that had been talking.
They were small, and bent over. Their hands were small, but their fingers and arms were long and thin. One of the little creatures had a long red beard, straight red hair, and bushy eyebrows. Another had a very droopy, long moustache, droopy, drawn eyes, and a hat with a bobble on the top the size of his head. The final one had blue eyes, a pink dress, and long, curly hair.
‘Well, what you doing, boy?’ the red head said, his voice indicating he was Balg. ‘The world is at stake, and oe stand ere looking like the idiot you are. Come on en, the Bane of knowledge is still out ere! Get going!’ Then, to the one in the pink dress, ‘e’s stupider an e looks, Kelk. Oe sure this is e one? I say we kill im.’ At that, Axel fainted.
Axel lay awake in bed. Dinner had been a quiet business, with scraping spoons and forks. He had read for the rest of the time, and now he was supposed to be sleeping. But he wasn’t.
Suddenly, Axel felt a rustling at his sleeve! He jerked up, and grabbed at…a strip of old parchment. As he looked, words started appearing in the moonlight.
‘Human. Time is short. The bane of knowledge is free. And it wants revenge. Your ancestors used to be great. I just hope you are to. Come to the Mitchell library. More will be explained later. What are you doing, just lying there? Get up! The world and all in it are depending on you!’
Axel sat in the moonlight, contemplating his decisions.
‘Well, if this is true, and I don’t go, then we’ll all die apparently,’ he muttered. ‘If it’s false, and I go, then what is there to lose?’ Axel jumped out of bed, and ran to the window, and threw it open. He climbed onto the gutter, and slid down. Soon, he was at the ground, and he was running toward something that would change his life. Forever. He knew the path to the library well, and he knew the quickest shortcuts there. Soon, he was at the library.
It looked different in the dark. The Mitchell library cast a deep shadow over everything around it. a shadow so deep, it seemed to be a dark void.
Axel sneaked up the stairs, and came to the door. He knew it must be locked, but he tried it anyway. Instead of opening, the door melted away into nothing. He stepped through into the Mitchell Vestibule, and the door reappeared, putting him into complete darkness. Or almost complete.
A light was coming from the reading room, through the archway. Voices also came through; voices he didn’t understand. Then suddenly, the voices snapped into focus, and he could hear what they said.
‘E won’t come,’ a deep male voice said. ‘The big uman brute. All of em are like at. Brainless.’
‘Oh, he will Balg,’ said a higher male voice. ‘we’ve been sending him to many mind warps for him to not come.
‘I agree with Niggles,’ said a female voice, ‘the boy will come. In fact, he’s here now. Axel, come down please.’
Axel stepped into the light, and slowly walked past the bookshelves to the stairway. The rail cast a shadow that made Axel feel like he was in bars. Then, he looked toward the light, and his jaw dropped so far it could have fitted an adult human.
The light he had seen had come from a candle in what looked like a human’s skull. But that wasn’t what made Axel gape. There were three figures on the table…the ones that had been talking.
They were small, and bent over. Their hands were small, but their fingers and arms were long and thin. One of the little creatures had a long red beard, straight red hair, and bushy eyebrows. Another had a very droopy, long moustache, droopy, drawn eyes, and a hat with a bobble on the top the size of his head. The final one had blue eyes, a pink dress, and long, curly hair.
‘Well, what you doing, boy?’ the red head said, his voice indicating he was Balg. ‘The world is at stake, and oe stand ere looking like the idiot you are. Come on en, the Bane of knowledge is still out ere! Get going!’ Then, to the one in the pink dress, ‘e’s stupider an e looks, Kelk. Oe sure this is e one? I say we kill im.’ At that, Axel fainted.