Chapter 44: The Book of Ozarius!!

**Nora’s POV**

I went near the window, still submerged in deep thoughts about dreams and visions of Ornith. The impossible questions ran through my mind. My eyes went to a small sculptor in a shape of a serpent protruding from the pillar of one of the bookshelves. All the bookshelves have these serpent sculptors protruding from their pillars at a particular height. But this particular sculptor captured my attention.

And the darkness slowly began to surround me as if I was in a trance. I was standing at the same place, the same library but the physical appearance of the place changed as if I was swayed away through the sands of time in some another century.

Decorative tables, covered with a silk cloth, were spread on the marvellous, beautifully designed carpets sweeping over the library. Huge curtains were entailing the whole windows and walls at some places. The now rusted, ill-maintained metallic sculptors were looking all shine. It seemed that this place held lots of importance in those days. A bunch of incensed candles were placed on each table, projecting the optimal illumination for reading purposes. I guess people in other times gave more importance to literature and learning. Few people in old-fashioned clothes were moving across the bookshelves; few were leaning on the tables browsing through the books. All of them were oblivious of my presence, as if I didn’t even exist for them.

A middle-aged man looking like a scholar entered the library through its huge gate. He had an aura of someone important, perhaps the literary scholar. As soon as he entered the room, he gestured others to leave the library. Everyone started to rush out fast, quickly following the orders of that scholar. After making sure everyone was out, he rushed towards the huge bookshelf and took out a brown book with the cover page of the Serpent god. He flipped his fingers adorned with the gold rings through its pages. Once again, he lifted his face upwards and looked in all directions to make sure no one was looking through. He removed a small pin-like structure from within the book.

He took that pin towards the small sculptor in a shape of a serpent protruding from the pillar of the bookshelf, the same sculptor which drew my attention towards it. He inserted the pin at the hole at the bottom of the rectangular box, at the sculpture’s base. It cracked open into a small vault with knobs as the code. He moved the knob two times right, one time left and then again right, and a sound clicked in it. And the vault opened in a snap with a sharp creaking sound. I tried to see what was inside the vault, but before I could see it, I got snapped out of the vision and came back in this time with me, Rorik and Lyon only present in the library.

I was in a daze for a few seconds, my mind still refusing to believe what I had seen. Lots of questions squirmed my mind as to what was that vision? Who was that man? What was inside the vault? But one thing I was sure of was this vision led me to something inside the vault. It wanted me to open the vault.

I gazed around the library to find similar books with brown covers. My eyes fell on the top-most shelf. Few of the big brown books over there matched the description.

“Lyon, can you find me a book with a brown cover page of Serpent God?” I asked him, gesturing towards that upper shelf.

“Nora? What happened?” Rorik inquired curiously as to why I asked for a particular book.

“It’s nothing; I will tell you afterwards,” I replied, looking over to Lyon.

In a few minutes, Lyon found that book. It was covered with dust and cobwebs. When I opened the book, a faint yellowish powder-coated on my fingers and the papers of the book were also breaking down, showing the signs of decomposition as it was not well-maintained.

I fumbled through the pages and took out the pin I searched for. Rorik was mystified, fuddling through his hair, still unsure of my actions. I took the pin to the sculptor.

On the base of this sculptor, there was a small rectangular metallic box. I tapped it with my knuckles, and it seemed hollow. I inserted the pin in the bottom of the hole of the sculptor, a creaking sound came, but it didn’t open into the vault. It was jammed close as it was not operated for centuries.

Rorik put in all of his strength to smack it open. It gave up to our tries and opened into a vault. I put on codes on the knobs, and the vault opened, with my nostrils flaring due to a peculiar unpleasant smell emancipating from it. It was making me uneasy difficult to breathe. I almost had a continuous bout of coughing. I don’t know what the smell was, but it affected me, not Rorik or Lyon.

The inside of the vault has some unusual markings, I suppose in some other language. There was a small book in it. The small book reeked of the scent of decomposition with its cover already turned yellowish-brown. A small thread wrapped it in the centre. Rorik loosened up the thread and moved his hands carefully through the pages, ensuring he didn’t damage the book any further. Book has a few brown spots throughout its pages. The pages were not smooth enough; their textured seemed more like a painted bed-sheet. Oh, I realized it was a parchment paper endowed with a beautiful symbolic ancient writing with the scented ink.

“The book of Ozarius!” Lyon’s eyes were widened with shock.

“The same book which has information about the portal to Azra?” I asked Rorik with a daze.

“Yes, it’s the same book. Ozarius, the brother of Ornith, wrote it. It was lost for three centuries; how do you know where to find it?” Rorik said without flipping his eyelids, still shocked.

I just shrugged my shoulders as if I didn’t know. I didn’t want to say anything in front of Lyon.

I advanced my trembling hand towards the book. I don’t know why but a slight brush of my fingers to it sent an electric wave of frenzy through my system as if I am zapped, and I lurched backwards with force and landed with a thud on the floor. The pain seeped through my left hand, which touched the book. The veins on my wrist and hand that touched the book started turning black in a brief moment. Luckily no one noticed my black veins as they were too shocked to see me stumbled on the floor.

Rorik ran towards me, kneeling on his knees, “Nora! What happened? Are you okay?”. He supported me with one hand on my back and the other under my knees. I quickly hid my black-veined hand under me before anyone noticed. I was too terrified of what had happened? It felt as if some force, some powers, repelled me with a jerk. What was it? Am I not supposed to touch that book? But if I was not supposed to touch it, why did I get the vision to find it?

Rorik made me sit on the chair, Lyon offered me some water. I sneakily checked on my hand to see if it was still black. My breathing returned to normal as I relieved, finding my hands normal, but the pain was still there.

We moved out of the library. Rorik took the book with him as it was written in another language; he needed time to decipher it. This time we passed through the hall, the same one upstairs of which I saw Ornith for the first time. I was yearning to go to that room again as the strange darkness covered me.

My feet started taking me towards the room of Ornith.