Phantom: Chainfire Trilogy Part 2

"What I'm trying to say," Zedd finally said, "is that I need your help, and I want you to know what you both mean to me — that I do not now reveal these things lightly or capriciously. All my life I've kept secrets because they had to be kept. It's not the easiest thing to do, but that's just the way it was. Things have changed, though, and I can no longer keep certain knowledge to myself. There is so much more involved now than there ever was before."

Nicci nodded and turned her full attention to the wizard. "I understand. I'll do what I can to be worthy of your trust."

Zedd pursed his lips. "That book, The Book of Inversion and Duplex, was hidden in a place no one but me knows exists. It was in the catacombs beneath the Keep."

Nicci shared a look with Cara. "Zedd," she asked, "are you saying that there are bones beneath the Keep? And there are books there as well?"

Zedd nodded. "A lot of books. That was where I found The Book of Inversion and Duplex."

He took a few steps away to stare at the windows flickering with light from the storm beyond the containment field. "No one that I'm aware of ever knew the place of the bones was down there. I found it when I was a boy. I knew that no other person had been in there for ages. Not a single footprint had marred the dust on the floors in thousands of years. I was the first to make a mark in that dust of ages. I did not need to be told the significance of that fact.

"As a boy it rather frightened me to find those ancient catacombs. I was already spooked because I was trying to find a way to sneak back into the Keep. When I found the catacombs I knew instinctively that it would not be hidden as it was unless there was a good reason, so, as much as I wanted to at times, I never told anyone about it. I almost felt as if the place had allowed me entry, but in return required my silence. I not only took my attitude of responsibility seriously, I felt genuinely protective of such an undiscovered place. It contained, after all, the remains of a great many people — perhaps even my own ancestors. I knew that there were always those who would exploit such a find and I didn't want that to happen to a place so clearly held in sacred regard by those who had hidden it.

"Added to that, I felt rather guilty for having disturbed such a burial place for the feeble reason of trying to sneak back in to avoid getting in trouble for having gone out without permission in the first place. I had slipped out of the Keep to go to the market down in Aydindril to look at all the exciting baubles being hawked there. It seemed so much more fascinating than the dry studies to which I was supposed to be devoting my time.

"After my chance discovery, I quietly asked veiled questions and found that not even the old wizards I knew had any knowledge of the place beneath the Keep. Over time, I came to realize that such a place was not even suspected, much less rumored to exist.

"As a boy, I had a lot of studies that took up nearly all my time. Back then, there were many people living in the Keep, and with my assignments I never had a chance to spend — in total — more than a couple of hours down there. I quickly found that there were many of the same books that we had up in the Keep, so, as a boy, I came to believe that it wasn't as important a find as I had at first believed it to be."

He smiled distantly. "I fancied myself a great explorer, discovering ancient treasures. This treasure was mostly bones and books. There were endless dry books up here in the Keep that I had to study, so yet more books wasn't exactly as exciting as thoughts of constructed spells encased in amber, or jewel-encrusted curses. But there was none of that down there. Just crumbling bones and old books.

"There are rooms upon rooms down in the catacombs filled with dusty old books. I never had much time to explore those rooms. I can't even begin to guess at the numbers of books hidden down there. I never had time to do more than look at a small sampling. As I said, many I'd seen before up in the Keep and of the ones I hadn't, at such a young age, none of them impressed me enough to remember, except a few, such as The Book of Inversion and Duplex.

"When I grew up I fell in love with the most wonderful woman and soon she was my wife. She gave birth to the other light in my life, a daughter — who grew up to be Richard's mother. As a young wizard working at the Keep, there was always more to do than there were hours in the day. There was no time to spend down among old bones.