Chapter 59: Shadows of Forgotten Words

The crash of books hitting the stone floor echoed through the cluttered study, making Sophia jump, her heart slamming against her ribs.

She spun around, clutching the small scroll in her hands.

Victor let out a sharp scream, his lanky frame jerking back, his blonde hair flopping wildly as he stumbled against a shelf.

"It’s a ghost! A ghost has come for us!" He screamed.

"Calm down, boy! I’m no ghost," a deep voice called, laced with barely hidden amusement.

Victor’s eyes widened, his face paling. "A ghost’s taken Elder Eldric!" he yelped, pointing at the figure in the doorway.

The man laughed, a low, rumbling sound, as he began picking the books that had fallen from his arms.

"I’m not a ghost, Victor and no ghost has eaten me either." Eldric said.

"Really?" Victor asked in a tiny voice.

"Yes, really. You can touch me to see if I’m real or not." He told him.

Sophia’s gaze locked on him as he walked further into the room.

Eldric looked about mid-thirties, his broad shoulders filling a thick wool cloak dyed a deep gray, its hem frayed from years of wear. A single green feather earring, vibrant as the ones Joseph wore, dangled from his right earlobe, swaying as he moved.

His black hair was woven into two tight braids that trailed down his back, glinting faintly in the dim light filtering through the room’s cracked window. His dark brown eyes, sharp and intense, peered over a pair of wire-rimmed glasses that sat crooked on his nose.

A scruff of stubble shadowed his jaw, giving him a rugged edge, and a leather cord with a green bead hung around his neck, tucked into the cloak. His hands, calloused and ink-stained, gripped the books tightly, veins standing out against his tanned skin. Something about him tugged at Sophia’s memory. She was sure she had seen him before.

"Do I know you?" She asked him with a frown.

Eldric smirked. "Perhaps you saw me during that spectacle you had with Orion at the training grounds."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh."

Eldric set the books on the cluttered oak table, which groaned under piles of manuscripts, inkwells, and scattered quills. The study was a mess with books and scrolls spilled across the stone floor, some in teetering stacks, others splayed open with curling pages.

Sagging shelves lined the walls, stuffed with leather tomes and parchment rolls tied with frayed cords. A tattered curtain hung over the window, letting in slivers of gray light that danced with dust motes. A bronze candelabra, its three candles unlit, sat amid the chaos, wax hardened in drips. The air smelled of ink, mildew, and old secrets.

"Now, to what do I owe this visit?" Eldric asked, his voice calm but commanding as he adjusted his glasses.

Victor straightened, his face flushing as he fumbled for the parchment in his belt. "Sir, Alpha Orion’s orders," he said, holding it out, his tone respectful. "Sophia’s to help out."

Eldric took the parchment, his eyes scanning it quickly. He handed it back, his gaze shifting to Sophia, intense and unyielding. "You just read that scroll?" he asked, pointing to the parchment in her hands.

Sophia nodded, her fingers tightening on the scroll, its small size snug in her palm. "Um...yes?"

Eldric stepped closer, his braids swaying, the green feather catching the light. "Really?" He asked her.

"Yes."

"That’s weird."

"How so?"

"How do you know the language?" He asked her, ignoring her question.

Sophia hesitated, her brow furrowing. "I’m... not sure. It’s...it’s just familiar, like I’ve seen it before, but I can’t explain it. I can interpret it a bit, though."

Eldric’s eyes narrowed, his glasses slipping slightly. "Is there more to it? What else does it say?"

Sophia looked down at the scroll, its script

☽ᛚᚢᚾ’ᚹᛖᚦ ᚾᛟᛋ ᚨᛞᛟᚱ’ᛖᚦ ᛖᛚᚨ ☾ᚺᛖᚱ ᚱᛖᛁᚾ ᛁᛋ ᛖᛏᛖᚱᚾᚨᛚ ☽ᛋᚺᛖ ᚹᚨᛏᚲᚺᛖᛋ ᛟᚹᛖᚱ ᚢᛋ ☾ᛒᛟᚺ ᛏᛟ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛚᛁᚷᚺᛏ ☽ᛖᛚᚨ ᚱᛖᚷ’ᛖᚦ ᚾᛟᛋ ᚲᛟᚱ’ᚨᚦ

prickling her mind. She traced the rune-like letters, mixed with crescent moons and star-like dots, her thoughts slow and halting. "I can try." She told him.

"That’s what I want you to do. Try." He told her.

She swallowed nervously and gave him a nod as she looked back at the script, trying to decipher more from it but then she realised there was something wrong with it.

"It doesn’t make sense," she said to him, her brows etched in confusion.

Eldric frowned. "I don’t understand."

"There is a phrase about a woman...it says, ’we worship her’... then it jumps to ’they came’... then something else, just disjointed words. It’s all scattered, like it’s not meant to connect."

Eldric nodded, his expression unreadable, his fingers brushing the green bead at his neck. "Interesting," he murmured. "And you are sure about that?"

"I am." Sophia told him. "There’s something wrong with the text, like it was written in a hurry or something. I can’t really place it. And the only thing I can gather from this is ’we worship her’ and that’s just from being able to put different words together, if it’s written in a different way, it could mean something else but the other words..." she paused when she noticed the expression on Eldric’s face.

He looked stunned by her words and it made her uncomfortable. She knew she was blabbing a lot which could make people tired.

"I’m sorry for speaking too much." She told him.

Eldric ignored her words. "Will you be willing to work with me?" He asked her.

"Pardon?"

"I’m sure I’m not speaking another language. Will you be willing to work with me in the library?"

"Will I be able to earn money?" She asked him.

Eldric was taken aback by her words. "Earn money?" He asked her.

"Yes. Before coming here, I destroyed many things and I want to be able to contribute to building the structures back. I want to reduce the burden I’ve placed on those people I inconvenienced." She told him.

Eldric turned to Victor who shook his head like he didn’t understand what was going on.

"This is the only place I’ve not wrecked havoc." Sophia told Eldric. "I almost set the forge on fire due to my clumsiness. And the chicken coop was destroyed even after I failed to get the eggs. There’s more so I want to be able to contribute to fix those structures."

"And you think the people in charge would want your money?" Eldric asked her.

"Not really. And I’ve apologised but I’ll go back again because frankly speaking, no one wants a nuisance and I know how much of a nuisance I was. I just...I don’t want it to seem like I’m not grateful, that I am not grateful for the chance they gave me but instead I fumbled it and ran away."

Eldric observed her but gave a nod. "If you say so. Just know that if you want to earn money then just translating this language wouldn’t be enough. You’d have to work with the other scholars, the librarians too. And just so you know, we have the least workload and have the lowest pay."

"It doesn’t matter." She told him with a bright smile.

This way she will not only be able to cover for some of the cost of the things she destroyed but will also be able to pay Ronan back for his help.

"Alright then." Eldric said as he turned to Victor. "Sophia’s working with me now. Let Orion know."

"Yes, sir," he said. He glanced at Sophia, his eyes wide. "Goodbye, Sophia. Good luck." He turned, his boots scuffing the floor, and left the room, the door clicking shut behind him.

Sophia clutched the scroll, her torn dress catching on the table’s edge. "Can I ask a question?" Sophia asked Eldric.

"I heard you were a curious thing. Ask away." He told her.

"Where did you get this language?" she asked.

Eldric leaned against the table, his cloak brushing a pile of scrolls. "From an altar in the shrine," he said. "We’ve been trying to decipher it for years. That’s why this office is such a mess, too many mysteries, not enough answers."

"The shrine outside the compound?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Will I get to see it? The writings I mean. I’ve been to the shrine but I never noticed there was a writing on the altar."

"You are working with me so obviously you will get to see it." He told her.

"Thank you." She told him with a smile.

"There’s no need to thank me. You and I will be working closely from now on." He told her. "I just have one question though."

"What is it?"

"We’ve tried for years to get something that could explain what this language is and the only conclusion we came to was that it was a lost language. An ancient language. Even Tobias with all his resources couldn’t get something that could explain what was written or what this language is." He told her.

"Okay?" Sophia asked him because she didn’t hear the question in those words although she had an inkling what he was going to ask.

"And here you are, we found you on this same altar where this script came from. And I also know you are suffering from a condition called amnesia unless that has been resolved?" He asked her, a calculating glint in his eyes.

"No." She swallowed and then spoke up, deciding to stop the roundabout words. "You want to know how I know this language right?" She asked him. "You never believed me when I told you it was familiar."

"That’s not enough reason for me."