Sometimes Annihilate wondered if he would ever be able to cope with the civilized world, and to understand its complex hierarchy. There was so much that made no sense to him, and so much that angered him that he occasionally doubted that he could ever be introduced into society as a functioning person. He seemed destined to walk the battle ridden path he’d chosen so long ago, but it wasn’t so bad. Sometimes he even marveled at the simplicity of his chosen field. If he was ever given the chance to go back and rethink his decision for revenge so long ago he suspected that he would not relinquish the thirst for battle, and would follow the same course.

Still, it wasn’t every day that he had a chance to relax and gawk at the origins of mortals or try to understand why they acted like they did. He also supposed that since he was trapped in this world it seemed that he might as well make the best of his predicament. Already he was growing stronger, but while his battle prowess increased – growing to its once great crescendo – his knowledge of the world itself had not. Naturally he had read maps and memorized the areas, but the people confused and bothered him. Their very existence was illogical, much like that of his own people, and so he now walked between the endless rows and shelves looking around, his black finger-nail running across the spine of so many books, casting crimson glances around the area.

There was really nothing of interest to him, but Annihilate continued to walk. The sound of his boots echoed within the empty halls, and the swish of his jacket lazily cascaded all around him. However, though he carried neither of his weapons it seemed as though there was a presence lurking nearby. The cold clammy hand of death seemed to waver in the shadows somewhere close to him, and though the true beast lurking was no demon its physical girth was incredible. Ransanken, his large lupine companion, crept within the Library near-by. Her auburn fur frizzled, and her eyes burning in the shadows like two volcanic spheres.

A woman was leading Anni through the library while Ransanken stalked them, and when they arrived near the section of books he was interest in she said, “Here you are.” Anni didn’t look at her. Instead he gazed at the books, scanning their spines, before he glanced at her and growled, “Go.” His cold tone told her more than his words, and she scurried off without hesitation. However, once she was gone from sight he glanced over to one of the shadows he nodded. A blur of brownish-red fur slipped away, for the beast wanted meat. Annihilate went to browsing the books. What he was actually looking for was as much a mystery to him as it was to anyone else. Yet, in seconds a muffled scream split the silence of the library, and he knew Ran had found her meal.

“Good girl,” he mumbled when he saw that the two smoldering crimson eyes returned to the shadows nearby. Anni knew the beast well already, and doubted there wouldn’t be any signs of a struggle or any remains. He could already hear her eating.

Minutes passed, the munching stopped, and Annihilate went through countless numbers of the books. Finally, as his anger reached its climax he began yelling loudly, and casting books in different directions. At this time of the evening there would be few present, and no other curator would come until morning thanks to Ran’s quick meal. That meant, as far as he knew, he had the Library to himself tonight – for better or for worse.

Braylla walked down the marble floors between the columns of books. She searched left and right for the arcane books. She had heard from the drunkards that she commonly associated with that the Parmamar Library had a large selection of arcane readings to choose from. It had books on the dark arts or holy magic; it had anything from nature spells to heavenly incantations. Even potion formulas and secrets to the mind were rumored to be found here.

Braylla, although interested in all forms of magic, wanted to study the fundamentals in more depth. She had spent the past several months roaming Arda’s country sides in search of every magical secret that she could find. She hoped to grasp a better understanding of what magic really was before proceeding to the different aspects of it. Indeed she often found people or things that had a specific type of magic that it wielded. Less than a month ago she had fought a dark and powerful mage knight by the name of Alba Meria. She had witnessed first hand the power that the dark arts possessed, and she already dreamed of one day attaining it.

However, first she needed proper training. This could take a while, considering that she refused help from everyone. She had so much pride that she even refused help finding the arcane section. She had made a promise to herself when she had left the orphanage that she would, “never ever again have ‘those who watch over us (nuns)’ in my life.” She hoped one day that she would be able to use magic to do as she willed it, but she was far from there.

Suddenly she did remember a spell that could help her. It would not immediately point her in the right direction, but it would speed up the time. She thrust her hands together in odd shapes while muttering words that origins came before even time. She finished releasing a small amount of magic from her body that went to form an eye behind her. “That should help me keep an eye out for it,” she said aloud with a snicker.

Now with her “Hindsight” she picked up her pace to a jog. She turned corner after corner searching for any familiar words. They must be around hear somewhere, she thought as she picked up the pace somewhere. Faster and faster she ran as frustration grew. Her third eye began to spin in circles as it tried to keep up with her movements. Bam! As she went to turn another corner something hard collided with her face, and she fell to the ground squirting blood from her nose still unsure of what had just attacked her.

Although he had not heard the girl enter personally, Ransanken picked her out as the door opened and the wind wafted inwards. The lupine twitched impatiently in the darkness, and Anni caught her gaze. He nodded for her to go, and she went. The beast cut through the maze of shelves, and slipped through the shadows where dark volumes lined the shelves. When she found the girl the beast stayed hidden, however. She did not confront the girl, but instead watched her with a conscious effort to remain in the shadows.

Pulsing crimson eyes stalked from the darkness, listening intently as the girl found her pace. The only other sound in the entire library was Anni’s thrashings. He loathed the immense books, for he found that attaining knowledge was best done through action – not study. However, Arda posed more of a problem to him than he liked to believe. His usual method of catch and release, trail and error would prove invaluable here. He couldn’t be so foolish as to leave himself open to mistakes that could very well get him killed. There were a lot of people who might try to kill him, and he wasn’t planning on loosing himself to an ambush in an area that he didn’t know.

Also, among other things, he wanted to find any information that might lead him to great treasure, but the vast quantity of books proved to hinder his plans more-so than expected. He didn’t need it, and he was tired of it. He’d already broken three shelves and emptied another two. Then, suddenly, his fun was interrupted. He heard the book hit something other than the stone floor, and then heard the clicking of Ran’s claws as she stalked from the shadows. “What in the…” he said quietly. His sudden switch from anger to surprise had nearly rendered him speechless, and he crept towards the fallen form slowly. When he saw it was another girl Anni went berserk.

Nearly pummeling the massive lupine with his fist, Anni roared uncontrollably. His voice was dark indeed. “I instructed you, long before we came, to make sure no one else was here! Were you not listening!?” his tone of his voice was vicious, and Ran lowered her head reverently. She made no actions to reply, but when Anni looked back to the girl he was suddenly stricken with even more surprise. On the floor next to her head a book lay open, the very same book that had collided with her nose, to a page with the drawing of a large diamond on it, which was positioned on the top of a large peak. He picked it up, examined in, and grinned feverishly as it told of the large gem atop the highest peak in the Errad Annon Mountains. He knew those names well, and he concluded that this was what he come for.

Then, in his casually sadistic tone he said, “Why thank you. I was looking for this.” He laughed out loud as he looked down at her. By then she probably would’ve been looking at him, and he would’ve continued by asking, “By the way, did that hurt?” By the sound of his voice it didn’t really matter what she said his sarcasm was quite apparent.

Through watered eyes Braylla made out the outline of a book lying next to her, her blood soaking its cover. Her nose was throbbing. She didn’t was pretty sure that she hadn’t broken it; it was, after all, one of the more sensitive parts of the body. It was supposed to hurt when something slammed into it.

Braylla looked up to a man walking toward her as her magical focused on a holloweeny approaching from behind. Panic stricken she grabbed her staff and raised it in front of herself. She watched cautiously as then man passed beside her meeting the halloweeny instead. He scolded her as if it were his pet dog.

Braylla watched with her magical eye because she was still in shock of what had just happened and had not gotten up yet. The man turned toward her looking at the book that had collided with her face. Its pages lay open to the picture of a large diamond. She did not bother to read what it said about the stone. Stones did not amuse her. They were worthless trinkets that foolish people valued.

Braylla lifted her hand up as the man approached thinking that he would help her up. She would not mind him helping her in this manner because it was not like a father helping his children, but more like a servant helping its master. What master would help his servant up from the ground? The man did not help her up, however. He merely walked past her and picked up the book as if to say, “You are my servant; it is not the other way around.”

As the man looked at the diamond he laughed thanks to Braylla for finding the book that he had been searching for. If it had been what you were searching for then why did you throw it at me, Braylla thought to herself curtly.

Braylla pushed herself up with her staff, while wiping the blood from her face with her free hand. “No, I’m fine. Thanks for asking,” she said with a defiant tone. She kept the magical eye focused one the halloweeny behind her as she addressed the rude man. “Why are you so interested in a stone,” she asked without losing her less-than-cheery tone, “I can go outside and pick a thousand different stones for you; why is that one so special?”

It was lucky Anni had not been pressing into her thoughts with his telepathy, for he was in a good mood, and hearing her sarcastic little comments would’ve caused his anger to swell up quickly. He didn’t like when people contradicted him or talked back to him – no one did, but most normal people didn’t go berserk from the slightest little notion. There was just that look in his eyes, though, that the slightest comment could throw him over the edge.

Anni grinned broadly, which exposed his filed teeth, and he bowed. Obvious to the pain he’d caused, and the defiant trail in her voice. It was like poison in wine. He liked it, especially at such a young age, but he said little. He opened the book up, and held it out for her to see the description again. “This stone is sacred,” he said excitedly, “And the bearer receives unimaginable power. Problem is, no one knows which mountain it’s on.” Closing the book, Anni put it beneath his cloak, and rounded her to approach Ran again. He walked with a strange sway in his step, but spoke all the while without fault, “Legends say it’s on the highest, but not one of those damned rocks looks bigger than the other.”

Although he was rather chipper today Anni wasn’t the type to normal give away secrets without a price. Most of the time his information cost someone a big bag of goodies, other times it cost them their life. But he supposed he wasn’t giving away great secrets – just about everyone in Arda knew the story, but he wondered just how many of them had the guts to go after it, and if they did he wondered just how many of them ever made it back. He supposed none of them had the will-power or endurance, otherwise they’d have returned. He, on the other hand, wasn’t swayed by the chance of dying. Instead, it was quite the contrary. He found it a challenge just thinking about it.

He gingerly handed over the book to the lupine, and growled a few words. She understood, finally raising her eyes to meet his own after the scolding he’d given her earlier. She took the book in her long lanky claws, and turned and left. The evening was shaping up to be rather odd, and he was grinning like madman, for his excitement just couldn’t be suppressed. Approaching her yet again Anni looked down at the girl, and asked, “Now what’s a four-year-old doing in this part of the Library? Shouldn’t you be in the children’s section?” His sarcasm was unmistakable, and he seemed to be trying to throw a few punches, as it were.

Braylla doubted the man’s story as she listened to him. Why would anyone put a stone containing power on top of a mountain? she asked herself, It is the most ridiculous hiding place I have ever heard of. If the maker wanted to hide it, he would simply burry it. What good is placing it somewhere where you can’t even retrieve it?

Braylla was now familiar with hearing wild stories about magical items and creatures. She had been chasing rumors ever since she left the orphanage. Very seldom did she actually find a rumor to be true. This was probably just another wild tale some hobo with a mental disease dreamed up in his head.

Braylla watched intently as the man crossed the room to his pet halloweeny and literally barked some commands to it. He had it the book and sent it off. Braylla was not the type of child to start wining about “You shouldn’t steal.” She had been known to knick a few things from time to time. When living as a wanderer it became second nature.

The cruel man then turned and addressed Braylla. He mocked her age laughingly. Her temper rose. She did not like being made fun of for her age. In her mind she was already a woman. “Could a baby do this,” she asked dropping her staff, raising her right hand straight out at her side and moving her left hand in front her. She moved the fingers on her left hand into some weird shape and chanted a curse. A blast of magical essence erupted from his right palm and smashed into a bookshelf knocking it and several others over. “I am no babe,” she finished with a feisty look on her face.

The contempt she showed was so refreshing. It was nice to see a spunky young girl who wasn’t afraid to show her attitude. He, however, saw through the façade. She just did not like being called a kid. He supposed he could not blame her because he would not like it either, but just the sight of her showing off was quite entertaining. In truth he would’ve liked to say his repertoire was extensive enough to show off a little, but he was a swords-man at heart, not a wizard, and though he knew some spells his general knowledge wasn’t anywhere near as extensive as others.

Anni couldn’t help but laugh, though. “Oh!” he said in a sarcastic tone, “I apologize for my trespasses against you young mistress. The clouds have parted and I now see the error of my ways. Never again will my foul tongue persecute another due to appearance, age, gender or color,” he went on and on in an almost cynical manner like a priest who had just come off an all-night drinking binge, “Let me be forgiven for my misdeeds, oh gods, or let the heavens damn me for eternity!” His voice rang out in an excited manner, and he waved his arms energetically for dramatization. He was an ass-hole. That was only way to describe his pretentious attitude and the swagger in his step.

“But you’ve misunderstood me,” he said, “I merely took note of your youthful vigor and your scrawny appearance. I was, in no way, trying to belittle your skill with the arcane arts. I’d say it far exceeds my own, young Mistress.” There was a slight infliction upon the word no that made it stand out in a sarcastic manner. His cat-like eyes scrutinizing over her form, trying to find out how far he could dig his nails under her skin.

Taking a few calculated steps, which sounded with the heavy step of his boots, he found a place diagonal to her that he found quite appealing. He’d put his hands behind his back, and his cloak hanged open revealing the insignia of the Brotherhood of Chaos branded into his bare chest. He wore the mark proudly, and its display added to his threatening appearance.

The man approached the girl mocking her. On and on he went with his elaborate fake apology. The heat began to rise in Braylla’s face. She wished she had shot him instead of the bookshelf. His arrogance was astounding.

He came close to Braylla and let his cloak fall open revealing some odd shaped battle wound. Braylla had to force herself not to toss her cookies down his chest. The man was just revolting in a way that was unfathomable.

“Well,” Braylla said turning her head, “If you are going to be a complete tool bag, then I am leaving. If I wanted people to mock me I would have joined a circus. Have a good day and may you die young with some gruesome disease that decays your body pre-death.”

Braylla’s hair whipped around as she began walk away. Her magical eye followed remaining focused on the pig behind her. She hoped he would say something like, “You don’t need to leave; I was just going,” because Braylla really wanted to check out the other books in this section.

Annihilate laughed even harder than he had been before with a pleasure he could not begin to recall feeling for a long time. Oh, he enjoyed this young girl’s presence immensely, and he honestly didn’t want the game to be over. Her naiveté was refreshing, and her youthful swagger was what he liked most he supposed. He had to remind himself that she was only a child, though, and not to overstep any boundaries.

“Too late,” he said loud enough and quick enough so that she barely got her back to him when he retorted, “It’s way too late for that. Death isn’t so bad though.” Anni slowly swayed as he followed her. Then, in a hauntingly sadistic voice said, “It’s actually quite nice.” Oh how he’d seen death – his own and the deaths of others. He’d been the subject to painful experiments that had left him disfigured and broken, and had made his demise an excruciating experience, but his rebirth and even more horrid one. Some of the things he’d seen were too terrible to imagine.

He’d stopped slowly, and his swarthy grin had turned into a cold and expressionless face. Anni stood there for a moment, his eyes wide, for the macabre had returned. Memories flooded his mind and he carefully watched as the real melded with his hellish nightmares. Slowly, and almost totally random, he said, “But don’t… take me too seriously.” His voice had changed to a softer and somber tone. He was trying to tune out the old thoughts, but more continued to flood his mind.

Falling off to the depths of his own thoughts made his body behave mechanically and lazily. He didn’t know that this would be the time he would find the key to the inner workings of his mind. The time when the darkness returned, and the painful melody of his past lives consumed him.