Author’s Note:

Just a two things I want to mention. Firstly, this piece of writing contains violence, death, and a whole lot of creepy things that you wouldn’t want to see in real life. Maybe not for the squeamish.
Secondly, in case you’re one of the people who read each section one at a time, I’ve added new information to the earlier sections that (I think) are most helpful for the rest of the book, and a whole new first chapter and prologue, so you’ll probably have to re-read the story. I apologise for the inconvenience. I know how long it is, but still, it will be helpful. Ignore these notes at your own peril.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Prologue
 
Long ago, in the years many centuries old, the Inarin came. They overwhelmed the humans in a matter of days, killing, plundering, destroying. No one knew why they came. No one knew what their goal was, short of destroying all life on the planet. But the attack opened another door to human mind, a door that had been closed for centuries. The ravenous, powerful, all-consuming urge to survive. To live. To fight. And to destroy the invaders who so carelessly sent warships and probes to destroy and obliterate the planet’s surface, whose powers were so out of reach from the human’s capabilities.
 
At first, the humans tried defence. They built huge engines that would project giant forcefields around their major cities, and gathered all the humans they could into them. Underneath that layer, there was a mammoth-like steel dome, enforced with titanium. The cities seemed impenetrable. Until the probes came. Humanoid mechs as big as Yaegers in the movie Pacific Rim, came down from those implacably powerful warships. They smashed away at the shields. And everything runs out of energy eventually. With fists bigger than houses, they destroyed the steel dome like it was just paper. Millions of humans died in those attacks.
 
So the humans hid. They dug down, deep under the ground, where the earth grew hot, and lava spilled from cracks in the crust around the earth’s core. They slowly gathered enough materials from the now destroyed cities to build 6 giant underground cities. Enroth, Tinkarn, Belon, Vinglen, Rethiroth, and Yewey. They made long roads connecting all to all, and planned the day when they would explode from the ground like hornets, and take back the planet that they so dearly craved. And they would have revenge.
 
Chapter 1
 
Anthony was your normal kind of 30-year-old man. He had average features, dark brown hair, and a big jacket. He was clean shaven, and his hair was messy and always sticking up at the back. So he didn’t understand at all, why he was being called over to the council chambers! He hadn’t done anything wrong, as far as he knew. He wasn’t like the other people who disobeyed the laws all the time. He hadn’t broken the law at all, ever in his life.
 
‘Come on!’ Anthony came back to earth. The woman stood, holding her powerful plasma gun, in her Vinglen council badge stuck on the right side of her chest, black armour gleaming. Anthony wiped sweat off his face, and stood up from his armchair. He had been looking forward to his day off. Now, he didn’t know what was in store for him. The woman beckoned. Anthony followed.
 
They navigated their way through the labyrinthine passages of the city of Vinglen. Anyone who hadn’t ever been to an underground city, would probably have been amazed by the huge size of the place, the metal that was plated everywhere, and the architecture that must have been put into this sort of ridiculously huge complex. But Anthony was used to his magnificent surroundings, and all he was thinking about was why he was called to the council.
 
Finally, Anthony thought, they came to the imposing metal doors that stood at the end of a hallway. Plated with platinum, the huge door stood like a monument of the council’s power. The giant red worlds, VINGLEN COUNCIL, were imprinted on the door, blazing with inner light. 
‘Go in,’ the woman said. Then, after a pause, ‘Good luck.’ Anthony started, then, nodded his head in thanks, and knocked. After a short pause, a loud man’s voice boomed out, saying, ‘Come in!’ Anthony pushed the doors open, and stepped into a large room.
 
It was set up like an olden day judge court. The council members sat high up, on a large wooden semicircle. The entire place smelled like wood, and despair. The walls glowed faintly red, and there were more seats rowed on stairs leading down to the bottom of the room. Anthony stepped down, slowly, footsteps echoing, and went to a bench at the bottom of the room. He looked up at the council members.
 
There were 7 of them. 4 men, and 3 women. They all wore red suits, and council member badges were printed on their chests. The oldest one was right in the centre. He had white hair, and a ruddy face wrinkled with age. 
‘You are wondering about why you were summoned, am I correct?’ he asked. His badge marked him as Councillor Quinn. 
‘Ye-yes,’ Anthony said. Then, before he could stop himself, he blurted out, ‘I haven’t done anything against the law! I’m a good citizen.’ Councillor Quinn’s tight mouth tightened even further. 
‘It isn’t about your law keeping,’ a woman to Quinn’s left said. She had tight skin around her face like a mask, and her eyes peered out from the skeletal like appearance. Her badge marked her as Councillor Nirren. ‘It’s about your scavenging duties.’ Anthony’s face fell.
 
Scavenging was his job. It was the job that most people had, but it was one of the most vital jobs you could have. You were set to find materials that the underground cities needed, and you had to find them, or the city would die. Scavengers had to be fast, because they went out on the surface. And on the surface, the Inarin warships still patrolled, flying high above the clouds, ready to descend and finish what they had started hundreds of years ago. Destroy humanity. And he hadn’t been doing that well in his job. The man on Councillor Quinn’s right spoke next.
 
‘You have not returned with any of the important materials that we set for you to scavenge,’ he said. He was probably the youngest out of all of the councillors, and the tallest and strongest. His badge said he was Councillor Edwards. ‘As I recall, you have failed to gather rubidium, glass vials, bronze, titanium, gold dust, or coal.’ Anthony’s face fell further. He knew he hadn’t found some of the materials he had been set, but he hadn’t kept records. 
‘You are in danger of being banished from the great underground cities,’ A woman to the left of Councillor Nirren said. Her hair was coal black and flowed back from her head in sheets. Her eyes, however, were pale blue, making a startling combination. She was called Councillor Ravenna.
 
‘I tried, but the other scavengers always got the materials first!’ Anthony cried, his prospects growing dimmer and dimmer by the moment. If you were banished from the cities, then you were doomed. The outside was too dangerous a place to stay out at night. He would be dead by morning. 
‘Even so, there is one more chance, just one,’ a man on Councillor Edward’s right said. He was long and thin, with hands like oversized spiders and a face like a horse. He was Councillor Yampe. Anthony felt a ray of hope shine into his rapidly deteriorating prospect of survival. 
‘What? What?’ Anthony asked.
 
‘We have set a relatively simple task for you,’ said the woman on Councillor Ravenna’s left said. She was a sort of young woman who had been beautiful in her younger years. Her badge marked her as Councillor Beatrice. ‘Just find these three things. Non-corroded metal, lead, and rubidium.’ Anthony cursed in his mind. Rubidium was one of the hardest objects you could be set to find. They had given him a task that might take him days.
 
‘You have,’ the man on Councillor Yampe’s right said, checking his arm, ‘9 hours to do this. If you come back above the time limit, or without the objects, you will not be allowed entry, and will henceforth be known as banished.’ He was a heavily built man with pale features, who had grafted an electronic clock on his arm so he would always know the time. For, as he said, ‘You’d have to chop off my arm if I was to lose this thing.’ Anthony’s rising and falling prospects dimmed. He was doomed. 
‘Your time starts now,’ Councillor Quinn said tiredly. ‘Go get your equipment and set out. We wish you luck.’
 
Chapter 2
 
Anthony dashed from the council room like a bullet from an old-fashioned machine-gun. He ran all the way to his room, stopped for a small rest, and then grabbed his backpack and was off again. If he had only 9 hours, then any minutes saved were gold in a copper mine. After a few harrowing minutes of dodging pedestrians on their daily duties, and darting around corners, he finally made it to the nondescript door that was one of the 13 entrances to Vinglen (other than the underground steel roads.)
 
A bored guard with attire similar to the woman’s held out a hand and said, ‘license.’ Anthony scrabbled around in his backpack, and pulled out the small rectangular piece of brown steel. It had a barcode imprinted on it. The guard took the license, brought out a scanner, and scanned the barcode. There was a loud BEEP! And then a DING!
 
‘You’re good to go,’ the man said. Anthony nodded, took back his licence, then went through the door. There was a long tunnel ahead, made entirely out of stone. Anthony moved through it all the way to another nondescript door. He pressed a button on one side of it, and it opened to reveal an elevator. Anthony stepped into it, and pressed another button at the top. The elevator shuddered, and then started moving up. Anthony sat down. There was no point standing and wasting even a little precious energy. And he knew that the elevator would take at least 10 minutes to reach the top. He lay back, and waited.
 
There was a loud DING after an age of waiting, and Anthony sat up. The doors opened, and Anthony stepped out into a shaft with just a ladder leading the rest of the way up. Anthony hitched his backpack a little higher on his shoulders, and started to climb. A few minutes later, panting and gasping, he made it into a tunnel leading sideways from the ladder. It was only tall enough for him to get through by crawling on his hands and knees.
 
Finally, he came to the last door, and pressed another button on the side of the wall to open the trapdoor in front of him. It opened, and Anthony crawled out. The second he had passed, the door slid back into place, disguised with dirt and grass over the front. The only indication was a slight, veeeery slight discolouration of the grass on the door. Anthony looked around, high into the sky. He couldn’t see any evidence that the Jenx were here. Anthony sighed in relief. Then, he pulled out of his backpack, what looked like a small model statue. He threw it onto the ground, and it expanded into what looked like a long motorbike.
 
The front wheel was placed further away from the seat than the back wheel. The seat itself was cracked, from countless occasions of harebrained driving. The main body, underneath the seat, was that kind of discoloured red that comes from millions of attempts to clean it, and millions of failures. The words, WINDRUNNER, were imprinted on the side, except it was missing the W, N, and E, making it INDRUNR. The handle in and of itself wasn’t that amazing. It was like a motorcycle handle, except much longer, giving the user swifter turns than a motorbike could even dream of.
 
But the centre dashboard was the most amazing. It was covered in unlabelled buttons, switches, and mini levers. Each windrunner used his or her own form of switches and buttons. This way, no one could steal someone else’s without suffering the consequences of the traps that dotted the entire dashboard. Anthony straddled his now, placed a safety helmet on his head, and revving it up, he shot away.
 
Anthony knew he was headed for an ancient city called Sydney. There had got to be some sort of iron left, and there were labs in Sydney. They could have rubidium. It took at least half an hour to reach Sydney from the closest Vinglen entrance on his windrunner. Finally, he reached the derelict sprawling area known as the city of Sydney. Anthony pressed a button on the dashboard that made the windrunner shrink back into its small size, and crept through the city gates of what used to be the great city of Sydney. He looked up at the monolithic arch, so huge and ancient it was daunting, and the remains of the titanium doors that used to stand so proud and elegant. He sighed. Another reminder of what the Inarin had forced upon them. Instead of living in these amazing cities, what humans had worked on and built for centuries and centuries, they were forced to hide in the dirt, scrounging for scraps in the once magnificent cities that dotted the earth. Instead of peace, there was fear. Once he was through, he stood up, and looked around. It was a sight to make your eyes drop out.
 
Buildings stood everywhere, towering higher than everything for hundreds of miles. The gargantuan dome that used to shield the entire city was long rotted, but the skeleton of titanium and steel still remained, eerie as it creaked and groaned in the wind. The buildings themselves were also in a state of destruction, entire walls fallen, structures collapsed into themselves like dying stars. The whole place smelled like metal, and decay. Soon, Anthony thought morosely, nothing would remain but a few pieces of iron, and then those would rot away. But while it still stood, it was time for scavenging. He hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders determinedly, and set off into the city.
 
Anthony walked until he found a suitable building, that looked decently in shape. ‘T6,’ he said. ‘Get out here.’ There was a whirring noise, and his backpack expanded into a smallish humanoid droid as big as a small child. It’s body was made of some sort of dented metal. It’s head was plopped atop a thick cylindrical neck, and its arms were tightly corded steel of some kind, ending in three long pincerlike fingers on one hand, and a pulse cannon on the other. Where it’s legs should have been, there were millions of thin metal tentacles (courtesy of one of Anthony’s little improvements). And on its back, there was a dented little jetpack of sorts, that sputtered as T6 flew around.
 
‘Can you scan the building?’ Anthony asked. ‘We’re looking for non-corroded metal, rubidium, and lead.’ T6 gave a whirry reply, and flew up and around the building. Anthony sat down, and waited. He knew it was no use pacing, or walking. T6 wouldn’t come faster if he willed him. But still, Anthony couldn’t keep himself from glancing at the sun. He had come out too late, and the sun was already arcing down towards the horizon. And when the sun came down, he knew, the Inarin would come. Finally, after an excruciatingly long time, T6 finally came flying back down.
 
‘Stable structure,’ T6 said, in his strangely metallic sounding voice, ‘Should stand for a couple more years. Lead found. Non-corroded metal found. Rubidium, not found.’ 
‘Excellent,’ Anthony sighed in relief. He knew that this scavenging trip was the most important he had ever gone on, and if he failed, he would be doomed. ‘Any entry ways?’ 
‘One on bottom floor,’ T6 answered. ‘Three landing pads on 5th, 8th, and 14th.’ Anthony nodded, and set off to look for this entry.
 
Anthony strode carefully through the bottom floor, as T6 scanned every surface for the metal and lead with all 77 of his little tentacles shining beams of blue light. Anthony didn’t expect to find them immediately. There were at least 30 floors, and each one was as big as one of those soccer fields he had come across on one of his scavenging trips. They slowly progressed up the building, T6 scanning everything, puttering along on his little jetpack, Anthony carefully stepping where the floor seemed least destroyed. Finally, T6 gave a loud buzz, and his scanners stopped on a section of wall that had collapsed over something. Anthony walked over, and carefully moved the wall. Underneath, was a stained, but not rusted piece of metal. Anthony allowed himself a little smile, picked it up, stuffed it in his backpack, and followed T6 further up. And the process continued like this.
 
Sometimes, the materials were under objects, sometimes they were in plain sight, and sometimes, they were nailed to the walls and T6 had to unscrew them. Finally, they reached the top, with Anthony’s backpack satisfyingly clinking with metal and lead. Anthony surveyed the city. He could see the sea in the distance, and faintly see the structure of that famous bridge that the historians always talked about. What was it… oh yes. The Sydney Harbour Bridge.
 
‘T6,’ Anthony ordered, ‘do a general scan of the entire city. We only need rubidium now.’ T6 nodded his little head, and his tentacle feet went to work. Shining blue light shone out all over the city. Anthony put his hand into his pants pocket, and pulled out his binospecs. He put his eyes through the lenses, and scanned the sky for anything. He swept the sky for any sign for the Inarin… and froze. Was that a shine of metal he had just seen through the clouds? It had been so brief he wasn’t sure, but then… Anthony gasped as the entire warship came into view, cruising at speed under the clouds.
 
A Inarin warship was a sight to behold. Sleek black sides shone in the sunlight. It looked like a giant zeppelin, but no zeppelin could look so destructive, and he was sure that no zeppelin was so big. The warship was 2 times wider than that bridge he’d seen, and 4 as long. Cannons and other more advanced machinery stuck out of the sides of the ship, and at the top, there was a giant destructive laser beam launcher, that Anthony knew could destroy anything, and would destroy everything one day.
 
‘T6!’ Anthony shouted in alarm. ‘Change of plans! We’re jumping RIGHT NOW!’ T6 flew over to Anthony, and Anthony ran to the edge of the building and jumped. They fell for a few terrifying seconds, and just 10 meters above the ground, T6 activated his extra boosters. They slowly came to a stop a few centimetres above the ground, and Anthony ran for the city gates. 
‘We have to move, T6,’ Anthony shouted. ‘It’s a Inarin warship!’ T6 flew obediently beside him, as Anthony crouched by the gates, and looked up at the sky. It seemed clear.
 
‘T6,’ he whispered. ‘Backpack.’ T6 folded up until he was an eighth of his size, and disappeared among the materials. Anthony dashed for a small piece of shrubbery that still stood in the breeze. Then, after looking around carefully, Anthony made a run for a dejected looking gum tree that stood almost parallel to the ground. He knew he couldn’t go on the windrunner. Fast movement would catch the Inarin’s attention, and they would be after him like a hound after a rabbit. He continued like this for half an hour. He was almost a quarter of the way there. He was so close… Anthony started moving faster, becoming more careless. And that was when the warship showed itself again.
 
It shot out of the clouds at a speed that make a supersonic jet look like a slug moving against a prevailing wind, explosion. Anthony looked despairingly in the direction that the entrance was. If he revealed the underground hideouts that the humans had made, then they were completely doomed. He reached in his backpack, threw the windrunner onto the ground, straddled it, and shot fast. He drove in a completely different direction, even as his instincts screamed at him to run for safety, to hide, to stay safe. At least he wouldn’t die knowing he’d betrayed human civilisation to the Inarin. He’d drove 20 meters before lasers rained from the sky. They exploded into the ground all around him, spraying up dirt, and sending pebbles up his nose, and into his eyes.
 
‘T6!!’ Anthony shrieked, while pressing a button on the windrunner to get it to change its wheels into hover mode. ‘GET OUT OF THERE AND ACTIVATE YOUR FORCE FIELD!’ T6 zipped out like an oversized fly, and put its cannon arm above them. A shimmering blue shield materialised out of his arm, and surrounded T6 and Anthony. Anthony kept driving, knowing that T6 would keep up. BOOOOOOMMMMM!! A laser slammed into T6’s force field, and exploded. The shield flickered, but stayed. BOOOOOOOMMMM!! Another one came, and BOOOOOOMMMM!! Another. The Inarin seemed to have finally located where Anthony was. And then… BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! The final laser smashed into the shield, and the shield flickered… and died.
 
Anthony groaned in despair, as he kept speeding ahead. His face started stinging again from all the pebbles flying up from the ground. Finally, a laser slammed into the ground right behind him, and Anthony when flying up, up, up into the air, arms and legs flailing, screaming in anguish. For a second, he seemed frozen in the air. Then, down, down, down, Anthony came crashing back to the earth.
 
Anthony landed, CRACK, on his leg, and it crumpled beneath him. He felt the pain shooting up his leg, and he knew it was broken. There was a loud BOOOOOM! as his windrunner landed half a second after him, and exploded into little pieces. He knew this was the end. He looked up at the hulking black mass in the air, and crawled backwards in a futile attempt to escape the horror. The warship’s sides were opening up now. Any second, the feared probes would come down, and kill him. He scrabbled behind him for another handhold to pull himself desperately, and felt the ground crumbling beneath his fingers. Anthony had one split second to yell in horror, before he fell backwards into the black.
 
Chapter 3
 
The first thing Anthony noticed when he woke up was the pain. His head throbbed, his leg was shrieking in agony, and his whole body was generally feeling not the best. He opened his eyes slowly, and saw nothing but black.
 
‘T6,’ Anthony called out, ignoring the pain that exploded in his head as his voice rang out through the cave. He had felt worse before, but not by much, and not in such pressing circumstances. There was no answer. Anthony looked around. T6 was nowhere to be seen. Anthony sighed, and painstakingly sat up. Then he rummaged through his backpack, which he found after groping in the darkness around him, feeling for the item he was searching for. Finally, he found it. He pressed the button on one end of the torch, and light exploded out of the other end, dazzling him for a few seconds. Anthony looked behind him. There was a slide winding up from the ground. As he watched, parts slowly separated, and flipped, until he was looking at a staircase instead of a slide He must have slid down the slide and landed in a heap at the end. Then, Anthony looked around. And his jaw dropped.
 
The room in and of itself, wasn’t very impressive. It was small, and made of granite stone, Anthony could tell, after having to find multiple different types of rock in his scavenging. It smelled dingy, and not at all nice. It was what was on the other side of the room that was amazing. Huge stone pillars stood, ancient, and magnificent. They looked like those models of the Parthenon that the archaeologists made and put on display. Above the pillars, was a giant inscription, with the huge words, THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA displayed in a curve. Underneath the curve, was a stone carving of an open book. In the centre of the book, was a grinning skull. Anthony gasped. He had to explore this place. With any luck, he could find something of use to bring back to the council.
 
Anthony felt behind him, and pulled his backpack from his back. He swung it in front of him, and emptied the contents on the ground. he rummaged through the pieces of metal and lead, until he found a straight piece of metal. He tore pieces off his jacket, wincing at the rips and tears. Then, he tied the metal straight on his broken leg. The makeshift splint was done. Then, he set off between the two pillars, and underneath the grinning skull. He had a strange impression it was looking at him.
 
As he stepped into the room beyond, the first thing Anthony noticed was the cavernous enormity of the room. His torch beam shone bright, and using it, he could see that the ceiling was at least 20 meters high in the air. The second thing he noticed, was the stale smell of the air. It smelled like cave, or of…paper. And that was when he noticed the third thing. Rows of books, scrolls, and old stone tablets, permeating the air with the smell of knowledge. Rows upon rows upon rows upon rows upon rows of bookshelves stood, stretching as far as he could see, and as high as the ceiling. They stood, silent and massive, giant monuments of wood and paper. And none of them had decayed. The bookshelves stood, pristine and polished, as if they had been taken care of yesterday. The books were all stacked in an orderly fashion, and there was no dust on the ground. But this place seemed to have been abandoned for hundreds of years. After that long, there had to have been some sort of dust. It was eerie, to say the least.
 
Anthony hobbled through the bookshelves, shining his torch around in every direction. The only noise was his footsteps, echoing in the huge enclosed space. He soon found that there was a second floor, although it was quite high up. There had to be more floors after that, also full of books. And there were SO MANY BOOKS! Anthony couldn’t fathom the amount of paper that was in this room.

He pulled out one of the books, and read the cover. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, BY CRESSIDA COWELL was stamped in bold letters on the cover. Next to it was a book entitled, A GUIDE TO FAKE ANIMALS, MADE BY REAL HUMANS. Anthony’s eyes widened. If they had information about how to train dragons, then they had to know about how to defeat the Inarin! But to search through the entire collection of books would take at least 100 lifetimes. Anthony’s face fell as he realised this. But no matter. This was a magnificent feat of architecture, and with so many books, probably containing so much powerful information, there had to be at least some things that Anthony could use to make the Vinglen Council accept him again.

After at least 10 minutes, of just looking at the shelves, he came to what was probably the centre of this entire monolithic structure. It was a giant circular courtyard. Anthony stepped into it, and shone his light straight up into the air. He couldn’t see the end. The torch didn’t even reach the top. Above this floor, was another one, and another one, and another one after that. They kept going, on and on and on. Each one opened up to this courtyard, with balconies so you could look down to the first floor. Anthony felt dizzy with the sheer enormity of the place. At one side, there was a huge staircase, 5 meters wide, and leading up to each of the floors, curving with the architecture of the room. Anthony started climbing.
 
Up, and up, and up he went, higher, higher, higher, grunting with exhaustion and pain in his leg, until he finally reached the second floor. He shone his torch into it…and nearly dropped the torch in astonishment.
 
This floor was nothing like the floor below it. It was full of ancient artefacts. Anthony could see old clay pots, paintings, skulls, rings, and objects he couldn’t even name. And there was row upon row upon ROW of weapons. Shining swords, heavy looking axes, thick metal maces, huge wood longbows and deadly crossbows, spiked balls on chains, flamethrowers, medieval looking guns from the 21st century, and armour. So much armour. In so many sizes. And if this floor was as big as the one underneath, there had got to be a ridiculous amount of everything. And maybe…
 
Anthony rounded a corner, and let out a whoop of joy, attempting to run towards what he seemed to have been looking for the entire time, and toppling sideways as he put pressure on his broken leg. Gold, silver, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, topazes, opals, and other shining gemstones winked and flashed in his wildly shaking torchlight. Gold coins, gold bars, and other ornaments made of more than just gold stood on podiums. There was steel and other kinds of metals too, but Anthony ignored it all. He could see the precious materials, and that was all he could see. He got up, moved towards them, and then stopped.
 
Anthony frowned, and then pushed forward once more. He couldn’t move closer. There was some sort of invisible force field blocking him. Anthony grimaced. If T6 had been here, then it might have been able to deactivate whatever was making this blockage, but Anthony didn’t have the faintest idea. No matter. He could bring reinforcements back, and they could have droids. They could figure out what was blocking. Then, as he turned to go back to the entrance of the building, a glint of metal caught his eye.
 
He looked down, and saw a little scrap of steel lying on the ground. Anthony knelt, and looked more closely at it. It was a steel badge, coloured gold, and with a blue outline. A little bit above the centre, it had the symbol he’d seen above the two pillars, the book and the grinning skull. underneath the inlayed picture, the words, LIBRARIAN were printed in bold blue letters. Anthony reached down, and picked the little thing up. And pain exploded through his entire body. Anthony tried to scream, but he couldn’t, he was gone from the library room, and he was speeding through a vortex of colour and light and sound. Anthony was blinded by the sheer brightness of everything. He heard voices, and strained to hear them. But they were all muffled, and it was impossible to even make out a syllable. Then, with a sudden halt, Anthony staggered out of the vortex, and the badge flew out of his fingers. He was in the same room… only, everything had changed.

Everything was brighter. Lamps were stuck every few meters on the walls, giving the place a creepy light. And everything looked slightly different than before. Before, everything had looked, not broken or rusted, exactly, but old. Now, everything was shiny, and all looked brand knew. Anthony looked round at his surroundings in awe. What had happened? What had changed? And then a woman stepped out from one of the shelves, whistling a merry tune to herself, and pushing a blue and gold cart.
 
She looked relatively young, about 30 years of age, with a pair of blue glasses on her face. Her black hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail. She was wearing a blue jacket with gold trimming, and a badge exactly like the one that Anthony was holding sat on the right side of her chest. Her cart trundled along, as she walked. Anthony stared. Finally, the woman turned, and looked around. Her eyes passed over Anthony for a second, and then whipped back. The woman stared. Anthony stared back. The woman blinked. Then, she yelped and jumped back.
 
‘What are you doing here?’ the woman gasped. ‘How did you get past the traps? Were you invited?’ 
‘What traps?’ Anthony asked. ‘I just fell down here! The Inarin found me! Where did you come from?’ 
‘The… Inarin?’ the woman asked. ‘Who?’ Anthony froze. He had been surreptitiously reaching into his pocket to grab a stunner bomb, a handy device for a tight situation. 
‘You… don’t know what… what the Inarin are?’ Anthony said slowly. His mind was whirling. What had happened? He had heard about people being mysteriously transferred into different random places, but this didn’t seem like that. He was standing exactly where he had before. The woman was saying something.
 
‘Guards? Guards!’ she yelled. ‘Code 6-3-5! We have a time-traveller on the second floor! Repeat, an time-traveller on the second floor! Possibly him!’ A siren started wailing, and Anthony could hear footsteps approaching. He backed away slowly. 
‘You don’t want to do this,’ Anthony said. ‘I am a representative of the city of Vinglen (which wasn’t strictly true, but he had to say something) and if you injure me, their vengeance shall be swift and deadly! (which definitely wasn’t true)’ The other woman looked confused. 
‘Vinglen?’ she asked. Anthony’s eyes widened. What was this place? Where people didn’t know about the underground cities or the Inarin who had invaded this world, where it seemed they had the answers to everything, and a ridiculous amount of weaponry, jewels, and other precious things that most people could dream of.
 
A dozen guards filed into the room, all carrying old tech guns, and wearing olden day bullet vests. Anthony scoffed. He could take them out in an instant. His weaponry was way more advanced than theirs. And then realisation dawned on him. They had olden day guns, and olden day vests. The weaponry was all ancient, but there was nothing from his era. ‘What’s today?’ Anthony asked, dreading the answer. 
‘What are you talking about?’ said the woman with the glasses. ‘It’s August 30th, 2024, of course.’ Anthony nearly fell to his knees. He had somehow time travelled 500 years into the past. But how had he done it? He looked down, and saw the badge twinkling on the ground.
 
‘In the name of the Great Council of Alexandria,’ the woman yelled, shaking herself from her confusion, ‘I, Julia Anders, arrest you for trespass, and invasion of—’ Anthony dived for the badge. Pain exploded through his entire body, and he found himself shooting through the vortex, backwards this time, faster and faster and faster, the muffled voices sounding all the time, and he was back in the library, and the library was dark. The torch was lying on the ground, shining light towards an armour set. Anthony looked down, and saw the badge lying on the ground. Anthony leant down to pick up his torch up, went to get up, and then hesitated.
 
He looked at the badge. It obviously had some sort of power. He had to take it, if just to examine it. The scientists would know what to do with it. He went to pick it up, then stopped, remembering what happened when he touched it. Anthony tore a piece out of his already ruined jacket, and picked it up with that. He then stuffed it in a pants pocket, and headed out. He would be famous once he had told the council of Vinglen. Everyone would know Anthony as the one who had found a treasure trove of items so precious that no one could comprehend them. And with that comforting thought, he tripped, and fell sideways at the top of the stairs leading down to the first floor.
 
Chapter 4
 
Anthony traversed his way the entire way back to the entrance, leaning heavily on his non broken leg, and panting from the effort. When he reached the entrance, his leg finally gave out, and he collapsed sideways (not for the first time) onto the stone floor. There he lay for a while, panting, and regaining his strength.
 
The glorious daydream that had fuelled his mind came back to him. Anthony Redwatch, famous scavenger, who saved the human race with his amazing discovery. Anthony Redwatch, saviour of the human race, finder of the Redwatch library (for he had already forgotten the name of said library and named it after himself). Anthony Redwatch, destroyer of the Inarin, who had raised the humans from the underground cities and led the final assault on the aliens who had attacked his world.
 
With that thought, Anthony heaved himself to his feet again, and stepped towards the staircase. It wound, up, up, up, so high Anthony was glad the staircase had turned into a slide. He finally saw light, and panting like a bull walrus in one of those nature films everyone was forced to watch, turned off his torch. Then, he cautiously peeked his head over the rim, and looked up. There was nothing in the sky but dreary clouds. He crawled out, and looked around. He saw where the hillock that marked Vinglen should be, but it was indistinguishable from the other hillocks that dotted the planet. It was so far away. Anthony groaned at the prospect of having to walk so far. Then, a gleam of metal caught his eye. He looked around, and saw T6’s prone form lying in the grass. Anthony hobbled up to it. It was lying on the ground, eyes blank and lifeless. He banged on T6’s back metal plate, and it fell off. Then, Anthony pressed a button inside his circuitboard. T6’s eyes glowed for just a second, and then there was a loud bang, and its eyes flashed out again.
 
Anthony swore loudly. The noise was swallowed quickly in the wind that had started to blow. He picked up the broken down little droid, and stuffed him under his arm. He would be able to make huge repairs to T6’s body when he became famous. T6 would be the best robot in the entire planet. Eyes gleaming, Anthony came to his feet, and started moving (or trudging) off.
 
After ages of walking, Anthony had to have a rest. He dropped T6, and collapsed. He was exhausted. His leg was throbbing harder, his head was aching, and the hillock didn’t seem to be getting any closer. But he had to get there. The sun was high in the sky, but it would come down eventually. And then there would be Inarin. There was something about the sun’s positioning that bothered him. He tried figuring it out, but gave up eventually, and dragged himself to his feet. Anthony started off towards Vinglen.
 
Finally, when Anthony felt he was going to drop dead from tiredness, and the sun was nearing the horizon, he reached the small hillock. Gasping in victory, he fell over for perhaps the 10th time today, and crawled the rest of the way to the concealed door. He pressed a button, and the door slid aside. Anthony crawled in, pushing T6 in front of him.

He misjudged the distance from the tunnel to the ladder, and T6 went tumbling down it as Anthony frantically scrambled to stop himself. He managed, and then climbed down the ladder to the elevator. In he staggered, as he stepped on his bad foot again. The elevator went ding! and Anthony went down, with T6 clutched like a child.
 
When they reached the bottom, Anthony hobbled out, and towards the door. But he didn’t get very far. 
‘You there!’ cried a voice from behind. ‘Stop, in the name of the council of Vinglen!’ Anthony turned, confused. Two Vinglen guards were standing behind him. He had been so tired, he hadn’t even noticed them. 
‘What on earth are you doing here?’ the one who had spoken before asked. He was standing on the left. Anthony screwed up his face in confusion. 
‘It’s been past the time the High council set for you!’ he said. ‘You had 9 hours. This is the second day you’ve been gone. We thought you had passed the time limit and just left.’ And it all came rushing back to him. Rubidium. Metal. Lead. 9 hours. And worst of all, banishment. The sun had been high in the sky, but it had been setting as he was running from the Inarin. Two days! Days! He was doomed.
 
‘Bu-but…I,’ Anthony said hopelessly. ‘I found something! The high council will want to hear this!’ ‘Oh sure,’ said the one on the left. 
‘What was it the other one said before she was banished?’ ‘Oh, she said she found something,’ the one on the right said. ‘Some sort of ancient civilisation! As if. She’s dead now obviously.’ 
‘And you will be too,’ the first to speak said maliciously. ‘Now, go! You’re banished. Vinglen has no use for useless people.’ Anthony nearly crumpled.
 
‘Can I at least stay the night?’ Anthony pleaded. ‘My legs broken, and my droid needs fixing!’ 
‘Awwwwwwwwwww,’ said the guards in unison. ‘Does wittle baby scavwengwer have bwoken leg?’ They laughed. 
‘You won’t be needing the droid where you’re going,’ said one. He took three steps forwards, snatched T6, and stepped back. ‘He’ll make lovely scraps.’ 
‘Hey! That’s mine!’ Anthony yelled. He stepped forwards, and fell into the other guard’s extended foot. He sprawled between them, and in unison, they grabbed his arms, and chucked him back into the lift.
 
‘Safe travels!’ one said, waving cheerily. ‘Don’t let the Inarin bite!’ said the other, likewise waving. The elevators shut, and Anthony’s fate was sealed. He had no droid. No food. No special equipment. And night was falling. The Inarin would come. And he would die. Yup. He was doomed.
 
Chapter 5
 
Anthony decided that he could at least stay the night in the hillock tunnel. It wasn’t like anyone would come to scavenge or do whatever other jobs people had. So, he pulled the useless metal scraps from his backpack, dumped them outside of the tunnel, went back in, and used the backpack as a pillow. Anthony lay awake for a long, long, long time, going over different plans he could use to survive. One by one he made them, and one by one they were discarded. Finally, after obsessing about a plan to somehow send himself to space and see whether there was food on the moon, he fell asleep.
 
Later, he woke up, slightly more refreshed than yesterday. Rubbing his eyes, he discovered something was digging into the side of his leg. He rolled, thinking it was a rock, but the thing was still there. Finally, he pushed his hand into his pocket, and drew out something wrapped in his jacket. It was the blue and gold badge. He had forgotten about it in all the craziness. What happened to that library was Anthony’s question. He knew he couldn’t find the answer in Sydney. But maybe if he was able to sneak back…
 
He knew they only posted guards on the elevator gates when someone was being banished. And if he waited till late afternoon, he could head off towards his quarters, get some better clothes, and see if the historian’s guild had any books on this library. He might also be able to lay low for a while. That would postpone his imminent demise. The only thing he couldn’t do was fix his leg. That was a shame, but it would take too long to mend, and if the guards threw him out in the middle of treatment, then his leg would be even worse off. That would mean he’d have to go out, get the metal, and hide.
 
Anthony heaved himself to his hands and knees, and crawled outside. He grabbed the metal, and put it all in his backpack. Then, he looked around for a suitable hiding place. About 100 meters away, he found a suitable hiding spot. It was a sizeable patch of tall lemongrass. He crawled through, surrounded by the scent of lemon, and lay there, gasping. There was a depression in the ground, not as full of grass as all around. He rolled into there.
 
He would have to wait for a while. The scavengers almost always came at 5 or under. The hillock door shut down at 5:30. If you were too late, then the Inarin got you. That was the conditions of the scavenger’s codes. It was a dangerous business. Anthony didn’t know when he fell asleep. But he woke when he heard a droning noise. He was awake instantly.
 
For a terrifying second, he thought that the Inarin had found him. Then, he recognised the sound. It was the droning noise of a windrunner engine. He relaxed. He’d just have to wait for when they all went in. The droning grew louder, but it was still quiet. They couldn’t all come one at a time, and too much noise would probably attract the Inarin. There was the muffled noise of conversation, and Anthony crept closer to hear.
 
‘—Wonder what happened to Anthony?’ came a strong and roughened voice. Anthony recognised it as the voice of the oldest scavenger, Tim Rugaskin. If the scavengers had had a leader, then Tim would probably be him. He had over 30 years of experience, starting from the age of 24. At nearly 60, he was still as fit and strong as if he had been 30 years ago, and he was still a scavenger. There were rumours that he had never failed a single assignment, and even though Tim himself laughed at them, he never contradicted them. His eyes were still full of laughter, even after countless near escapes from the Inarin, and after watching his comrades, one by one, fall to their deaths. He was a man to be respected, and feared.
 
‘I ‘eard from h’e guards,’ said another one. ‘He wa’ banished. Failed too many assignments ‘s rum’r.’ That was Owen Inling. Owen was a good chap, tall and gangly, and 5 years younger than Anthony. He was agreeable, and pretty much average at scavenging. But as he would constantly tell everyone else, scavenging was the only thing he could do properly. Anthony liked him.
 
‘He was always too full headed,’ came a sneering voice. Anthony winced. That was Winter Himalaya. Winter was one of the only three women scavengers, and she liked to make a big deal out of the fact. She was a devious one, and there were rumours that she had stolen from other scavengers to complete her assignments. Winter was the kind of woman who hated almost everything.
 
‘Shut yer trap,’ Owen said. ‘Anthony’s sa good chap. Never fast ‘nough though.’ 
‘Aye,’ Tim agreed. There was a loud scoffing noise, and the noise of the hillock door opening and sliding shut. 
‘And ther she goes,’ Owen muttered. ‘Ain’t she cheerful.’ 
‘We’d better get in too,’ Tim rumbled. ‘It’s approaching 5:30, and you know the council is strict about things like this.’ The hillock door opened again, then closed.
 
Anthony sighed. Well, now probably all the scavengers and half the city would know that Anthony Redwatch was banished, now that Winter was involved. He’d better move quickly once he was in and hope that the guards at the door were different to the two pairs that he had met while going out and trying to get in.
 
After waiting 30 seconds, Anthony went to the hillock door and pressed the button to get in. It opened, and then slid shut. Anthony was actually doing this. He was going to sneak into Vinglen, the 3rd largest underground city in all of earth, just to find out about this…what was it called? Oh yes, the Library of Alexandria, then maybe go to his room and have a good night sleep. Well, he could go to his room first. Maybe have a goodnight’s sleep, and then come out during midnight. Yes, that was a brilliant idea. He should do that. Anthony’s mind made up, he went to the elevator, and stepped in to go down.
 
Anthony stepped out to the corridor, and walked down it. He remembered his broken leg and beat up appearance, and quickly started panting. He managed to get a reasonable performance up of exhaustion (not really a performance actually, he was really bone tired) before he reached the steel doors. He pressed a button, and the doors slid open. Two guards stood on either side of the door, and they weren’t the ones he had seen before. One of them gave him a passing glance before turning back to her conversation with the other. Anthony hobbled past, and down the corridor. The first part of his plan was over. Now for the hard part.
 
Anthony walked quickly through the corridors, moving at a steady tu-tunk, tu-tunk, tu-tunk, until finally he reached his room. He opened the door, and looked inside. It was completely bare. There was absolutely nothing in sight except for a stripped mattress in one corner, and a small wooden desk with an electric lamp. All of his possessions were gone, probably given to the high authorities of Vinglen. Anthony swore quietly. They had no right to treat his room like this. They had no right! But it had happened. There was nothing he could do about it now. At least he had taken his most precious possessions with him on his scavenging trip. Anthony sighed, and walked over to the mattress. He flopped down onto it, let out a big whoosh of air, and lay back. And he was out like a light.

Chapter 6

Anthony woke with a start. He could hear voices outside. Anthony panicked. He bolted upright, and made a run for the small bathroom on one side. Anthony shut the door behind him, and sat panting. There was a window in the bathroom door, so that one could look out, but no one could look in. Anthony was glad for it now. He stood and looked out…and his stomach dropped.
 
He could see his backpack, in one shadowy corner. It was mostly indistinguishable… except for one of the straps. Anthony gave a silent groan, and was about to risk his hiding spot to get his backpack, when the door slammed open. The two guards that had so unceremoniously kicked him out walked in, boots scuffing long dirt lines all over his tidy floor. Anthony had to suppress a yell of rage. He wouldn’t be able to fight two trained guards of the city, and besides, he had a broken leg. But they had scuffed his perfect floor!
 
Behind them, face calm and impassive, hands behind his back, strode Tim. 
‘So, this is the scavenger’s hole?’ one of the guards asked.
‘Yes,’ Tim said shortly. ‘Why did you want me to bring you here?’ 
‘We got words from the high council,’ the other guard said, leering viciously. ‘Was that little scavenger a friend of yours?’ Tim didn’t reply. He was looking directly at the backpack strap. Then, his eyes flicked back to the guards.
‘Well,’ said the guard, after a short pause, ‘There’s rumour that he snuck back into this city.’ Tim twitched. It was a tiny movement, but the guard’s small malicious eyes caught the movement, and darted to stare at him. He grinned. 
‘Do you have any idea where he is?’ he asked. ‘Or why he’d come back?’ Anthony’s breath caught in his throat, as Tim stood stock still, not even moving.
‘No.’ One word. That was all Tim said. He looked at the guards. They stared back. Then, one of them shrugged. 
‘Just checking, is all,’ he said. They swaggered out.

Tim stood, hands behind his back, contemplating something. Then, he said, ‘You can come out now, Anthony. They’re gone.’ Anthony opened the door, and stepped out into his room. Tim showed no signs of surprise at seeing that Anthony was actually in the room. 
‘Go and do what you came to do,’ he said. Anthony opened his mouth, and Tim raised his hand. 
‘No, don’t tell me. Just go.’ Anthony nodded his head in thanks, and crouched to pick up his backpack, and slipped out the door.

Anthony sped through the corridors. It was late at night, he found from the clocks on the walls. The lights were all dimmed, but there was still enough to see by, and finally, Anthony reached the unmarked, unlabelled generally dingy door that marked the historian’s guild.

The historian’s room wasn’t a very impressive sight. Armchairs were placed higgledy-piggledy around the room, in a vague form of a circle. At the centre, there was a raised dais, with a podium. Anthony walked to the centre of the room, around the puffy chairs, all the way to the dais.
 
On the podium was a blackened screen. Cords with little cups at the ends hung from it. Anthony knew what to do. he’d seen things like this before. He picked up the cords, 5 in all, and attached them to various parts of his head. Instantly, the screen flared to life. An automated male voice slid smoothly into his mind.
 
‘What would you like to find?’ it said. Anthony thought, ‘the library of Alexandria.’ Two pages popped up. Both were labelled, the Library of Alexandria. One of them, however, had the familiar symbol of a skull in a book. Anthony thought about that one, and the automated voice spoke smoothly into his head again, and a huge Parthenon-like building showed up on the screen, with measurements on the sides. According to the map, the Library of Alexandria was at least 5 kilometres long, 5 wide, and 3 high!
 
‘The Library of Alexandria was established in 1349 by a mysterious cult in south America . Their goal was to gather all the knowledge of the entire world into one place, so they named themselves after the famous library of Alexandria, which established in Cairo, and burned down in a devastating fire. Over hundreds of years, they accumulated tomes of books, old scrolls, rare artifacts, and other things, almost never thought of. Their power was immense. They were privy to decisions that other people could only dream of, and their words carried much weight.
 
‘They had a leader, who they hid with tall tales and fantastical stories. No one knew exactly what the leader was. The librarians, as they called themselves, thought he was immortal, and could see the future. They thought he was the most powerful being in the entire world.
 
‘But whoever this High Priest was, he couldn’t save the Library of Alexandria. On September the 2nd, the library fell silent. When the government sent agents off to see where it had gone, they couldn’t find it. It had simply vanished into thin air. There were huge searches. People scoured the entire face of the earth to find it. But it was never found.’
 
The screen blinked out, and Anthony realized he had been leaning forward. He drew himself back hurriedly. So, something had happened to the library. Anthony tried to recall the date the librarian had named. What was it? Right, August 30th. And today was, if he was right, the night of September 1st. Tomorrow would be September 2nd, and then…it was going to happen. And if the library was destroyed, then they would most likely die before they could find a way to destroy the Inarin in that giant library. So he had go back and stop whatever had happened from happening. But—
 
‘Finally,’ came a voice from behind Anthony. ‘You have come.’

Chapter 7

The voice sounded ancient, and cracked and creaked like dry wood. Anthony whirled around, and saw behind him an ancient man. His eyes were a faded blotched blue, clouded by age, and his skin was crinkled with wrinkles. He had a gnarled cane in his left hand, and his right hand trembled as it pointed directly at him. He was wearing a green puffy jacket, that engulfed his entire frame, and a pair of baggy yellow pants. His head was bald, with two tufts sticking out, one on the left and one on the right.
 
‘Who are you?’ Anthony asked. The man was the oldest man that Anthony had ever seen, and he was probably the oldest man that was in Vinglen, judging by his appearance. The man laughed. It was an old creaky cackle that went on and on, until he started hacking and coughing like he would never stop. Just as Anthony was getting worried, the man stopped.
 
‘Who I am isn’t important, son,’ he wheezed. ‘You’ve come now. I assume you have the badge?’ Anthony gaped. 
‘How do you—’ he started.
‘How I know doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘You have the badge?’ Anthony nodded dumbly.
‘Good,’ the man clasped his hands on his staff with both hands. ‘I—I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my time kid. And some I can’t fix. But you can. Take this.’ And the man pulled a rock out of his pocket. It looked…like a normal rock. Sure, it was probably the smoothest rock that Anthony had ever seen, and it was quite a strange colour, a dark shining red, but it looked actually like a rock.
 
‘Take it!’ The man rasped. ‘I went to that library. I marvelled at its giant collection. And I stole something. I thought it was small, thought it wouldn’t change anything. But then I came back to the present, and looked on the world, the apocalypse that I now knew that had created, that I had birthed. And the time medallion vanished in my hands. I couldn’t fix it. But you can. I can’t keep it! You must fix my moment of idiocy! The fate of the worlds depends on it!’ And he thrust the rock at Anthony with surprising force.

Anthony’s eyes remained fixed on the rock. He had to take it. If this man was right, and he was the only one who could do it, then it was literally the only thing he could do right now. He was banished, and he was going to go back to the library anyway, right? Anthony, mind made up, reached, and took the rock from the man. A pulse exploded from the rock, and Anthony’s eyes widened as a voice whispered straight into his head.
 
Bring me to the Library of Alexandria…take me to the sanctuary of the Keystones…all shall be well again… It was an ancient voice, a powerful voice, and a voice that no one in their right minds would ignore. Anthony staggered as the voice faded from his mind. He put weight on his broken leg, and expected it to collapse underneath him. But instead, the leg held out underneath him. It wasn’t broken! It had been fixed. The man gave a great sigh.
‘Go then,’ the man said. ‘Fix my mistake. I hope you will be a better man than I was.’ And Anthony gasped as the old man simply sank to the ground. Anthony ran to him, but the old man was already dead. Anthony gathered himself.

Anthony simply had to go to the past. The voice—the rock—had told him. And if there was any chance that Anthony could save the world, then he should do it. No one would believe him if he told them, so he was the only one for the job. WHAT WAS HE KIDDING? HE WAS JUST A SCAVENGER! HE COULDN’T DO THIS! But he had to. If he saved the library, then they would be able to stop the Inarin. Anthony, mind finally made up, pulled his backpack higher on his back. He reached into his backpack, and grabbed the badge. This time, Anthony braced for the pain, but it didn’t seem to hurt as badly. Then he was off, hurtling through the vortex of colours, more colours than you could count. And this time, he could hear the voices.

‘But if you’re not him, then who are you?’
‘The library will fall because of one man’s stupid foolhardy actions.’
‘But he has the Keystone!’
‘You know, I really must thank you.’
And then came a chilling voice, a voice that sounded so cold and ruthless, so inhuman that it had to be an Inarin.
‘Surrender or die. There’s no other alternative. We will conquer this planet whether you are alive or dead.’

And then Anthony was stumbling out of the vortex. He fell down onto the ground, panted, and the badge vanished in his hands.. He lay there for some time. Then, a voice shook him out of his stupor.
‘You’re not him.’ Anthony looked up, and jumped back as he saw the woman who had tried to arrest him last time.
‘Calm down,’ she laughed. ‘You’re not him. You can’t be him. He’d be almost 300 years old now. There’s no chance he could have found an elixir of immortality to top it all off.’ Anthony eyed her cautiously.
‘But if you’re not him,’ the woman mused, ‘then who are you?’ Anthony felt a sudden shock. Those were the exact words that he’d heard as he sped through the vortex.
‘Are you mute?’ the woman asked. ‘Who…are…you?’ Anthony finally completely came back to his senses.

‘I’m Anthony Redwatch,’ he said, standing up and offering his hand. ‘I’m from 2524.’ the woman stared at the hand uncomprehendingly. She held up her hand and sort of half high-fived half handshaked Anthony’s hand.
‘I’m Julia Anders,’ she said. ‘So you’re not Zinchovich.’
‘Who’s Zinchovich?’ Anthony asked. ‘I think I should know him, but I don’t.’
‘Oh Zinchovich,’ Julia said. There was a new cold edge to her voice. ‘He’s no one important. He simply murdered the library and the rest of the world.’

‘Murdered a library?’ Anthony asked. He couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice. ‘How could someone murder a library?’
‘Yes, he murdered the library,’ Julia sighed. ‘He came like you did. Three hundred years ago, he just appeared out of nowhere. Said he travelled through time, and that the future was horrible. Begged for our help. Well, we couldn’t help him. This library wasn’t a fortune telling tent, and we’d never heard about these Inarin! Anyway, he grew quite malicious. Said if we wouldn’t help him we’d regret it. And we did. He stole the Keystone of the library.’
‘What’s the Keystone?’ Anthony asked.

‘Oh, it’s just the heart of the library,’ Julia said. ‘The library is a conscious being. It is the centre of the universe. If it dies, then the entire universe will collapse and be destroyed. And the Keystone is the centre of the library. It’s its heart. The library can’t live without it. And that filthy, despicable, evil man stole the library’s heart! The library’s been dying ever since. Just 100 years ago, it shrank into itself. It hasn’t talked to anyone ever since. The library will fall because of one man’s stupid foolhardy actions. But while its still alive, we’ve been trying to find a replacement for the Keystone. No one’s found it yet though.’ Anthony had internally gasped as he heard the words, ‘The library will fall because of one man’s stupid foolhardy actions.’ They were exactly the same as the second sentence. A sudden thought came to him.

‘Could this be the Keystone?’ Anthony asked. He fished around in his backpack, and pulled the strange rock that the man, no, that Zinchovich, had given him. Julia’s eyes widened.
‘Yes, that’s it!’ Julia gasped with surprise. ‘How did you get it?’
‘Zinchovich gave it to me,’ Anthony said. ‘He seemed regretful about his actions, but he said he couldn’t fix them. So he gave it to me since I had already gone to the past.’ Julia scoffed.
‘Zinchovich? Regretful?’ Julia said. ‘Well, I guess there’s a first for everything. But this…this changes everything! We can save the library!’
‘And if we do,’ Anthony asked hesitantly, ‘do you think you could just check to see if there is anything about the Inarin in it?’
‘Inarin?’ Julia asked.
‘In the future,’ Anthony said, ‘an alien race has attacked earth. We’ll all die if they keep it up.’ Julia nodded seriously.
‘We can try,’ she said. And that was enough for Anthony.
‘Then let’s go save the library,’ he said.

Chapter 8

Julia started running, and Anthony ran after her. They had been in some sort of office room, and when they ran out, there were doors and hallways branching off everywhere. Anthony had to look around to find Julia, and he ran after her. Being a scavenger had made him fit, and he caught up to her easily. Then they opened up onto one of those balconies that Anthony had seen from his first visit.

Anthony looked down, and felt a sensation of vertigo as he saw that they were at the top floor. The bottom was just a circle the size of a basketball. Anthony swore, and tore himself away from the edge quickly. Julia was stepping through two doors in the wall. Anthony followed her quickly, and got in before the door closed behind him. It was an old fashioned elevator. Julia pressed a button, and the elevator started trundling downwards.

‘Where are we going?’ Anthony asked, after a few minutes had passed in silence.
‘To see the head librarian,’ Julia said. ‘We need permission to enter the sanctuary of the Keystones.’
‘Wait,’ Anthony held up his hands. ‘I thought you said that there was only one Keystone.’
‘No!’ Julia said. ‘The one you apparently have is the Heart Keystone. There are others, but none are as important to the library as the Heart Keystone, like your spleen or kidneys aren’t more important as your heart.’ They trundled downwards for a few more minutes.

‘How long is this going to take?’ Anthony asked.
‘Only a few more minutes,’ Julia sighed. ‘I asked whether they could make the elevator faster, and put seats and buckles on the sides so you could hold on. But they refused. Such boring oldies.’ Anthony could sympathise. Finally, the elevator made a loud DING! Noise.
‘We’re here,’ Julia said. She jumped up from the ground, and smoothed her blue jacket. Anthony thought she looked nervous. The elevator opened up on the book floor. Anthony followed Julia down the hallways of books. She weaved through different aisles and corridors confidently, and Anthony marvelled at the fact that she had seemed to memorise the entire route. Finally, they came to a nondescript wooden door.

Julia raised her hand, and knocked. There was no sound from inside for a minute. Then Julia knocked again.
‘Oh, for Cairo’s sake! Come in then!’ came a weary voice from inside. Julia rolled her eyes at Anthony, and went in. They entered a small study room. Bookshelves covered all the walls, and most of the floor too. A desk and chair were shoved to one side of it, and a man sat in the centre of the bookish chaos.

The man was old, with his skin wrinkled, and balding. He was tall, and looked quite strong. He wasn’t hunched like some other men that were as old as he was. His eyes, probably once shone with mirth, were now slightly clouded. He wore half-moon spectacles, and a black coat. Right now, his face showed a very irritated expression. And Anthony recognised him. His eyes grew slightly wider. The man looked exactly like Councillor Edwards. For a second, the man met his expression. There was a cold cunning there, a quick ruthlessness. And then it was gone, so quickly Anthony wasn’t sure it had been there in the first place, replaced by benevolent geniality. What on earth was he doing here? Did Councillor Edwards get a time travelling device in the future? Was this his great-great-great-grandfather? Or was he…no, he couldn’t be.

He was surrounded by half a dozen open books, and a pile of paper. As Anthony watched, the man slid his eyes from them, and shot back and forth along one of the books, before scribbling frantically on one of the sheets of paper.

‘Well?’ He said, after neither Anthony nor Julia spoke. ‘What have you two come to bother me about?’
‘Well,’ Julia began hesitantly. ‘Mr. Nellion, Anthony here—’
‘Anthony? Who’s Anthony?’ Councillor Edwards—Mr. Nellion—asked sharply.
‘This is Anthony,’ Julia said, gesturing at Anthony. Anthony held his hand out.
‘I’m Anthony Redwatch,’ Anthony said. Mr. Nellion reached his hand out, and gripped Anthony’s in a vice-like grip. Anthony tried not to grimace.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Mr. Nellion said, and let go of Anthony’s hand. Anthony gasped in relief. ‘Looking for a job here? Well—’
‘I’m actually from the future,’ Anthony interrupted, ‘And I’ve brought—’

‘From the future?’ Mr. Nellion said. His eyes narrowed. ‘Jolly ho! Why didn’t you say before? That’s excellent. We have a nice little job for futurists. GUARDS!’
‘Wait, I have a—’ Anthony tried.
‘Shut up,’ Mr. Nellion snarled. His right hand was still moving, writing on the piece of paper. ‘I know your kind, Mr. Andrew Redwatch. Well I won’t let this library fall to any more of you future people.’ A file of guards came marching through the door.
‘But he has the Keystone!’ Julia shouted desperately. ‘Anthony show them!’ Anthony felt another lurch as Julia said those words he’d heard.

Then, Anthony riffled desperately through his backpack, and pulled at the Keystone. He yanked it out, and handed it to the man. Mr. Nellion looked at it, his face inscrutable. Then, he tucked it in his jacket.
‘That is for me to decide,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll have a brilliant time in the dungeons before we decide judgement.’ Anthony struggled, but the guards were upon him in a moment, sending paper flying. Anthony went limp as he realised escape was impossible. He let himself be dragged off.

They escorted him to the lift, and pressed another button on the dashboard. The lift made its slow trundling way down, and Anthony stood in the guard’s grasp. Finally, they reached the level, and the guards took him down a long corridor, to a metal door. One of them opened the door, and the others threw him in. The door slammed behind him. Anthony staggered to his feet, and looked at his surroundings.

He was trapped in a large room, completely made of smooth metal. Right at the top of the 5-meter-roof was a metal grill, most likely for ventilation, but too high to reach. Anthony sighed. Then, he reached into his backpack, and pulled out a stunner bomb. He placed it on the lock, and pressed a button. Nothing happened. It didn’t start ticking. It didn’t shine blue. A smiley face didn’t show up on the black screen at the front and stick its tongue out. And most importantly, it didn’t explode. And then Anthony realised. They were in the past. Stunner bombs didn’t exist yet! Anthony screamed, and banged on the door. He was trapped.

Then he remembered the badge. If he travelled into the future, and then moved to travel back into the past, he’d be out of the room in no time! He searched in his jacket, and then remembered. The badge had vanished as soon as he arrived here. So he couldn’t do that. The full enormity of the situation clamped down on him like Mr. Nellion’s hand. He was trapped in the past. He couldn’t change the future. And something was about to happen to the library, that Anthony could only guess at. And then he remembered the cruel cold voice. Anthony had a horrible feeling he knew what happened to the library. But he could do nothing about it. They were doomed.

Chapter 9

Anthony sat against the wall. After prowling around the entire room to make very sure that there was actually no exit available, there was absolutely nothing he could do to make himself useful. And so he sat. And waited. And nothing happened.

After what seemed like an age, Anthony heard footsteps approaching. He had begun to doze, but when he heard those footsteps he shot awake in an instant. He crept to one side of the door, and prepared to spring. The footsteps stopped right in front of the door. Anthony waited tensely. Then the door creaked open. Anthony sprang…and was meet with an vicelike grip of steel wrapped around his throat. Mr. Nellion lifted him into the air. His face was quite pleasant, in fact, it was rather cheerful.

‘I do hope you won’t try that again,’ he said conversationally. He let his grip slacken, and Anthony fell to the ground, groaning and clutching his throat. Mr. Nellion took no notice.
‘You know, I really must thank you,’ Mr. Nellion said. Again, Anthony felt a chill run down his spine as he heard those words. ‘For bringing me the Keystone, I mean. Without your most helpful intervention, which I’m sure was supposed to help the rest of the people in the future, our movement would have failed most horribly. I assume our invasion is successful, by the fact that you recognise me. Well, even if we had succeeded, we might never had gotten the Keystone. But now we have it, and we’re sure no pesky little creature like you is going to bring one here, our plans can proceed as, well, planned. I’m quite thankful you know. But, alas, we can’t have you going off to the past of the future which is our future, to get the Keystone from Zinchovich. So, sadly, I’m going to have to kill you.’ And without warning, he threw himself upon Anthony.

Anthony yelled in surprise. He had just gotten up from the ground, and Mr. Nellion threw him against the wall. Anthony spun to the side just in time to dodge a devastating punch thrown by Mr. Nellion. It smashed clean through the metal. As Mr. Nellion heaved at his hand, Anthony threw himself upon the big man’s back. Wrapping his legs around his chest, He battered at Mr. Nellion’s head and shoulders. Mr. Nellion, finally having freed his hand, spun in circles, and finally threw Anthony off. As Anthony went flying, Mr. Nellion pursued him. And his hand…

Mr. Nellion’s hand was a giant stinger, bigger than Anthony’s head. It looked sharper than the plasma cutters that the underground cities used to cut the huge sheets of metal to shelter from the lava, and was dripping with some sort of acid. As Anthony watched in horror, both hands melted and morphed into deadly looking pincers. A tail grew out from behind his back, and it ended with that giant stinger.

‘Lovely creatures, scorpions,’ Mr. Nellion said slightly breathlessly. His glasses had fallen off when Anthony had landed a blow to his nose, and the nose was streaming blood. ‘Deadly as anything for anything smaller than them. And in this case, you are most certainly smaller than me.’ And the tail whipped forwards to slam down towards Anthony. He dived away, and the tail sunk deep in the metal.

Anthony’s mind was struggling to comprehend what was happening. This Mr. Nellion…was he an Inarin? We’re all of them like this? How had they gotten agents in? The Inarin Invasion had only started 2268. This was impossible. And yet, the man—the creature—the Inarin— was still steadfastly approaching. His face was morphing too. The cuts and bruises were healing up. Anthony groaned in his mind. The Inarin could heal itself. He had so far escaped much injury. A few cuts, multiple bruises, and he was fit. He could dodge most of the Inarin’s blows. But he was tiring, and the creature could tell.

‘It’s too late for you, Redwatch,’ Mr. Nellion grinned. His face stretched unnaturally in that movement. ‘You know it, I know it. Stop fighting. Let me kill you. You’ll have peace.’ And Anthony found himself believing the man. NO! STOP IT! He thought desperately. But you won’t have to worry when you’re dead, said another, small voice, growing slightly louder each time. And in his moment of indecision, the Inarin pounced. He sprung, face stretched in that unnatural smile, and pinned each arm to the ground with those vicious pincers. They clamped down like vices, and Anthony’s arms screamed from the pain.

‘Say goodbye to life, Redwatch,’ the Inarin said. The pincer sped down…and then stopped. The Inarin looked surprised for a moment. He looked down at his chest, where a blade protruded out. Then, he simply collapsed onto the ground, dead. Behind him, stood Julia, a bloody knife shaking in her grip. She held out her hand, face white.

‘I can’t believe it,’ was all Julia seemed to be able to manage. ‘What was that? Mr. Nellion always seemed so nice. This couldn’t be him.’
‘How long was Mr. Nellion here?’ Anthony grunted, taking Julia’s hand, and getting to his feet. His left arm was broken, that was for certain. His right arm was just sprained.
‘He’s been here 20 years at least,’ Julia said. ‘That couldn’t be him.’
‘Well, whoever that was, that was no human,’ Anthony said, eyeing the corpse. ‘My guess is that that’s an Inarin.’
‘You mean…’ Julia couldn’t finish.
‘The invasion starts today,’ Anthony said grimly. And an alarm started blaring.

Chapter 10

‘ALL LIBRARIANS! ALL LIBRARIANS! SOMEONE HAS BROKEN INTO THE LIBRARY! THEY ARE ARMED!’ came an automated voice.
‘We need the Keystone,’ Julia said. Her face was white. ‘The al—the Inarin—are coming through the halls.’
‘What halls?’ Anthony asked. ‘I came down by a staircase.’
‘That’s a side entrance,’ Julia said distractedly. Then she looked up. ‘Wait. Did you say you came through?’
‘Yeah,’ Anthony said. ‘It was in the future, and I seemed to have fallen down the stairs.’ Julia nodded her head.
‘That would make sense,’ she said. ‘A few months ago, a lizard set off an alarm. When the alarm blares on, all doors seal themselves, the library sinks into the ground and moves its position to a different continent, and the main entrance activates the trap system. It’s old library magic, and the seal is only able to be broken if the library dies, or if the library unseals them. But the library’s been dying, so no one could get in or out through the side entrances, back entrances, roof entrances, or elevator entrances.’ She seemed to be gathering herself for something. Then, she knelt down beside the Inarin, and rummaged through his pockets, grimacing all the time. Finally, she sat up.
‘Nothing,’ she said, annoyed.
‘It must be in his office,’ Anthony said.

They rushed out, and ran for the elevator. Already, there was a thin line of people coming from further down the hallway. A big librarian started yelling orders and instructions.
‘SOME IDIOTS HAVE JUST STARTED INVADING THE LIBRARY,’ he screamed. ‘EVERYONE, ORDERLY FILE! MARCH HUT! TO THE WEAPONS FLOOR! GRAB WHAT SUITS YOU, AND JOIN RANKS WITH ME AT THE LIBRARY FLOOR!’ He whipped them into shape soon enough, and they were all moving towards the elevator. Anthony and Julia managed to get into the first ranks of the makeshift army of librarians, and they were first into elevator. Up they went, all the way, and Anthony and Julia pushed through the crowd to get out on the library floor.

And they ran, Julia leading the way, Anthony following close behind. Finally, they reached the door leading into Mr. Nellion’s study. Anthony threw it open, and darted in, slipping on the paper and the books. He ran straight to the desk, and banged all the drawers open. Nothing. He pulled them all out. Nothing. He ran to the bookshelves, and threw books helter-skelter everywhere. Nothing. Anthony was starting to panic. Julia had a bit more calm approach.

She looked around first, and then, she dropped to the ground, and started tapping on various boards. Finally, she dragged the desk out of the way, Anthony helping with that, and looked down at the wood underneath. She tapped on more boards, and finally, she yelled in triumph and pulled at a certain board. Anthony gestured at Julia’s knife, and Julia, understanding, used it to prise the board off. Underneath, was a sack. Anthony lifted it out. It was quite heavy for just one Keystone. Then, Anthony opened it up. Julia gasped.

The sack was full of normal river rocks. Anthony cursed.
‘The scoundrel!’ Julia exclaimed. ‘Where’s the Keystone gone?!’ Anthony just looked. These stones, these rocks, were useless. They wasn’t the Keystone in them.
‘Where—’ Anthony started. He couldn’t finish. They didn’t have the Keystone. So they couldn’t win. The Inarin would obliterate the library like a shark killing a seal. The future wouldn’t change. But they would go down fighting.

Chapter 11

‘How long can the librarians stand out for?’ Anthony asked, his mind made up.

Julia considered.
‘Well, we got the guard, which is about 600 strong. Then we got 1000 librarians, more or less. At least an eighth are old military folk. They should get them whipped into shape. And we have weapons that no one outside this library has ever heard of. The library, when it was still talking, created these weapons out of speaking stone. They were forged from flame and bended and tried and sharpened by Keystones. They are the deadliest weapons there could ever be. But we’ll ultimately fail if we don’t have that Keystone, or if the library dies. What are the Inarin like?’
‘They’re vicious,’ Anthony said. ‘You saw that other one. No one has ever survived an encounter with one of them. They don’t care about wounds, or losses to their squad. For them, it’s kill, or be killed.’

They were striding through the halls. Finally, they reached a crowd of librarians. That big librarian who had taken control in the basement floor was standing on top of a makeshift pile of books. He was dressed in full body armour, that bended and flexed easily on his body, but looked as hard as bedrock. He was also holding a bazooka as long as Anthony’s body, and a clip of bullets each as big as Anthony’s hand was slung around his shoulder. He was screaming instructions.

‘LIBRARIAN HUMAN BEINGS!’ He screamed. ‘DO NOT BE ALARMED! BUT SECURITY FOOTAGE SHOWS THAT WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH ARE NOT FULLY HUMAN! DO NOT PANIC! HUMAN BEINGS ARE THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE, AND WE HAVE THE LIBRARY ON OUR SIDE!’ There was a murmur, and some people muttered darkly.
‘What do you mean not fully human?’ came a voice from the crowd.
‘DON’T PANIC!’ the man bellowed. ‘BUT I’M PRETTY SURE THEY’RE ALIENS!’ Everyone panicked. There were loud screams, and some made runs for it. The librarian let them.
‘ANYONE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO FIGHT DOESN’T HAVE TO!’ He barked. A few more people nodding in respect to the heavily built librarian, walked away. Others, ashamed, crept like thieves. ‘BUT IF YOU WILL STAND FOR YOUR LIBRARY, AND DEFEND IT, THEN YOU CAN! HERE’S WHAT WE’RE UP AGAINST!’ He held up a hand. A giant TV screen came down. On it was a security footage.

An army marched through the halls. They were heedless, tramping on and on and on. Anthony could see traps explode everywhere, pits open up, flames exploding up, sections blowing up, arrows whizzing from walls, spikes shooting from the ground, and many were falling in this first wave. But still they were coming. Those who fell in the pits simply dragged themselves out again, or grew long and pulled themselves out. The ones who got hit with wounds that weren’t to the head or heart just healed themselves up. It was a terrifying sight. All of them looked vaguely human, but all had slight differences, strange body parts, ways of moving, materials they were made of, and other things too strange to describe. And right at the front, leading the way, ignoring the devastating damage done to its troops, was the biggest of them all.

It was a giant Inarin, taller than two men. It’s shape was never fully assumed, and it was almost impossible to see it’s movements. But it carried forward nonetheless. Anything in its way was obliterated by some unseen movement. And then, it looked up at the camera. It’s eyes were the only things clear about it, and they were darker than midnight, and cold as an icy blade. There was no emotion. No pity. Only black, deep, dark, and penetrating. It spoke, and everyone took an involuntary step back at the simple sound of its voice, powerful, ruthless, cold, strong, and dangerous.

‘You see our strength. You see our numbers. You cannot hope to stand against us. We have your Keystone. We will crush you under our feet like an insignificant ant. But you have one chance of survival. Surrender or die to me, King Amelos. There’s no other alternative. We will conquer this planet whether you are alive or dead.’ Anthony gave a start as he realised the creature was holding the Keystone in one of his hands.
‘We give you a chance,’ the creature spoke. Then, with an unseen movement, the camera was smashed. It would have been better if it had a rasping animal voice, or if it had bellowed. But there was no emotion in its voice. The library was just some small obstacle in their path, like a hurdle in the long race. And they were sure in their victory.

Anthony could see that many of the librarians were turning. They had never seen such destructive power in their lives. But Anthony had. He pushed his way through the crowds, and leaped up onto the stack of books.

‘PEOPLE OF THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA!’ he bellowed. ‘I KNOW YOU’RE AFRAID! YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE! THESE CREATURES, THESE DISGRACES TO NATURE, THESE INARIN, ARE INVADING! YOU’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THEM, I KNOW! THEY’RE INVINCIBLE FROM ANYTHING EXCEPT A MORTAL ATTACK! BUT I HAVE! I’M FROM THE FUTURE! I KNOW THESE CREATURES! THEY’RE RUTHLESS! THEY’RE DEADLY! BUT THEY’RE OVERCONFIDENT! WE CAN FIGHT THEM! AND WE WILL TRIUMPH! WHO’S WITH ME!’

There was a stunned silence. Then, one by one, they started cheering. Anthony sighed, his breath puffing out in a loud whoomph. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Anthony turned around to see the buff librarian. His face was grim.
‘Is everything you said true?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ Anthony said. ‘I came accidentally. But I’m fixing Zinchovich’s mistake. And I’m going to make sure that this library won’t fall.’ The librarian gave a tight smile.
‘Good job, comrade,’ was all he said. Then turned.
‘YOU HEARD THE MAN!’ he hollered. ‘WE’RE GOING TO FIGHT THEM! AND WE’RE GOING TO WIN!’ A resounding cheer exploded from a thousand throats, and echoed like a gong. Anthony gave a small smile. The Inarin would come. And they would be ready for them.

Chapter 12

The big librarian started yelling orders again.
‘WHO HAS SOME EXPERIENCE AT GUNS!?’ A crowd of hands flew up.
‘YOU LOT! GRAB GUNS, AND CLIMB THE BOOKSHELVES! YOU’LL RAIN COVERING FIRE ON THESE GALUMPHING INARIN WHO SEEM TO BE TRYING TO INVADE! ANYONE WHO HAS EXPERIENCE WITH CLOSE COMBAT WEAPONS?!’ A slightly less number of hands shot into the air.
‘EXCELLENT!’ the man hollered. ‘YOU LOT ARE AT THE FRONT LINE WITH THE GUARDS! PICK YOUR WEAPON OF CHOICE FROM THE WEAPON RACKS!’ Anthony looked around and saw the weapon racks on one side. Hundreds of different weapons, ranging from swords, to nunchucks, to war hammers, to tasers. Each man or woman went to grab a weapon, and then marched slowly to the front. Anthony joined them.

He had some skill with clampers, advanced magnetic grappling hooks with hands for hooks. He shot it at a book to make sure that it wasn’t like the stunner bombs. Thankfully it wasn’t, and the hand snapped around the book like a bear trap. He also grabbed a small mace. It fitted perfectly in his hand, and Anthony struck at imaginary opponents, getting the feel and heft of the weapon. He liked it. Julia joined him. She was carrying a pistol and a pouch full of ammunition, as well as her now clean knife.

Anthony got his first good look at the front entrance. It was wide, and tall. Probably would be able to fit at least 6 men abroad in it. But at the moment, the way was barred by two tall stone doors, each looking strong and heavy, each fitting perfectly with the other.

The makeshift army waited tensely. There was no noise. No one spoke. No one breathed. Faintly, Anthony suddenly was aware of a noise. The noise slowly entered his head. Tramping. But it wasn’t just tramping. There was slithering. Clacking. Flapping. The sounds all entered Anthony’s ears one after the other. And Anthony feared them. He had fought Mr. Nelllion. And he had won, but only with Julia’s intervention. And now they would face a whole army of these…things. But he would stand against them.

The noises grew louder, more pronounced, until it seemed they were right outside. Then, they stopped. Then the voice sounded again.
‘Last chance,’ the Inarin said. His voice sounded so much more deadly when it wasn’t a recording. It sounded like the voice of a snake. And the snake was waiting to strike. ‘I am growing impatient, humans. Surrender. There’s no chance for you.’

Anthony realised there was another quality of the snake around the Inarin. They had a hypnotic voice, almost impossible to resist. He’d felt it when he was fighting Mr. Nellion, and he was feeling it now. He could almost feel the librarians wavering. And then, the big librarian bellowed, ‘NEVER!’ The spell was broken, and everyone cheered. The Inarin said nothing. But Anthony could almost feel the malice. And then, there was a CRACK! And another, and another, and another, CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! The echoes rebounded around the area. And then, the door fell into 8 pieces, and the Inarin army charged through, the huge amorphous form with black eyes at the head of the Inarin.

‘ATTACK!’ yelled the big librarian. Anthony felt a small sense of regret that he hadn’t found that man’s name. And then, he was charging to battle along with everyone else. He found himself yelling.
‘FOR HUMANITY!’ The people around him took up the call, and as the call of ‘FOR HUMANITY!’ and the CRACK! and BANG! of gunfire echoed around the library, the two forces clashed.

Chapter 13

Anthony’s ears were ringing with the sound of screams, and guns. His world shrank to just, strike, strike, the smell of blood, the sound of screams, the feel of the club, and the instinctual urge to stay alive. The army kept growing. There were hundreds already, and even more were streaming through. Anthony struck at a lizard-like Inarin, and his mace smashed through its scale-armoured head, killing it instantly. But there was another one to take its place. Anthony wearily attacked. His strength was waning. But he had to keep fighting. Many Inarin were falling, but men and women were dying too. And Anthony had his eyes fixed on the King Amelos.

It was invincible, unstoppable, relentless. Anything that came in within arm-reach was smashed away. Bullets didn’t touch it. And so many were falling. Anthony could still see the Keystone, winking in the Inarin’s grip. He had to get to it. Anthony slowly inched his way towards it. But he was on the wrong side of the battlefield, and the men and women behind him were pushing him forwards. So Anthony struck, and attacked. And then, he remembered the clamper in his holster.

He reached awkwardly with his left hand across his body, and nearly got smashed by an Inarin with giant clubs for hands. He jumped back, and the club grazed his left arm. Blood started streaming, but Anthony ignored it. He struck with the mace, left, right, down, thrust. The Inarin smashed the club aside, and Anthony, finally having freed the clamper, shot it directly at the Inarin’s head.

Designed to grip onto things with a death grip, and as strong as a bear trap, it latched onto the Inarin’s face. Anthony finished it with a quick crushing blow of the mace, then retracted his clamper, and shot up at one of the bookshelves.
‘I’ll be back, hopefully,’ Anthony said hurriedly to Julia.
‘What—’ she started, but Anthony retracted his clamper, and shot up into the air. Anthony felt the wind rush into his face, and looked down to see the status of the battle. It wasn’t going well for the humans. They were falling back, and the Inarin were still coming.

Anthony hit the bookshelf and with an oof! he heaved himself up to see a man pointing a gun at his face.
‘Don’t shoot!’ Anthony cried. The man hesitated, then, reached out a hand, and heaved him up.
‘That was lucky,’ he said. ‘I saw ya bellowing yer guts out on that pile a books. Otherwise yer guts’d be splattered on the libry floor.’ Anthony nodded his thanks.
‘What’s your name?’ Anthony asked.
‘Orwell,’ the man shot back. ‘Orwell Inling. Yours?’ Anthony felt a shock of recognition.
‘I’m Anthony Redwatch,’ Anthony said. ‘And I think I now your ancestor. He’s a good man.’ Orwell blinked, and then seemed to come to himself.
‘Good, that,’ he said. ‘Long living, Redwatch.’ Anthony nodded his thanks. He ran along the bookshelf. It wasn’t very wide, but it wasn’t what you’d call precarious. Anthony ran along them, passing shooting men and women, jumping over small gaps between bookshelves, and using the clamper to get over the ones that were too big. Finally, he was close to King Amelos.

It was almost right below him. That unbreakable shield of destruction still surrounded it, and the pile of bodies was growing steadily bigger, and it was…it was laughing. Anthony aimed his clamper, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Anthony turned around, and looked up into a woman’s eyes. She gestured at the laughing Amelos.

‘Don’t even try,’ she said. Her gun was held carelessly in her left hand. ‘You can’t get any bullets even close to him. He deflects them all into poofs of smoke.’
‘I wasn’t aiming at him,’ Anthony replied. He shot the clamper straight up into the air, and a little forwards. It flew up, and finally, after a long pause, there was a clang. Anthony reeled out a lot more rope, and walked quite far back. The woman’s eyes widened.
‘You’re crazy, you know that?’ she said. Then, she grinned. ‘I like it. Good luck.’ And then Anthony was running. He leapt off the side of the bookshelf, and instantly, gravity took him.

He sped along it, books and wood blurring into one coloured wall. He went down, skimming the ground by a meter. Anthony knew if he hit that wall, he’d die. So he didn’t move. His mace was already in his right hand. And he was going up again, higher, higher, higher, and he was past the bookshelf, and now he moved, throwing his body in the exact way to make it move. He reached the apex of his swing, he was going down, and the Inarin was in his sight, its back to him, Keystone glinting tantalisingly in his grip. Anthony swung down, mace facing forwards, and then he slammed into the King Amelos’s back.

The Inarin staggered forwards, nearly falling, the laughter stopping abruptly. For one terrifying second, the Inarin stopped changing. Anthony saw a huge body, monstrous in every way, tall, elongated, humanoid, and powerful. Anthony saw the Keystone drop from its ‘fingers’, and he dropped from the king with an oof! He scrambled for the Keystone, and then, not knowing whether that monstrosity was still alive, started running.

Chapter 14

Anthony dashed through people, holding the Keystone aloft. The people broke around him, letting Anthony through.
‘JULIA!’ he screamed. ‘GET OVER HERE! I HAVE THE KEYSTONE!’ Anthony didn’t hear any response, and he kept running. finally, he was out. Without being hampered by the people around him, he could run faster. After a few seconds, he was joined by Julia.

‘You killed the King Amelos?’ Julia asked. Her face, when Anthony looked at her, was incredulous.
‘I have no idea,’ Anthony said. ‘I couldn’t check. Which way?’ Julia didn’t answer. Instead, she turned to the side, and ran between two bookshelves. Anthony followed. He was still wondering what had happened to that terror. They were soon to find out.

Anthony was dashing through the bookshelves, when a shadow flew above him. Anthony looked up, but there wasn’t anything there.
‘Did you—’ Anthony started. But he couldn’t finish. Above them, suddenly, was a huge shape, with giant wings bearing down on them. It smashed into the bookshelves above him, and the bookshelves fell aside. There was a CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! as the bookshelves crashed into the ones beside them, and the ones beside them, until the whole library was resounding with the noise of falling bookshelves and falling books.

King Amelos flew overhead, then plunged down. Anthony reached for his mace, before remembering he’d left it lodged in the Inarin’s back. he cursed, then ran faster. He dived down, and grabbed a long wooden shard that had been broken as the bookshelves fell. Anthony stayed down, and the Inarin flew above him. Then Anthony was up again. Julia ran beside him, yelling, ‘LEFT! RIGHT DOWN THE CORRIDOR, ALL THE WAY TO THE DOOR!’ Anthony didn’t answer. He ran faster, knowing that they were exposed, and that the Inarin could attack them at any moment. And then, it did.

The Inarin plunged from the sky like a hawk going into a death spiral, and smashed right above them. It pinned them each down with one gigantic hand, and started to squeeze.
‘That was pointless,’ it said in that same conversational tone that Mr. Nellion had used, except this was much, much worse coming from this monstrosity. ‘Your rebellion was fruitless. Your people will pay for this rebellion attempt. We will make them regret the day that they were formed into being. We will make them suffer for this. Your entire planet will become a wasteland of once beautiful ruins and dusty plains. And it will all have been your fault.’ Anthony gave a gasping cry.

What the Inarin had described…Anthony knew it well. It was his life. It was what the Inarin would do, and had done. And he couldn’t let it happen. The Keystone was in his grip. Julia had said that the library was a conscious being. This was its heart. Anthony willed something, anything, to happen, with all of his might.

‘Please,’ he prayed, ‘please, just do something. You’re dying, I know, but please, just make this final, last attempt. Please. For the millions who will die because the Inarin conquered the world. For the librarians who are defending you to their last breath. For me, and for Julia. Please…’ And as Anthony’s ribs cracked and as King Amelos laughed over their screams, the Keystone…pulsed. Anthony felt it. And. Then.

The Keystone blazed, white hot, bright as the sun, and as red as blood, and King Amelos staggered back, howling, clutching at those demonic black eyes. Anthony jumped up, his ribs aching but miraculously healed, and holding the Keystone, plunged it at King Amelos. The image of a golden sword, bright, shining, double edged, beautiful, and deadly, flickered into view once, and entered King Amelos’s chest.

The Inarin howled, an animal sound of rage and fear and loss, so loud it covered all the sounds of battle still echoing from far away, screaming and screaming and screaming, clutching its chest, changing form so fast it was a blur, and finally, silent. It collapsed. Dead. And Anthony would have done the same except there was a force, compelling him, dragging him, ordering him to go forwards. Julia stood beside him, and they walked to the door, and threw it open.

Inside was a glittering chamber. The walls were made of limestone, and right at the centre stood 6 stands. On 5 of them, were dull rocks, each of different shades, each silent, and dark. And at the centre of these stands, was one final stand. It was taller than the rest, bright, white, and glowing. The heart Keystone pulsed back. Anthony walked slowly to the podium. And placed the Keystone on the stand. There was a second when nothing happened. Anthony’s heart filled with dread. And then…

It was like a giant had taken a huge breath, after millions on millions of years. It was like a dead man coming to life. It was like all of nature, exploding with life once more. Every single Keystone on the podiums lit up with such brightness, and such power, that Anthony’s eyes were dazzled and amazed. Then a voice spoke into Anthony’s head.

This voice was nothing like King Amelos’s. It was full of power like the King of the Inarin’s, but this voice was kind. It was shining. It was good. It spoke of sparkling streams, and high rugged cliffs, and rainforests stretching into the distance, burning forests, and huge tornadoes, and overwhelming tsunamis, stars twinkling, stretching into the distance, giant celestial lights, orbiting in their fixed paths, most of which Anthony had never even heard of, but could feel the joy of nonetheless. And it spoke to Anthony.
(You brought my Keystone back.) Just a single sentence. But it resounded with power in a way that King Amelos’s never had. Anthony was speechless.
(You did well.) And Anthony’s mind entered the library’s mind. He could see the library inhabitants, driving the Inarin back. He could see himself and Julia, standing in front of the stands, surrounded by rainbow light. He could see the library, bookshelves righting themselves, books flying to correct places, weapons fixing, machinery restoring, and countless other things on countless other floors He could see the entire planet, so big, so endless. So beautiful. And then Anthony was back to his own body. He shook himself like he was waking from a daydream, and he could see Julia doing the same.
(Thank-you.) And the library’s all powerful presence receded.

Chapter 15

The next few days passed in a blur. Most of the damage to the library had been repaired by the library, and now that it had unsealed the doors, visitors finally started coming in. ambassadors from countries like USA, England, and Australia, most of which Anthony had only heard of in myths, all came in to seek advice and ask what had been going on with the library.

The library was finally working in full order, and Anthony could see it in its true glory. He marvelled at all the different floors. There was a machinery floor, a potions and apothecary floor, a stuffed animal floor, a random objects floor, and even a floor full of posters and banners.

Julia, who had unanimously been voted the new head librarian, was soon overwhelmed with new reports, slimy, sneaky, crafty ambassadors who were always looking for some sort of benefit that the library could give to their countries. And Anthony was feeling something inside his chest. Something tugging him. Anthony voiced his concerns to Julia one day.

‘I can’t say I didn’t expect it,’ Julia said. ‘I suspect you’re feeling homesick.’
‘Home…sick?’ Anthony spoke hesitantly. ‘Sick of home?’
‘No,’ Julia scoffed. ‘Sick for home. You’re in the past. This isn’t your world. You have to go back.’ Anthony blinked.
‘Yeah, I think you’re right,’ he said. ‘But how do I get back? The badge vanished as soon as I arrived.’
‘You should ask the library,’ Julia said. ‘It probably made the badge. It can probably send you back.’
‘Yeah,’ Anthony said. He turned away. ‘I guess this is goodbye then.’ He felt awkward. How did you say goodbye? Then, Julia hugged him. Anthony hugged her back. Finally, Anthony pulled away.
‘See your descendants in the future,’ Anthony said.
‘Bye,’ Julia said. And Anthony walked away.

Anthony navigated his way to the library core. When at the door, he paused. Should he knock, or something?
(Come in.) Anthony jumped as the library’s voice echoed through his mind. (I know what’s troubling you.) Anthony hesitated a little longer. Then, he opened the door. As before, Anthony was briefly blinded by the extraordinary light that shone from the Keystones. Then he stepped in and closed the door. The Keystones dimmed themselves a bit, as if to help Anthony’s eyes. Anthony squinted through the rainbow colours, to the red Keystone right at the centre.

‘Did you bring me to this past?’ Anthony asked.
(Yes. At least, I think so.)
‘What do you mean, you think so?’ Anthony asked. He felt like he deserved an answer. After all, this library had just dragged him through a war, and a banishment, so he felt entitled to an explanation.
(I have no recollection of making a badge like the one you possessed. I know of no creature, or sentient being who could make such a powerful object. But I know that it existed. This has been the subject of deep thought. I have come to the conclusion that I made the badge time travelling device in desperation.

(Zinchovich stole my Keystone. After that moment, I began to perish. But my time runs much slower than yours. For me, I was dying for a few days. And then, assumedly, the Inarin invaded me. I must have been weak, tired, powerless. And in my desperation, I used the last of my strength to create that badge. That’s the only explanation I have for the badge’s existence. And if I can, as you so put it, drag you through a war and a banishment, then I can send you back.)

‘Thank-you,’ Anthony said. ‘Would you do that for me now?’
(I will.) And Anthony sped though time again.

This time, it didn’t hurt. Anthony didn’t know whether it was because he was used to the pain, or whether the library was removing it. Anthony finally recognised the timeline colours as the colours of the Keystones. And they were growing bright, so bright, brighter than the sun, and Anthony had to close his eyes, and…darkness.

He was in the library. It was definitely older. There was no one in sight, but the torches all blazed on their brackets.
(Ah. I wondered which time was yours.) Anthony jumped as the library’s voice came again. He didn’t realise it could talk to people outside of the chamber.
‘Thank-you,’ Anthony said again.
(Go.) Anthony turned, and went towards the way he knew that the entrance was. Finally, there were the huge stone doors. And above them…Anthony gasped as he saw the giant portrait above the doors. It was Julia. She was sitting in Mr. Nellion’s study. Anthony read the sign underneath. Julia Anders, saver of the library, 100th head librarian. Anthony felt a moment of indignation. They hadn’t even bothered to include his name in the mentions. Then, his annoyance was thrown aside. He had helped. That was good enough for him. And he stepped out.

And looked upon a world of so much wonder that it took his breath away. He was standing on a hill, the library behind him, and it was night. Anthony looked out upon grasslands and trees, beautiful, lush trees, tall, with whitish bark and green leaves (gum trees, though he didn’t know it at the time). He could faintly hear the calls of birds and the rustles of unseen animals. And the stars, oh, the stars! Anthony had never seen the stars in such wonder and glory. His eyes were dazzled with the brightness, the spectacles of shining brightness above him.

Far, far away, he could see the blinking lights of a city. A bright beacon of human life and beauty. Tall skyscrapers, giant bridges linking the earth to the sky, floating buildings, and faintly, the small shining spots of flying machines, all around the air. And the sun broke over the horizon. It shone on a new world. A beautiful one. And Anthony wept.