‘I have,’ Mraan replied. ‘As much as I could carry.’
‘Good,’ Haloch replied. ‘Then we will be leaving.’
‘Leaving? But . . . where will we be going?’
Haloch’s movements, although stiff from lack of use, were certain. ‘Do you not know? The Enemy is nigh. I heard them in the streets below, shortly after completing the illustration. They must never get their hands on this. In fact-’
The old copy lay closed upon its dais. Haloch took the candle and touched its flame to the edge of the old book. It began to burn immediately with vigour. In a moment, the room was filled with its light. As they left, Haloch turned for a moment to watch as the fire spread to the wooden scribing-table.
‘It hardly seems possible that so many lifetimes of work and experience could end so suddenly, or be expunged from existence in such ignominious fashion. Yet when I remember that the Elf Kingdom is but a footnote in the annals of Time itself, or that it is only one tiny land on the face of a world that is vast beyond our reckoning . . . it makes me wonder how, in the face of all reason, we came to believe that our own petty concerns were so all-important.