When Lyra opened her eyes, she wasn't looking at the sky. For the first time in 17 years, she didn't feel the weight of the air; instead, there was just deep, quiet stillness.
She was lying on a smooth, clear jade slab. Above her, instead of a ceiling, was a huge space filled with shiny purple liquid. It looked like an ocean, but it didn't move like one. Big, old fish with glowing bones floated around up there, and their shadows moved across the floor.
Don't try to get up, a voice said roughly. Right now, your body is only being held together by my good intentions and some super expensive paste made from crushed moon-pearls.
Lyra didn't listen. She pushed herself up, and her muscles complained. The Sun-Burn that had been hurting her from the inside was now gone, replaced by a cold, numb feeling. She looked at her arms. They were wrapped in the same old, dusty bandages that the old man wore.
She was in a hall that didn't follow the rules of the world above. Shelves made of black stone went on for miles, filled with scrolls, jade tablets, and books that glowed softly. The air smelled like ozone and old ink.
The Sunken Library, Lyra whispered.
The Library of Val-Raya, the old man corrected. He was sitting at a small wooden desk nearby, carefully fixing a rip in a worn black cloak – the Shroud of Shadows. Though 'sunken' is a bit of an understatement. We're about three miles under the Iron-Spine Mountains, in a pocket of liquid starlight. The 'Eye' can look all it wants, but it won't see past that much mountain and a god's tears.
Lyra looked at him. In the low light, he looked even older than before. His skin was like wrinkled paper, and his eyes were milky white and blind, but he moved with a sure way of moving that made it seem like he could see things she couldn't.
Why save me? Lyra asked, reaching for her Dantian without thinking. The three silver drops were still there, but they were slow and covered in grey soot from the Solar Judgment.
The old man stopped sewing. I didn't save you because I'm a hero. I saved you because the books started screaming. The Lunar Records have been quiet for 600 years. Then Oakhaven freezes, a Solar Gate breaks, and suddenly the 'Van-Heal' section is glowing like crazy. I'm a librarian. My job is to keep the stories going.
He stood up, his bones cracking like dry sticks, and walked toward her. He put a hand on her forehead. His touch wasn't cold, but it felt empty, like nothing.
You're in the Late Phase of the Dew-Drop Stage, he said quietly. That's good. Most of your family spent 50 years just getting the first drop to stop drying up. But you... you're hungry in a way I haven't seen since the First Timeline. You didn't just grow the moon, you tried to eat the sun.
I did what I had to, Lyra said sharply.
And you almost turned into a burnt piece of wood because of it, the old man chuckled. Listen, Lyra. The way you're going isn't going to work. You're trying to make a throne of ice in a world of fire. If you keep going like this, you'll be dust the next time the Eye blinks.
He turned and told her to follow him. Lyra swung her legs off the jade slab, feeling dizzy. She followed him deeper into the maze of shelves, past sections with names like Celestial Mechanics, Forbidden Alchemy, and The Bodies of Gods.
They stopped in front of a stand holding a single, huge book covered in what looked like silver dragon scales.
This is the Codex of the Unbroken Soul, the librarian said, his voice serious. Your family thought that to beat the Sun, you had to become a bigger, colder Moon. They were wrong. To beat the Sun, you have to know that the Sun and the Moon are just two sides of the same thing. They're both Light.
Lyra frowned. Light is my enemy. It burns. It kills.
It burns because you fight against it, the old man said. You have three drops of Lunar Essence, but your body is full of Solar damage right now. Most people would try to get rid of the Sun-Burn, I'm going to teach you how to make it stronger.
He opened the Codex. The pages weren't written with ink; they had glowing stars that moved as Lyra watched.
The Second Stage of what you're doing isn't just the 'Frost-Vein Timeline.' For you, it has to be the Eclipse-Vein Timeline. You won't just have the moon in your blood, you'll have the shadow that the moon casts on the sun.
He gave her a small, black bottle. Drink this. It's from a 'Night-Blooming Lotus.' It will make your body stronger. Then, sit in the middle of the Solar-Lunar Circle and call that Eye back down. Let the sun burn you, and teach your silver drops how to handle the heat.
Lyra looked at the bottle, then at the endless shelves of the library. She understood that she had just been pretending to be powerful. She had been a village girl with a big sword and a cold heart. But here, in the quiet dark, she was being given a chance to become something else. Something impossible.
What if I fail? she asked.
Then I'll have to write a sad end to your story, the librarian said with a smile. And I hate writing sad stories. They're so messy.
Lyra opened the bottle. The liquid inside was thick and tasted like cold iron and starlight. As she drank it, she felt her body stretch, which was painful but had to be done.
She walked to the middle of the room, where a big circle was marked on the floor, half white jade and half black stone. She sat down in the center, crossing her legs.
Old man, she called out as the circle began to glow.
My name is Malachi, he answered from the shadows.
Malachi... when I'm done with this, can I go back to the surface?
Malachi looked up at the purple liquid sky, at the three miles of mountain between them and the world.
When you're done with this, Lyra, the surface won't be able to handle you.
The circle lit up. A tower of dark energy shot up, going through the library, the mountain, and into the sky. It was a signal, a challenge.
Far above, the Heavenly Eye opened quickly, its golden stare fixed on the mountain top with a rage that shook the world.
The Eclipse had started.