The first light of dawn touched the horizon, painting the sky in shades of bruised purple and pale gold. Inside the old library, Evelina sat on the velvet sofa she had dragged toward the center of the room. She had been awake for hours, her mind processing the massive influx of data that had flooded her consciousness from the fifteen souls.
She looked at the windows. They were large, arched structures that should have let in a flood of morning light. Yet, the room remained in a dim, preserved twilight. She could see the sun rising but the rays seemed to hit an invisible barrier, refracting away before they could touch the ancient paper of the books.
Who could do this? Evelina wondered, her scientific mind analyzing the light particles. There is no technology in this medieval world capable of UV-light filtration. It's physically impossible for this era.
