The Lost Tome

Apparently there was an age where there were rooms full of books. That was thousands of years ago, no one remembers when the last of the Old Books were gone, but the New Tomes started to appear at the turn of the century, many years ago.

People have changed, the world has changed, and most of all, the language has changed… not that the people of Earth have acknowledged that.

The Great War was the start of the degeneracy of recorded events; books, scrolls and tomes, they all started to get destroyed, as well as what was formerly known as a ‘country’.

Many of the Old Ways were lost, and have not lasted. A leader became a nobody, equal to just about everybody else. A country became land to be farmed and hunted on, necessary to endure. European languages (became a far-off memory) were forgotten, and were never re-learned. Country borders became blurred and no longer mattered. After the Great War, most languages only endured through word of mouth, and so many letters and words were lost or changed.

Kara was an explorer at heart, she was resolved to learn the secrets of the Old Ways, from before the Great War. Thousands of years ago, there were nuclear bombs, sent from country to country. The most populated parts of the world got bombed and destroyed, everyone got caught up, and no country was left out of the warfare. Adults and teens were drafted for a war that was treated as a loss on every behalf.

She had heard rumours that the Old Alphabet had as many as forty letters, she couldn't accept that, but she knew there must have been more than the twenty two letters they were aware of. There was a rumour, a supposed folk tale told to the toddlers, that there was once a Tome that held only words. Not just words, but all words that anyone ever knew. That would not only be the greatest breakthrough to have graced the last thousand years, but Kara was also eager to learn so many new words and what they all mean. To come upon the Tome would be Kara's greatest feat, a huge success.

One day towards the end of summer, Kara awoke early, although early for her was very early for everyone else. She woke naturally as the sun broke the darkness to start the day, she broke her fast, cold meats and an apple to feast on, before she donned her leathers and ran her wet stone down the edge of her sword, before she returned the sword to her sheath and strapped the sheath to her belt. She rolled up her sleep bag, packed up her temporary ‘bedroom’ and went on her way. She had lost count of the number of days she had been on her quest to uncover the lost Tome, but Kara was sure she had been away from home for over a year.

Kara had heard of a loner, an old woman who declares herself the Knower. She knows stuff, apparently. She also settled herself leagues away from anyone and anywhere, and supposedly does not treat travellers well. “Among the Pothole Caves of the famous Mount Ashtuk could be the place to search for the Knower” - a message from one of Kara's contacts. What Kara hadn't known was that she had made a name for herself and was very well known, regarded by most as the top foremost expert on the Lost Tome, due to her attempt to seek knowledge, that earned her the honourable name the Seeker. Of course she had heard herself referred to as the Seeker, but had not known the relevance, or perhaps the grand scale that she’s known.

And so, aware of each other for so long, the two would meet at last, the Seeker was due to uncover the secrets of the Knower. So long as Kara could actually locate the old woman. Today could be that day.

Kara looked up at Mount Ashtuk, the journey she had taken to get here was long, tough and brutal. Her sword had been drawn, used, cleaned and put back to rest more than once. Hours and hours upon her feet, caused them to be battered and scarred, she had got used to that by now though. Although now, towards the end of her journey, her damaged feet seemed to know the trek was almost up, and the almost unbearable agony from her left foot had started to return. She shook her foot to force the agony away, and stretched her muscles before she made her ascent up to the Pothole Caves.

There must have been hundreds of caves, small ones, huge ones and connected ones. She never ventured too far before she returned out to where the sun beat down, and the trees swayed. She was shocked to see how many trees could endure on such a steep angle. Kara assumed there would only be rocks and boulders, and to encounter the old woman once she had reached Mount Ashtuk would be the easy part of her quest. However, the powers at be, the Gods of new and old, had other plans for her. She had entered and explored exactly seventy-two caves by now. She had been on Mount Ashtuk for hours, and she could see from the length of the shadows that the sun was due to set a few hours from now. The next cave was very small, too small really to be called a cave, and resembled more of a crater.

Kara had more luck at the seventy-fourth cave. At the large open entrance to the cave hung strands of frozen droplets a few metres long. The doorway to the cave looked comparable to a monster's mouth, the frozen droplets as the teeth. As Kara stepped through the open maw, she half expected the teeth to close after her, to trap her underground. Fortunately, the cave had not closed, because of course, caves aren't known for that. However, the cave had started to feel a far cry from the others she had explored.

“Who goes there?!” The cry came from the cave's depths. Kara could not tell whether they were male or female, but she knew what she must answer. Boldly, loudly and assuredly, she announced, “The Seeker.”

A moment passed, then two, and then three. Before the fourth moment came however, a three legged creature emerged from the darkness. Although, the three legs turned out to be just two legs and one cane, that the old lady held to support herself. She looked uneven, but not cruel, she had more folds on her forehead and cheeks than Kara had thought probable, and when she beamed, Kara saw that she had half as many teeth as she should. The Seeker was fond of what she saw, and the Knower nodded her approval of the Seeker.

Kara had no doubt that the Knower had foreseen her to show up soon, whether today had been the day she had expected or not, today was the day they had met. The two women spoke fervently, they both were as eager as each other to meet the other. They spoke for hours, Kara talked about her youth and how that had led her to take on the quest, and then her journey here. The Knower, who Kara learned was named Antalya, spoke of what she had done up to when she made the cave her home, and after she came here. Antalya had lost count of the amount of years she had been here, and also how old she was, but there was a pool of water deep at the heart of the cave that was never empty, regardless of how much Antalya drank. She reckoned because of the water from the rock pool, she had managed to extend her age by many years.

“Now, the reason you are here today,” Antalya broke the soft sense of calm that had descended between them, “the Lost Tome.” Kara's eyes opened, she had hoped for some knowledge on the book.

“What do you know?” She asked, eagerly. But Antalya gave not a verbal response, but grabbed a small book out of her bag that she had over her shoulder, and handed the book to Kara.

Softly, tactfully not to damage the book, she turned her long lost treasure face up to read what was on the front.

Oxf_rd

En___s_

D__t__nary

She wondered what the letters were that she could not read due to the years of wear and tear, but she knew what she now held was the Lost Tome of old, the book she had searched for, for so many years. She looked up at the old woman seated before her.

“How… Have you read the book?” Kara asked. Antalya just nodded as a response, as she beamed from ear to ear.

“How many letters are there?” Kara asked, her eyes, her whole face full of wonder. Antalya used her words to answer that one.

“26.” She responded.

Kara repeated the number slowly, she knew there had to have been more than 22, but only 26? She carefully peeled back the damaged front cover, and began to read and learn the language of old.