It took Elyssa what seemed like hours to find the author's name in the library. The name Noirin Fyallik The Wise was written in the back in the smallest script, among other meaningless sentences. Like it was meant to be hidden unless someone really wanted to know. Elyssa wondered if the name was mentioned in class. She'd have to wait and see.

Elyssa trailed her finger along the spines of the books. Noirin Fyallik The Wise wrote a lot of books. But she couldn't find the one she was looking for: Air Mancing Volume Two. The books weren't color coded either, which didn't help. A massive book caught her eye. Upon inspection, it was written by Noirin Fyallik. His name was written clearly underneath the title "Mancer Compendium."

Elyssa looked at the book in her hand, then at the massive Compendium. It was as tall as her forearm, and as wide as her hand placed horizontally. Elyssa took the Compendium off the shelf, which groaned as it was released of weight, and placed it on the floor. She couldn't leave the Air textbook there, so she tucked it under her arm and lugged the massive book back through the maze in the general direction of the exit. She hit a few dead ends, then, like a breath of fresh air, she broke into the open space of the sitting area.

Placing the massive book on the floor in front of the fire, she knelt before it and turned the first page. As she did, the fireplace flared to life. Was that a coincidence? The light of the fire reminded Elyssa how dark it had become. She quickly checked the window outside the library. The sun had moved behind the western mountains, casting their shadow upon the library. The sky was still blue.

Elyssa moved back to the book. If she had anything to do this afternoon, it could wait. She wasn't starting Mancing or dragon riding anytime soon, Cole had made that clear. Maybe it would have been different if she had never met Eclipse. Maybe she'd be in Air Mancing class right now. But would she have ever gone into the library and met Joshua? Would she ever be here, with the Mancer Compendium in front of her, kneeling before a fire?

Probably not.

Elyssa saw that the book had been opened to somewhere in the middle. Concerned, she looked around and saw a crow resting above the fireplace. She smirked and the crow flapped its wings. "Hello Eclipse." She looked down at the page that was opened. The title of it read "Chapter 13: Thoughts and Discussion on Mancing Fundamentals." "It sounds boring." Elyssa frowned at the crow. Sticking her hand in the page, she flipped back to the start of the book. "How about something on the... use of Mancing in the home... yeah, philosophy sounds better than this." Elyssa opened back to the page. The crow screeched.

Elyssa shook her head and studied the page before her.

It was time to learn.