Azia

I sigh and shut the book I've been skimming. I've been in the library all night reading about different types of callers. A caller is a person who can use their voice, eye contact, or hand gestures to call something or someone. Like what people call animal whisper but less rare and only for one specific thing.

There are many different types of callers. There can be a caller for anything. Like a type of animal, plant, object, or human. If humans ever found out about this they'd probably think that a human caller is the rarest type but it actually an object caller. Humans don't have categories like different types of animals. Like if five people were animal callers one could call horses while another could call cats. But with five human callers, they'd all just call humans. Most of the time a caller gets the category as their ancestors which is why some are a little rarer but besides this, it's pretty even. Some people say an object caller is the rarest because it hard to get something that's actually useful. Like some people can call a specific chair which is rarely useful. More useful ones are when people can call weapons, especially with their voice or gestures because in order to use eye contact the item would have to be in the room with them.

So far I've skimmed through around seven different books and haven't found anything useful. All I got was a few names for some different clans but I don't know how much help they'll be. People with a controlling ability usually keep to themselves, either they choose to or they are forced. This happened a lot because no one likes to be controlled and the controllers often get blamed for everything. I knew a girl named Maya who was the daughter of a maid that worked here. When she was around eight years old I remember going to the kitchen late at night looking for a snack and hearing her cries in one of the corridors. She was telling her mom about a test they had and how this girl was caught cheating next to her. The girl said that Maya made her do it so Maya could copy off of her paper. These things happened pretty regularly at schools for kids with abilities and was one of the reasons people moved out by others like them. It was almost like an unsaid law that you don't control your own kind. You can control others just not each other.

Most of the movers move out by the mountains where the bigger colonies live, while others live in complete solidarity. Some of the braver ones hide in plain sight by the humans. It wouldn't be a surprise if Merlatta's sister had done this but there's no way to know before we find her.

I stand up and make my way to the first-floor since the bookshelf I've been reading from is proving unuseful and it's the only other place I can think of that might be storing the information I need. There is a small staircase on the other side of this floor that I take down.

I look around grateful for the lack of people today. The library looks even more beautiful empty, It has large windows with stained glass details lining the left wall, and the others are covered in bookshelves. Today is a bright day so with the natural light painting strips along the floor and walls, lights are not needed. Just like most rooms the ocean is visible but it is slightly farther away here. This castle is placed on a peninsula with the north side facing inland and the library windows facing west. I grab the next book and take a seat on a bench against one of the windows.

***

About an hour and two more books later, I've found something. In a green book with no title just a golden engraved symbol of a slightly opened mouth with fingers that look like they're trying to claw their way out. After reading a couple of chapters I figured out that this is an ancient book on a specific clan of callers. This clan is more powerful than others and has managed to keep their secret for centuries.

I slam the book shut and put it back exactly back where it was then race to my room. I climb the stairs to the second level, knowing that if I take a main hallway there's bound to be at least one person who wants to chat. After a few hallways and staircases, I made my way to my room. I grab a camera I got from an aunt when I was young and a notebook and run back.

Amazingly, the book is still there. I flip it open to the important page and take a picture. I figured in the picture the page would be blank but I checked anyway. I opened my camera roll and as expected it was. I quickly grab a pencil and write down what I need to remember but before I can get more than a few sentences down the book disappears right from my hands.

I press my lips together and close my eyes in irritation. I stand up and smooth my dress as if this will help smooth everything else. I need to know what was in that book but to put it simply I don't have time. With training to become the next queen of Clarastin, the welcome dinner, being in charge of protecting the magic in our world, and now helping Emris with a birthday I'd rather ignore I barely have enough time to write speeches I don't want to in the first place let alone tracking down an ancient book cursed with vanishing.

I groan "This isn't even a Three-person job!"

"What about five people?" A voice sounds from above. I look to the second floor and find Emris waiting behind the railing along with Aideen, Cerelia, and Alora. "Is that enough?"