"Shit shit shit sorry!" the courier yelped, trying to push the book he'd been tugging on back in, but it was too late. He tried to at least block some of the books from falling on Maea as she went down with an armful of precious(?) tomes, reference books, textbooks, and dissertations. A cloud of dust puffed up around them and Tal coughed and tried to wave it away as the candle flame danced with eagerness, blazing brightly to illuminate the spidery black script on the first page of the little book that Maea had saved.
Within its pages were entries on most of the void-touched flora and fauna that had been found in Stormbreak in the months following LongNight, including fairly decent drawings of both normal and infected versions of plants and animals, with notes about the differences and similarities that Theodore had observed between them, and careful records of their numbers and spread over the ensuing seasons.
Tal leaned over his companion in research, pale eyes bright with surprise at the usefulness of the find. "Huh. Guess he must've been lookin' at th'stuff for a school project or something." The flame flickered as if in exasperation, but it seemed to be growing weaker with every passing moment. A small but determined breeze blew across the pages, riffling them until they turned to a place three-quarters through the little volume that Maea held. It landed on a chapter on Rock Sliders, with copious notes about their appearance, size, and venom. Several pages in, however, the words ended with a single header titled:
The rest of the book was blank.
A Thesis on Recent Variant Species in Stormbreak and their Effects on the Local Ecosystem
Theodore G. Boffen, Masters Candidate
Theodore G. Boffen, Masters Candidate
Within its pages were entries on most of the void-touched flora and fauna that had been found in Stormbreak in the months following LongNight, including fairly decent drawings of both normal and infected versions of plants and animals, with notes about the differences and similarities that Theodore had observed between them, and careful records of their numbers and spread over the ensuing seasons.
Tal leaned over his companion in research, pale eyes bright with surprise at the usefulness of the find. "Huh. Guess he must've been lookin' at th'stuff for a school project or something." The flame flickered as if in exasperation, but it seemed to be growing weaker with every passing moment. A small but determined breeze blew across the pages, riffling them until they turned to a place three-quarters through the little volume that Maea held. It landed on a chapter on Rock Sliders, with copious notes about their appearance, size, and venom. Several pages in, however, the words ended with a single header titled:
Shadow Serpents
The rest of the book was blank.
