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Hey everyone, part 2 is here! Sorry it's been a little while, work has been slowly but surely trying to kill me D: This chapter is going to be a little shorter, since it just explains a few things that will come into play later, as well as gives some backstory. Enjoy!

I hardly remember the journey home. I remember running, pulling Liz along as she cried and wheezed for breath. I remember constantly checking over my shoulder for any sign that we were being followed. I remember the sharp taste of fear at the back of my throat. I remember gasping for breath, running up the last hill to our small house. But I don't remember the trip taking hours as it had before. It felt like days.

Auntie met us at the door, already aware that something was wrong. She sat in a chair, holding Liz tightly to her chest as my little sister kept crying. I tried to relate the story as best I could, but every few sentences my mind would flash back to the moment as the blade cleaved through the elder's flesh. Auntie did her best to keep me calm, and I managed to stutter out the rest of my account. By the end I was trembling slightly and feeling lightheaded. I sat down against the wall and pulled my knees up to my chest.

By then, Liz was sleeping fitfully. Auntie tucked her gently into bed with the doll clutched tightly in her furry arms. She came back to the main room and touched my shoulder lightly, with the same sad expression in her eyes that I had seen so many times before. "Aeryn, I think it's time you learned about our history."

Confused and still shaking slightly, I got up and followed Rebecca as she went to a cupboard in the kitchen. My eyes widened slowly as she revealed a hidden compartment inside, pulling out a leather-bound parcel. It was covered with dust, and I could tell that it had been ages since the bundle had been touched. Auntie set it down on the table and motioned for me to sit across from her.

She was quiet for a few moments, staring at the object in front of her for a few moments before sighing tiredly. "Aeryn, there's more than I'd like to admit that I've kept hidden from you. I hope every day that it's been for the right reasons, but there's no more time for secrets now.

"Many years ago, before your grandparents' grandparent's were born, and possibly beyond that, the world was a very different place. We have little of that history left, except for the Great Tragedy."

Rebecca paused, as if struggling to find the words. "They say...they say that almost every living thing died. No one knows how, or why, just that the face of the planet changed forever. Seas turned to deserts, and mountains became dust on the wind. No one can tell for sure how long it's been since, but we've lost too much as a result." She ran her thumb along the edge of the leather bundle. "I had hoped it would never come to this, but I can't hide it from you anymore."

I shifted nervously. "What are you talking about, Auntie?"

She gently pushed the object towards me, until it sat on my side of the table. "That is all we have left of the old times."

I dropped my gaze to the package. It was nothing more than a small square of wrapped leather, bound in twine. I hooked a claw in the twine and looked up at Rebecca, who just nodded. I cut the string and unfolded the wrapping, uncovering a blank-faced book. Its cover was tanned rawhide, without any lettering or inscriptions to speak of. The pages were thin and yellowed, their corners faded and stained. To me it looked entirely unremarkable, but there was something in the way that Auntie handled it that made me suspect otherwise.

Gently lifting one of the pages, I immediately screwed up my brow in confusion. This was like no book I had ever seen. All of the words were hand-written, some pages seeming to have been written by the same person while others looked as if someone different had scrawled just a few lines before handing it off to the next. Some of the markings were still clear and easy to read, while others looked as if they had been written with a charcoal stick in the back of a bouncing wagon.

But what struck me the most was that it seemed every section was written in a seperate language. I knew enough of our own tongue well enough to read it, but there were only snippets of it on those pages. I turned to a random page, about a third of the way in, spotting some of the Farthorn writing and speaking quietly, under my breath. "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of shadows a light has dawned." I looked up, perplexed, to see Auntie with tears glistening in her eyes. She gently took my paw in her hand, speaking so softly I could barely hear her. "Aeryn, I have to ask you to do something I had never hoped to."

I felt a shiver of fear run up my spine, but I forced it away and nodded. "Whatever you need, Auntie, I'll try my best."

That sad smile appeared again, lining her face with wrinkles I had never noticed until just then. "Oh, dear child. It's not what I want. What I want is for you and Liz to be free and live your lives to their most. But we had to fight for that freedom once, and that time has come again.

"King Tarren ruled this land once, long ago. He was an oppressive, malicious tyrant. But that's not why we fought and eventually toppled his empire." Rebecca went silent, staring at the book in front of me.

I sputtered a bit, turning a few of the pages. "Wait, he...you fought for this thing? How important could some old parchment be?"

A hidden energy, one I had never seen in her eyes, flared slightly. "It's more important than you could ever imagine, Aeryn. That book," she said, still transfixed by the pages, "was hidden away for countless years, passed between those who knew what it was and could keep it safe. But it can't hide any more. His son Darius knows now." Her shoulders sagged, like she was suddenly very tired. "I don't know how. We worked so hard to keep it secret, and after so many years I thought they had moved on..." She wiped away a tear, and I realized that she was sobbing quietly. "I've failed all of you." She looked at me with sadness in those deep eyes, and then at Liz curled up in the next room.

My mind was reeling. None of this made any sense, but the pain on Auntie's face was real enough for me to understand that there was far more going on than I realized. I turned a few more pages, trying desperately to find the words I wanted. "Auntie, what would happen...what would happen if this King Darius found the book?"

Auntie was silent for a few moments, and I was worried that she wasn't going to answer when she broke the quiet. "That book is like a sword, Aeryn. It may not look like it, but those pages hold immense power. And like any weapon, it can be used for good or evil." She touched the parchment lightly, tracing an edge with her finger. "If the king had the book, there are few who could stand in his way. The western lands would fall, along with the rest of Verdan. He would be unstoppable." Her voice quavered at the last few words.

I turned my gaze down at the book, its cracked and faded pages lit by the dim candlelight. Shadows flickered across the words written in so many dialects. Some flowed across the page like a gentle river, and others stuck out like a handful of broken knives. Finally, I gently closed the book and took a breath. "Auntie, I'm...I don't know if I can do this. From what you're telling me, king Darius will do anything to get this book, even kill for it."

Solemnly, she nodded. "He'll do far more than that, child. He would burn cities to the ground, destroy entire families, and tear Verdan to shreds if it meant getting his hands on it."

"Then why me?" I could feel the fear starting to grow again, like a twisting iron rod inside my gut. "This sounds like a job for a soldier, not me."

She gently touched my face, smiling as a tear ran down her cheek. "I ask you, Aeryn, because you had been chosen for this even before you were born. I will not force this on you; I love you far too much for that. But you must know something first.

"Your parents...they did not entrust me with you and your sister's care simply because they knew I was able. They carried the book before I did, and their last wish was to know that their children were safe from the evil that took them both."

There was a deep ache in my chest as I tried to understand what Auntie was telling me. My parents were little more than hazy memories and faces from long past, and up till then thinking of them had led to little more than a sad curiosity to know who they had been. Now, for some reason, it felt like they had just been killed in front of me. Why did they have to die?_I asked myself. _I was hardly old enough to walk on my own, and my sister couldn't have been more than a kit. What could have made them give that up?

_ _ "Why?" I managed to choke out, feeling like someone had stabbed me in the chest. I had no idea why it hurt so badly, after so many years of feeling little. It was like a fresh wound being opened after so nearly being healed. "Why did they leave us?"

I shut my eyes as I felt Auntie get up and kneel next to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. "They never left you, Aeryn. They gave themselves up so that you and your sister could live, and that the book could be kept safe. They love you dearly, more than you'll ever know."

Speaking was still difficult, but I swallowed and brushed at my eyes. "Why did they choose you?"

She rubbed my ears gently, knowing that it always helped to calm me or my sister down when we were upset. "I was with them almost until the end, and they knew that one day you'd be ready to accept this task, if you chose to do so."

I just nodded a few times, still staring at the book. How could this bundle of parchment and leather be the reason for my parents' deaths, and potentially thousands more? How could such a simple thing cause so much pain and misery? At that moment I could almost feel a palpable hatred for that thing. I was looking for anything to distract me from that rage, and found myself surprised with the question that came to mind. "What were their names?"

Auntie was taken aback as well. Neither my sister or myself had ever asked what my parents were called, something she probably found strange but had never mentioned. She held me closely. "Your father was Dayna, and your mother's name was Sarah."

I let the words sink in, trying to fit the names with the fragments of memory that I could recall of them. All I could remember was a set of gentle paws, sparkling eyes, and soothing voice in my ear, though the words had been lost long ago. I tried desperately to think of something, anything else about them, but my brain couldn't pull anything out of the mists of time.

I turned my attention back to the book. "They died for that." I said, almost to myself. "They gave up everything. Why?"

Auntie held me at arm's length. "Because if they hadn't, you, your sister, and thousands more would have died. Their sacrifices were what gave us the time to...sort things out. But that time is gone, child. King Darius would seize that book and kill all those who had sheltered it, and use its power to enslave all of Verdan. We took the power from his family, and now he wants it back."

My attention remained fixated on the volume. I was almost trying to be angry with it; after all, this was the reason my parents had died. Whatever it did, or meant, was enough for them to lay down their lives. It had taken so much from me, even without my knowledge, but I couldn't bring the hate to bear. Instead, I could see it in my head, my parents sitting down at a similar table, staring at the book much as I did now and making the decision that would lead to their deaths and possibly the salvation of so many. Whatever was in those pages had been important enough for my parents to die for, so it was enough for me.

But then I flashed back to the scene in the village earlier. I could still see the blood spurting and dripping onto the ground, the elder's final wheezing breath as life fled his body. The stench of gore, sweat, and fear was still fresh in my nostrils. The balding man, grinning as he yanked the blade free. He was one of King Darius' troops, and he would be returning soon. For what purpose, I wasn't certain.

I managed to stand on shaky legs and pushed the chair in. "Auntie, can I...have some time to think on this? I'm just not sure what all of this means."

She smiled again and hugged me. "Of course, child, I would never push you into a decision as important as this one. Take as long as you need."

I smiled wanly and started walking to the bedroom, stopping at the doorway and turning to look over my shoulder. "Thank you, Auntie. I love you."

She grinned weakly. "I love you as well, Aeryn. Now, get some sleep. You and your sister deserve some rest."

So I laid down on my bed, pulled the blankets up to my neck, and dreamed of the past I never knew.