“Before I could even ask him what he was doing, he attacked me.” He looks at the wound on his side and grimaces. “I was caught off guard. We fought, but he got the better of me after dealing the first initial blow.” His lip curls up. “He left when the building began to shake.”

He looks me straight in the eyes, his face hard and features darkening.

“I saw him with my own eyes and fought him.” He breaks eye contact for a moment before continuing, “And lost…It was Isaac. Definitely.”

I could see the surety in his eyes and if he had said it was anyone else. I would have believed him. But this was Isaac. My brother.

I just couldn't believe it. It didn’t make sense. Were we talking about the same person? Because Isaac would never betray me.

But Ilyric…

He stares at my bewildered face, his own expression hard and unwavering.

Then a thought hits me, the Library’s magic and our connection.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. If I could connect to our bond, maybe I could understand more. Maybe Ilyric was mistaken. Maybe he was wrong?

I try to call to the connection I felt to the magic in the Library, the Autariums magic. If it was still here in the building or near, I would be able to feel it. I reach out, trying to sense it and connect to our bond…but nothing. I try to grasp or listen out for anything but still feel nothing.

There’s no magic, no little wisps or words being sent…just silence.

Maybe its power was exhausted like mine? Maybe it had been too drained and couldn’t connect?

I open my eyes and stand up. There was only one other way to confirm it.

I rush toward the back door and up the stairs. Ignoring the calls behind me and the burn as I push my legs harder and faster, climbing the stairs.

They had to be wrong, seen someone else….anything. It just wasn’t possible.

I reach for the door, my heart racing and breathing ragged as I open it, but I am not prepared for what I see. My knees buckle and give way as I gaze at the destruction before me. The air pulled from my lungs as I look toward the debris and wreckage around the room where the old protection artifact once stood.

The Autarium.

The large glass casing that contained the small ancient power source was shattered and smashed open. The piece itself gone.

My breathing comes out in quick rasps, my heartbeat picking up as I continue to stare around the broken room. I push one last time for the bond, praying it would connect, but again feel nothing. It was really gone. The Autarium was taken.

I knew its power was weakening. I should have done more to protect it, to keep it safe.

I had thought they wanted the Records, never once thinking it was anything else. Why did they take the Autarium and leave the Records? Was that their aim all along?