Free Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders) by Brandon Mull Page B

embarrass myself by bothering Galloran. I’ll find a way to keep it together. Are you done up here? Should we head down?”
    “I guess.” Following her to a ladder, Jason turned to look back. “So much for my farewell ape fights.”
    *  *  *
    While descending from the heights of the temple, Jason and Rachel found Ferrin awaiting them near the base of a long ladder. Dressed for travel, he leaned against the wall, balancing his dagger on his fingertip. “Jason,” the displacer greeted, sheathing the knife. “I was beginning to worry you had been made an honorary gibbon.”
    “I heard you were looking for me,” Jason replied.
    “Can we take a walk?”
    Jason looked to Rachel.
    “Go ahead,” she said. “I have some things to gather. I’ll see you when we meet up to leave.” She started down a nearby flight of stairs.
    Ferrin led Jason to a high terrace that wrapped around the outside of the temple. They walked beside a waist-high parapet, the jungle spread out below them. Under the direct sunlight, the temperature climbed from uncomfortably warm to hot. The humid smell of vegetation filled Jason’s nostrils. “Seems to be getting hotter every day.”
    “Spring will do that,” Ferrin replied. “Winter is ending.”
    “What’s up?”
    Ferrin winced. “We’re about to go our separate ways.”
    “I know. Part of me never wanted this day to come. It’s been nice to spend some time without death and destruction around every corner.”
    “It’s been there waiting all along. But I know what you mean. Mianamon has provided a welcome season of relief. I’ve enjoyed the chance to observe your nature when you’re not under duress.”
    “That makes me feel like the subject of an experiment.”
    Ferrin shrugged. “If you were, the experiment was a success. You’re a good person, Jason. A true friend.”
    Jason felt unsure how to respond. He had never heard Ferrin give compliments lightly. “Thanks. You are too. You’ll keep an eye on Rachel?”
    “The one I have left,” he said, tapping his eye patch. “Do you realize what awaits you at the Celestine Library?”
    “I’ve heard the basics. Zokar placed a guardian there.”
    “Right. I went over this with Galloran and Farfalee, and I know they’ve spoken with you, but I want to make sure you fully understand. Zokar was obsessed with the torivors. Rightfully so—they’re probably the most powerful beings in Lyrian. He spent years attempting to create a race of similar prowess. The results became known as his Abominations.”
    “And one of them protects the library.”
    “Zokar never felt he had perfected his Abominations. There were three, each unique, each less governable than he desired. He never turned them into races because he feared they would usurp his power. One was a sinister being with an extraordinary gift for invading thoughts and dreams. It was dubbed the Visitor, and Zokar eventually destroyed it. Some historians cite evidence thatZokar was never the same after besting the Visitor, and argue that the confrontation may have permanently disrupted his sanity.”
    “I wish I were an evil wizard,” Jason complained. “They have all the fun.”
    “The second creation was a shape-shifter. It was called the Wanderer. Zokar tried to eliminate it, but the shape-shifter escaped and vanished. None know its fate.”
    “And the third?”
    “It was known as the Maumet. In form it was like a torivor, but considerably larger. The Maumet can transform itself into any material it touches. Zokar successfully imprisoned the Maumet on Windbreak Island.”
    “The same island as the Celestine Library.”
    “Correct. None have entered the library since that time. Many have tried. Eldrin was not one of them.”
    Jason frowned. “But after Eldrin defeated Zokar, didn’t he go on a rampage destroying books?”
    “Good memory,” Ferrin approved. “Eldrin decided to rid Lyrian of wizardry, and sought to destroy all the books that taught Edomic. Of the