Sweat beaded on Keita's forehead as she concentrated on the magic surrounding the lock, using her own natural magic to work its way through. It was a longer process than might take a mage familiar with this particular magic, but her own method still worked. Her hands were still pressed against the door when they swung open violently, toppling her into the adjoining room onto her hands and knees.
The ringing in the room was phenomenal, loud enough for even Trest to hear. In the center of the room stood a podium, and upon it was a large book. Unable to bear it anymore, Kieta clapped her hands over her ears as laughter echoed throughout the room. A darkness bore down upon them and the room chilled, and soon the laughter was joined by horrifying screaming.
The book called to her, seductive and dark. It promised protection and power, a shield against the horrible sounds and vibrations echoing through the room. At first she attempted to resist it, but as she turned her head she saw Trest beginning to approach the book in a dreamlike trance. "Trest..." she called out, half-heartedly, voice meek and unconvincing as she, too, rose to her feet and allowed herself to be pulled towards the book.
Trest and Kieta stood side-by-side in front of the book, and both would reach out to grasp the book of their own accord, like reaching out to a trusted companion.
Hundreds of tiny clawed hands leapt from the binding of the book, digging down into the skin of their forearms. A choked scream of pain tore from Kieta's throat, her green eyes opening wide as flashes of maddened masses of people clawed through her mind. Destruction and terror reigned supreme for an infinite amount of time, taking hold of their minds viciously.
They would not recall the pain or the images they had seen. As quickly as it had taken hold, the book released both Trest and Kieta, appearing innocuous where they held it together. Neither would recall how they had come to take hold of the book, nor the terrible things they had seen, nor how their arms had come to be bleeding and pierced a hundred times over. All they would experience would be a vague feeling of forgetfulness and a heaviness of spirit.
Kieta blinked her eyes, confusion sinking in. Why was she panting so laboriously? Why was her heart hammering in her chest as if in fear? With shaking fingers, Kieta pried open the book to read the first page.
Tome of Madness
The second page appeared to have the authors of the book written down, a list of names scratched out until her eyes landed on the last two.
Kieta Fiodh
Trest Arristaire
She read the next page:
We are the Tome of Madness. Those who touch us, own us, as we own them until the end.
Panic seemed to set in as she flipped through the pages of the tome, holding it so that Trest could see the pages, too. Each chapter titled with the names of the other authors, and each chapter ended with the symbol of a skull and cross. Finally, she reached the chapter she had dreaded.
Chapter 25: Kieta Fiodh & Trest Arristaire
She watched in horror as an invisible hand scrawled in dark orange ink across the page.
Kieta and Trest meet us for the first time. It was not a pleasant meeting. They open the pages of our book, and they begin to question the meaning of things... They will take us to another and jumble the chapters, but we will be reunited to finish what they have begun unwittingly. They should know that each time they open us will lead them closer and closer to their ending or our ending. In fact, as we are writing...
Kieta closed the book quickly and released it, backing up and drawing a hand down her face, a dark sense of dread falling over her. "We... We should..." She stared down on the tome, "We'll give it to the Boar. Let the book take others while we figure out how to destroy it. Perhaps it will not return to us until late in our lives? Perhaps somebody before us will destroy it?" She looked to Trest, worry clear across her face.