Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy Part 1

Ann reluctantly set down Precession and Binary Inversions in order to take the heavy book from Nathan. She set it on the table, too, and bent close. With great care, she lifted open the cover. She blinked, then straightened.

"Selleron's Seventh Task!" She gapped at the prophet. "But I thought there was only one copy and it was destroyed."

One side of Nathan's mouth cocked with a quirky smile. He held up another book "Twelve Words Left for Reason. I found Destiny's Twin as well." He waggled a finger at a pile. "It's in there somewhere."

Ann's jaw worked for a moment until the words finally came. "I thought we had lost those prophecies for all time." The odd smile still on his lips, he only watched her. She reached out and gripped his arm. "Could we be so fortunate that there really were copies made?"

Nathan nodded, confirming her guess. The smile ghosted away.

"Ann," he said as he handed her Twelve Words Left for Reason, "take a look through here and tell me what you think."

Puzzled by the grim expression that had settled on his face, she placed the book in a clear spot and began carefully turning pages. The writing was a little faded, but no more so than any book its age. For as old as it was, it was still in good condition and quite legible.

Twelve Words Left for Reason was a book containing twelve core prophecies and a number of ancillary branches. Those ancillary branches, when carefully cross-referenced, connected actual events to a number of other books of prophecy that were otherwise impossible to place chronologically. The twelve core prophecies actually weren't all that important. It was the ancillary branches that served to link other trunks and branches in the tree of prophecy that made Twelve Words Left for Reason so invaluable.

Chronology was often the most trying problem facing those working with prophecy. It was often impossible to tell if a prophecy was going to unfold the next day, or the next century. Events were in a constant state of flux. The setting of prophecy in the context of time was essential, not just to know when a particular prophecy was to become viable, but because what was of overriding importance next year might be nothing more than an unimportant minor event if set in the environment of the year after. Unless they knew which year the prophecy took place, they didn't know if it foretold danger or simply a matter of note.

Most prophets, when they set down their prophecy, left it up to those who would come later to fit it into its proper place in real-world events, There was no clear consensus on whether this had been done deliberately, through carelessness, or because the prophet, in the throes of having his visions, had never realized how important, and difficult, it would later be to chronologically place his vision. She had often observed with Nathan that a prophecy was so crystal-clear to the prophet himself that he simply failed to comprehend how formidable a task it would be for others to read and fit into the puzzle of life.

"Wait," Nathan said as she turned the pages. "Go back a page."

Ann glanced up at him and then flipped the vellum back.

"There," Nathan said as he tapped a finger to the page. "Look here. There are several lines missing."

Ann peered at the small gap in the writing, but didn't see what was so meaningful about it. Books often had spaces left blank for a wide variety of reasons.

"So?"

Rather than answer, he rolled his hand, motioning for her to go on. She started flipping over the pages. Nathan thrust his hand in to stop her and tapped another blank spot so she would note it. He then urged her to continue.

Ann noticed that the blank places became more frequent. Finally, she came to entire pages that were blank. Even that, though, was not unheard of. There were any number of books that simply ended in the middle. It was thought that the prophet who had been working on such books had most likely died and those coming after didn't want to interfere with what a predecessor had done, or perhaps they wanted to work on branches of prophecy which were more interesting or relevant to them.

"Twelve Words Left for Reason is one of the few books of prophecy that is chronological," he reminded her in a soft voice.

She knew that, of course. That was what made the book such a valuable tool. She couldn't imagine, though, why he had felt it important lo point it out.

"Well," Ann said with a sigh as she reached the end, "it is odd, I suppose. What do you make of the blank places?"

Rather than answer her directly, he handed her another book. "Subdivision of Burkett's Root. Take a look."

Ann turned the pages of yet another priceless find, looking for something out of the ordinary. She came across three blank pages followed by more prophecy.

She was growing impatient with Nathan's game. "What am I supposed to see?"

Nathan was a moment in answering. When he finally did, his voice had that quality about it that tended to run shivers up her spine.

"Ann, we had that book down in the vaults."