The Book That Wouldn't Burn

With the fight paused, Yute reveals the truth of the ruined city that Livira and Evar saw; it was occupied by both humans and canith, who had finally made peace after years of war, and the attack came from a different species entirely. He also reveals that he and Yamala were once assistants, the servants of Irad, in opposition to the Jaspeth-serving Escapes. The two of them became mortal to try to permanently break the cycle of destruction, although they disagreed on how to accomplish this. Lord Algar, who is among the survivors, rejects the idea that the two groups could ever live in harmony and vows to hunt the canith down. Clovis lashes out at him, but Evar restrains her. His anger manifests as fire, causing the ground to shake and smoke to appear. Suddenly, Livira cries out for help for a dying Malar, stopping further fighting.

Evar carries Malar to his own portal to receive healing at the chamber’s center. He tells the others to wait, but Livira goes with him, even though she knows that going to the future means that she can never return to her past life. Once they arrive in Evar’s version of the library, they find the Escapes dead. Livira accuses Evar of bringing Clovis to help kill her, but Evar denies this and asserts that he is now saving Malar because the man is important to her. They deposit Malar at the center of the chamber and wait for him to heal. When Malar regains consciousness, Livira cries and is strangely comforted by the Soldier.

Livira and Malar prepare to rejoin the others back in the Exchange. Before they go, Livira and Evar talk. When he says that he might just read his book despite the warning, Livira notices that the design on its cover is like the one she saw in the wind-weed years ago. When she pulls out the collection of her own writings, they realize that it is the same book. When the two copies touch, they become one book.

As they make their way back to the portal, Livira explains that Evar’s people were trapped in the room because only certain species can open certain doors. They make a detour to one of the doors to see if she can open it. On the way, Livira realizes that the Soldier is the same assistant that Yamala summoned, as it has the same wound on its face. Livira touches the door, and the barrier vanishes.

As the door opens, they are met with three towering, insectoid skeer. The creatures attack the group without hesitation, and the Soldier fights back while ordering Evar, Livira, and Malar to flee. Despite wanting to stay and help, Evar leads Livira and Malar to the pool. Just before leaving, he meets the Assistant, who now glows red as she rushes to join the battle. Although Evar is torn between his feelings for Livira and his loyalty to the Assistant, who has protected him throughout his life, but he ultimately chooses to protect Livira. He leads her and Malar through the pool.

Evar, Livira, and Malar return to the Exchange, only to find that hardly any time has passed. Clovis is still arguing with Yute. Livira reunites with her friends from her village, who cautiously accept Evar after she explains that he saved Malar’s life. Livira then anxiously watches the portal, hoping to see Arpix, Jella, Meelan, and Salamonda. When they don’t emerge, she decides to go back. With Malar and Evar by her side, Livira returns to the burning library.

Livira, Evar, and Malar enter the burning library in search of those still missing. Livira calls on Volente, who leads them through the dense smoke. As they follow, they realize that, as ghosts, they can phase through walls, which helps them to navigate the maze-like chambers. The group soon encounters a band of canith who seem able to see her. Evar realizes that the book Livira wrote makes her visible to them, and he urges her to let the book go, but she refuses. The canith grow agitated, and one fires a weapon toward her. In the chaos, Evar and Livira both take hold of the book.

Evar and Livira awaken side by side in the Exchange, but there is now only a single pool. He realizes that they aren’t in the Exchange; instead, they are in the book that Livira wrote. As she leads him away from the forest, she explains that she wrote the book for herself, but she is glad that he enjoyed the stories when he experienced them in the Mechanism. She then takes him across a vast lake to an island. Livira tells him that she is afraid that he might have been tricked into caring for her, a fear that he echoes. He questions if this is actually happening and if this version of her is real, and she counters that they are all just stories anyway. They kiss.

Livira and Evar return as ghosts to the burning library, and Livira drops the book. They reunite with Malar and see that the canith now have Livira’s book. Livira also spots Carlotte, who was taken prisoner by the canith. Evar reminds her that they are powerless to free her, and Malar advises her not to dwell on losses that can consume her. Livira accepts that they can’t save Carlotte or recover the book.

While Livira, Evar, and Malar follow Volente, Livira grapples with the need to abandon Carlotte. On the way, they find Escapes moving the two assistants out of the fire. They eventually reach the chamber where Arpix, Jella, Meelan, and Salamonda have taken refuge, only to discover that they are surrounded on all sides by smoke and flame. Malar asks if they could possess one of the people and lead them out, but Livira refuses, saying that such an act might permanently damage them. However, she comes up with an alternate plan and asks for Malar’s help.

Livira rushes back to the corrupted assistants and explains her plan. She and Malar will possess the assistants to help their trapped friends. When she enters the assistant, Livira battles the Escape that is already possessing it. As she does, she realizes that neither the assistants nor the Escapes are innately good or evil; they simply serve different purposes in the library’s eternal debate.

Livira and Malar, now in assistant bodies, return to her friends. She decides to open a portal to the Exchange in order to save them, but her borrowed assistant body resists. Still, Livira manages to use Malar’s sword to cut her hand and use her blood to open a portal.

When Malar and Livira possess the two assistants, Evar realizes that they are actually the Soldier and the Assistant, whom he feels guilty for leaving behind to fight the skeer. Livira opens the portal, and Evar follows her back into the Exchange. There, Yute continues to evacuate refugees through a portal between Livira’s time and Evar’s. While Evar looks for Livira, his lost brother, Mayland, appears from one of the portals and takes Yamala hostage to pressure Yute to abandon compromise, saying that the library is a blight on history. When Yute tries to reason with him, Mayland kills Yamala. Escapes begin pouring from portals, threatening everyone. In the chaos, Evar realizes that he needs to save Livira from being trapped inside the Assistant, so he races to his home portal.

Livira, now in the body of an Assistant, enters the Exchange. She now knows it to be the eternal nexus binding Irad’s library and holding together countless books and spaces, with Jaspeth’s dark influence in its core. Livira places her hands on the nexus to issue one last command to clear the room with the Mechanism. Her memories, desires, and identity start to fade, lost in the timeless existence of the Assistant. While she is aware of the books burning, a necessary compromise, she realizes that one book isn’t burning at all. This prompts her to return to the chaos of the burning library. She finds the Soldier lying beneath burning debris, protecting her unburnt book. They realize that this book is the key to the library’s fate. She takes it from him and is briefly transported back into the adventures that she wrote for her and Evar; this one is a version of Rapunzel. He argues against the tragic ending that she wrote for the story, but she says it’s inevitable and that he cannot save her.

Leaving the story again, the Assistant writes the warning for Evar at the front of the book and hands it back to the Soldier. She then leaves, chasing a different book, which Carlotte is holding. The canith keeping her captive explain that they came seeking a way to stop the skeer, and they beg the Assistant to save them. She leads the group to the chamber with the Mechanism, which has been altered to create a wall of books to hold off the flames. When Carlotte asks how they will survive, the Assistant opens another portal to bring water for the seeds that remain from the canith’s destroyed rations. When the Assistant and Soldier open the portal, Carlotte flees through it. Then the Assistant settles down to wait.

Evar bursts from the pool back into his chamber, trying to reach Livira before it’s too late. As he runs, he sees dead skeer scattered around, but he also finds the broken bodies of the Soldier and the Assistant. Evar collapses beside her and cries.

Livira’s spirit lingers, unseen, alongside Malar as they watch Evar grieve. She reaches out, touches Evar’s shoulder, and calls him back to action. Evar faces the advancing skeer, prepared to die in her defense. Just as they are about to overwhelm him, Clovis arrives and attacks the creatures. Kerrol joins the fray as well, and the three siblings fight side by side and manage to cut down the remaining skeer. After the battle, Kerrol says they need to find Livira’s book. The three siblings turn toward the open chamber door, heading for the war that Clovis longs for and the woman whom Evar lost.