Fer caught up with her, holding the black book more carefully now.
“What was that?”
“An archaeon. A bookwyrm, if you prefer. Very rare. Very ancient. There are a few still inhabiting the archive.”
“I have never heard of such a being.”
“They are creatures of spirit, of thought. Not flesh and blood. They eat and sleep ideas. They don"t really live in our world at all. What few there are have found their way to libraries like ours. They love words; it"s the perfect habitat for them. This one will have been roaming around in our scrolls and tomes for centuries.”
“So we need it because of what it knows?”
The old witch nodded, smiling appreciatively as if Fer were a bright child.
“I"ve read perhaps a hundredth of what is written down here. I remember perhaps a hundredth of what I"ve read.
