Comments
Loading Dream Comments...
You must be logged in to write a comment - Log In
Archibald Featherquast The Feather of Night Knowledge
High above the canopy of a forgotten world, it floated, hidden between the branches of an ancient world tree: the Athenaria Library, a place visible only by misty light. Those who entered it entered no ordinary building, but a living chronosphere—grown from carved roots, crisscrossed by glowing runic veins whose gentle pulsation resembled the breath of a sleeping giant. Amidst this sprawling marvel of wood, light, and stories, he sat: Archibald Featherquast, the venerable Owl Librarian. He sat majestically atop a throne-like stack of books spanning seven centuries, his feathers swathed in a velvet robe that shifted between deep blue and rusty purple depending on the light. His brass-rimmed glasses sparkled in the flickering candlelight, while his amber eyes filled with centuries of knowledge. The air was warm with the scent of crumbling pages, spiced with a touch of mechanical ink and the barely perceptible whir of tiny biomechanical bookwalkers patrolling the shelves. Archibald wasn't just a librarian—he was the keeper of the Quills of Knowledge, those rare artifacts that could not only read but also write what hadn't yet been thought. In his right claw, he held one such quill—crafted from the last flight quill of Dulac's legendary Nebula Falcon. This quill could delve into any book, travel through all layers of time, and record lost truths even as they were discovered. Archibald was dipping it into a tiny cup of ink when a faint rustling sound came from the shadows. A child stood there. Not really a child—more like a creature of shimmer and dream. A small mechanomorph with floral joints and a face that, upon closer inspection, always resembled someone else. "Mr. Archibald," it whispered, "what happens to knowledge that no one seeks anymore?" The owl blinked slowly, then smiled—or rather, its eyes smiled, for its beak remained motionless. "It rests. It grows. And sometimes... it calls." He pointed with his quill at a book that opened of its own accord. Pages swirled like wings, and from the book rose a hologram—a city of light and tendrils, populated by figures of pure meaning. "This," Archibald murmured, "is the city of unanswered questions. Every forgotten thought has a door here." The creature approached. Its shadow transformed in the candlelight into a map, on which paths of ideas, longings, and old fairytales glowed. "May I... enter?" it asked. Archibald inclined his head. "Only he who seeks may enter. Only he who asks will find. And only he who writes will be understood." With a gentle nod, he handed down the quill. The creature's claw trembled as it accepted it—a union of metal, magic, and memory closed. As the quill touched the book, a new chapter flared into existence, one that still bore no title.