Endpaper: Part I

[Callimpsest]

[OOC: Continued from Book to the Future.]

*Callimpsest and his impromptu steed arrive at the school perimeter. He climbs off Young Grimwold's back and tries to stop trembling as he takes in their location.

In their hurry, they used short cuts that took them away from the main path to the school gates. They are some way around the dilapidated outer wall. Even if they had been at the gates, the library would still be several walls and corridors away from them.

Callimpsest feels the weight of the plagiaricer in his arms. It's getting heavier. Colder and brighter too. And beneath its surface he can feel a tapping, like the first raindrops of a storm. It must be about to hatch. But it mustn't. Not yet. Not here.*

Oh no...

*It's too heavy. He's too shaky. The plagiaricer begins to fall from Callimpsest's grasp.*

[Young Grimwold]

*Young Grimwold's hands are thrust under Callimpsest's just in time. The plagiaricer slides into his arms as Callimpsest collapses.

YG feels the object's coldness through his palms, but the thicker skin of an ogre stops it biting. It is now as heavy as stone. YG is much less troubled by its weight than by its gravity.

He looks at Callimpsest, struggling to get up. He can only imagine the strength it has taken him to get this far. Strength that has deserted him now. A body that will not respect the mind.

YG knows what must be done. He knows what he must do.

He has seen a map of the school and summons the layout to memory. He will have to make some extra doors as only an ogre can. And if that hurts his head, it will be no different from anything else he has done as a Grimwold.

If only he'd known it was to end so mindlessly. He might have spent less time on Ancient Greek.

At least there is no blood to be spilled, no flesh to be torn, no lives to be risked. Except his.*

I'll take it. I'll take it. I like to be useful.

*Let that be the last of his thinking. The comforting falsehood that it was his life, that he was in control, that any of it was about him.

*YG focuses on a weak area of the wall and steps back. With enough of a run-up, he hopes it will give way.*

It was a life. For a little longer - hopefully just long enough - it is a life. I'm sure you'll do. And if you don't, someone will find the results amusing.*

[Callimpsest]

Grimwold. Dear friend.

I spent time with your father once. He loves you.

*A moment passes. Callimpsest sees YG break off the stare and bow his head: perhaps in resolve, perhaps in resolution.

Callimpsest's gaze follows YG as he charges at the wall. He is surprised, yet proud, to hear YG let out a roar as he smashes through the masonry.

He keeps listening as the thuds and crashes get further away. They fade into silence, leaving only the thumping of his heartbeat in his ears.

Minutes go by. Or maybe only seconds. Callimpsest tries to stand. Then a blue flash fills his vision. He hears a loud sigh, unsure if it's from him or somewhere else. He loses his footing and the blue turns to black.*

[OOC: To be continued in Endpaper: Part II.]