It must have been about a day since the Pearlcatcher and the Imperial became trapped in the library. At least, that's what Porcelain's pocket watch told her. Unsettlingly, she seemed to have lost her ability to sense the passing of the sun. The skylight they discovered displayed a strange mix of twilight, where the stars and moon sat unmoving overhead. There was no trace of the cliffs anywhere, and stranger yet, Sylph claimed to not recognize the constellations either.
No matter how hard either of them tried, they could not get the great stone doors to open. The windows also seemed to be surprisingly sturdy, as all the structural glass appeared to be reinforced with enchantments. The windows at ground level peering out into the street displayed a hazy picture, as if the outside world were but a dream. Even when the very rare passerby would appear, they seemed not to hear the cries of the duo as they vied for their attention. This information, discovered mere minutes after the doors blocked them in, led the pair to set their focus elsewhere.
"Sylph, we're going to starve to death in here."
"Will you stop your dramatizing for once? Besides, there
is food in here." Sylph produced a mouse she had killed from her pouch, dangling it by the tail in full display. Porcelain made a face.
"Don't act all high and mighty," Sylph continued. "I saw you chasing after fanned cockroaches when you thought I wasn't looking."
The Pearlcatcher gave a huff. "That doesn't change the fact that we have to get out of here. While I've taken it upon myself to search for alternate exits,
you took to leisure reading!"
"Some Light Flight dragon you are! Knowledge is power."
"Oh, I'm sure the adventures of
Sir Lancelot contain plenty of instructions on how to escape a condemned library! Don't think I haven't seen all the books you have strewn about."
Sylph winced and let out a snarl. Porcelain was right, but this was a
library, for Arcanist's sake! And a brilliant one, at that. Between the two of them, they found the library had many sections, from fantasy to history, science, memoirs, obituaries... a true melding of the collective minds of dragonkind coalesced in this one building. It wasn't limited to books either. Statues, paintings, and dioramas were scattered through the building, with plaques detailing information about each piece. There seemed to be something for everyone here. Everyone, of course, except Porcelain.
"No matter," The Pearlcatcher turned away before Sylph could utter a retort. "I have some searching to do."
Sylph tossed the rodent into her mouth and turned back to peruse the shelves.
So much for starving to death.
Suddenly, there was blinding light. At least, it was blinding compared to the previous dimness of the building. Porcelain stared wide-eyed while Sylph was forced to squint. After a second, they turned to face each other.
"What was that?" They said in unison.
"What did you do?" "Nothing." "Me neither."
They turned to inspect the new light sources, recognizing familiar Arcane flames and Light Flight bulbs. Then, slowly, they became aware of a rhythmic sound in the distance, growing closer. An ominous, metallic clinking. The pair looked behind them and froze. An imposing suit of armor fit for a Guardian emerged from behind a bookcase. It was tall, animated, and had no wearer within. It paused as a scream was heard from far across the building. That was Porcelain's and Sylph's cue to take flight.
Both dragons took to the air, but the ceilings were not so high. Sylph, with her massive body, struggled to stay aloft, while Porcelain took her perch at the top of one of the bookcases. The Imperial soon fell to the floor, finding herself backed against a bookcase of her own as she stood only a few dragon-lengths away from the animated metal suit. She closed her eyes, too scared to look, when an unfamiliar voice boomed and heavy wingbeats made an entrance.
"Back! Back, accursed construct!"
Sylph opened her eyes to see a bright red Pearlcatcher sliding to a halt, clad in alabaster filigree armor and wielding an ornate sword.
"Fear not, fair maidens. Sir Lancelot has come to your aid!" He tossed a wink back at the two dragons cowering behind him.
Before either of them could fathom what they were seeing, or comprehend how a sword could possibly defend against a suit of armor, another, softer, more authoritative voice called from behind them.
"My children! Come this way, quickly!"
Despite not knowing exactly who this voice was addressing, the voice seemed trustworthy enough to convince pair of dragons to heed its call.
~
On the other side of the library, a Coatl and a Spiral were following a similar mysterious voice. Rounding the corner to the entrance of the hallway, the two stopped in their tracks as they encountered...
... the Arcanist???
At least, a very tiny version of him. He stood to about the height of a Fae, leaning on one of the walls and motioning the two forward. But those details weren't all that important, it seemed.
Galactica and Histoire instantly dropped to their knees and bowed their heads low. They spoke in unison:
"Oh great Arcanist, please help us escape - "
"Oh by the heavens, get off the floor! Follow me and I'll help you!" The tiny form beckoned them to follow as it ran down the hallway and the two dragons gave pursuit. Eventually, the group found what appeared to be a small office in a barely-noticeable alcove in the corner of the library and shut the door.
“Thank you, Arcanist,” Galactica began, but the tiny figure cut him off once more.
“For the last time, I’m not the Arcanist! I’m not a god! I’m made of crystal, see?” The figure tapped its chest with a delicate *tink* sound. “Haven’t you seen those carvings of the gods you dragons make? Well, I’m one of them. But sure, feel free to call me Arcanist if it suits you.”
“Oh, well, that’s sure embarrassing…” muttered Histoire.
Galactica, on the other hand, bowed his head and took a second to whisper some apologies to the actual Arcanist under his breath before recovering from his chagrin and fixing the living figurine with a quizzical look.
“Ok, what on
Sornieth are you doing… alive?”
“You don’t know where you are, do you? Well, seeing the state of the place, I suppose it’s to be expected. You’re in the Enchanted Library! And you,” the figure pointed to the book Histoire was still clutching, “have activated it!”
“Oh! So that’s what that spell did! Does this mean… this book contains spells to control the whole library?” Histoire’s gleaming eyes grew wide with wonder, while Galactica’s eyes grew wide with sudden terror.
“T-then it should be able to get us out of here, then!” The Coatl managed to stutter out.
“Exactly! Oh, you probably encountered one of the library’s few security measures. The doors lock themselves after someone enters, and the only way to exit is through one of these spells…”
The figure scurried over to the book Histiore was holding and began flipping through the pages until it spotted the damage.
“Oh. Well, this is a problem. What happened to the spells here?”
“Some River Flights and Raptorik tore these pages out. They came out of nowhere.”
The figure nodded sagely. “They must have come from an open book somewhere. The spell can cause any book that’s opened to have its subjects spring forth from it.”
“We definitely found that out the hard way…” Histoire laughed nervously.
“I know. I saw. Toppling over multiple bookshelves is most definitely ill-advised once the spell is uttered.” The crystal figurine rubbed its temples, making a strange crinkling noise. “The animated creatures here react strongly to the book’s presence. They seem to covet it for themselves, perhaps as a form of self-preservation. My partner and I were part of the library’s original creation, so we were enchanted to act as caretakers when animated. The knowledge imported into the library? Not so much.”
Histoire was nodding along, but Galactica’s head was spinning. All of this was becoming too much to take in, even for an Arcane dragon.
“Ok, that’s great. And by “great,” I mean “terrifying.” How do we get out of here??” The Coatl’s tail began to lash in frustration.
“Oh! The unlocking spell. Right. It should be… ah! Here.” The figure pointed to a page with an illustration of an unlatched lock. “Good thing the creatures didn’t tear this page out. None of us have these memorized.”
“Great. Wonderful.” Galactica snatched up the book and made his way for the door before Histoire’s rope-like tail grabbed hold of him and stopped him in his tracks.
“Wait! We can’t just leave! We’re the reason the spell book is ruined! And the library’s a mess!”
“The pages that are missing seem to be both the animation AND the de-animation spells.” The figure piped up.
Galactica’s feathery crest drooped. They really did make a mess of things. The library’s purpose seemed innocent enough. But there was no way they could do it alone.
“If we’re going to fix things, we’re going to need to get reinforcements.”
~
Elsewhere, an orange and pink Imperial ran with a bust of the Lightweaver under her arm, with a white Pearlcatcher in tow.
"So let me get this straight... this is an Enchanted Library built ages ago. There is a book that controls the enchantments that someone must have activated, and we need that book to escape??" Porcelain's tone rose in pitch and incredulity as the pair sped ahead.
"Correct." Spoke the marble Lightweaver bust. "The altar should be up ahead."
Porcelain admitted it was very strange to be carrying the animated head of her beloved goddess. But it claimed it wasn't really the Lightweaver, so she figured it was
probably not heresy.
"But how did the spell get activated- " Sylph was suddenly cut off as a purple blur leapt from behind a nearby decorative pillar. She skidded to a halt, almost dropping the bust in the process. Porcelain, also caught off guard, ran into her tail shortly thereafter.
"W-who's that?" Sylph sputtered, prompting Porcelain to peek out from behind her.
"That's it!" The marble bust exclaimed. The form, a purple Coatl, stopped in its tracks. As they turned, they revealed a gem-studded tome clutched in their paws.
"And who are you?" The Coatl retorted as he was joined by a primal-eyed Light-born Spiral.
Porcelain didn't bother with an answer. "We've been trapped here for ages!!!!" She shot forward, making a beeline for the book. "We need to get out of here!
Hand it over!"
It was then that a third figure appeared. Was that... a tiny Arcanist? Or, rather, an Arcanist statue? Porcelain was shocked out of her attack as she stared at the small being, which began to speak.
"Everyone! Everyone, calm down! We don't want to attract attention, remember?"
The group fell silent. A distant shriek and the sound of squabbling could be heard in the distance.
"We're trying to escape too. How did you get in here?" The Spiral broke the silence.
"They came in through the Light doorway." The Lightweaver bust ignored the group's surprised stares and continued. "They need to learn the Unlocking Spell as well."
"What a coincidence! I suppose we could recruit their help as well. Newcomers, the spell tome has been damaged, and the creatures of this library have taken the pages to the animation spell and the de-animation spell. We need your help to retrieve the lost scraps and repair the tome so we may bring order back to the library!" The Arcanist figurine ended its speech with its fist in the air in an impassioned gesture, but was met with silence.
"So you must have been the ones who turned the lights on too..." Sylph mused. Histoire grinned sheepishly in response.
"So wait, this building has two entrances? Where does the other one lead?" Porcelain's curiosity finally seemed piqued.
"Yes and yes!" The Arcanist figurine interjected.
"The other exit connects the library to the Starfall Isles. We stand in a pocket dimension." The Lightweaver bust added. "And before we waste more time standing in stunned silence," it said, preempting more shocked expressions from the dragons, "You really should leave. This job is too big for only the six of us to handle. Gather reinforcements. The archives of this library -
our library - must be preserved."
The two groups nodded in agreement, and, after sharing the spell with Porcelain and Sylph, departed to their respective exits. When the two returned to the Light door, it appeared the coast was clear, though tattered rugs and overturned chairs showed evidence of a struggle.
"You will have to leave me here." The Lightweaver bust spoke up. "The other creatures of the library can escape through the door to the outside world, but I and the Arcanist figurine cannot. At least, we will no longer be animated. So you must move quickly before the creatures return. Keep your city safe."
"Will you be okay on your own?" Sylph asked, her voice stiff with exhaustion and concern.
"Yes. The library's hoards have no desire to target me. Now, get moving."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Muttered Porcelain, giving the area a quick glance to check again if they were still alone.
With that, Sylph left the Lightweaver Bust at the base of a bookshelf. "You may not be a god, but you are a godsend. Thank you." Sylph bowed, with Porcelain following suit after a moment of reflection. The bust bowed back without saying a word.
The two approached the door, with the words of the spell on their lips, and made their escape.
