Page 23 of Legends and Librarians
“You okay?” Roan asked as he eased himself onto the floor next to me. “You kind of lost your spark halfway through.”
Lost my spark, huh? I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my head on them. “I’m fine, just a bit worried I won’t be able to pull this off like I thought.” Admitting that, even quietly, felt wrong. I gripped my knees tight. “No, it’s really fine. I’ll make it work.”
“I think you mean we.We’llmake it work.” He stretched his arms out, sighing contentedly. “I’m here to help. Use me however you see fit.”
I glanced at him sideways. “How good are you at replacing old wood floors?”
“Uhhh....I’m sure I could learn.” He shrugged, an easy smile gracing his lips.
“Helpful,” I said with a laugh, but fell silent when Cerbie started barking. “That’s weird, the only time I’ve heard him bark was when I first came in.”
Roan got to his feet, suddenly at full attention. “I’ll check it out.”
I hurried after him, hoping the contractors had shown up early. I hadn’t had time to convince the story spirits that they’d have to hide when people were here, but I’d figure something out. Nobody would feel safe around a forest golem, let alone a Demon Lord! The inevitable fight was already giving me a bit ofa headache.
A tall, lanky man stood in the doorway, telltale glasses and suspenders giving him away.
“Oren!” I called out, waving. “What are you doing here?”
And why did the story spirits let him in? They’d forced me to use tricks to back get inside, but him they just opened the doors for? Lucky duck.
“You know him?” Roan asked, sword in hand.
“Yeah, he’s the researcher I told you about,” I said, petting Cerbie to calm him down. “You’re such a good guard dog!”
Cerbie preened under my hands, tail wagging fiercely.
Oren’s eyes lit up. “Is that a three-headed dog?”
“Hello to you too,” I said, “this is Cerbie.”
Before Oren had even taken two steps toward us, he spotted the golem and changed directions, his curiosity getting the better of his manners once again. Roan frowned, looking at me like he had a million questions.
“Oren’s the one looking into the book tree’s depleted magic for me,” I said. “I joined the guild at the same time as him and he’s the best researcher I know. Once he’s interested in something, he won’t stop until he knows everything about it. Perfect guy for the job.”
“So you trust him?” When I nodded, Roan sheathed his sword. “Good enough for me. Seems like he’s going to be a handful, like you, walking straight up to wild magic without a care in the world.”
“Hey now!”
Roan chuckled as he walked over to Oren. “My name’s Roan. I’m an adventurer helping out.”
Oren stuck his hand into a gap in the golem’s vines and dirt, a gleeful smile on his face. “What story is he from?”
Roan glanced back at me, hand still outstretched in greeting.
“The Gentle Giant,” I said, shrugging at Roan andwhispering, “sorry, but he’ll be useless until he inspects all the story spirits.”
“Story spirits?” the Demon Lord asked, disdain in his voice. “Is that what you’re calling us?”
I was hoping he’d gone back into his book to sleep for a while, but apparently, I wasn’t so lucky. I honestly hadn’t seen any of the books the story spirits had come out of, almost like they were hiding them. Which made sense since they were part of who they were, but I still wished I knew more about them.
The best way to overcome a difficult situation was to learn more about it. Even when that situation was a Demon Lord.
“Oren, meet the Demon Lord,” I said. “And before you ask, I have no idea what story he’s from. He won’t even tell me his name.”
The Demon Lord clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Is my name really that important?”
“Names have power,” Oren said as he joined us, “so I’m guessing that’s why you don’t want us to know?”
