Page 32 of Legends and Librarians
Then they were off, rejoining their group.
Lisa joined me, sitting on the arm of my chair. “You know they respect you, right? They just want you to see them as warriors like they see you.”
“They’re pint-sized wild magic creatures.”
“So?” She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t take you for a man who judged people by their size.”
“That’s not what I—” I sighed. “What do you want?”
“These creatures, as you call them,” she said with a disapproving look, “are just living their lives, however they can. We’re all striving for something more though, reaching for the thing that will make us feel whole. We’re part of stories that haven’t finished yet, we’re incomplete. Maybe you can empathize with that?”
Empathize with them?
“But you’re made of wild magic.”
“Again I say, so what?” She patted my shoulder. “You should really be more open-minded. Are you the expert on wild magic? What’s to say it can’t be good?”
She had a point. The wild magic I’d seen had all been chaotic, but did that really mean all wild magic was? Maybe it had fulfilled its purpose by bringing those creatures—no, story spirits—to life. Maybe they were something new now, a whole different kind of magic. Library magic.
The three-headed dog shifted in the corner, still staring at me with those sad eyes. I really could have thrown the ball for him once. It wouldn’t have hurt anything.
“Fine, I see your point.” I leaned down to grab the dog’s ball. “Come here Cerbie, do you still want to play?”
The dog leapt up, eyes bright and tongues wagging. Instead of going for the ball, he leapt into my chair, knocking me back. I laughed quietly as he licked my face, pressing against me like he was the happiest dog ever. I petted him for a while until he curled up in my lap, obviously not realizing how big he was for a lap dog.
But it was fine. Cerbie was happy and at the moment, that made me happy too. He was a good dog.
Maybe Lisa was right and I didn’t know everything about wild magic. Maybe these story spirits weren’t going to do something unpredictable and cause a magical mess. And maybe everything would be okay after all.
That felt like wishful thinking, but I’d never wanted to be wrong more.
Chapter 12
Nyssa
The lower the sun dropped in the sky, the more anxious the contractors got. They’d gone from laughing about the stories of the haunted library to flinching every time they heard a noise. Which had been far too frequently. Thankfully the two teenage apprentices had gone up to work on the roof, where they couldn’t hear anything strange.
Like metal clashing or pandas chittering or even a golem’s deep and mournful sigh.
Nope, they couldn’t hear any of that if they were outside. Which only left their boss, William, who’d opted to work on the interior, within dangerous earshot.
“Thanks again for coming all the way up here,” I said with a smile as he climbed down from a ladder. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
The roof looked like it was pretty much fixed. They hadn’t touched the windows yet, but new ones were lined up against the walls. There was no way they’d all get put in today though, so we’d need at least one more day of this ridiculous game of hide and seek.
“Just doing my job,” William said,but his gaze flitted around the library like he kept expecting to see something amiss. “Are you sure you want to work here? There’s another library intown that doesn’t have...” He shook his head. “Nevermind, not my business.” He walked outside and shouted up to the two teenagers on the roof. “Let’s call it a day for now.”
The kids climbed down, one of them grinning. “Afraid of being here after dark?”
“Think a monster’s going to get us?” the other asked, moving his hands like a ghost floating through the air.
“Course not.” William frowned at the sky. “Just don’t want to get stuck on the mountain path, that’s all. Now get moving or I’ll leave you both here.”
If only they knew the kinds of things that happened here at night. Would they be terrified or excited? There had to be a way we could introduce people to the story spirits without scaring them.
The kids laughed as they went inside and gathered up their tools. This would all be over soon and we could relax for a bit after a job well done.
“When will you be back?” I asked.
