Page 63 of Legends and Librarians
Mochi chirped, as if agreeing with her. He was, in fact, a panda.
The two women stared in fascination while the guy guzzled the water down, not even questioning that a red panda had handed the drink to him. Seriously, what were the three of them doing all the way up here? Especially if they thought the place was haunted?
“So, what brings you here?” I asked casually.
“Dragons,” Isolde whispered in shock as her eyes landed on the tree finally.
“Dragons?” Theo laughed, shaking his head, utterly clueless. “No, we’re here for paint supplies. This mountain has the best clay and plants. You can’t find a moon lily within a hundred miles otherwise. We used to come here all the time, but it just got too dangerous.”
“And now?” I asked, hoping the mood of the town had changed a bit. “You think it’s safe?”
He sighed. “Sadly no, but we’re desperate. All our supplies ran out weeks ago and we need to make more. An artist can’t create without the proper supplies.”
Anya had wandered over by him and was gripping his shoulder tight. “Theo!”
“What?” he asked, frowning at her.
She shook his shoulder, pointing at the golem and then atthe library. I had to force myself not to laugh at his shocked expression, but honestly, where did he think he was? Isolde had calmed down a bit at least, opting to pet Mochi instead of adding to the chaos about to unfold. I could appreciate that.
“Welcome to the Misty Mountain Library,” I said, spreading my arms wide. “Where the books come alive and cozy magic thrives. If you give it a chance, you might find something wonderful here.”
There. I nailed it. I turned around half hoping Nyssa would be there to see, but she was probably still inside distracting herself with a good book. Guess this was on me then.
“I’m sure you have questions,” I said, “but I can promise you the library is safe. I’m an S-rank adventurer, so you can take my word for it.”
They visibly relaxed a bit, taking another gulp of water as they looked around. Theo’s eyes landed on the moon lilies.
“You wouldn’t mind if we took some of those flowers, right?” he asked, excitement obviously overtaking any fear he had a moment ago. “They make wonderful paint that shimmers at night. And there’s usually some good clay around too.”
“Let me check.” I walked over to the golem, who’d already split the tree into planks and was getting ready to assemble it. “Hey golem, do you mind if these three take a few flowers?”
The rocks and plants in the golem’s body seemed to groan as he stood up. “Flowers? My flowers?”
“Only a few,” I said, holding up my hands. “It would really help make the library seem like a nice place.”
The golem grumbled, ripping a branch off the tree. The loud crack made me wince. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. The golem loved those flowers.
“Sorry, but I don’t think—”
I froze as I spotted Theo waist deep in the pond, ripping one of the lilies out by the roots. The other two looked like they weretrying to stop him, but it was already too late.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I snapped as the golem’seyes locked on the artists.
Isolde winced, but Theo just carefully put the flower in his bag like it was a treasure. A treasure so important he didn’t seem to notice the golem taking a lumbering step toward the pond. He might be an entitled jerk, but I still couldn’t let the golem vent its frustration on him.
“Hold on,” I said, standing between the golem and the artists. “They didn’t mean any harm and you’re supposed to be on your best behavior, remember?”
Nyssa had discussed that with the story spirits, making them promise they wouldn’t haunt or threaten any more visitors. But she hadn’t counted on anyone stealing from the golem.
“Hey, Mochi? Maybe you should go find Nyssa,” I whispered as the golem’s eyes started to glow. Then I turned back to the artists. “Nobody gave you permission to take those. You need to get out and apologize.”
“He’s over-excitable, sorry,” Isolde said, bowing deeply. “We’ll pay for them.”
As if that made up for hurting the golem’s feelings.
“Money doesn’t solve everything,” I said. “Get him out of there.”
“What’s wrong?” the guy asked. “There are tons here so we’ll just take a few and then find more in another pond. Nobody will even notice.”
