Page 83 of Legends and Librarians
“Save the books!” I shouted as I threw myself over the displays we’d set up.
Apparently the library needed a good cry today too, but its tears were a lot more of an issue than mine. The Demon Lord sighed as he grabbed a blanket, tossing it unceremoniously over me and the books while Lisa ran off to presumably look for a better solution.
Rain beat against my back, drenching me and everything around as Roan leaned over me to try and shield some of it. I glanced up at him and caught a small smile on his face.
“Are you seriously smiling right now?” I asked.
“Yup, because this goes to show that Misty cares about you just as much as you care about the library. Your tears broughtMisty to tears too and it’s pretty wonderful to have a friend like that.”
I blinked up at him. “Do you really think that’s what this is?”
“Of course it is,” Lisa said as she rejoined us with the tarps we’d used to cover the broken windows earlier. “You were here for us when we needed you most and now we’re here for you. What’s a little rain in the grand scheme of things?”
She placed the tarps around us carefully, covering everything she could that was in range of the rain. Somehow it had missed all of the bookshelves and was just focused on me, while the other story spirits stood at the edge of the downpour perfectly dry. Maybe they were right and this was just some sort of show of solidarity?
“Thank you, Misty,” I said, staring up at the stormy cloud while big fat rain drops hit my cheeks. “Now that we’ve let all the bad vibes out, let’s work on a solution. Together.”
I glanced at the rest of the story spirits, at Cerbie who was wagging his tail ready to race over to me at any moment, at the golem who was trying to shoo the rain cloud away, at all of them just surrounding me with warmth.
I’d never felt so much love from so many people at once and I wasn’t going to waste a single moment of it. It seemed Misty agreed because the rain started petering out. I was drenched though, my hair sopping wet.
Roan handed me a towel with a reassuring smile. “Well, that was refreshing, right? Just what we needed to wake us all up.”
“You have a weird sense of refreshing,” I said with a chuckle.
As the storm disappeared back inside its book, so did the water thankfully. Every drop dissolved back into the story as if it was never here. Our books would be fine.
I walked over to the great book tree, sitting down beside it and motioning for the others to do the same. Together we crowded around the tree, sitting on the ground like kids waitingfor story time. Cerbie padded over to me, resting his heads on my lap. I pet his soft fur, feeling my anxiety melt away as he cuddled up against me.
“Now is not the time to give up,” I said firmly. “Now is the time to show the world how amazing everyone here is. Sorry I doubted that for a minute.”
Lisa smiled, handing me a warm cup of tea. “I’m glad you’re back to your usual self. Now, what’s our plan?”
The tea smelled like spiced chai, invigorating my senses with each breath. I took a sip, enjoying the warmth spreading through my body. This was exactly what I needed after getting out of a downpour. I glanced at Jasper, who was awkwardly looking around the library like he wasn’t sure if he should join us or not.
“Come on, take a seat,” I said, motioning at an open spot on the rug. “What you said about the story spirits gave me an idea. That other library might have a famous author, butthislibrary has the very souls of its books. That’s something special and beautiful, something nobody else has.” I ran my hand over the smooth bark of the tree. “And we have you too, Misty, the best and kindest library anyone could ever ask for. Do you think you have enough magic to summon another story spirit?”
We’d spent weeks recharging its magic, but after hiding all those books earlier and then summoning a rain cloud, I wasn’t sure what the levels were at. I still saw buds on the trees that hadn’t formed into books yet and the leaves were green. It had more magic than when we came here, but nowhere near the magic it should have.
There was only one way to fix that: fill the stacks with patrons.
“What are you planning?” Lisa asked.
“Just a little adventure,” I said with a grin. “I’ll need to find the perfect book for it though. Think you can help?”
Roan nodded. “I’m always up for an adventure. What are welooking for?”
“Something with a character who can fly,” I said slowly, “and is big enough to transport all of us and the townsfolk.”
Lisa’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I love that idea.”
“We’re going to get people here,” I said firmly, standing up to browse the stacks. “This is going to be the best festival the library’s ever seen.”
Willow peeked around a bookshelf. “I think I’ve got an idea for what book to use…”
She held out a fantasy novel about a town that lived on the back of a flying whale.
“Oh, that’s perfect.” My grin widened as I held it up to the book tree. “What do you think? Do you have enough power to summon a flying whale?”
