Page 8 of Legends and Librarians
I stood up, grabbing the door handle firmly. There was no way they were getting rid of me that easily. I pulled on the handle, ready to give that demon a piece of my mind, but the door didn’t budge. I leaned back, putting all my weight into it, but the door stayed shut.
“Fine,” I said, “if that’s how you want to play it, then I’ll just find another way in. I’m the librarian. You can’t keep me out.”
Not for long at least. I’d get back inside and reopen that library. I’d spent too many years dreaming about it to let a few books that had come to life stop me.
Chapter 4
Roan
I’d been planning on avoiding the Mistfall Adventurers’ Guild, but I didn’t feel right skipping town while Nyssa was at the library all by herself. That noise, no matter what excuse she’d made, was not normal, and the best place to hear all the local gossip was at the guild.
So I’d check in, get the information I needed, and get out.
My hand hovered over the door handle, but I couldn’t bring myself to open it. The training grounds out back sounded especially lively today and the light from inside the guild glowed warm and bright. I knew when I opened that door, adventurers would greet me, sit me down for a meal, and ask about all the cool missions I’d been on since the last time I was here.
My shoulders tightened, already feeling claustrophobic. When I was young, walking into a guild with my parents had been the best feeling in the world, being welcomed like heroes returning home. But now? It just reminded me of things better left buried. They’d left me at one of those guilds, just tucked me in and never came back.
Apparently adventuring with a child in tow just wasn’t as fun.
I gritted my teeth and yanked the door open.
Laughter and general merriment greeted me, buzzing against my senses as if I was walking into a beehive. The guild I’d been abandoned at had let me stay, washing dishes and cleaning up after everyone, until I was old enough to take missions. After that I moved around a lot, only staying in one place when I found this guild.
It had been so warm and inviting, full of people I thought had really cared about me. So, I stayed for almost three years, the longest I’d ever let myself settle anywhere. It was a mistake though; one I had no intention of repeating. Getting close to people, caring about them, was just asking to get hurt.
A few adventurers stared longingly at the quest board in the back, as if they didn’t know what job to pick next or couldn’t handle any of the ones there. My decision was usually easy: grab the toughest mission on the board. No fuss, no muss. Until today. I needed information more than something to fight.
“Roan,” an older man’s voice I knew all too well called out. “Is that really you? It’s been way too long, my boy.”
“Hello, Master Carmine.” I turned to greet the guild master, noting how gray his hair had turned since the last time I’d seen him. How long had it been? Five years? Ten? “How have you been?”
“Good, very good,” he said, staring at me with papers in his hands like he’d stopped in the middle of doing something. His eyes looked a bit watery. “Do you have time for a meal?”
No, but I felt like a jerk saying it. This man had taken care of me for a few years, even if it was just so I’d train his daughter and make her a worthy successor. He still treated me like I was one of his own.
“Sure, food sounds great.” I sat down at a nearby table as he joined me. I squirmed in my seat, feeling like a teenager all over again under his watchful gaze. “I’m not staying for long, just looking for information about a situation on the mountain.”
That finally broke his stare. “Oh, of course, you’re always busy on a mission. But let’s eat first. I’ll have the cook make your favorite and it’ll be like old times.”
Old times. My chest ached remembering all the meals we’d shared, all the times he’d cleaned my wounds up after a battle, and all the kind words he’d said to me. He really was a good guild master, even remembering how much I liked a hearty hunter’s stew after all these years.
If only I hadn’t just been a means to an end to train his daughter. I’d heard she was a bloodthirsty, kickass adventurer now, so I guess she really hadn’t needed me anymore. But that wasn’t my problem anymore.Shewasn’t my problem.
“So, how’s Jade been?” I felt myself asking even though I shouldn’t care. We were close in age, which was why the guild master had asked me to work with her in the first place, but it meant I’d gotten attached too. We’d felt more like siblings than coworkers and those family vibes had been my undoing. “She’s not here, right?”
Master Carmine smiled. “No, she’s on a mission. Did you forget what time of year it is?”
I frowned, trying to remember the missions in this area since a lot of them repeated on a cycle. Legend has it that all the monsters in the world were created by the gods as a way to test us, because nobody could be a hero without something to fight against. I wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but repeat missions did make me wonder.
When I was in the area a few years ago around this time, I joined a team of adventurers fighting...
“Is the Ant Queen migrating again already?” I asked.
“I knew you’d remember.” Master Carmine beamed as he motioned for the bartender to bring us drinks. “Jade’s going to be so upset when she realizes she was off slaying ants while you stopped by.”
I highly doubted that since we hadn’t ended on the best of terms. She flat out told me that she was better than me in every way, so why should a lowly adventurer like me keep training her?
She was skilled, but not invincible, and those ants were a menace if left unchecked. After they devoured all the gold they could find underground, they’d surface and start looking for it in new places and they didn’t care where it came from. The more gold they ate, the tougher their armor became, so merchants paid the guilds highly to deal with them before they caused too much damage.
