Andy plopped down crossed-legged on the ground and took in the scene, as ridiculous as it certainly was. Thanks to Bug and her new apparent paladin powers, what should have been all of their deaths was now a victory. The Under Library, or at least this wing, could start returning to what it was initially intended to be.
Bill joined Andy on the ground. “So, did we just beat a dragon with the power of positive thinking?” the capybara asked, looking up at Andy.
“No we apparently beat it by positive thinking that turned the tide of a complete loss. I’m guessing Ralth can probably explain it best. I get the feeling the bigger beasts from the abyss don’t work on a normal sense of things.” He tried to answer, but his confidence in his response being anywhere near correct was not high.
“How are you holding up, Andy? I imagine that was a terrible experience. Drink this. It will help restore your stamina. I imagine you will need it with the long conversations this is likely to cause.” Gretel had appeared at his side. She now had one of those small kegs you’d see Saint Benards carry around in cartoons. He watched as a spectral mug appeared in front of the keg, filled itself, and then flew to his own hand.
He wasn’t about to argue with the dog, so he reached out, grabbed the mug, and quickly downed its contents. It tasted like very fresh coffee, and the effects were nearly immediate. He suddenly felt like he had one of the most restful nights of sleep of his life.
“That was amazing, Gretel. Is it always that powerful?” He was curious about just how strong their canine council had become.
“This draft is stronger than normal. We prepared a large ritual before coming to help. It’s currently bolstering all of our protective magic, but normally, it’s safe to drink one or two of these a day. The effects won’t last nearly as long, though. It’s better suited for fighting monsters that try to mess with your mind,” she said.
“So I take it the quest went very well then.” He smiled at her.
“Far better than I expected. I mostly went along with the idea for something to do, and Bug seemed to excited at it that she had drawn in Alfred, which is something I hadn’t seen in ages. But here we are now, a group of dogs ready to protect everyone from the monsters that lurk just out of sight. Alright, no time for full explanations right now, though, more people to see to.” Andy saw another mug float to Bill before she departed in the direction of Ralth and Twonger.
“Hey Bill, let’s go find Libby and maybe Bart. We still need to find the chief engineer’s body and see if there is anything we can do.” Andy stood up and stretched his arms. That drink really had done wonders.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Good idea.” Bill stood to follow.
Andy quickly spotted Libby talking to Bart and waved to both of them as they approached.
“Ah, stewards, I am glad to see you are doing well. I have been entirely freed of my curse, and it is wonderful,” Bart said as soon as they were within conversation distance.
“Good to hear, so I take then you want to join us for finding where the chief sealed himself when everything started to go real bad,” Andy responded, smiling.
“Yes, though I am curious what happened to all of you. We were only aware that you were missing. Bug was sure you would return, though, some vision she received when she gained her abilities.” Bart prodded.
“We were somehow expelled into the abyss. We ended up in a strange primal area of existence, Mr. Wiggles knows far more about it. But we were able to make our way back and found the library in the current state.” Andy gave a very abbreviated explanation.
“Interesting, I don’t think this wing contains any knowledge of those places. But the abyss itself is so hard to categorize in terms of what is. I remember once someone was trying to research species…” Libby cut him off.
“I believe there will be time for tales later, Bart. Right now, Andy is right. We should check on the chief engineer’s plight and see if we can help in any way or if we are too late.” She said.
“The trail we were following continues further that way, but not much. I think it ends a few more bookcases in.” Andy pointed to behind where the tear had been. He followed up his pointing by striding in the direction without waiting to see who else was coming. There were several questions he still wanted some concrete answers to, and this was likely his best chance at the moment.
After clearing the first stack, he glanced behind him to see all three of them following. Good, he preferred not doing this alone. He doubted the Library was entirely safe yet as well, so it was probably best to have some friends along.
Once he walked through another row of bookcases, the area opened up on a path leading to a door in what looked like a circular wall. Andy guessed this was the center of the wing.
His thoughts were interrupted by another voice. “Hey, sneaking off without us? We need to get to the center, too. Don’t be so rude next time!” It was Serilina. She had apparently followed them as they left, along with her cat companion.
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to leave you behind especially, just figured we’d get in here and take a look sooner rather than later. I didn’t want to interrupt the dogs as they handling the crowd and healing everyone up.” He apologized and meant it.
“It’s alright. I was mostly joking. This is a lot safer than the last time I was here. There were giant oozes everywhere.” She smiled at Andy as she said it.
Andy walked forward and pushed the door open.