Roan's Point of View

Chapter 22

Moon lilies floated on the pond's surface behind the library, their glow dimming as the sun rose higher in the sky. The golem had asked me to wait here while he looked for downed trees to use on our super secret project: Mochi's Magical Munchies. It was a little gift for Nyssa to hopefully cheer her up after not finding a writer yesterday.

Enjoying the festival with her had given me a lot of ideas about how to make the library's portion of it successful. Good food and cozy drinks felt like a must and Mochi was the best story spirit for the job. He deserved a snack stand worthy of his food.

The red panda padded over by me, leaning up against the beautiful maple tree I was sitting under and gazed out at the forest. The clear mountain air was invigorating and the tint of red sweeping through the trees was picturesque as autumn sparked a change around us.

There was something so serene about this mountain. If only we could get the townsfolk to see it, experience its vibes, they'd come to the library every day just for the good view.

Mochi offered me a steaming mug of green tea, holding it carefully in his little paws as the earthy scent wrapped around me.

"Thanks," I said, taking the drink. "Are you ever going to show me how you do that?"

The panda swished his tail, chittering as another mug of tea suddenly appeared in his paws. I shook my head, laughing softly. This library, and the story spirits inside it, were really something special. I had a feeling Nyssa's dreams would come true very soon. We'd not only save this library, but we'd make it a place nobody could forget.

The slow plodding footsteps of the golem pulled my attention to the edge of the clearing. He lumbered out of the forest with an entire tree over his shoulder, the top dragging on the ground as he pulled it over by us.

"That looks perfect!" I said, getting up to help him with it.

The golem's eyes brightened. "Tree fell. Needs new life."

He'd been adamant about us not cutting any trees down and I was definitely not about to fight a forest golem over trees. So I was glad he figured something out that worked for both of us. Now onto the next part: turning it into a food stall.

I crossed my arms, staring down at it. I didn't actually know much about woodworking. Should we remove the bark first or cut it into planks somehow? The golem had hidden my axe, so I really didn't have much to work with either.

"So...what now?" I asked, hoping the golem would take the lead.

The golem ran his hands over it, magically stripping the bark as it wrapped around his arm instead. Then he made a noise like a whistle, summoning the little dragons to join us. They flew over happily, landing on the downed tree with ease. Their flames warmed the air, drying out the tree so we could use it. Only a few spots got scorched too.

It was nice to see the story spirits working together. Soon we'd be able to cut up the wood and use it to build Mochi's snack shack.

"Any preferences for how it looks?" I asked Mochi, hoping somebody could translate his panda talk for me, but he was focused on the woods behind us.

So was the golem and the dragons.

I gripped the hilt of my sword. "Is there something there?"

"Humans," the golem rumbled.

That's when I heard the rustling, as if somebody was pushing through an overgrown path. But I also heard something else. A thump thump that sounded far too familiar.

"Lending libraries?" I asked. "Are you leading somebody here?"

The thumping got louder, as if their stakes were hopping as fast as they could. Soon three little lending libraries leapt out of the trees towards us, followed by two women and a man. The people were breathing heavily and looked a bit worse for wear with small snags in their clothing and sweat mixing with dirt on their arms.

"Thank the gods," the man said. "We've been lost for hours. If these...whatever they are hadn't found us, we'd have been goners."

One of the women sucked in air, putting her hands on her knees. "We figured we'd just walk up the mountain like we used to, but everything's changed and the paths don't lead where the paths used to lead." She sank onto the ground, sighing. "I'm Isolde, that's Theo, and that's Anya."

"Roan," I said, releasing my grip on my sword as the lending libraries hopped around me like they were hoping for a treat after a job well done. I patted them on their roofs, making a mental note for Nyssa to switch their books out later. "Are you guys looking for the library?"

The man named Theo blanched. "The library? No way, not a chance. We don't want to be anywhere near that place. You know it's haunted, right?"

The lending libraries slowed, tilting to the side a bit as if confused. I scratched my head, glancing at the back of the library twenty paces away from us. Should I tell them? Or let them calm down first?

The golem and the dragons kept working on the wood as if nothing had happened, but Mochi went to hand the newcomers bottles of water.

"Oh, thanks," Isolde said, then froze, eyes widening. "You're a panda."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

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 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. "You're being kind of rude to our savior."

She shook his shoulder, pointing at the golem and then at the 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 washing away her sorrow 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.

"Could we....take some of those?" he asked softly, 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 were trying to stop him, but what was done was done. I turned back to the golem, but his eyes were already locked on the artists as the man ripped another plant out, carefully putting it in his bag.

The golem took a lumbering step toward the pond.

"Hold on," I said, standing between him and the artists. "They didn't mean any harm and you're supposed to be on your best behavior, remember?"

Nyssa had discussed it 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."

"Not the point," I snapped. "Get him out of there."

"What's wrong?" Mr. Clueless asked. "There are tons here so we'll just take a few and then find more in another pond. Nobody will even notice."

Nobody except the forest golem who was looking at them like they were termites devouring his trees. The golem took another step towards them, reaching out its long arm as if to snatch one of them. Memories of the golem lifting Nyssa into the air like a ragdoll came to mind.

"Don't even think about it!" I ran to catch up, heading straight into the pond to shoo Mr. Clueless out. "Remember what Nyssa said. No scaring patrons!"

The golem sighed. "No patron. Thief."

Isolde's mouth dropped. "It talks?"

The golem ignored our conversation, grabbing Theo's shirt and lifting him into the air. I winced. How was this happening again? At least the golem had never actually thrown anyone off the mountain, just moved them somewhere away from what it cared about, so as long as they didn't upset it more we should be fine.

I pulled out my sword anyway, just in case I needed to climb the golem like a mountain again, but paused when the other two artists stormed over.

"Wait, we're not thieves," Isolde told the golem. "Or we didn't mean to be. What can we do to make it up to you?"

The golem glanced down at her as Theo hung limply in its grip. Oddly, he wasn't screaming or trying to get away. He was gazing out at the mountainside in wonder, excitement filling his eyes like he'd never seen something so cool.

"I need some paper and a pencil," he called down. "Paints too. All the colors we have. You should see the view from up here."

Isolde groaned. "He's gone mad. He's literally dangling from a golem's hand and all he wants to do is paint. This is what got us into this mess in the first place."

"He's amazing, right?" Anya said with a wistful look up at Theo. "But first you need to apologize before you get thrown off the mountain!"

"Sorry," Theo said softly. "I won't do it again."

I shook my head, chuckling. Artists were so intense when they got inspired.

"Ask the golem for help," I said. "It's the only one who can show you where to find good clay and plants that aren't in its gardens. It will probably show you the best views too if you ask nicely."

"Really?" Theo gasped. "Golem, you're the only one who can help us."

"I am?" the golem asked, then its eyes glowed brighter. "I am!"

As the golem lifted Theo to its shoulder, Isolde smiled just a bit. "So the golem isn't really that dangerous then?"

"Not unless you take its flowers," I said ominously. "But even then, the worst I've seen it do is gently set a librarian outside."

"I see." She pulled some paper out of her bag and handed it to me. "Then what are all these about?"

Terrifying drawings of all the story spirits covered the pages along with detailed information of all the terrible things they'd do to you. Or at least, the things they wanted people to think they'd do back when they were trying to scare people away.

"Where did you get these?"

"They're posted all around town," Isolde said. "That's why we avoided coming here for so long until we got desperate."

The posters looked like badly drawn wanted posters for criminals and half of them didn't even look remotely like the story spirits. But people still believed them because they didn't have any reason not to. If we wanted to save the library, we had to get the real story out there instead of the one these posters told.

"Thanks for letting me know," I said before folding them up. I'd think about that later, but for now, I had some patrons to win over. "Why don't you join Theo on the golem and see if that view is really worth it?"

Isolde grinned. "I think I'll do that, thanks."

She hurried over to where Anya was already being lifted up and the golem picked her up too.

"Room for one more?" I asked the golem, wanting to be close in case there were any more misunderstandings.

"You too?" The golem asked, bouncing happily. "Roan too!"

Then my feet left the ground as it whisked me into the air. The artists laughed as the golem took us around the mountain, showing off all the wonderful things they might never have noticed from the ground.