Roan's Point of View

Chapter 29

I fully supported Nyssa and her desire to get people to the library, but I also knew just how hard it was to get over feeling abandoned by people you cared about. If my parents suddenly appeared back in my life without a big apology, I doubted I'd even be able to look at them. Was that how the library would feel if Nyssa dragged the townsfolk here?

"Are you really okay with this?" I asked Misty, hovering inside the library while the rest of the group walked outside chatting about flying whales. "I'm sure it hurt that people didn't show up on their own."

The library didn't react, but maybe it was conserving energy for the big whale summoning. The stakes were high and I didn't want the library to be reborn anywhere else, but I also didn't want it to be even more sad with people visiting it out of pity or selfish reasons.

It deserved to be happy and loved after all these years alone.

"I can ask her not to do this," I said softly, leaning against a bookshelf. "Nyssa's so kind and was so excited just now about getting people to visit the library. I didn't want to question her then, but I just can't stop this nagging feeling that something's off."

I clenched my hands as memories of my parents waving goodbye surfaced. They promised to be back soon, but that was the last time I'd ever seen them.

"I've been where you are," I said, "and if it was me, I'd feel like they only came back because they got something out of it. Not because they actually felt bad about abandoning me."

A few books rattled on their shelves. I leaned my head back, watching Nyssa page through the book in her hands. Her smile was so warm and bright, exactly the thing we needed to heal our broken hearts. She'd given me a place to call home and I'd be grateful to her for that for the rest of my life.

But we'd worked so hard to win people over the correct way, that it felt weird to parade the story spirits around now. We already showed the town that the story spirits weren't dangerous and we'd gotten all the guild missions taken down. There was no reason for anyone to avoid the library anymore.

So what if there was a famous author at the library in town? Everyone knew this library hadn't been part of a festival in years. They had to know what that meant. Maybe not this year, but sometime soon.

Did they just not care? Or were they still afraid deep down?

Whatever it was, I just didn't feel right not saying something to Nyssa. Maybe we could land the whale outside of town and give people one last chance to come visit on their own. I bet that would make a big difference to Misty.

"Give me a minute," I told the library, walking outside to join the others. "Hey Nyssa, can we talk?"

"Sure, no problem." Nyssa tilted her head, her smile faltering as she studied me. "Is everything okay?"

Before I could answer, a commotion arose among the story spirits. Four children around ten years old or so floated up the mountain path in giant shimmering bubbles, full-out grins on their faces. One by one, the bubbles pressed against the transport station and popped, releasing the kids. They jumped around, celebrating their victorious trip up the mountain, asking if they could do it again.

I glanced back at Misty, hoping the library was excited to have visitors. Maybe we just needed to give the town more time, but time was in short supply unfortunately.

"Hello," Nyssa said, greeting the kids, "welcome to the Misty Mountain Library. We're so happy you're here."

Cerbie growled, hackles raised, while Lisa had an uncharacteristic glare on her face. All the story spirits were on guard and the only happy people here seemed to be me, Nyssa, and Willow.

Which meant we were missing something.

"Everything okay?" Nyssa asked, glancing between the kids and the story spirits. "They won't hurt you, it's fine."

"They're the ones who hurt us," Lisa said, her glare turning icy. "These are the children who threw stones, broke windows, and told tall tales to the town."

The boy in front winced. "Yeah, that's why we came here today actually. To apologize."

"Our parents were talking about this library earlier," another child said, "and how they'd love to visit it again, but after what happened to us they just couldn't. The more they talked about it, the worse we felt. We're sorry for making the town hate you..."

The other kids nodded, but were huddled together like they were afraid. They'd done something wrong and were trying to apologize, even in the face of this big angry group of story spirits. That was admirable.

I felt myself smiling as these kids did exactly what I thought the adults in town should have been doing. They'd come all on their own, visiting the library to make amends. They were happy to be here and had chosen Misty over that other library.

"Calm down everyone," I said, putting my hand on one of Cerbie's heads. The dogs' growls ceased, but he stayed alert. "They're just kids and this is a festival, remember? It should be a time of new beginnings. Let's hear them out at least."

Misty needed to hear what they had to say, even if the story spirits didn't want to. The library was the one who'd been truly hurt here.

The boy nodded at me. "My name's Cliff. A few months back we did....a stupid thing."

"And then an even stupider thing," another child added. "After we got chased off, we were so scared and afraid that people would get mad at us for breaking the windows, that we lied to our parents and said it was all the ghosts' fault. That they hurt us."

"We didn't know it would get so out of hand," Cliff said, hands clenched into fists. "We didn't--I didn't mean to..."

The kids stared at the ground, unable to meet anyone's gaze. Nyssa knelt down, pulling them into a big group hug.

"Thank you for apologizing," she said, "that's what you should always do when you do something wrong."

She raised an eyebrow at Lisa and the other story spirits, obviously hinting that it was their time to apologize too. This wasn't a one-sided problem after all. Cerbie tilted his head, staring up at me as if asking what to do now. I pet him, not really sure how much he understood about the whole thing.

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The three-headed pup slowly moved forward, pushing his nose against the little boy's arm. Cliff flinched, but then relaxed when Nyssa started petting Cerbie and the dog flopped over on his back, rolling around in the grass.

The kids' lips twitched, smiling as they knelt by the dog. I'd have to give him so many treats and new toys for that, breaking the ice in a way nobody else could manage.

"So much for the hellhound," Cliff laughed as Cerbie's tail thwapped against his leg. "It was so dark that night and all I heard was the barking. We'd already spent the past hour scaring each other for our test of courage and really hadn't expected to find anybody here. It just made it all scarier."

Lisa sighed. "We're sorry we scared you. We were just...upset and handled it badly. We care about this library so much that it hurt to see anyone damage it. But that's no excuse for us to have scared children, chasing you in the dark like monsters."

One of the kids started crying as he ran over to Lisa. "I didn't even want to be here. I'm so sorry."

Her eyes softened as she too pulled the boy into a hug, patting his back softly. "It's okay. It's all over now."

As they continued talking, reassuring the kids and each other that everything was fine, I glanced back at the library. Was this enough to reassure Misty that the town cared about the library? That they'd just been misled and afraid?

The library's door swung open, as if saying they were allowed inside if they wanted to. The tension eased from my shoulders. This was what Misty needed all along. Somebody from the town to care enough to apologize and make amends.

I smiled, so happy for the library. It deserved this and so much more. Once we got more people here, its heart would heal even more. Just like mine had.

The tiny knights climbed onto the dragons, flying in big circles around the kids. Their eyes were as wide as saucers as they followed the dragons around the yard.

"Are those...dragons?" Cliff asked dumbfounded. "There were dragons up here and we never knew?"

"There's a lot of wonders up here," I said, "as long as you treat them well, they'll do the same."

Nyssa nodded, standing up and opening the book she'd set aside. "I think it's about time now."

The book glowed with golden light, shimmering as the pages flipped on their own. The kids froze, transfixed by the magic as the sound of a whale's song filled the area. The sky whale soared out of the book, high above us.

It was breathtaking, a sight no human had ever seen before. This library was a place where the impossible became possible and I loved every minute of it.

"It's beautiful," Nyssa said breathlessly. "Thank you, Misty."

I eyed the giant whale curiously. "How are we supposed to get on it though?"

She frowned, looking around until her gaze landed on the golem. "Think you could help us?"

The golem lumbered over, reaching its hand down for Nyssa to climb on. She grasped its vines firmly before glancing back at the rest of us.

"Anyone else joining me?" she asked. "It's time we showed the town exactly how amazing we are and that there's nothing for them to fear."

Willow leapt forward. "Me, definitely me. How could I turn down riding on a sky whale?" Her eyes widened as she clasped her hands over her chest. "These story spirits are so amazing."

"They really really are," I said, smiling as I climbed up next to Nyssa.

Now that Misty was happy I could help Nyssa with a clear mind. Her plan to win over the town would work, I could feel it.

Lisa stood beside the kids, glancing back at the library. "I'm going to stay here with them, make sure everyone's okay."

"Actually, I'd like to go too," Cliff said, looking a little uncomfortable as he scuffed his boots in the dirt. "If you're going to talk to the town, there's a few things we should probably explain to them."

"Mom's going to be furious," another kid moaned. "She hates when we lie."

"Yeah, but she can't be that mad when she sees a giant whale, can she?" Cliff asked, grinning at the new story spirit. "She'll forgive us, as long as we're honest about it and take responsibility. That's what she always says."

The golem leaned down, offering another hand to the kids who climbed on with wide eyes. Eventually the demon lord stepped forward from wherever he'd been lurking.

"I won't help you," the demon lord grumbled, but then shook his head. "I mean, I'll be of no help to you. They'll probably just be scared of me."

"Oh I don't know about that," Willow said, smiling at him.

If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn he blushed. Huh, so he did have other emotions besides grumpy. Who knew?

The dragons flew up to the sky whale as the golem lifted us up. The golem had gotten better at moving smoothly, so I barely even got dizzy as it deposited us on the sky whale's back. A far cry from that stomach-churning ride I'd taken with the artists.

The grass on the sky whale's back was soft and lush, pillowing my feet like it was made of magic. I could feel the whale breathing beneath us, moving slightly as it floated in the air. It was amazing and so strange at the same time.

Moments like this were why I loved being an adventurer, but loved even more that I could still have those same adventures without even leaving home now. It still hurt that my family had abandoned me, but I think I was finally moving past it. Allowing myself to care about people again, to risk getting close to them, was the first step to healing.

I had a new family now, one full of love and kindness, and I couldn't be happier.

"We'll be back soon," Nyssa yelled down, waving at everyone, "and we'll bring lots of people with us."

They waved back as the whale slowly turned, angling down the mountain. Nyssa threw her arms wide, embracing the wind as it swept over us. I wrapped my arm around her to steady her.

"I can't believe we're really doing this," she whispered, leaning her head against my chest. "Thank you for being here. It helps with my nerves."

"Always," I said, kissing her temple.

The sky stretched out ahead of us like the ocean, with the city sprawling below like tiny toy houses. As the whale swam through the air, everything got bigger and bigger until we could see people pointing up at us with shocked faces. A group of kids raced after us while their parents screamed at them to come back.

Nyssa waved and shouted, "Come to the Misty Mountain Library today and see even more wonderful things!"

The kids jumped up and down, racing through the fields and talking to other kids. Perfect. We needed as much word of mouth as we could get. The more people talking about the unbelievable sky whale flying through town, the better.

"This is awesome," Willow said with a grin. "Thank you for choosing me to sponsor your library."

"Thank you for accepting," Nyssa said. "We wouldn't be here without you."

This festival was the starting point, the moment where we showed the world exactly what the Misty Mountain Library was made of.

We drifted over the town as the dragons flew down with flyers in their mouths, nudging them at anyone and everyone they saw. It was nice seeing everyone work together like this, so I had to do my part too.

"Meet us at the town square," I shouted down over and over at the people we passed, "we have room to carry a lot of people. Come celebrate the Tales and Tomes Festival with the Misty Mountain Library!"

When we flew over the other library in town, Nyssa ducked down. I raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged.

"I don't want them to think we're stealing patrons," she murmured, giving me a guilty look. "I mean, I know that's part of the point, but it still feels weird!"

I laughed, pulling her close. "This town's big enough for two libraries, you know. Especially if they're being run by people as amazing as you."

The sky whale groaned as it lowered itself as close to the ground as it could. I ran my hand over the grass on its back, hoping it knew how much this meant. Nyssa helped me toss a ladder she'd found over the side of the whale, so the kids could get down and go talk to their parents like they said they would.

Then we invited anyone who wanted an adventure to join us.

At first it was just a few curious teenagers, but then people showed up by the dozens. People of every age, some looking like they'd dropped everything just to come here, covered in flour or paint or with paperwork still clasped in their hands.

All of them had the same look though, eyes wide and full of wonder.

It was hard not to feel that way on the back of a sky whale. As more and more people climbed up, I felt sure that we'd succeed. This had to be enough people for the library to get the story gods' blessing. If we took any more, they might not even fit comfortably inside the library.

Once everyone was aboard, Nyssa and I moved to the front of the whale, sitting down so I could run my hands along the smooth skin around its face. Its kind eyes looked back at me, making a beautiful song-like noise. With this one amazing story spirit, my new home was going to be safe and sound for years to come.

"Thank you, we're ready to go when you are."

The whale groaned its song out as it turned slowly, drifting in a wide half circle over the town. Squeals of excitement came from behind me and a few screams. This was a moment nobody would ever forget.

"Let's go home," I said, hugging Nyssa tight. "The Misty Mountain Library is waiting for us."