Nyssa's Point of View

Chapter 9

I leaned back against the book tree's withered trunk with a sigh. We'd spent the entire day pulling down patches, but the view from high up on the golem had made one thing clear: this library was in dire need of more repairs than I could count.

From the windows and the roof to the floor and the bookshelves, it seemed like everything was at least a bit damaged. That's what happened after years of neglect, no matter how hard the story spirits tried to prevent it.

Would I have the money for all these repairs? Not to mention the money for improvements and books too? The grant could only cover so much.

If I couldn't manage all of those things perfectly, nobody would make the long trek here and this library would fade away so a new library could be born. As if it was that easy to replace something important. I wouldn't let all the wonderful memories I'd had here as a child fade away too. I'd visited other libraries, sure, but none of them felt like this one.

I'd met my first real friend in this library, learned to read, and got lost in so many wonderful stories. If I let that go, then nobody else would get to experience that like I did. They'd miss out on all the wonder the Misty Mountain Library had to offer and that would be such a monumental loss.

This library had helped me so much growing up, giving me a place to belong and feel welcome no matter what was going on in my life, so I wanted to help it in return. It deserved to be saved.

But what if I'd bitten off more than I could chew? Books were my thing, not damaged floors and withered book trees.

"You okay?" Roan asked as he eased himself onto the floor next to me. "You kind of lost your spark halfway through."

Lost my spark, huh? I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my head on them.

"I'm fine, just a bit worried I won't be able to pull this off like I thought." Admitting that, even quietly, felt wrong. I gripped my knees tight. "No, it's really fine. I'll make it work."

"I think you mean we. We'll make it work." He stretched his arms out, sighing contentedly. "I'm here to help. Use me however you see fit."

I glanced at him sideways. "How good are you at replacing old wood floors?"

"Uhhh....I'm sure I could learn." He shrugged, an easy smile gracing his lips.

"Helpful," I said with a laugh, but fell silent when Cerbie started barking. "That's weird, the only time I've heard him bark was when I first came in."

Roan got to his feet, suddenly at full attention. "I'll check it out."

I hurried after him, hoping the contractors had shown up early. I hadn't had time to convince the story spirits that they'd have to hide when people were here, but I'd figure something out. Nobody would feel safe around a forest golem, let alone a demon lord! The inevitable fight was already giving me a bit of a headache.

A tall, lanky man stood in the front door, telltale glasses and suspenders giving him away.

"Oren!" I called out, waving. "What are you doing here?"

And why did the story spirits let him in? They locked me out for days, forcing me to use tricks to get inside, but him they just opened the doors for? Lucky duck.

"You know him?" Roan asked, sword in hand.

"Yeah, he's the researcher I told you about," I said, petting Cerbie to calm him down, "you're such a good guard dog!"

Cerbie preened in my hands, tail wagging fiercely as Oren's eyes lit up. "Is that a three-headed dog?"

"Hello to you too," I said, "this is Cerbie."

Before Oren had even taken two steps toward us, he spotted the golem and changed directions, his curiosity getting the better of his manners once again. Roan frowned, looking at me like he had a million questions.

"Oren's the one looking into the book tree's magic depletion for me," I said. "I went to librarian school with him and he's the best researcher I know. Once he's interested in something, he won't stop until he knows everything about it. Perfect guy for the job."

"So you trust him?" Roan asked, sheathing his sword when I nodded. "Good enough for me. Seems like he's going to be a handful like you, walking straight up to wild magic without a care in the world."

"Hey now!"

Roan chuckled as he walked over to Oren. "My name's Roan. I'm an adventurer helping out."

Oren stuck his hand into a gap in the golem's vines and dirt, a gleeful smile on his face. "What story is he from?"

Roan glanced back at me, hand still outstretched in greeting.

"The Gentle Giant," I said, shrugging at Roan and whispering, "sorry, but he'll be useless until he inspects all the story spirits."

"Story spirits?" the demon lord asked, disdain in his voice. "Is that what you're calling us?"

I was hoping he'd gone to bed for the night or wherever the story spirits seemed to disappear to once in a while.

"Oren, meet the demon lord," I said. "And before you ask, I have no idea what story he's from. He won't even tell me his name."

The demon lord clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Is my name really that important?"

"Names have power," Oren said as he joined us, "so I'm guessing that's why you don't want us to know?"

Roan sighed. "Maybe he just doesn't have one. You know, like he's a side character?"

"What did you just call me?" the demon lord hissed, shadows swirling around him. "I am nobody's side character."

Roan and the demon lord looked like they were about to duke it out until Oren butted in to examine the shadows, turning this way and that as they followed him.

"Ohhhh, look at those shadows," Oren said, poking and prodding the demon lord. "How do you create them and are you really a demon?"

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

I winced. "Ummm...Oren? Maybe you shouldn't poke a demon lord."

"Right," he said, taking a step back. "Sorry about that. I've been told I'm overeager sometimes."

The demon lord crossed his arms, but reigned in his shadows. "You humans seem to keep multiplying. Why?"

"Good question." Even if it was phrased horribly. I turned to Oren, tilting my head. "Why are you here?"

Oren readjusted his glasses. "I talked to a dryad that tends to magical libraries. She gave me a device that gauges the trees' magic levels so we can see where this library falls on the magic scale."

I hadn't expected him to come all the way here to look into it, but I was grateful. I could always count on his need to solve a puzzle.

"Come take a look then," I said, motioning to the middle of the library. "The tree might look withered, but it's still alive, I know that much."

Roan hung back, keeping his eye on the demon lord as I showed Oren the book tree. Roan really didn't seem to trust the story spirits, it was more like he tolerated them for my sake. I was happy he was being careful, but even the demon lord hadn't done anything to actually hurt us.

I didn't think any of the story spirits meant us harm, but if I couldn't convince Roan of that, how was I supposed to convince anyone else? I worried my lip, picturing patrons screaming and running for the hills after seeing the story spirits. What was I supposed to do with them when I reopened the library?

"Whoa," Oren said as we approached the tree, "that really doesn't look healthy."

Its dry, leafless branches reminded me of a tree from a horror novel. But it was still this library's book tree and I loved it, just as much as when it was bright and full of books. No matter what it looked like, it was the heart of this library.

Oren pulled out a clear crystal from his pocket and held it up to the book tree. "The brighter green it shines, the more magic the tree has."

We waited a bit until faint light brightened the crystal, but instead of green, a kaleidoscope of colors burst out.

"And what's rainbow mean?" I asked, trying not to wince.

The shifting colors illuminated Oren's face, glinting off his glasses. "It means this tree isn't running on normal library magic. It's filled with wild magic instead!" His eyes widened as he examined it, moving the crystal this way and that. "But, even that's running low."

"Is it fixable?" I asked softly, hating even bringing it up. "Or is it..."

I couldn't even bring myself to say it: dying.

Oren ran his hand over the bark. "It's alive and that's all that matters, but it really needs a blessing from the story gods. Sooner rather than later."

"But the festival's already started," I said, panic gripping me like a vise. "We'd have less than two weeks to get the library in good shape and ready for the blessing ceremony. Can't it wait until next year? Libraries also get magic from reading, so we could read all day to help keep it charged until then."

"I'm sorry," Oren said, shaking his head. "Reading just won't be enough anymore. It's like using old magic crystals past their expiration. You can refill them as much as you want, but eventually, they just won't store magic like they used to and they'll need to be replaced. The blessing will make this tree new again and that's the only thing that will save it."

I sank onto the floor near the tree, feeling the urge to be near it, touching its bark. "There has to be another way."

"The dryads gave me something," he said, "but it's just a bandaid, it's not a fix. You'll still need to sign up for the festival."

"That's fine," I said hurriedly, "please help however you can."

Anything to keep the library going a bit longer.

He rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a bright green vial. "Here it is! The dryads said this was concentrated story magic, almost like nutrients for the tree so it can absorb more magic from reading."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" I eyed the vial as if it was filled with gold. "How does it work?"

He tipped it over, pouring it in a circle around the tree's roots and shrugged. "Like that? Now you really do need to read as much as you can. And make sure they're different books too, preferably ones you haven't read before, so your imagination is really sparking. The library will eat that reading magic right up."

I smiled, always loving the idea that me reading could help the library, but then my gaze fell on the mostly empty bookshelves.

"We don't have very many books yet," I said. "I was going to hold off on buying any until after we reopened actually. The repairs are going to take up my whole grant I think."

Oren frowned. "What's the point of spending tons of money on repairs if you don't have enough books to draw in patrons? People don't come to libraries for the looks, they come for the books." He grinned at his little rhyme. "But seriously, buy more books. Make everyone read them."

He was right. Books were too important to ignore and if reading new ones really would recharge the book tree faster, then I had to give it a try.

"Okay," I said. "I'll order a bunch of books and we'll have a read-a-thon to save the library!"

"That's the spirit!"

I held my hand up for a high-five, but ended up covering up a yawn instead. "Sorry, it's been another long day. And we have more work to do tomorrow." Wait. Two people in one bedroom was already pushing it, but three? "Umm...I'll sleep in the library and you can have the caretaker's room."

"No, don't worry about me," Oren said. "I'm more than happy to stay up all night talking to these story spirits. I couldn't sleep even if I tried."

"You sure?"

He was already wandering off, but waved over his shoulder, making a mhmmm noise. Okay, well I guess that left me to keep the caretaker's room then. I paused with my hand on the railing of the spiral staircase. Was Roan going to join me again or would he be staying up with Oren? If I went to sleep without telling him, he might feel too awkward to use the room too.

What to do, what to do...

"Hey Roan?" I called out, waiting for him to head over. "I'm uh, heading to bed. Feel free to share the room again if you want."

His lips stretched into a smile. "Okay, that sounds good. I can protect you better that way."

"Focus on sleep, I'll be fine."

But it had felt nice having him there when I woke up surrounded by story spirits. He had this comforting aura about him, like he could take care of anything. That probably wasn't true, nobody was that perfect, but I liked the feeling anyway.

We walked up the stairs together the same as yesterday, but it felt different now. We'd worked so closely today that I was aware of every time his body brushed against mine or the way his eyes lit up when I caught his gaze.

I opened the door to the room, walking past the blankets he'd slept on. "Are you going to sleep there again? Or..."

Join me in the bed? Somehow the easy offer I'd made last night held more weight now. If we shared the bed, I had a feeling I wouldn't get a wink of sleep. But the floor couldn't have been comfortable, no matter what he said, and the bed really was pretty big.

"Or?" Roan asked, grinning wickedly. "I seem to remember you offering to share the bed?"

I raised an eyebrow. "And I seem to remember you declining that offer."

He laughed. "True, I really am fine on the floor."

"Okay, if you're sure..."

When he nodded, I went into the bathroom to get ready, grateful I still had another change of clothes for tomorrow. The contractors would be here soon and could hopefully fix the laundry crystals. Otherwise we'd be going clothes shopping soon.

After a refreshing bath, I dried myself off and headed to the bedroom. Roan watched me closely as I passed by, his lips parted slightly. I awkwardly picked up a book, flipping through the pages without actually reading them.

"Oren said we should read to recharge the library's magic," I said. "So I'll be doing that for a bit."

I'd never shared a room with somebody long term before, so I wasn't sure what the protocol was. Did we have to go to sleep at the same time to turn the lights off? Or could I go to sleep while he was still up? Right, like that was a real possibility while he was moving to take his own bath, filling my mind with images of bubbles.

Each one I'd popped had revealed more of his well-toned body. That was some crafty wild magic. I almost wished it would happen again...

I slammed my book shut. No. That was ridiculous. I should just go to sleep. But even after crawling under the blankets, I couldn't stop picturing him. The sounds of water moving as he bathed filled my mind. He'd be done soon and then I could sleep. Right.

Ugh. This was hopeless. I got up, flinging the closet door open to grab some pillows. I stacked them along the middle of the bed, creating a wonderful pillow wall any fort-builder would be proud of.

There. Now Roan could share the bed with me and not feel awkward about it. And I could sleep in peace without the urge to cuddle up next to him.

Soft laughter drew my attention. "What's with the pillows?"

"They're for you," I said. "So you don't have to feel weird about sharing the bed."

My face felt hot, so I burrowed under the blankets, fully expecting him to take the floor still. I almost jumped when the bed creaked as he sat down.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I honestly would feel more comfortable here." Comfortable? So he did want to share the bed? My pulse raced at the thought as he continued talking. "If the creatures come back again, they'll have to get through me to get to you."

Oh. So that's what he meant by more comfortable. He'd be a better guard if he shared the bed with me. I dug my fingers into the mattress, not sure how to respond to that.

"Let's get some sleep, we've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."

The bed shifted as he slipped under the blankets, with nothing but my silly pillow wall separating us.