As I snuggled into the bed she'd shown me, the soft blankets and warm pillows were a stark contrast to the cold, hard platforms I’d been crossing for days. The warmth should have been comforting, but instead, it only made me more acutely aware of how long it had been since I felt anything like this. When was the last time I’d had a proper nap? Probably right after I killed the floor guardian. The thought sent a chill through me, and my stomach tightened. I hadn’t asked about the floor guardians here. Was that going to be a problem? The idea gnawed at me, a nagging worry that refused to let go. Despite the silence of the room, with only the occasional creak from the old building, my mind buzzed with unease. Sleep should’ve come easily, but my brain wouldn’t settle.
Eventually, exhaustion won out, dragging me into a restless sleep. The fatigue clung to me like a second skin, heavy and suffocating. It wasn’t just the lack of good sleep—it was the weight of everything I’d been through. No matter how many times I closed my eyes, I couldn’t shake the tension that gripped my body, the worry that stacked up like bricks, forming a wall between me and any peace I thought I could find.
I sat up, the reality of the situation crashing back over me like a wave. Two hundred and forty-nine more pages. The number loomed over me like a death sentence. I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake off the dread, but it clung to me, persistent and unyielding. There was no time to dwell on it. I had to keep moving. Sighing, I stood up, pushing the fear to the back of my mind, resolving to face whatever came next.
The pointless war I’d been dropped into had finally died down, and the librarian had managed to save a few more books. Now, we were heading out on a scouting mission to retrieve more. I couldn’t help but feel out of place—like I was an outsider in all of this. I didn’t really belong in this fight, and a part of me resented being dragged into it. But then Blake pulled me aside, her expression serious, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Get dressed. We’ve got work to do,” she said firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument.
I crossed my arms, not thrilled about the idea of going out into the ruins. “I don’t see why I need to go. I’d rather head back and keep clearing worlds on my own.”
She shook her head, her voice taking on a persuasive edge. “This mission is for your benefit. You want more tickets, right?”
That gave me pause. Tickets. The word hung in the air, reminding me of how desperately I needed those if I wanted to get any closer to completing the Book. “More tickets?” I asked, my skepticism fading slightly.
“For the next five golden books you find and bring back to the library, you get 2 library tickets, and you won’t have to hand over any pages,” she explained, a confident smile returning to her face. “Plus, there’s always a chance for loot and extra rewards. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this.”
The prospect of avoiding more page tributes and scoring better loot was enough to sway me. I nodded, the weight of my earlier reluctance lifting slightly. “Alright, I’m in. Lead the way.”
We stepped into the courtyard, and the devastation hit me immediately, taking my breath away. Charred earth stretched out in all directions, the remains of trees standing like blackened skeletons. Books were scattered across the ground—pages torn, covers burnt. The air was thick with the scent of burnt paper and wood, undercut by the tang of smoke. My chest tightened, grief mingling with anger at the senseless destruction. These weren’t just books—they were memories, lives, entire worlds reduced to ashes.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
As we trekked through the wasteland, Blake scoured the corpses of fallen penitents, searching for golden pages or anything of value, but she came up empty. Each time she rose from a search, empty-handed, I could see the frustration building in her eyes. Eventually, we reached the edge of the Flameeaters' territory. The boundary was marked by the thick, black smoke drifting from a burn pile up ahead.
“Monsters,” Blake muttered, her voice tight with frustration. “They didn’t leave a single book intact. Burned everything.”
The knot in my stomach tightened again, a familiar sensation by now. “So what now?” I asked, trying to keep the unease out of my voice.
She turned to me, her eyes hard with determination. “We go deeper, to the Forbidden Library. It’s the only place they haven’t touched.”
The mention of the Forbidden Library sent a shiver down my spine. “And why haven’t they?”
“The Protector,” she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “He melts the faces of anyone who dares defile what’s left of his collection. It’s a stalemate—Flameeaters don’t go in, and he doesn’t come out.”
“And we’re going to steal from him?” I asked, my voice incredulous, a mix of fear and disbelief knotting in my chest.
She nodded, completely unfazed. “Exactly.”
The Forbidden Library was everything I dreaded it would be. The grand, towering shelves that once held vast collections of knowledge were now empty, the books long gone. Dust hung thick in the air, swirling in the weak light filtering through broken windows. The silence was overwhelming, pressing in from all sides, amplifying the weight of what had been lost here. It felt like walking through a graveyard of forgotten stories, each step echoing with the ghosts of what once was.
We walked through the desolate aisles, the wooden structures creaking under the strain of abandonment. The place felt like a tomb, not just of books, but of the very knowledge that had once filled these halls. The destruction wasn’t just physical—it was cultural, a brutal erasure of history. My heart ached with the loss, a deep, throbbing pain that made it hard to breathe. This wasn’t just about the mission anymore. It was about preserving what little remained.
A loud slam echoed through the corridor as the door behind us shut, trapping us inside. My heart jumped into my throat, panic clawing at the edges of my mind. The flickering candlelight cast eerie shadows that danced across the stone walls, and a cold wind swept through the narrow hallway, making me shiver.
Blake grabbed my arm, pulling me into a side passage. “Stay quiet,” she hissed, her eyes darting around. “The Protector doesn’t like visitors.”
Her urgency unsettled me. The place felt empty, dead. Why the paranoia? But the more we descended into the labyrinthine corridors, the more I began to understand. The deeper we went, the colder the air became, the darker the passageways grew. The atmosphere felt heavy, oppressive, as if the very walls were watching us, judging us for daring to enter this sacred space.
I leaned in and whispered, “Where exactly are we going?”
“Shh!” she shot back, clamping her hand over my mouth. Her eyes were wide, her caution evident. “We’re sneaking into the one place the Protector can’t guard all the time.”
Her hushed tone made it clear she didn’t trust the silence. The fear in her eyes was contagious, spreading to me like wildfire. “And why is this in my best interest again?” I whispered, barely keeping my voice steady, though my pulse pounded in my ears.
She looked me dead in the eye, her gaze piercing through the dim light. “Because if we succeed, you’ll be five golden books closer to getting out of here. Isn’t that what you want?”
That shut me up. Five books without losing a single page? It was risky, sure, but the payoff was undeniable. The desperation in me, the longing to be free of this place, outweighed the fear gnawing at my insides.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked, feeling a surge of determination push back the fear. If I was going to make it out of this nightmare, I needed to be all in.
Her lips curled into a knowing smile, one that held more secrets than she was willing to share. “We steal from the Protector.”