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Chapter 35

The books were so bloody annoying.

I don’t care what Ur-Namma says, his sister was a fucking menace, Oak thought, as he grabbed another book with wriggling little legs trying to jump on his back from the top of a shelf and threw it as far as he could. The thing flew over the nearest bookshelf and vanished beyond sight, flapping its covers like a disabled bird.

“Can we burn this library to the ground?” Oak asked. “We would be doing a service for all man- and elfkind. If people found out, they would treat us like heroes.”

“Come now,” Ur-Namma said and lifted his longsword. There was a booklet skewered on the tip. “They are pretty cute.”

Just this once, Geezer was clearly on Oak’s side of the disagreement. It felt so good Oak tried to come up with more arguments he could start with Ur-Namma that would cause Geezer to take his side again. One of Aoibheann’s other lunacies might do the trick. The elf would defend his sister until the end of time.

Only an absolute lunatic would have started an argument for the sake of it, so Oak didn’t. He wanted to, though.

The hellhound had bite marks on his tail and he was carrying the culprit in his mouth, shaking the tome violently every once in a while. The dog glared at Ur-Namma and huffed.

The elf stretched out his sword towards Oak, who snatched the booklet from the point and chucked it over the shelves on their right.

“Fine,” Ur-Namma said, trying to appease Geezer. “The collection can be slightly overzealous.”

“Slightly? Slightly, you say.” Oak scoffed. “These things are worse than ghouls, and that is saying something.”

“I think you just hate learning,” Ur-Namma said. “You really should read more. Broaden your horizons.”

“I will have time to read when I’m dead,” Oak replied. “Ashmedai has a well-stocked library.”

The three of them were trying to make their way across the library hall to the stairs that would hopefully lead them to the fifth floor and beyond. If someone had asked Oak how it was going, he would have replied that things could be worse. Since answering a question of this nature with such a phrase was the male equivalent of screaming in frustration from the top of one's lungs, he thought just screaming in rage would also probably do the trick.

If I see another book during the next five years, it will be too soon.

He kicked a book that tried to nibble on his boots out of his way and stomped forward. The hall was not completely dark, since some of the lanterns on the walls still worked, but it was dark enough that without his boons, Oak would have been feeling his way forward by hand in the shadows of the bookshelves.

A tingle between Oak’s shoulder blades made him look up. The good news was that nothing was descending to eat him. The bad news was that he could just about distinguish strange, fleshy looking growths on the ceiling.

No, not just on the ceiling. It’s growing through the seams between the blocks of stone, Oak realized with some alarm. Whatever it was, it was on the fifth floor. A sinking feeling settled on his stomach as he noticed that parts of the growth were moving.

“Ur-Namma?” Oak asked.

“Yes?” Ur-Namma replied distractedly. The elf was trying to shoo away a book that seemingly wanted to walk by his side. The thing was marching to the same beat as the elf with great enthusiasm.

“Look up. Why is there a tapestry of moving flesh on the ceiling?” Oak asked.

The elf looked at the flesh hanging from the ceiling and frowned. “That is unusual, to say the least,” he said.

“Seen anything like that before?” Oak asked.

“Can’t say that I have,” Ur-Namma whispered. “Seems a tad worrying to tell you the truth. Let’s try to keep an eye on it.”

Oak nodded and kept walking. The sinking feeling in his stomach had settled in for the long haul. Knowing his luck, the entire fifth floor was going to be covered in some kind of living, cursed mass of flesh that would try to eat him.

I can see your tricks, Creation, and I’m not impressed.

Right on cue, Geezer growled. It was the type of low, rumbling growl you could feel inside your chest. Oak let out a sigh. Based on the sounds ahead, they had more pressing problems than the mystery meat growing on the ceiling. Books were moving en masse.

If the horde gathering ahead of them attacked, it would not be pretty.

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“The books are gathering together. Be ready to run,” Ur-Namma whispered.

Since things were about to get interesting, Oak tested whether the enchantments on the ceiling were still functional on this floor. He summoned a small burst of flame from his left hand. Nothing happened. The ceiling did not flash and water did not rain upon the three of them.

A giddy feeling of excitement built itself up inside Oak’s very soul.

I might have to thank the mystery meat growing on the ceiling for this bout of good fortune.

The elf had been watching him test his flames. “Forget about it. You can’t light the books on fire.” Ur-Namma hissed.

“Why not?” Oak asked. “I know you don’t want to destroy the library’s collection, but surely this is an exceptional situation?”

“It is not about that, fool. If you light some of those books on fire, the flames will spread faster than you can comprehend. We are standing in a room filled with dust, wood, and paper. Even if we do not burn alive and manage to reach the stairs before the flames, we are still going to die,” Ur-Namma said. “Smoke and heat travel upwards. How are we going to breathe if the entire fourth floor burns below us?”

Oak rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “Yeah. I didn’t think about that,” he admitted. “Should we just leg it right now?”

“No, let me think,” Ur-Namma said, and furrowed his brows.

The sound of hundreds of little feet moving in unison was getting closer and Oak could see some books barreling down the corridor towards them already. “Can you think faster?” he asked.

“No need, I have it. New plan. You will use those flames of yours, but you will take care not to set anything on fire,” Ur-Namma said. “Got it?”

“No?” Oak said.

“When these books were enchanted, the spellsingers sank a fear into the very core of their being. The fear of fire. Time and the dragon’s malice have obviously corrupted some of the enchantments, but the vast majority of the books should still try to stay away from an open flame,” Ur-Namma said. “Just point it upwards and try not to kill us.”

“Huh. I guess that makes sense to do, if you are already going through the trouble of enchanting ceilings to release rain and so on,” Oak said. He pulled his falchion from its sheath and rolled his shoulders. It was time to get to work.

“Geezer, stay right by my side. Ur-Namma, stick as close as you can,” Oak commanded. There was no time for more detailed instructions because the first books were upon them and he needed to start swinging.

The falchion cut through covers and paper like a scythe cuts through wheat. He felt a deep sense of satisfaction as he cleaved the abominations in two.

Oak destroyed the first ten or so books, sprinting right at the three of them ahead of the main horde, before he needed to put Ur-Namma’s theory about walking books and fire to the test. The entire corridor ahead of them was now teeming with enchanted books and more were climbing over the bookshelves and jumping down every moment.

+ 10 Souls

He called, and the flames inside his soul answered. A foot long pillar of fire rose from his left hand towards the ceiling.

The effect was immediate. The tide of chicken legged literature slid to a slow halt, as the books at the back pushed the ones in the front forward while the ones closer to the fire turned around, and started climbing over each other to get away.

With every step that Oak took forward, the horde in front of him backed up, pages rustling. He could hear books jumping down behind him. In a matter of moments, he found himself, Geezer and Ur-Namma surrounded by a churning sea made of the finest collection of knowledge in the face of Pairi-Daeza. Geezer started squeaking in fear.

The three of them walked forward in a circle of safety provided by Oak’s flame. Shadows danced on the surface of the horde of books, turning an already incomprehensible mess into something utterly alien.

I can’t even tell where a book ends, and another begins. It’s like the entire horde is a single, living being.

Some books on Oak’s right tried to inch closer, and Geezer went to snap at them. The dog was almost mad with fear. “No, Geezer!” Oak roared and brought the flame closer to the enterprising little bastards.

Luckily, the hellhound listened and returned next to Oak’s leg. He had no doubt in his mind that if one of them got too close to the edge of that horde, the books would swarm over them like a tide and they would all burn to death.

The Ears of Amdusias proved their worth once again when the horde surged forward behind Oak. He quickly turned and shooed the tide of paper away with his flames. At no point did he stop walking forward. Ur-Namma followed behind him like a second shadow, never falling out of step.

Hesitation is death, Oak repeated inside his mind as sweat ran like a river down his back. Hesitation is death.

The corridor ended as they reached a hallway running through the rows of bookshelves across the entire library hall. Fucking hell, Oak thought. More books were leaving their shelves and running to join the swarm from both sides. He lifted his gaze and locked it onto the staircase that would lead them to the fifth floor, and away from this madhouse.

From where he was standing, it felt like salvation was miles away.

“Just one foot in front of the other. Nice and easy does it,” Oak said, more to himself than anyone else, and forced himself to walk towards the horde.

It wasn’t like Ur-Namma could hear him over the cacophony of thousands of books roiling around them like a stormy sea. He was feeling the strain of keeping the small flame going. To make matters worse, the stress was making him really feel the need to take a piss.

My bladder is conspiring to kill me. He looked at the staircase again. How the fuck is it still so far away?

Fuelled by desperation, he picked up the pace. Harried on all sides by a ravenous swarm made of paper, chicken legs and teeth, Oak, Geezer and Ur-Namma walked down another corridor flanked by bookshelves.

Step by step they inched closer to the staircase at the end of the hall, their lives guarded only by the waning flame Oak held in his left hand.