Grimm Tales: Rise of the Yokai

Chapter 7 Into The Vault

"Well, this is just perfect," I said.

The library looked like someone had run a truck through it. And I can say that for sure, since I had just seen what that looked like first-hand. Dozens of shelves had been smashed to pieces. Battered books and pages torn from their bindings were scattered all over the floor like confetti after the world's worst parade.

The Vault doors were a mangled wreck. They'd been blasted off, hinges and all. The metal was badly warped, and the metalwork fire had been bent into a pretzel when the doors dug into the floor.

It hadn't taken long before crowds of people started gathering outside the library. After Sarah spent five minutes getting yelled at by that mage for denying her her caffeine fix until the shop could be repaired, the two of us had made our way back inside to secure the Vault.

I tried to raise the barrier again. The spell flickered feebly across the empty doorway. I poured more power into it, trying to force it into place, but it collapsed once again.

"It's no good," I said. "The doors were the anchor for the spell. Without them it's just too unstable."

"Well, if we can't seal it with magic, we'll just have to find another way stop anyone from going inside," said Sarah.

A red rose appeared in her hand as Sarah stepped up to the doorway. She placed it just inside the doorway, where it stood upright on its stem. I felt Sarah's mana surge, and then the flower began to grow.

The rose sank partially into the floor as thorn-covered brambles sprouted from the stem. As we watched, they covered the stairs and the wall, until the whole stairway was filled with a mass of thorns and vines.

"There," said Sarah. "Let's see anybody try to climb through that. Oh, I almost forgot."

She snapped her fingers, and red, white, and yellow roses burst into bloom across the doorway, hiding the mass of thorns from view.

"Much better," she said. "That should do for now, until the doors are fixed."

"Sounds good. Thanks," I said.

Even I heard how hollow my voice sounded when I said that. Sarah turned to look at me.

"This isn't your fault, Zane," said Sarah.

"Really? Not my fault?" I said. My stomach felt like I'd swallowed a brick. "Who left her alone down there? Who let her loose in the first place? Who completely missed the fact that she wasn't even a member of the guild? So, please, tell me again how this is not my fault?"

"We both missed it," said Sarah. "She must have used some kind of perception filter. It's the only thing I can think of that makes any sense."

"So, we got hit with a Jedi mind trick," I said. "Awesome."

A perception filter is a special type of spell that's used for camouflage. It doesn't make you invisible, not exactly. It's more like you just sort of blend into the background. Like when you walk by some stranger on the street. Unless they did something to stick out, you'll have completely forgotten about them a minute or two later.

And, reluctantly, I had to admit, that was actually a pretty clever plan. Even when she slipped up and mentioned the jar, I still hadn't noticed right away. Not until Sarah helped me figure it out.

A spell like that took a lot of subtlety and skill. There was no way I could cast something like that yet. Not without a whole lot of prep work first.

Great. Now I was even starting to be impressed by the bad guys.

"Whoa."

Nick jerked to a stop as he stepped out from the closest row of shelves, followed closely by Kora, Tobias, and Jason. He looked at the Vault.