Zoé is a young immortal. She is only 186 years old. Currently, she works in an incredible library of the occult, located in Budapest and curated by a very old immortal called Ikshan. Unfortunately, one day she stumbles upon a terrifying monster in a...
Okay, yeah, that can't be good. There are the claws, and the sharp teeth, and the murderous look. It's definitely not there to have tea with me. But I am an immortal, right? Not as old as Ikshan is, but still. I'm a grown-ass woman. I can defend myself. So it's going to be fine... right? Well, if this thing rips my head off, it may not be that fine.
I look around. All I have is books. Duh, I'm in a freaking library. Very convenient place to be attacked by a monster. I need a sword, or a wand, or who knows what can make this creature go away. So what do I do? What do I do? Think, Zoé, think.
In a moment of panic, I throw at it the first book I can find. And I regret it immediately, as I realize it's a very rare illustrated version of Theodore Kane's History of Magic. Oh no. Not this one. If I survive this, Ikshan is going to kill me for using it as a vulgar projectile. Also, it's a completely useless weapon. It just hits the creature before falling at its... well, what looks like its feet, harmless.
The monster looks at the book and I swear it's laughing at me. The sound is awful, and the expression on its face is unreadable, but it's mocking me, I know it. It thinks I'm ridiculous. I'm too easy a target: is that what it thinks? Can this thing even think?
My eyes open wide when I see its clawed hand taking the book and throwing it back at me. I duck and avoid it, but it's close. What the hell is happening? What kind of monster throws books back at you?
And then the only thing I think about is the armory, on the opposite side of the building. I have to reach it. Yeah, I should probably not use these carefully collected and ancient weapons either, but, hell, it's a question of life and death. I run, as fast as I can, in the narrow hallways of the library as I feel the monster following me, breaking objects - Ikshan's objects - all around in its path. I'm dead. Either way, I'm dead.
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