In The Grand Library, there are no ordinary days for the librarians. Where most visitors found fascinating books, few of them found secret untold, but then Dryad found another life.
Only a few steps after the gate, the rain started pouring down heavily. Raindrops fell hard from the sky and hit the ground at a rapid pace. Lightning continued shining and thunder boomed more intensely.
"Oh.. crap! Storm!" Haze cursed, "Come on!! Quick!" he urged.
"I know!!" Dryad exclaimed and moved as fast as she could.
At least, the good thing was the rain could help those people put the fire out easier and the library would not be completely burned to ashes, which she was grateful for. If not forced by condition, Dryad would never have set the library ablaze!
But the bad thing was they're now soaked with cold rain water. They were sopping wet from head to toe and shivering from the coldness. Of course, they also could not take shelter under the tree in this condition. No place to rest. So they have no choice but to keep moving until they reach the town.
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Haze was breathing heavily as he carried Alvard. He looked at the storm clouds in the sky and realized that they were not going to make it back to his house since it was located in the center of the town. It would take some time for them to arrive there.
"We need somewhere safe! Let's reach the nearest place!" Dryad said, almost shouted. Her voice drowned between the raging sounds of raindrops and strong wind.
"I know! We're going to my sis!" Haze suggested. "Let's keep moving! The town is only a few meters away!" Luckily, the clockhouse owned by Haze's big sister was nearby the town’s gate.
Dryad nodded. She helped carry Alvard with difficulty, one of his arms wrapped around her shoulder.
Haze kept moving, his muscles burning as he felt the strain of carrying someone and the distance they have left to cover. The wind blew stronger each second, it was getting harder for them to keep going. "Come on! Just a little more! We can make it!" he cheered himself in heart.
Finally! They reached the door. Haze knocked at it with one of his hands while holding Alvard in his other arms, trying to prevent him from slipping. "Sis!" he called and knocked again, almost like banging the door. "Eurys!!"
"Wait!" Someone replied from inside, then the door opened with haste. A woman with the same red hair as Haze stood in the door frame, a worried expression on her face. Her name was Eurydice. "Oh my God, Haze! What happened?! Is Sir Alvard hurt?" the woman asked, concerned.
Haze let out a sigh of tiredness and looked at his sister, "I think so, sis. His wounds are pretty bad and we're running away from danger."
"Danger?!" Eurydice cried.
"First of all, let us come in first!" Haze cut her off.
"Right! Of course! Of course! Come in!" Eurydice stepped aside and held the door wide open for them to enter. She hurriedly went to grab dry towels.
Haze and Dryad quickly entered the house and dragged Alvard with them, setting him down on a couch.
"Thank you so much! We are very grateful to have somewhere safe for shelter," Dryad said to Eurydice as she drapped a dry towel on Dryad's head. Eurydice briefly helped Dryad to dry her wet hair,
"Go upstairs to my room and change with dry clothes before you catch a cold," Eurydice said.
"Which clothes?" Dryad asked.
"Pick whichever you want, my dear. Go up, now."
Dryad nodded and went upstairs. Eurydice turned attention back to Haze, "Haze, you too. Also, take him to the guest room and help him change clothes. There's plenty of my husband's clean set of suits in the closet over there!" Eurydice instructed. "Hurry up."
"Sure," Haze agreed.
Some time later, Eurydice took a basin of water and clean towel to the guest room. She sat on the edge of the bed and then wiped Alvard's wounds gently. She winced slightly when she saw how bad those wounds were. "Are you two also hurt somewhere?" she asked while applying some kind of ointment. She turned around for a moment to Haze and Dryad.
Haze sighed as he sat on a chair nearby, watched Eurydice as she was tending to Alvard. He looked down at his own hands, "no.. we're not hurt, I guess. Only, well... exhausted and cold."
"...and headache," Dryad added. She seemed worried. She sat on the other edge of the bed near Eurydice.
“Yeah, and sore feet,” Haze added more.
“That too,” Dryad replied. “But Sir Alvard got it worse than us.”
Eurydice noticed Dryad biting her nails. She smiled gently, "Hey, you should relax a bit, my dear. Everything will be alright," Eurydice said. She has only known Dryad less than a month ago but they were already close to each other like old friends.
Haze leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breaths to calm himself down. After a while, he then looked at Dryad again.
"Do you want some tea? I can make us some,” he offered.
Dryad nodded anxiously. "Good idea." She clearly needed something to calm herself as well. They were both hungry and thirsty, after all.
"I made soup earlier. It is still warm. Go grab it in the kitchen. Let me take care of Alvard from here. Don't worry too much, he's in good hand now," Eurydice patted Dryad's hand and gave her a small smile to reassure her.
"Thank you," Dryad answered.
Haze nodded and stood up. "Right. Follow me, then." He walked to the kitchen and Dryad followed suit.
"Also... I want to show you something," Haze said again.
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Bonus image:
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Eurydice Atreides (nee. Van der Villes)
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