The Library of Lost Things

Chapter 6

"This one," Seraphina said, her face alighting with a wistful smile as she pulled from the plethora of volumes around her shelf a thick leather-bound tome. "A world of dragons and of magic."

Elias's eyes practiced widening as his fingers outlined the raised scales on the cover of the book. "Dragons?" he breathed, "Real dragons?"

"As real as the stories themselves," Seraphina confirmed, her voice a low thrum that seemed to echo the magic of the library.

"But be warned, Elias," she said, her face serious in an instant. "This is not a world devoid of risks. The tales within are woven from the fabric of life. Disrupting their flow could come with disastrous consequences, not just here but also in your own world."

A cold shiver began running down Elijah's spine. "Consequences?" he repeated, his mind racing with what Seraphina had just said.

"Indeed," Seraphina agreed, her eyes unyielding. "Remember, Elias, that this world is here, it lives, and it's going to outlast us long after we are nothing but dust and bones. Consider your every action and words within its confines very, very carefully."

Slowly, Elias nodded, his heart racing in excitement and fear. He had always loved stories, but he had never imagined they could be mighty, connected to reality in such a deep way.

Seraphina set the book down on the little table beside her, its pages open to whirling script and pictures. "Ready?" she asked, her eyes shining with expectation.

Elias breathed in deeply, trying to steel himself against the unknown. "Ready," he said, trying to keep his tone firm when a thrill of excitement quivered through him.

Seraphina had merely to touch the book, and a blindingly brilliant light erupted from its pages, wrapping them both in a whirlwind of color and sound. For Elias, there was a sensation of weightlessness-a tug through a vortex of whirling energy-before landing with a thud on soft, mossy ground.

He blinked as his eyes slowly adjusted to the poor light through a canopy of towering treetops. The pine needles filled the thickened air and with the scent of earth, while the sounds of birdsong and rustling leaves were everywhere around him.

"Where are we?" he whispered, his voice hushed with wonder.

"Welcome to Asteria," Seraphina replied, the sound of her voice dancing through the ancient forest. "The land of wonder."

As they went deeper into the woods, he couldn't shake off the feelings unease. The trees here were unlike any he had ever seen before, somehow gnarled, their branches reaching up into the sky in ungainly clutches. The air was alive with energy one could not see; the shadows seemed to dance, waiting for their inhabitants.

Then, out of nowhere, a gruff voice cut the silence. "Who goes there? Come out and show yourselves!"

Elias turned, Seraphina, too, for from the thicket of bushes before them a man emerged, his face cut with suspicion. He was in tatters, clutched in his hand a crudely fashioned spear whose tip glinted menacingly in the poor light.

"We mean no harm," Seraphina said tranquilly, reassuringly, and her words smoothed away the apprehension of the man. "We are travelers, we seek shelter from the dangers of the forest."

The man eyed them warily, his eyes caught on their unfamiliar attire. "Travelers, you say?" he jeered; the bitterness was in his voice. "More like spies or thieves, come to take the few remaining of what I have."

Seraphina exchanged a quick glance with Elias; the silent understanding herein passed between them. They couldn't tell anything of their origins, not to this man, not in this world.