The Stone-bearer

Part 2

You know the feeling when you have a ten page paper to write and you haven't got a clue on how to start? That's the situation I was in. Couldn't you have shown the first image a little longer? I thought as I stared daggers at my stone. I felt like banging that thing against the wall.

And that was when it began to glow- either it responded to me or it felt like it was in no mood to get beaten into stone pulp, either way, the next second I was staring down at that building again. I had guessed right- The Library of Magic- I could make out the faint lettering on the arch.

Now I felt guilty - all that threatening for nothing; sorry stone, my bad. The stone went dark again. At least now I had a place to go. I wore my cloak and fastened its brooch below my neck and slipped the book of spells into it's pocket. With my right fist clenched I drew an inverted crescent in the air next to my heart and thought of the place I wanted to go. I had gone there only once before. But that was enough. You could only teleport to places that you have been to.

The steps of the Library rose in front of me. Okay now all I had to do was find the shelf find the book and somehow defeat this Nemesis of the Stone. Well, I shrugged, that's just three things.

Last time I came here was when I was a kid, I never really paid any attention to it. Now that I see it in front of me again; I've got to admit the building was pretty impressive from the outside. Marble columns rose from either side of a humongous archway. Another small flight of steps lead to massive doors that rose towards the ceiling. I stepped inside. The room was circular- walls were shelves of books rising towards a huge ceiling which was charmed so that the shelves curved and books just stuck on there- sort of forming a dome of books around me.

People milled around some browsing books, others talking to- What were they? They looked like dwarfs with a bushy squirrel's tail. Just then I felt a tug at my cloak. I looked down to find two enormous eyes peering at me through a metre thick glasses. "Im sorry but who are you?", I asked, puzzled, to the little guy. He was so cute that I might've mistaken him for a 5 year old if it weren't for the thick fluffy tail that curled behind him and his nose which resembled that of a deer. Flaming red spiky hair peeked from his matching fiery cloak. "I am Kai, I belong to the Guild of Keepers. What's your name?", he squeaked.

"Um, Alley. Alley Mellock. I'm sorry the Guild of what?"

"The Guild of the Keepers, silly! Keepers of wisdom and Knowledge- You're new here aren't you?", he went on without taking a breath, "Didn't your mommy tell you that reading is good for you? Oh I'll speak to her about the wonders of reading one day. Oh yes I will, now what do you want? Alchemy, Monster Care, Dragon Tale Comics or History or-". I cut him short, "Woah there little dude, slow down now. Im looking for a little black book with a gold spine, seen something like that?"

"Well, let's see- black with a golden spine huh?- come here," I followed him towards the far wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some Keepers dusting the shelves with their tails they looked older than Kai; some looked like they were sixty but all of them were the same size nevertheless. One of the shelves was just like the one I saw in the stone. Kai headed towards the same shelf and took a book- he got on his tippy toes- and handed it to me.

It couldn't be that easy, could it? This couldn't be the only book with a golden spine here right? I don't know but it seemed too easy. I looked at my stone and in an instant it showed the third image and it matched with the book in my hand.

"That's it?", voicing my thoughts. "Isn't it what you wanted? Well, I'm new here to be honest, I could always check with the other Keepers-", I noticed some other Keepers turning towards us. Some of them caught sight of the book in my hand and frowned. "You know what? this is the book that I wanted," I said quickly, trying to make Kai focus only on me and not the commotion among the Keepers.