Chapter 5: The Librarian

Sitting comfortably on her favorite chair, the girl quietly read her book as she enjoyed the solace that the library provided. She had just finished sweeping the dusty floor and reshelving the returned books so she decided to take a break.

As the orange light slowly faded, she rose from her seat and walked towards the lantern and lit them. With the room was once again illuminated, she assumed her previous position by the table. About fifteen minutes passed as she read her book when she glanced on the wall clock.

(Two more hours before closing time. That should be plenty of time for me to read. I wonder what happened to Brielle? She usually arrives on time. Maybe those books were too hard to translate after all.)

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft rapping on the door. The girl got up from her seat and headed for it. She was greeted by the sight of Brielle.

"Brielle! Good to see yo—"

Her voice trailed off when she realized that the mage was not alone. She expected to see Brielle carrying a stack of books, not a basket that was filled with muffins. Looking around, she saw the stack of books on the mage's left side and saw the books she was looking for being carried by a boy. On top of the stack sat a white and fluffy creature with four eyes. Unsure about what to make of this situation, she stood there frozen, staring at the pair.

"Good evening, Selene. I apologize for being late. May we come in?"

Brielle's voiced reeled the girl's attention back into the present. She shook her head and tried to compose herself.

"Uhhh... Sure! Come on in. I've been expecting you." She smiled and invited the mage and the boy to come in. Once inside, she led them to the counter where the boy put the books down.

"So, what took you so long? You said you only needed three days to finish the job. Did something happen?"

The mage took off her cloak and placed it on the rack by the door.

"More like, someone happened. I'm sorry it took this long. As I was working these past days, I had... er... distractions." the mage said as she scratched her head.

"I see. Well the delay was quite understandable. After all, not just anyone can translate and rewrite six books in just three days."

"Thanks for understanding, Selene. So do you need help shelving these?"

"Your help is always appreciated Brielle. You could put the original ones in the corner shelf while the translated ones go in the center shelf."

Wrapping her magic around the books, Brielle lifted them up and floated them towards their respective shelves.

"Couldn't you have done that earlier, when we were on our way here?" Austin huffed.

Brielle just shrugged in response as she continued her work. Without anything to do, Austin's eyes wandered around the room. The library's interior seemed somewhat cozy to him. He thought that this was perhaps because of the shelves that were neatly arranged. The counter they were at was at the center of the establishmet, it had a log book beside a quill and an inkwell. His wandering gaze suddenly fell on the librarian.

Her bob cut hair was as black as his. Her brown eyes hid behind thin framed glasses. She wore a green blouse and a long black skirt. He noticed that she was staring at him the whole time. Recalling that he hadn't introduced himself earlier, he felt awkward staring now so he turned his eyes sideward. He began to fumble around to regain his composure.

He cleared his throat and tried not to stammer before saying his name. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Austin Blackburn, and this is my companion, Sylph. Err.... Selene, right?"

He said as he lifted Sylph from the wooden floor and held the felis in his arms.

"Why yes, I am. The name's Selene Stillflair." She extended out her arm and offered a handshake.

"Well, it's nice meeting you, Selene. I'm new in this village so you may not have seen me yet." The boy put the felis on the counter and reached out his hand to take the handshake.

The librarian took his hand in a firm grip and shook it energetically.

"Wow, nice grip." Austin said, rubbing his slightly hurt hand.

"Thanks, you too." The librarian gave a hearty chuckle

"I've never been to the library before." the boy looked around him. "This place seems nice. And it's obviously well maintained. You must be working hard to get this place this clean."

Done with shelving the books, Brielle returned to the counter. The mage cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Looks like you two are getting along just fine."

The pair turned their gaze towards Brielle.

"I like this one Brie. He's quite the flatterer."

"Trust me, he can be really annoying at times."

All the while that they talked, Sylph was staring at Selene. She was startled seeing the felis closing in. Without knowing what she should do, she reached out to try and pet it.

Sylph melted at the librarian's touch. Her hands were rather soft and she seemed to know which places to pet. Sylph purred and nudged the librarian's hands with her muzzle. Selene decided to pick the felis up and bring it close into a hug. As she hugged the felis, she began to feel calm and peaceful.

"Wow, ain't you a sweet little thing? I've never seen a felis before."

"Brielle and I share the same love for books. We prefer the company of books rather than people. I was certainly surprised to see her together with someone. Especially a boy." Selene was petting the felis more now. She felt more relaxed with each stroke she did.

"Huh, that's what Mrs. Nimh said earlier. Is it really that incomprehensible that Brielle is accompanied by a male?"

The librarian shrugged.

"Well, people only see Brielle with books, so it really comes as a surprise that you're here with her."

"What's her deal with books anyway?"

"I like books for a number different reasons, my dear apprentice. For one, books don't go knocking on your door so early in the morning and disturb you when you're working." Brielle eyed her apprentice who was now chuckling awkwardly.

"Don't get me wrong. Books are fine. But haven you ever wanted to go beyond the mountain and see what's on the other si-?!?"

Austin was cut off mid-speech when Brielle's fist connected to his jaw. It happened too fast for him to react. The mage's punch sent him sprawling on the floor. Recovering from the punch, Austin looked up while he rubbed his jaw.

"What was that for?!"

He noticed that the library has gotten colder and Brielle's appearance has changed. Her untamed hair had straightened out and she glared at him with her violet eyes. He felt her magic wrap around his collar and he was lifted up off the floor.

"Don't you dare mention the other side of the mountain in my presence! You want to know what's out there? Nothing but hardship and death shall befall you should you go beyond the mountain!" She spat those words as if they were poison. Austin could see the hate in her violet eyes.

Austin was held in a height where he had a view looked down and noticed a scar just below Brielle's collarbone.

Breathing gradually became harder to do as the mage's telekinetic grip tightened.

A hand rested on the mage's shoulder.

"Brielle, not this again. You know he didn't mean to bring it up."

Austin felt the grip loosen and disappear.

Selene sighed. It was long since she saw her friend like this. She guided her friend to the table and sat her on the chair. She reached for the basket on the counter.

"Here," she handed Brielle a muffin. "Help yourself calm down."

She turned to Austin with an apologetic look. "Sorry, she gets like this when the mountain is brought up."

Austin was still dazed about the sudden events. Sure, he'd been treated like that by Brielle before, but this time something was different. She had that spiteful look in her amethyst eyes. He got up, dusted himself, and turned to the general direction of Brielle. She was quietly munching on the muffin Selene gave her. Slowly, her hair sprang back up to its untamed state. Like fire, growing in intensity as she calmed down.

"Do you know why?" Austin whispered.

"What do you know about the Hounds?"

Austin gasped.

"The slave traders? I've only heard stories about them. What does Brielle have to do with them?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I've tried getting her to open up about it but she just wouldn't tell me." she gave a concerned glance at Brielle, who seemed to have calmed down by now thanks to the muffins and the felis she was petting.

"Maybe we should sleep this off for now. Brielle's calmed down. It would be best if we talk about this some other time."

The librarian put of the lamps as Brielle, Sylph, and Austin wordlessly walked out of the library.

As they made their way home, Selene tried to start up a conversation.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you about this boy, Brielle. Where did he come from? Who is he? How did he end up carrying the books for you?"

Brielle was a bit reluctant at first but she told Selene about the day she met Austin. How she had rescued him from bandits, what Austin had been doing in the Whitetail forest, and why he needed the moonshine petals. After hearing the story, the librarian held the felis tighter.

"Aww you poor thing! Good thing Brielle happened to be there that night!" She cooed while stroking Sylph's fur. "What happened next?"

The mage then told her about the times Austin kept coming to her tower asking her to make him her apprentice. Brielle also told her the reason why she accepted his offer.

"He won you over with a pie? Come on Brielle, that's... that's so... you." Selene couldn't hold back and started to giggle and laugh at the mage who was turning beet red.

"But he would've convinced you better with muffins though."

Austin smiled as he looked at the two girls chatting and laughing. He stared at his mentor and recalled what happened earlier. She lashed out at him with extreme hostility. He'd never seen her that mad. The only thing he understood was that what he said triggered something in her. Perhaps he reminded her of a time she didn't want to remember.

Selene broke off from the group as soon as she was near her house.

The two set forth on their way home. As they walked through the market place, Austin noticed something was going on. He hasn't been around the market place at night before and the scenery took his breath away.

Lanterns lit up storefronts. They hung from strings tied to lampposts, illuminating the cobblestone path. People were busy setting up stalls among the streets. Children ran about, chasing each other.

"Wow, I've never been out this late before. This is beautiful. Is there a special occasion or something?"

Brielle looked at her apprentice. She saw his eyes had a glint of wonder and curiosity. He was like a child who was seeing something for the very first time. When they reached the plaza, they stopped by the fountain. Autstin noticed that most people steered clear of them. He turned and looked at Brielle. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and tried to ignore the gazes around her.

"Five days from now, this town will be celebration its foundation. What makes it so special is that it will be Esfir's centennial celebration."

They stopped in front of the fountain at the center of the plaza. In the middle of the fountain stood a bronze statue. The statue portrayed a man with a walking stick. He was staring forward with a content look on his face.

"That," the mage began, "is Esfir. The man who founded this town."

"He looks satisfied."

"The stories say that he led a group of merchants to set forth and try to make a town of their own. They made a long and hard journey from the west. The group faced many hardships, some didn't make it. But those who did managed to find this place and settled around it. Not long after, it grew and prospered."

"Wow, did you learn that from the books you borrowed from the library?"

"Not really, I learned it from Mrs Nimh." the mage cast a knowing smile. "She is Esfir's daughter after all."

"Wait, really?!"

"Indeed. She's been here not long after Esfir town was founded. Mrs. Nimh shares her father's love for the town and its people."

A gust of wind blew by which caused both of them to shiver.

"I think it's about time we get going." said Brielle as she continued down the path to her tower. Austin followed soon after he gave the statue another look.

The rest of the night was quiet between the two even as they reached the tower. Brielle unlicked the door and opened it. As she went in, she turned around to Austin and opened her mouth to speak.

"Sorry for saying those things earlier. I truly didn't know." the boy spoke first. Brielle sighed then smiled.

"No worries, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have acted the way I did."

"Anyways, see you tomorrow, I guess. I look forward to learning with you."

"And so do I. Good night Austin." She reached out to pet the felis. "You too Sylph. See you tomorrow."

Brielle closed the door and the pair made their way home.