Page 32 of The Misplaced Warrior

“We have to focus on what we are looking for,” Gen said, reminding Jack of the instructions she’d given him on their way up to the library in the House of Fourteen. “I think it’s more complicated with two people but I don’t think you can be here without me.”

He nodded. “We just keep thinking about finding Rakurai and allow the library to guide us. That seems direct enough.”

She was grateful for his optimistic perspective. “A positive aspect is that it will probably be harder for us both to get lost. We just have to follow the clues.”

“And if we do get lost, then we’re together.” He winked at her, flirtatiously. “And what clues are we looking for?” Jack looked around, a mesmerized look in his eyes.

“I really don’t know. All I know is that we focus on what we want and go forward.”

“Okay, then let’s do this,” he said with excitement. “I’m focused.”

“Me too,” she replied. With a tentative step, Gen felt the weight of the library’s magic pressing down upon her, the very air crackling with the potential for discovery and the danger of losing oneself entirely. Ghostly figures flitted between the stacks, their translucent forms dissolving into mist as Gen drew near, leaving her to wonder if they were guides or warnings. They could be phantoms of knowledge or harbingers of doom. Or they could also be distractions to break her concentration on what they were looking for.

As she ventured deeper into the library, the paths before her seemed to shift and change. Jack stayed close to her side, seeming as surprised by this as she was. The shelves rearranged themselves in a dizzying kaleidoscope of leather and parchment. It was simply overwhelming and made it all the more difficult to keep their focus. It was like the library was playing a game with them, trying to see if they were worthy of having that which they sought—she dearly hoped so.

Gen’s pulse pounded in her ears. Her palms were slick with sweat. Suddenly, this challenge of finding the sword felt much more difficult than she’d anticipated. However, Gen didn’t allow that to deter her. And she definitely wasn’t going to allow that worry to distract her.

Still, she was overwhelmed by the true nature of the challenge that lay before her. To find the sword, she would have to navigate not only the physical labyrinth of the library but the twisting, turning landscape of her own thoughts and desires. With a deep breath, Gen braced herself, calling upon the reserves of courage and determination that had brought her this far.

She knew that the path ahead would be fraught with peril, that the library would test her in ways she hadn’t been tested before. But she also knew that somewhere within this enchanted maze lay what she’d come for, the weapon that was meant for Jack and apparently needed a purpose after years of lying dormant.

In unison with Jack, Gen turned another corner, rounding a tall bookshelf. That’s when they were both surprised to meet a laid-open book, lying on the floor before them. That wasn’t the strange part. What was weird was that poking its head out of a round hole in the pages of the book was a friendly-looking worm. And even more bizarre was that it smiled at them and spoke.

“I’m here to tell you where what you seek is lying,” the worm sang. “So if you’re ready, settle in to hear a tale as old as time and as new as the freshly sprouted hairs on your head. Through the words I speak is the only way to find the sword hidden among my books…”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

RIDDLES IN THE STACKS

Library, House of Fourteen, Santa Monica, California, United States

As the magical bookworm appeared before her, its iridescent scales glinting in the eerie light, Gen felt a flicker of hope spark to life in her chest. With Jack by her side and the wisdom of the ages at her fingertips, she knew that no challenge was insurmountable and no mystery too deep to unravel. They would find the sword they’d come to collect.

And so, with a nod to her companion and a silent prayer to the gods of knowledge and adventure, Gen took a step forward, in the direction of the wiggling bookworm. He had sprouted up from the pages and seemed to be like their tour guide on this odd adventure. Kneeling down, Gen tried to put her face level with where the bookworm was.

“You’re going to tell us where to find Rakurai?” Gen asked, looking at the worm and then sideways at Jack.

As cute as one might expect a jiggling, smiling, bright-eyed worm to be, this one was. Gen was overwhelmed with how adorable the creature was in front of them, sticking out of a book and ready to offer help.

“Absolutely,” the little guy said, waving back and forth in the air, like he was losing his balance in his place stuck in the hole of the book.

Jack squatted down too, looking eagerly at the bookworm. “Great. Thank you. Okay, so how do we find this sword?”

“I’ll give you three clues,” the bookworm sang in a high-pitched voice. “Put them all together and you are guaranteed to find that which you seek. It’s clues that are bound in these pages of books found in this library. So you only must know your way around words, to find your way around these.”

Gen glanced at Jack, giving him a curious expression. “I guess we’ve got that, huh?”

“Definitely,” he said with confidence, looking back in the direction of the bookworm.

“What’s our first clue?” Gen asked this little creature.

He swayed to one side and then the other before opening his mouth wide and singing, “In a castle of ivory, high on a hill, A sword in a stone, waiting for destiny’s will. A king shall be born, the true heir of the land. Who pulls out the sword, with a valiant hand.”

The words were different, but Gen recognized the story. She looked up suddenly, not really seeing anything as her mind raced.

“You know something,” Jack said, reading the expression on her face.

Her gaze focused on his, seeing him right before her suddenly, like he’d disappeared before.

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