Page 102 of The Sacred and the Tormented

Another crash and the ground shook beneath her feet. Then Arianna watched as one of the tall shelves leaned and leaned and leaned until the books were falling one by one. The towering structure crashed into the one beside it. That one leaned as well, crashing into the next and the next.

Thunderous noise echoed from her left and she stepped back slightly when the wood groaned too close.

She watched in horror as a massive bookcase slammed into the one beside her—then it started leaning too.

Arianna pivoted and ran, her sister still ahead.

Books and shelves crashed behind her, filling the once silent space with falling tomes and splintering wood.

Arianna darted around another corner, hoping to find a way out, but she skidded to a halt when a shelf raced straight at her as if floating on a phantom wind. Arianna spun on her heel again and followed Ellie down another path.

Books began flying at them too. Not different books, the same book, over and over. They all landed at her feet, the pages flipping rapidly until they landed on the same one from earlier.

Arianna swore the letters were moving of their own accord, as if they were trying to fight their way off the page.

A shelf crashed to her right, impossibly close. She’d just looked and—

Arianna skidded to a stop but there wasn’t time to backpedal as the shelf directly in front of her came down fast. Iceburst from her body, rising up to cocoon around her form and catch the massive piece of furniture.

Arianna’s legs nearly buckled beneath the impossible weight. She could have sworn a massive hand was pushing down from the other side.

Her feet slid and she gritted her teeth against the weight, her magic writhing, pouring out, struggling.

A rush of icy wind hit Arianna from behind and she peered over her shoulder to find the floor—no, not gone. It looked like it’d never existed. But she’d just come from that direction, hadn’t she?

A tall cliff face had replaced the solid floors. A dark roaring ocean crashed against the rocks beneath, promising to devour anything that dared to land in the murky depths.

Arianna shoved against the shelf harder, trying to get her footing as she was pushed back, back, back.

Shelves toppled over the edge, splintering on the rocks below before being swallowed by the waves. She could see over the edge now and her pulsed raced when she glimpsed giant tales flipping within the current.

They swarmed around the books as if—as if—the books grew arms and mouths. Their agonized screams pierced the air, sending shivers down her spine. Arianna pushed against the shelf harder and peered back again to find the water red.

The books had vanished, replaced by bodies who were floating, fighting, struggling to get away from the serpent-like creatures racing for them.

Her feet hit the edge and the bookcase began to topple over. Arianna released her magic and grabbed one of the shelves, squeezing her way between the openings and pulling herself out the other side. She balanced on the wood, running along its edge in a desperate push back toward solid ground.

It tipped right as her feet hit the wooden edge and Arianna leapt. She hit the rocky cliff with her torso and slid a few inches before her hands found purchase. Something below roared, as if displeased it wasn’t getting her as a meal.

Arianna dug her fingers into the rock, breaking her nails as she clawed and finally rolled her body back to safety.

A repeated drumming had her whipping her head around to find the shelves marching, tottering on their corners as if they were feet. The books scrambled to jump off the shelves as if their lives depended on it. She could hear their cries as they pleaded to be set free.

Arianna jumped to her feet and squeezed around two wobbling cases, the space barely large enough for her to fit. She leapt through the second, scarcely dodging as one of the corners came down too close to her foot.

Papers flew up, blinding her as she tried to fight her way through. They slashed across her body, leaving tiny cuts in their wake that burned as if they’d been coated in acid.

Nothing made sense. Time was a warp. Images and whispers and screams all flooded her very soul.

Then the world froze.

Arianna fell to her knees, her mind spinning as she tried to collect herself.

The shelves had stopped mid movement, leaving most teetering on one corner. Books were suspended in the air, spiraling in slow circles. Pages floated as if an invisible string held them aloft.

The crashing of the waves vanished, taking all manner of sounds with it.

Arianna tentatively stood, her breathing ragged in the stillness as she spun in a slow circle.

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