Page 25 of A Storm of Fire and Ice

Fannar stopped abruptly, spreading his arms wide and announcing, “The astronomy section!”

A rush of giddy enthusiasm filled me as I took a few quick steps toward the books, celestial maps, and star charts. My heart leapt as I scanned the titles, recognizing some familiar names I’d only read about in the books that Fannar had borrowed for me. I reached for the nearest volume, eager to explore the cosmos through its pages, but Brontes caught my wrist gently.

“As much as I’d love to let you get lost in the stars, snowflake, remember why we’re here,” he said regretfully.

My excitement dimmed, but I nodded, backing away from the bookcase.

Brontes squeezed my shoulders into a quick hug. “We’ll come back later, and you can read as much as you want.”

“Really?” I asked, my eyes lifting up to meet his.

“I promise.” He placed a soft kiss on my head.

“Okay,” I agreed and turned back to Fannar. “Should we start with ancient history?”

Fannar nodded and steered us toward that section.

Once there, he stopped at a long study table that stretched across the aisle of bookshelves. The massive table of dark cherry wood, aged and weathered, proudly displayed scratches and wear indicative of its age. Eight matching wooden chairs with intricate carvings surrounded the table, while the warm light of desk lamps running along its center illuminated the scene.

“Let’s set up camp here.” Fannar tossed his backpack on the table.

“Okay,” Helena said as the rest of us set our belongings down. “What’s the game plan?”

“We should look for anything that might have information about Obsidia and her brooch,” I said.

“Or even dark magic itself,” Brontes suggested.

“Good point,” Fannar agreed.

We all nodded and split up, each heading off into different aisles of ancient tomes that bore the weight of centuries within their bindings.

Trailing my fingers along the leather spines, I wound through imposing shelves that seemed to stretch on endlessly, heavy with crumbling leather tomes and fraying scrolls, and each one promising untold knowledge and wisdom. As I inhaled the earthy scent of ancient pages, the sheer volume of knowledge was dizzying. This place could hold the key to stopping Obsidia. All we had to do was find it.

We trudged back one by one, our arms laden with scrolls, tomes, books, or anything that looked promising. The dusty pages rustled as we began the tedious work of skimming every text for any mention of Obsidia, her brooch, or dark magic.

About two hours, Brontes suddenly caught my eye. Having finished his initial collection of books, he headed back to the table with another pile. But as he approached, it became painfully obvious that he’d miscalculated how many books he could carry. He struggled to maintain his balance as he wobbled toward me.

I rose from my chair. “Brontes, do you need help with those?”

“Of course not,” he replied with a hint of playful arrogance in his voice. “I got this.”

No sooner had the words left his lips than the unstable tower of books came crashing to the floor, sending a series of deafening thuds through the otherwise silent library.

Brontes’s eyes widened, and he gazed at me with a sheepish grin. “Oops.”

“I warned you.” I smirked, shaking my head and trying to suppress my laughter. “Did you really need to carry all of those at once?”

“Alright, alright,” Brontes mumbled with a soft smile.

I giggled as we bent down to gather the fallen books.

“I may have been a bit overzealous,” he admitted.

Helena and Fannar chuckled as they headed over to help.

“Thanks, guys,” Brontes said.

We brought them over to the table before settling down on our chairs again.

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