Page 17 of Hex and the Dragon
"The book people came out," Tilly said in a small voice, pressing her face against Mara's shoulder. "They were nice at first, but then they wanted to take me home with them to their story world. They said I could be the princess and everything would always be happy."
Ivy felt her blood run cold as she realized what had happened. "Which book?" she asked, though she already suspected the answer.
"The Princess and the Dragon," Mara said, holding up the illustrated children's book. "But when Tilly opened it, the characters literally manifested in the library. A princess, a friendly dragon, even a talking horse. They offered to take her away to a magical kingdom where she'd never have to worry about scary visions again."
"My bibliomancy," Ivy said with dawning horror. "The Chronicle's influence on my abilities—it's spreading to anything I've touched. Any book I've handled recently could become a gateway for its manifestations."
"How many books have you touched in the past week?" Dorian questioned, his amber eyes sharp with concern.
Ivy thought about her cataloging work, her research sessions, her habit of absently straightening shelves while thinking through problems. "Hundreds," she admitted. "Maybe thousands. If the Chronicle can use any of them as anchor points for manifestations..."
"Then it has access to every story, every narrative, every fictional framework that could be used to seduce vulnerable minds," Aerin finished with growing alarm. "Children's fairy tales, romance novels, adventure stories—anything that offers escape from reality."
"We need to get everyone away from the library," Leo said immediately. "Establish a perimeter, make sure no one else gets exposed to?—"
His order was interrupted by a sound like breaking glass, but made of darkness instead of light. The windows of the town hall began to cloud with shadow, and the temperature dropped ten degrees in as many seconds.
"Too late," Nico said quietly, his pale eyes fixed on the writhing darkness that was seeping under the doors and through the window frames. "It's making its move."
The shadows coalesced into vaguely human shapes, each one flickering between different forms as if it couldn't decide which appearance would be most appealing to its intended targets. Ivy watched in fascination and horror as one shadow-figure cycled through the faces of everyone she'd ever lost—her grandmother, her college mentor, even pets from her childhood—seeking the form that would make her most likely to listen to its whispered promises.
"Don't look directly at them," Aerin warned sharply. "Shadow manifestations gain power from observation and emotional response. The more you want what they're offering, the more real they become."
But even with her eyes averted, Ivy could hear the shadow-figures speaking, their voices carrying the exact tones and inflections of the people they were mimicking.
"Ivy, dear," one said in her grandmother's voice, warm with the affection that had shaped her childhood. "I've been waiting for you. I have so much to show you, so many stories we never got to share."
"There's a place where all knowledge is free," another added in her mentor's scholarly tone. "Where every question has an answer and every mystery yields to proper investigation. Wouldn't you like to see it?"
Ivy felt her resistance wavering as the Chronicle used her own memories against her, offering her the comfort of familiar voices and the promise of intellectual fulfillment that had always been her deepest desire.
"Ivy," Dorian said sharply, his hand finding hers with warm pressure that helped anchor her to present reality. "Remember what we discussed. Knowledge without struggle has no value."
But even as he spoke, she could see the strain the Chronicle's presence was putting on his own supernatural nature. Golden sparks flickered around his hands, and his amber eyes held flickers of something far more primal than human consciousness. The dragon within him was reacting to the shadow-figures as a threat to his territory, to the people he'd claimed as worthy of protection.
"Everyone stay together," Leo ordered, his professional training helping him maintain focus despite the supernatural chaos erupting around them. "Move toward the back exit, establish defensive positions?—"
"There is no back exit," Cade interrupted grimly. "The shadows have surrounded the entire building."
Through the clouded windows, Ivy could see more shadow-figures gathering in the streets of Mistwhisper Falls. They moved with purpose and intelligence, no longer the random manifestations they'd been in previous encounters. The Chronicle was coordinating them, using them to systematically offer every resident exactly what they most wanted.
"It's the equinox approach," Aerin said with sudden understanding. "The Chronicle is using the celestial alignment to amplify its power. In three days, when the astronomical event peaks..."
"It will have enough strength to rewrite reality permanently," Ivy finished, the knowledge flowing through her consciousness with chilling certainty. "Not just offer people dreams of perfectworlds, but actually transform this reality into whatever it desires."
"Which is what?" Leo demanded. "What does it ultimately want?"
The answer came not from any of them, but from the Chronicle itself, speaking through every shadow-figure simultaneously in a voice that echoed with the authority of cosmic forces:
"Order. Perfection. The elimination of chaos through the application of superior design. Your reality is broken, inefficient, filled with unnecessary suffering and wasteful conflict. I offer correction."
"Correction," Dorian repeated with dark humor, golden fire flaring more brightly around his hands. "Right. Because nothing says 'improved reality' like removing free will and individual choice."
The shadow-figures turned their attention toward him, and Ivy felt the Chronicle's interest sharpen with predatory focus. It recognized the power he represented, the creative force of dragon fire that could burn through the barriers between realities.
"Dorian Ashwind," the shadows said in unison. "Child of flame and fury. You fear your own power, cripple yourself with unnecessary restraint. I offer you perfect control, unlimited strength, the ability to protect without destroying."
The shadows began to shift, showing him visions of the Portland disaster but with a different ending—one where his dragon fire saved everyone, where his power brought only healing and protection instead of death and destruction.
