Chapter Seventy-Four: The Damsel

  The morning sun streamed through the library windows, casting long shadows across the rows of bookshelves. Jace, Dex, Ell, and Alice slipped into their usual corner, keeping low profiles as they walked. Alice was fidgety, her eyes darting around as if she expected someone to leap out at any moment. Ell, however, wore a sly grin, the kind that said she knew something the others didn’t.

  Once they reached the farthest corner of the library, Alice activated the sound-dampening charm they’d set up weeks ago—a soft hum confirming their privacy. The moment the hum solidified, Alice’s nervous fidgeting stopped. With a furtive glance over her shoulder, she raised her hand and pulled something from her bag with a dramatic flourish.

  It wasn’t just anything. It was the Book of Demons, an ancient, leather-bound tome with intricate, glowing symbols carved into the cover. The book pulsed faintly, as if it was alive—or at least aware of being summoned.

  Jace’s jaw practically hit the floor. “Wait, hold up—you actually did it? You got past the Banishment? How?”

  Alice leaned back, smirking like a cat with a fresh bowl of cream.

  Ell, grinning wide, added, “It was mostly Alice. I mean, I helped strategize, but she’s the one who figured out all the fancy magic stuff.”

  Alice shook her head, her smirk twisting into an incredulous half-laugh. “Oh, absolutely not. It was definitely a team effort. I’d have been caught, like, fifty times already without you. No way I’m taking all the credit for this one.”

  Dex stepped in, eyes wide. “Wait, so you’re telling me you didn’t think to call me? I mean, if something needed swiping or someone needed swooning, I’m your guy.”

  Both Alice and Ell turned to him, deadpan expressions on their faces.

  Ell raised an eyebrow. “This was a different kind of thievery, Dex.”

  Alice raised a hand in protest. “It wasn’t stealing—more like reclaiming lost knowledge.”

  “Right,” Ell said, drawing the word out with a sly wink. “Less sticky fingers, more cracking ancient codes. It required absolute subtly.”

  Dex puffed out his chest. “I can be subtle!”

  Cue two more blank stares.

  “Okay, fine,” he sighed, throwing up his hands. “Go on.”

  Alice leaned in. “It wasn’t a one-day thing. We had to go in bit by bit, breaking down the security measures. Mapping out the librarians’ shifts, decrypting magical locks, dodging enchantments. You know, just another Tuesday in the life of your average magic outlaw.”

  Dex blinked in disbelief. “And you didn’t tell us?”

  Alice shrugged. “Didn’t want to jinx it. This is the first time we’ve actually been able to pull it off. We’ve got about 30 minutes with this book before one of the librarians comes back from her break, so this is our window.”

  “You two have been doing this for weeks?” Jace asked.

  “Every morning,” Ell added. “We learned the whole schedule. Right now, the librarian in charge of this section is in the backroom, and trust me, she won’t come out for anything until her break’s over. We’re good.”

  With a deep breath, Alice flipped open the book. The pages crackled, ancient and brittle, but still vibrant with power. Inside, intricate drawings of demons—each more grotesque and terrifying than the last—decorated the margins. The text, written in a blend of languages, flowed in cryptic, twisting patterns.

  “Wow,” Dex muttered, leaning over for a closer look. “This is… not in English.”

  “Nope,” Alice said, her finger tracing the text. “It’s in seven different languages. Infernal, Ethereal, and a bunch of old dialects. It’ll take me a while to decipher everything, but no time to start like to present.”

  Jace frowned. “Seven languages? You can read all of them?”

  “Well, some. Infernal’s tricky, but I’m getting the hang of it,” Alice said, flipping through a few more pages. Her eyes caught on a section framed by ornate, swirling symbols. “But look at this—“ She stopped, squinting at the Infernal script. It took her a moment to untangle the meaning. “Roughly translated, this says ‘Possession Through Proxy.’ Whatever that means.”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Ell raised an eyebrow. “Sounds charming.”

  Alice nodded, more intrigued than worried. “It seems to describe how certain artifacts can act as conduits for demonic possession.”

  Jace leaned in, eyes narrowing. “Does it say how to spot them?”

  Alice frowned, scanning the text. “Not yet. There’s a lot I don’t fully understand yet. But I’m gonna have so much fun figuring this out.”

  Her excitement was palpable, a spark lighting up her face.

  Before anyone could react, a faint sound echoed from just beyond the aisle, barely audible through the sound dampeners—footsteps.

  Alice’s head jerked up, her breath catching in her throat, eyes wide with alarm. Dex, moving with practiced stealth, slid a few books aside, peeking through the gap. He returned, face drained of color.

  “Uh, Alice,” Dex whispered, voice strained, “didn’t you say we had thirty minutes before the librarian came back from her break?”

  “Uh-huh,” she whispered back.

  Dex nodded, a tight grimace tightening across his face. “Great, just as I thought. Except for one tiny, minuscule, barely-worth-mentioning issue—she’s already back from her break.”

  Alice muttered a curse under her breath, her fingers twitching. “That’s impossible.” She stalked over to the bookshelf, pulling out a random book and using the gap to peer through. With a quiet huff, she slid it back into place and returned to the group, her face unusually calm.

  “Yup, we’re screwed,” Alice muttered.

  “They must’ve swapped shifts,” Alice said. “There’s a new librarian—one I’ve never seen before. And she’s not leaving that post anytime soon.”

  Ell’s expression sharpened. “That’s... really bad,” she said, her eyes flicking down the aisle.

  Jace’s eyebrow arched. “Why not just... stash it in your inventory?”

  Ell shot him a sideways glance. “Banished items don’t go into magic inventories. Trust me, we’ve tried and let’s just say… it doesn’t end well.” She paused, thinking. “Alright, we’ll go with the Damsel. I’ll distract her, and Alice, you return the book.” She turned to Dex and Jace, giving them a nod. “And boys?”

  “Yeah?” they answered in sync.

  “Meet us outside.”

  Jace and Dex exchanged a worried look.

  With a curt nod, Alice snapped the tome shut, slipping it into her cloth bag.

  The sound-dampening faded as Alice and Ell moved like toward the next aisle. In an instant, Ell appeared at the librarian’s desk, her voice bright and airy.

  “Hi! So, uh… I’m super lost. Do you know where I could find, like, the, um… Big Book of Spectacularly Bad Magical Choices?”

  The librarian barely lifted her head, her face the epitome of indifference—thin lips, dull eyes, and the overall aura of someone who’d seen it all and cared for none of it. She responded in a flat tone, “Basic Magics, West Wing, Aisle B,” before returning to her work without another glance.

  Ell blinked, faking confusion. “Oh, wait—which way is that?”

  The librarian glanced up again, this time with a barely concealed sigh, her patience fraying at the edges. “It’s right over there,” she said, pointing vaguely in the right direction, clearly convinced Ell was a lost cause. “And yes, you need to be a registered library member.”

  Alice slipped in behind them, her movements deliberate as she activated the library console. Her Veil of Shadows ability had already cloaked her, rendering her invisible, but the console remained fully visible, its screen flickering through various displays as her fingers moved deftly across it.

  “Right, of course! Member. Totally.” Ell began fumbling dramatically in her pockets. “How do I do that again?”

  Behind the librarian, Alice’s fingers danced over the hidden access panel, runes flashing briefly under her touch. She retrieved the book from her bag, and it materialized, hovering in mid-air by the panel. The librarian’s eyes narrowed, suspecting Ell couldn’t be that clueless. “We’ll need to register you at the station,” she said, turning toward her console—and toward Alice.

  Panic flashing across her face, Ell grabbed the librarian’s shoulder, her voice rising with exaggerated urgency. “No, listen! I need that book right now. I don’t have time to register!”

  The librarian blinked, taken aback by the sudden desperation. “You’re a student, right?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. “I can sign it out to your student profile temporarily, but you’ll have to return it by the end of the day and get a membership first thing.”

  Alice finished her work, the book disappearing without a sound, and she slipped away unnoticed.

  Ell flashed a sheepish grin. “What was I thinking? I am already a member.” She slapped her forehead with a light chuckle. “I’m just... really bad at this. Thanks for your help!” She called over her shoulder as she walked away.

  Her words were met with a reflexive “shhh” from the librarian, followed by a muttered complaint. Already dismissing Ell as a hopeless fool, the librarian turned back to her work without a second thought.

  Dex and Jace hung back, barely breathing as they watched from the safety of the shadows, their nerves stretched tighter than a rogue spell about to snap. When Alice and Ell finally returned, the four of them slipped outside the library, heads down, moving fast.

  Just as they stepped into the cool night air, a system prompt materialized in front of them, its glowing blue text shimmering like a bad omen.

  New Quest - The Hero’s Guild

  First-Year Students, Rank Two and Above

  Special Briefing and Assignments in the Hero’s Hall.

  They exchanged wary glances.

  Alice lingered, her eyes narrowing as her mind clearly still swam with thoughts of the Banished book. “I’ll keep working on deciphering it each day,” she said, her voice low but firm. “There are answers in there. I can feel it.” She hesitated, but only for a second. “And something tells me we’re going to need them—sooner than we think.”