Shifters

Devourers Of Knowledge

Josh groaned lazily as a tingling sensation tugged incessantly at his finger. 

"Five more minutes," he grumbled through closed eyes, flicking his hand at the disturbance. 

However, despite his protest, the feeling ignored his request as it continued on persistently, forcing Josh's eyes to slit open in momentary annoyance as he interrupted his rest to investigate the source. In doing so, his eyes widened as he found himself laying on a pile of both opened and closed books. Unlike those that were neatly lined on the bookshelves from earlier, these wore newer covers. Glancing at the half opened ones strewn about where he lay, he quickly noticed that most, if not all of its pages were completely blank. Staring down at his fingers as the tingling persisted, he became acutely aware of his ring as it vibrated unabatingly.

"Well you certainly weren't of any help when I needed you the most," he muttered, lips parting into a thin smile, overjoyed by the return of his voice.

Rubbing the back of his neck as he recalled his entire encounter with the unseen attacker, Josh suddenly flinched as his fingertips grazed over a sensitive lump.

"Ouch!" he cried out involuntarily as the pain ricocheted from his head before scattering throughout his entire body. 

Alarm bells ringing wildly in the back of his mind as his predicament came into focus, Josh attempted to caress the swollen area once more as he slowly sat up, carefully observing his surroundings through now clearer vision. Gingerly massaging the sore spot, the wheels within his mind kicked into high gear as he found himself encircled by a mountainous collection of intertwined mounds of books. Reaching for the nearest of the closed ones, Josh thumbed through the pages curiously. After flicking through several more of the newer counterparts, he'd confirmed his theory that all, or at least those scattered about the center of the chamber, were all devoid of words. 

'What exactly was that invisible force and why did he kidnap me over such a simple misunderstanding?' he questioned inwardly, 'What if I'm not here alone? Could it have also abducted Patricia?'

Looking all around once more, Josh searched all around the room for any sign of the girl, however, after seeing no traces of her he decided that she had thankfully remained out of the creatures grasp. 

'How long have I been here?' he wondered, rubbing the numbness out of his legs, 'Surely Patricia would start searching for me if I don't show up for dinner, but what if she's also unable to defend herself against the invisible creature?' he questioned, crawling forward with purpose, 'No, I have to warn her before it's too late!'

Struggling to rise, Josh prioritized the location of an escape route as he began a thorough scan of the area.

"Where did that thing take me?" he wondered aloud, simultaneously clearing his dried throat. 

Keen eyes roving over the stacked piles of books, he soon picked out five separate, partially hidden paths from his position. 

"Which of these are the right way?" he queried, almost falling face first onto the sliding books below as he tried to climb to his feet. 

"You got any ideas?" he asked, staring at the ring which had yet to cease its vibrations. 

"Of course you don't," he replied, letting out a breathy sigh as he expectedly received no verbal response. 

Cautiously getting to his feet, he made his way off the pile of wordless books. Casting a quick glance at the other available routes, Josh crossed over to the nearest entrance before staring down the narrow pathway. Repeating the process with the other entryways, he returned to the very first he'd investigated.