Nocturne Valley Library

2: Portals

The draeki walks up to me, her red scales glistening in the firelight.  She has one horn, the other sliced off about halfway.  As she approaches me, her leathery wings curved around her curvy body, she smiles, showing off her tiny fangs.

"Hello," she says, her smile flashing.

"Hey," I say. "I'm Charli."

"I'm Karlyk," she says. "I'm looking for a specific book. It's called Winding Fates."

"Ah, yes," I say. I glance over at Lucy, who is petting Nermov slowly. "Luce. Mind helping Karlyk here?"

Lucy stands up, setting the cat down, and walks up to us. She smiles at the draeki female. "Follow me."

I sit down at my desk, shuffling through papers.  Nermov hops up on my desk, purring as she rubs her head against me. I pat her head, but then, I sense something off. As the Librarian, I can sense things most can't inside the library. But as I stand up, I notice Nermov is bristling beside me, too as she snarls.

"Hello?" I ask.

Then, a figure appears in the center of the room, his body wreathed in shadows.  He stares at me, his red eyes lined with black veins aglow in the firelight. He smiles, sharp fangs forming in his mouth. The newcomer is a demon, obviously.  He wears a black trench coat and a bowler hat on his head. He walks over to me, and Nermov hisses.

The demon laughs. The sound is warped and demonic as his face, which is twisted into a snarl.  His gray skin turns paler than should be possible, even for his kind. The demon slowly walks up, reaching towards Nermov.

She leaps forth, morphing mid-leap.

A massive, gray beast bursts free of the form of the small cat I love. She tackles the demon to the floor, and he roars with his barely contained rage. She pins him down, and I walk over to him, staring down at the demon. I hear Lucy yelling my name, and Fade appears beside me, a dagger in each hand.

The demon male screams, trying to thrash in Nermov's clawed grip.

Then, I sense Lucy and Aerik join me.

"What do you want, demon?" Aerik demands.

"Get this thing off me!" yells the demon, trying to shove Nermov off him.

But the massive, gray cat-like beast does not move an inch. She snarls in his face, her yellow eyes flashing with rage. He glares back at her, his power rumbling through the library. But my own power rises to the surface, and he looks up at me, eyes widening.

The demon male looks at me with pure horror on his face, and he looks at Nermov, that fear in his decayed heart tainting the air. I step forward, and kneel beside him. He looks at me, those red eyes wild.

"You. You're the Librarian, right?"

I nod.  "Yea, I am."

The demon swallows audibly. He looks up at the snarling cat beast. "Please. I'm sorry."

"No, he isn't," says Fade, their own blazing red eyes flashing. They look at me. "He is lying to try and get himself free long enough to free some of the beasts trapped within the books here."

I turn to the demon, who smirks.

"Oh, a wraith, I see," he says.  "A mind reading one, too. You would be a god with me, you know.   You are a powerful being."

Fade rolls their eyes.  "Sure I would."

Suddenly, I sense something. Another thing.... a presence lurking within the library, deeper inside than we are. Not Valentine, not Karlyk.

"You got him," I say.

Lucy studies my face.  "Yeah, but what's wrong?"

"I don't know, but I think this was just a distraction."

The demon snarls. I take that as my confirmation. So, I turn and run, following my otherworldly senses that lead me down to the basement. A shimmering, blue portal has been opened. But how? The library itself has wards, and it makes it impossible for any portals or forms of teleportation to be done.

"Nermov. Come to me!" I shout.

There's a rustling sound behind me, and then, in a hiss of dark magic, Nermov appears beside me. Her massive cat beast form snarls and her fur bristles, standing on end. She glares at the portal, which shimmers and ripples beofe fading.

Revealing a dozen demons, all of varying levels of transformation.  But then, I sense two more portals open up inside the library.  Nermov hisses as one of the demons, who looks human enough, steps up to us.

"Hello, girl," he says. His gray eyes flash, his pale tan skin covered in demonic tribal tattoos. But from what demonic tribe is he?

"You are trespassing here," I snap.  "Leave now, or die."

He laughs.  "Oh, I think not."

"You need to leave," I say.

"Oh no, I don't think so," he says. He grins. "This is our library now."