How to Find your Way in the Incomplete Archives

Sixteen

The attacks served to distract the snake. The maze trembled. Without warning, the beast rolled over, throwing the unprepared Archaea and the unconscious Arlan to the ground.

On the outside, the serpent lashed with its tail recklessly in every direction. Broken rocks littered the ground, making the terrain around the creature's body impossible to navigate.

With each hit, the ground space in the tunnel grew smaller until Fremont was locked into a small opening not too far from the gaping maw.

Archaea struck the beast again, once she had regained her footing but this time her blade did not pierce its body. The creature must have sensed her intentions and used magic to harden the interior of its body with scales similar to its outside. The blade deflected off the armoured body.

Determined to help her companion, Archaea looked for other weaknesses.

Not too far ahead in its tunnel-like body she spotted another scaleless patch. The inside of the maze was covered in scales in the parts surrounding them but the rest of its inner skin remained as it had been.

The Boglander took a moment to study the situation. Her Advisor lay unmoving at her feet. Leaving him there would be dangerous.

The Princess bent down and slipped his arm over her own shoulder. He was a good handspan taller than her. Standing up with his unconscious body was difficult, let alone dragging him with her while also carrying the weight of both their weapons.

Fremont kept the snake busy with a barrage of futile attacks. She used the opportunity to move.

Archaea put her Advisor's weapon back into its sheath and secured it at her own belt. She then grabbed his waist and pulled the taller man over her shoulder. It was somewhat inconvenient but she managed to stand up using her longsword as a supporting stick.

"Just a little longer," she muttered, "Hang in there, Fremont,"

The young man had no room left to escape. The ring of debris made it impossible to run away from his powerful foe. Yet he persevered in his relentless attacks.

The Labyrinth emitted a faint glow in the dark tunnel. The challenger followed the outline of this glowing shadow to trace its path without looking up at the intimidating hood covered in golden eyes.

The creature, lulled by a sense of imminent victory, toyed with its prey, attacking with bored tail flicks rather than delivering a killing blow.

While it was thus distracted, the Princess reached the unarmoured spot and struck the open flesh. A violet quake shook the creature as it rolled over in pain, throwing the helpless Boglanders to the ground.

On the outside, this time the 'spirited' maze dived down and grabbed the unsuspecting man in its mouth. It did not play around any longer. A violent throw flung the trapped Shadow King into the ceiling.

The injured man crashed to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Loose rocks fell from the ceiling and buried him.

"Fremont!"

****

The Librarian positioned themselves behind a bookshelf. Their target was in sight.

'Evil fiend,' the Librarian's voice boomed in the woman's head, 'You are a foul, pretentious monster. Arrogant to boot,'

The declaration had its desired effect. The Holy Maiden released her victim and searched for the speaker, "Who dares try to sully my good name?"

'The Crown of Evil is ten times the person you can ever dream to be,'

Luna hissed, "Where are you hiding, fool?"

A giant duster swung down at her with full force.

"I'm not falling for that again," she gracefully stepped out of its way, "Found you,"

The hooded figure ran out their corner and flew away. The fake Holy Maiden gave chase, leaving her fallen victim unguarded.

'Now,' the Librarian alerted their subordinate. As planned, when they had moved away far enough, a gargoyle swooped in and retrieved the damaged body.

'Ground cleared, Boss,' the Archivist's word flowed in over the shared cognition, 'We have the Advisor,'

'Good, get him back home, I'll take care of things here,'

'On it, Boss!'

The stony guard carried Arlan back to the Valley of Words while the Librarian lured away the bloodthirsty Seer deeper into the Archives.

"Stop running!" The signature frost daggers flew past the flying bookkeeper but they kept their cool.

'Just a little more,' they assured themself.

The place was close. The Librarian flew down and started to glide across the ground. This time the pursuer stopped in her tracks.

"Leading me to a trap, are we?" the Holy Maiden paused mid-air, "Who's the fool now," She turned as if to leave.

The looming duster caught her in the gut and threw her into the intended place – the eerie clearing without any shelves.

"Insolent rat, you would defy me?" the woman was soon back on her feet, lightning bolts hanging overhead, poised to strike. Before she could do anything, however, someone hugged her from the back.

"Hello there, fellow human!" the white robe was blown inside out revealing the undifferentiated body, "Are you lost?"

Before she could react the humanoid form latched onto her.

It was over in an instant, too fast for the human eye to follow. The Holy Maiden disappeared into the inescapable jaws. The multiple rows of teeth ground down on her leaving nothing of bones or flesh.

'Threat has been eliminated, for the moment,' they informed their subordinate, 'How is it at your end?'

'All good here, Boss,' the Archivist confirmed, 'The character has been returned to the Keepers of Darkness books. The damaged shelves are in recovery,'

The Librarian let out a sigh of relief, 'Good, now run the scan again on all fanfiction involving the Holy Maiden from the Seers of Light. But this time, don't limit your search to any section of the Library.'

'Yes, Boss,'