The Fear Of Death Confounds Me: A Wizard101 Novel

Chapter 32: Fear

By this point I was walking past the basilica towards a random portal arc. When I got across I could see an unfamiliar street, with dark red tiling on the floors, broken houses and random chunks of street standing in pools of lava; still meshing with the whole post-apocalyptic flaming vibe of the rest of Dragonspyre. I sighed heavily, making my way across the streets laden with destruction, the smell of death still a ripe lingering scent in the air despite the years that have passed since the titan army's attack. My mind drifted to Cyrus' stern face, and the expression it harbored at realizing that his brother was a hopeless case, I can't pretend to understand what he's going through, nor does it make me want to change my mind about my crusade, but I do pity him. It's bad enough losing the place where you grew up, your family...watching everything you once cared about literally turn to ashes, it can destroy you. I don't think the people who survived ever recovered. Part of me is starting to understand the reasons behind Malistaire's motives as well, his entire world got turned upside down, yet he left to better his life in Wizard City, and it worked...for a while. Until his life fell apart again, in the form of the loss of the love of his life.

My brain flitted to those whom I hold dear. Starting with Malorn for some unknown reason, if I lost him...I don't know what I'd do, no matter how much I try to hide it, he will always have a special place in my heart. Or James, who I've grown to care about in ways I never thought possible in such a short amount of time, I may even...Lov-no, let's not get ahead of ourselves, it's too early for that, but that keeps the point in question, could I handle losing him? Or Xena, my bonded familiar, I harbor an adoration for her that I cannot hope to explain, probably due to the whole magical bond thing, but still. Or Andrea...shit Andrea, the one who's been there for me my entire life, the only constant thing in my existence, I love her more than words can express, most definitely more than my affection for Malorn, James and Xena combined.

I hadn't been focused on where I was headed during this whole mind revelation tirade, but somehow ended up in front of a building that looked more or less intact. Curious I opened the door, walking in cautiously. The room was as dark as a black hole, too dark for me to see anything. I brought my palms together, conjuring a ball of light as I pulled them away from each other to make the ball substantial enough for the entire room, when the size was adequate I thrust it to the ceiling in the middle of the room, which – as the light spread to show me my surroundings – was dome like in shape, made fully of intricate stained glass art. My eyes wandered to my environment falling on shelves upon shelves of old books, covered by a considerable amount of dust.

"A library? How is this place still standing?"

A thick Russian accent came from behind me. Startling me to my core.

"You'd think it weren't seeing as no one comes here anymore." I turned around; my wand at the ready to blast whomever was speaking into smithereens, until I realized it was a ghost, one dressed in medieval violet and green colored attire, almost armor like, with a matching hat. He had eyes the color of snow, with hair and a mustache to match. He raised his hands, palms facing me to show me that he's not here to hurt me, but didn't look all that worried. Figures, he's a fucking ghost, what more could I do to him? "Woah wizard, stand down! I mean you no harm." I put down my wand, placing it back in my wizarding robe. The ghost cleared his throat, after realizing that I was calm. "I am Milos Bookwyrm, the librarian."

I nodded.

"Emily Emeraldgarden."

"A pleasure...so what are you doing in Dragonspyre, Miss Emeraldgarden?" I narrowed my eyes at him, as he pointed to the Ravenwood logo on my wizarding robe. "Long way from Wizard city."

"Saving the spiral." I muttered my next sentence. "Kind of." I trailed off as I realized the opening statement of the librarian. "You seemed surprised that no one comes to the library anymore, why?"