Marigold

Chapter 4 - Meira

After healing the flowers in that were burnt in three more beds around town, I headed to library to do some research. After Ashton had pointed out that the burn marks were in the shape of giant footprints, it was clear that each one had the same marks. It was so obvious I don't know how I didn't see it at the first one. 

I walk up to door behind the first bed I had healed this morning and they slide open with a cool blast of air. I walk in and look around a bit in awe. My family had a library in our house, but we also had a staff to find us anything we wanted. As a result, I'd never learned how to navigate the shelves and this one was at least three times the size of mine. I was overwhelmed and about to walk back outside when something brushed my ankle making me shriek. 

"Merowff!" the cat looked up at me like I had offended it for jumping away, then moved closer again. I eyed it warily but stood my ground this time. 

"Shoo cat!" I whispered flapping my hands at it. 

"Merowff!" the cat said again dipping under my hands to rub against my legs again. 

"Don't mind him," called an older looking woman shuffling her way toward me, "that's Stacks he's the library cat. Can I help you find something? I'm Violet the librarian." She held out her hand. I took it warily not wanting to hurt her and wondering how she was able to keep working at such an age.  

"Ummm yes," I said, "I was hoping to find information about what could be burning the flower beds around town. I've been tending them all day and would love to eliminate the problem from the source. But I don't know where to start looking." I wrung my hands in front of me hating talking to people I didn't know well. My mother's voice echoed in my head "Speak properly Marigold or hold your tongue."

"What happened to the flower beds? I saw new blooms in front of the library but you must have fixed it before I got to work," Violet asked me. 

"They are turning up burnt around town. and it looks like they have giant footprints in them. Maybe three feet across at the widest spot," I held up my hands to show the approximate size. Once again hearing my mothers voice telling me "You shouldn't say anything unless you are certain. The men always know more, so listen and learn." I shudder a little. 

"Poor dear, this library is awfully cold isn't it. You could wait outside and I'll bring some books that might be helpful to you," she reached out toward me, but I flinched away. She didn't say anything, but dropped her hand. 

"Thank you for the offer, but I'd like to learn how the library works," I said lifting my head up. 

"Okay dear, this way then," she turned and started to shuffle across the library. As we went she pointed out the different sections: fiction, nonfiction, DVDs, magazines, a children's section, and finally a section in the back corner that was labeled mythology. "Here's where we keep all our books on supernaturals, but we labeled it mythology to keep it from the humans." 

She leans forward to start looking for certain books when I something clicks, "You said that like I'm not human."

She straightens up and looks at me, "Your ears are showing," she smiles as I quickly move my hair in front of my ears. "Don't worry dear, the wards keep the humans from seeing anything unusual, but we can all see each other." She starts looking toward the bottom few shelves again. "These are arranged by the Dewey Decimal System. We give each book a number based on topic to make it easier to find what you are looking for. All religion and mythology books begin with 200. Here we are," she pulls out two books and hands them to me. "These cover several different types of fire creatures: dragons, phoenixes, Chimera, Kapre, and Jinn."

I inhale a sharp breath I couldn't believe Ashton would have anything to do with this but maybe her connection to fire helped her to see the footprints easier. I took the large tomes from Violet as she started back toward the tables in the middle of the room. 

"Thank you!" I called as sat the books down and pulled out a chair. I notice a worn paperback sitting on the table and take a look before diving into the research. The cover is a girl in flowered underwear surrounded by shirtless men. I flip open the cover and start reading a few pages only to close the book and put it aside. A romance, I should have guessed by the cover. Why can't everyone see that this is all made up and you never find your Prince Charming? 

 I started reading learning more about creatures I figure I will never see. The footprints are too large to be a phoenix so I give up and flip past that section. Dragons could be big enough, so could chimera. Kapre are human like and the prints look like animals and the only Jinn I know of in town is Ashton. I go back to see more about the two most likely things to have caused the wreckage.   

Dragons are something I had grown up knowing about. Big lizard-like creatures in a variety of colors that can fly and breathe fire. They used to live at the top of mountains but were thought to be extinct. Chimera were a new thing for me to read about. Chimeras were also from the mountains but had the head of a lion, the head of a goat, and sometimes the head of a dragon. Some ran super fast, some could fly, but they all were four-legged mixes of different animals. The animals it was comprised of determined if it could breathe fire or not. 

I was so absorbed in the reading it took until the doors opened when Violet went outside for me to register the screaming. I normally would have avoid whatever was causing panic, "A woman should be home to calm her children and family when things go wrong" my mother's voice whispered across my mind, but I couldn't let an old lady like Violet go out there alone. I hop up from the table and hurry to the door. 

As I get outside I can see people running up the road and trying to get into buildings. As they get closer I can hear that they are screaming a word to let others know to flee as well. "DRAGON!"

My mouth drops open as over the hill appears a huge, black, dragon and it was coming right at Violet and I.