But Will. He was there.
And he’d found them a way out. The sight of a familiar stone hallway was a palpable relief. Owl laughed hoarsely, pulling Olivia on behind him. Once they were in the main hall, it’d be a mostly-straight shot back to the sitting room. Olivia and Will would be safe, and-
The wall alongside them groaned ominously. Owl froze, the world slowing about him as his eyes lifted skyward.
A section of the wall loomed over him.
Ah.
He could see it in an instant, now that he was looking - the way the timbers had bowed out, teeming with the powers they kept restrained. And when they’d finally given out, the storm had nothing left to keep it in.
Blue fire spread across the ceiling, crackling with lightning and setting the hair on his neck to standing. The wood and stone it touched vanished one scrap at a time, worn out.
And in the end, it’d worn through the end of one massive timber entirely.
Shit. Owl could only stare at the chunk of wall as it plummeted towards him. Olivia still clung to his arm - and the other was occupied with keeping the book-sized missiles at bay. A magical shield, a desperate run - and now a wall tumbling down on them, burning with magical fire?
Even for the Librarian, there were limits.
He didn’t have a hand. And he didn’t have the mental composure to react fast enough. He just had enough time to slow his run, tucking Olivia against his back where she’d have a chance of being sheltered, and-
A figure darted out of the billowing smoke and debris in front of him, swinging wildly.
No. Owl’s mind turned to horror in an instant. Will. No.
The piece of wall crashed down onto them - and he saw the faint shape of Will’s hands rising from out of the smoke.
It was impossible. It was a piece of wall. It was on fire. But somehow, when it crashed down, the figure held. The heavy wood shuddered to a stop. And-
The storm swirled dangerously, parting for an instant - and the figure it revealed was...not Will. Definitely not Will.
It was a woman.
Owl gaped as the chunk of wall fell aside, missing him by inches.
Run, a voice snapped in his head, angry and sharp. Don’t just stand there.
He ran, remembering himself in an instant. Every blow of the books smashed against his shield with new strength, sapping at his energy. After a step, though, his head snapped back around. Whoever it was, whoever had helped them, if she stayed here, she’d be swallowed whole.
“Hey!” he cried. “Come on! We’re-”
The Library behind them was empty - just a mess of seething energy and flying books. There was no one there.
They were alone.
He stared for another moment, dumbfounded, until Olivia shoved him forward again. “Go!” he heard her cry. “Keep going, damn it!”
She was right. He forced himself to turn back around, charging forward. His eyes traced out the distance between him and the door, counting every step he had to take. His arms ached. His legs ached. His head ached, seething with an agony that burned deeper with every second.
Just one more step, he willed himself. Just take another.
His eyes glued to the door, he staggered onward, willing himself to keep moving, until at last-
Owl fell through the double doors into the hallway beyond, hitting the far wall with a gasp. Olivia hit his back a moment later, still gasping for air.
He stood there for a moment, his hands flat against the stone, and just...breathed. In and out.
You’re not done yet. Grimacing, he turned his head side to side, peering down the hallway in either direction.
Down one way, the path lay open - and he recognized the familiar trail that’d lead straight back to safety. The knot in his chest loosened fractionally.
Down the other way lay fire - fire, and wind, and something mysterious filling the air that toyed with the candlelight and cast an otherworldly sheen over the whole scene.
That way, then. So be it.
Owl stood, clawing at the wall for stability. And finally, he released Olivia’s wrist. “Go.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw her head whip around. “W-What?”
He thrust a finger toward the distant sitting room. “Go find Will. Get the hell out.”
“But-”
“No buts,” Owl said, each word heavy. “Get out. Don’t get hurt over this. I’ll handle it, so...get to safety.”
“But what are you-”
Owl had turned away before her sentence finished. He heard her words die away behind him as he stalked in the other direction - straight toward the heart of the maelstrom.
One more time, he broke into a run.
- Chapter Thirty-Nine -
Fire. It filled the hallway ahead of him, seething at the walls and churning with waves of blue and black. Owl’s eyes were already as wide as they could go, horror building in his gut at the sight of it ravaging the Library. His Library. Alexandria.
With every corner he turned, watching the pieces of his home fall away under the storm’s ravenous, devouring flames, a piece of his heart froze over and chipped away as well. This place...it was his home. Sentient, yes. A bit of a bitch, yes. But Alexandria was his, and she was hurting.
Every drip-drop of glowing blue from the walls around him was like a knife to his chest.
He charged onward, though, one hand upraised. The pale golden glow shooting from his palm was a pathetic defense against the storm, but when he pushed, the flames gave way before him. Now and again, he glanced back, eyeing the hallway he’d so recently come from.
His guests were safe. He had to trust that. Neither of them were stupid, and the way out was clear. They’d make it.
Now, he had to worry about Alexandria.
His eyes turned to the grand, towering walls around him, inspecting every inch as he ran. The farther he made it, the thicker the smoke, rendering
