LSRO Chapter 2 (Patreon)

It's been a hell of a month. 

Dragon Con was a heap of fun, but I ended up catching Covid in the process which knocked around for about two weeks, and then I got sick again. 

However, now I'm doing much better and am ready to start (slowly) sharing chapters of Library! For a little while I'll be sharing them with every tier, and then as I revise the tiers, I'll be adjusting the release timings.

So, without further ado: Here is chapter 2.

Chapter 2

The red glow suffused the area, like a thin veil of miasma drifting over the ground.

Quinn had to stop for a moment to let her thoughts catch up with her. The alarm still blared but somehow had been relegated to the back of her mind in a neat sort of partition of concentration. She couldn't quite wrap her awareness around what was happening.

The way the alarm honked reminded her of geese in flight when they took off in their flocks. The timber all around her reminded her more and more of an old Californian redwood, with the way the intricate knots played with each other and the grain of wood brushed in the same direction consistently. A humungous, old, living tree.

Frankly, it was beautiful, even under the blood-red alarm flashing light.

But the light did allow her to notice one thing she hadn't seen before. Just out of the corner of her left eye, she thought she saw something move and turned to look. She wasn't expecting what she saw.

For several seconds she just watched.

It wasn't really alive, she thought, even though a strange thrum seemed to echo through to her from the strange trunk that stood in the middle of the room. That was the only word she could come up with for it. There was a decidedly uneven and ancient air about it. The wood was so old, it was almost smooth grey, sort of like metal. Perhaps it was petrified.

It was at this point Quinn finally realized that she seemed to be standing under the bow of a tree, except there weren't leaves or branches as such, but more a massive trunk in the middle of a cevernous room that had wood spread out over the whole area.

There was a softness to the room like it could nurture whatever was in it. Cautiously ignoring the full flashing, screaming alarm, she made her way directly to that core. That was it. This was where that underlying hum came from. It's whatever the alarm was protecting. And core fit it much better than a trunk, even if the latter was eerily accurate as far as appearances went.

It was difficult to tell why she took those steps, but something about it was lulling, soothing, calming even. Frankly, it felt like it was calling out to her, not quite whispering her name. Hopefully, she didn't have voices in her head right about now, but there was still that element of familiarity. Only this ancient tree core was much farther away than it seemed, and whatever these emergency protocols were that were put into place, they hampered her every move.

Of course, it was also so bizarre that she could be passed out and in a hospital with something that a hard pinch wouldn't wake up.

The floor, while appearing solid, felt more like it was rubber underneath her. Sort of like one of those kid's playgrounds with the rubber matting to protect them as they fell. Even if this type of ground made gave off anything but a safe sensation.

It was as if roots were deliberately standing in her way and the ground was a soil that could suck at her feet and keep her in place. Maybe that was one of the protocols, maybe this whole alarm was set just to protect this tree, or well, the tree that was not a tree but felt like a tree, which in her mind didn't make any sense. Maybe she had fallen and hit her head on that table because this was definitely not normal and nowhere near where she had been before.

All of a sudden, she was closer to the trunk, to the well of sound that vibrated through her entire being. Upon closer inspection now, it definitely wasn't wood as such. Not the type that would burn fires, but some sort of mutation perhaps. The trunk was so wide and huge in circumference that her arms would only reach a fraction of the way around if she tried to hug it.

And it wasn't natural; there were lines running through it, these beautiful blue fluorescent lines. Upon looking closer, they flickered in and out, sort of like everybody and everything had appeared before when she was standing in the college library. In fact, those lines looked more like veins or perhaps circuits as they flooded through the tree, up the core, up the trunk, and suddenly, as she looked up, she saw two bright, bright blue dots staring right back at her.

It took a few moments for her to register that they were, in fact, eyes and not just some glowing something else.

Definitely eyes. Not dots.

Had she fallen down the rabbit hole? Was this a Cheshire cat? Before she could say anything or do anything, a creature leaped down, much larger than she'd anticipated. Its back stood about knee height to her paltry five foot frame, and felt much larger than life when it landed on the ground. Quinn stumbled back in shock. She blinked, definitely blinked, and gasped, and may have let out a small scream, but couldn't exactly hear it because the alarms were still blaring.

She was going to be cautious and just say that she didn't scream anyway because really, who screams when a massive cat that is probably the size of a large dog jumps down from God knows where because it's not a tree and that wasn't a branch it just jumped down from.

"Well, it's good that you can keep your wits about you," said a voice that really didn't sound like it was happy with anything she'd done ever, nor would it ever approve of any action she'd ever take. "That's enough staring now. Would you rather take a picture? It'll last longer."

It was all Quinn could do to not just stand and stare and catch flies. To be more precise though, that's exactly what she was doing. She just couldn't tear her eyes away from the creature.

"What are you looking at?" The indignant voice was even worse than the first time it spoke. But maybe there was something else in that tone. Another sentiment that she couldn't quite latch onto. Bone weariness perhaps?

"You can talk," she said, realizing quite how awkward that sounded the moment the words left her lips.

"Of course, I can talk, how else would I be speaking to you?"

To distract herself from the scathing retort sitting on the tip of her tongue, Quinn looked at the creature in front of her. She was mistaken. It wasn't a cat per se. It seemed to be a lynx, maybe? Perhaps that was the right one? A caraval? No, it was a lynx, definitely. Except it wasn't any color she'd ever seen. It was this almost glowing, deep purple that was almost black and had stripes. But maybe they weren't stripes. If only she could get a little closer to see just what those things were.

"Excuse me? Do you mind? It's rude to stare."

It was only then that Quinn realized how far forward she'd been leaning to try and get a good look at the creature. Despite the almost overwhelming urge to pet it, to reach out and run her fingers along what she was pretty sure looked like a script woven into those stripes? She managed to resist by channeling her embarrassment instead.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I just, you just, I suddenly, and I'm here," and the lynx stared at her which did nothing to alleviate the awkwardness of the situation considering it said nothing.

Did it talk to her? Or had she imagined that... perhaps she really had hit her head and this was all even more fantastical than falling down a rabbit hole. So, Quinn shut up. Because the stare the lynx was giving her could have cut ice. But the thing was, Quinn was starting to feel less intimidated and more very irritated. Especially if this was all something just playing out in her head.

"You know, you could be nicer. I have no clue where I am. I could be dreaming for all I know, and you're just some figment of my imagination. You should be nicer to me."

The lynx blinked at her with those massive eyes that were not the right size for a creature like that. They were far larger, almost like anime eyes. Well, except for the fact that they didn't twinkle happily or magically. They seemed pretty angry too.

"I am not a figment of your imagination," the cat spat out. "I am Lynx."

A giggle escaped Quinn. Her first reaction was to clap her hands over her mouth, but another chuckle escaped her. She couldn't help it.

"Lynx. Your name is Lynx. Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. What's wrong with my name?" There was this indignant undertone to the words that just set Quinn off even harder.

"Lynx. You're in the shape of a lynx. Not exactly original."

"Well, you're not exactly original," the lynx said, or Lynx said, a little bit flustered. "That's beside the point. You shouldn't be worrying about dreams. You should have realized what this is."

"And how am I supposed to realize what this is?" Quinn said, suddenly feeling extremely tired and very put out. All of a sudden it was like all her energy was gone. Even the lights surrounding the trunk seemed to have grown slightly brighter. "Why don't you try explaining to me what's happened? Because obviously, I'm in a cavern of some sort with an electrical tree, or whatever this is."

"It's not an electrical tree. We don't use electricity here. We don't need to. Or we didn't need to." Lynx sounded sort of sad suddenly and Quinn felt a little bad that she had teased the cat so much.

"Okay, so if you don't use electricity, how do you power things?"

"Through magic, of course. What do you think the blue veins and lines are?"

"I thought it was electricity," Quinn said, shaking her head as if she might jolt her hearing a bit. There's no way he could have said what she thought he just said. "Wait a second, did you just say magic?"

"Of course I said magic. I'm a talking feline. How did you think that was possible?" Lynx practically spat the words out, obviously annoyed. "Surely you can't be that dense. Of course magic exists. Well, actually, not in your world. Which is why it was just luck that we found of it. I guess it's no wonder that it's taking you time to digest the fact. You haven't even heard of magic."

Just that statement almost made her blood boil. "Oh, we've heard of it. All right. But nobody believes in actual magic. We have technology for that sort of stuff. We developed it ourselves."

It wasn't until after she'd made the statement that what Lynx said really sank in. Earth didn't have magic? Her world? What the hell was that cat on? Wait a second. She was having a literal conversation with a cat.

"Are you even listening!"

Quinn cringed. "Sorry, had a few revelations." She spoke slowly, glancing around the cavern again, taking it all in. It definitely didn't feel like home, even though she wasn't sure how she could tell that. Even so, she quelled the rising panic she could feel emerging and focused on what Lynx was saying.

"Fine. I guess I'll repeat that. But only once." Lynx cleared his throat. "Anyway, it's partially because your world is starved of magic. But I digress. I'll talk to you about that later. First of all, we need you to synchronize before the library disappears."

"Say what? Synchronize me? What the hell is going on?"

Lynx actually paused and looked up at her, a brief flash of confusion evident in his expression. "Wait, what do you mean, 'what's going on'? Did none of the information get through to you?"

"Information? What do you mean information?" Quinn pinched the bridge of her nose, suddenly very aware of an encroaching headache.

"Before we pulled you. We had everything set up. While it was in progress you should have received a bundle of information highlighting the situation."

"What do you mean pulled? I was sitting studying my course catalog and talking to a friend." Quinn even managed to feel a pang of regret at Hallie having disappeared while she scolded the cat. "Everything went static. My friend and everyone else around me warped. I think the glass might have exploded, but then there was no glass flying around. And then it was dark and black and then it was here. After which the alarm went off. The only information I received before encountering you was that the system had used too much power and emergency protocols had been engaged."

That's when Lynx started muttering. Quinn could barely make out what the cat was saying under its breath.

"But that doesn't make sense. We sent the packet through. She should have known. She should have come here at least with some knowledge about what..."

"How about you just tell me and we can stop wasting a lot of this time."

"Of course, that's... I'm Lynx. I am a manifestation of the entirety of the Magical Library of Everywhere. And you, well, you're our next librarian."