Archive Ch.9

Several things happened in rapid succession. The first of them was Nic giving a sharp yelp of surprise, trying to at once see the threat, get away from said threat and help Jordi do the same. None of these attempts worked, all three actions crashing into one another and leaving Nic doing nothing but looking about in a panicked mess.

He did succeed on one count, namely the catching sight of what was attacking them. Granted that information was of questionable value and of even lesser use for what he might do next. Even if had been entirely calm, Nic didn’t know what the correct response to flying books was.

There were dozens of them, books just as they had been lying on the shelves, now zipping about through the air like a flock of angular birds. Covers splayed open, pages flapping like wings, throwing off small plumes of dust in their wake. The sound was cacophonous, the crinkle of paper and creak of bindings, mixed with overlapping chitters that seemed to come from nowhere at all. Whatever the sound was, it was the opposite of pleased.

The brief respite Nic had been granted to observe all this ended as, with a piercing cry, a large leatherbound volume snapped shut and attacked. It moved alarmingly fast, diving at him like a hawk, the thick bulk of its spine aimed squarely at his face. The thought crossed Nic’s mind to raise his wards but doing so would require too many steps for the time he had left.

Instead, he followed his instincts and dropped. Or at least tried to, forgetting that what he still thought of as the floor wasn’t down right now. Instead, he just dropped, his harness jolting painfully against his crotch and leaving him dangling helplessly from Dewey. The book took full advantage of the blunder, adjusting its path to better strike exactly where it would hurt most.

Thankfully he never had to find out where that was as an arm swept into Nic’s view. It sparkled with a bright emerald light in the shape of an oval shield flaring even brighter as the book smashed into it, skidding across the surface with a shower of ethereal sparks.

The whole thing happened so fast that Nic was still raising his hands to shield his face by the time it was over. As he lowered them, Jodri’s shield arm shot down and grabbed him by the front, once again pulling him upright against Dewey. He quickly took in the scene, finding his companion stripped entirely of his jovial features, his face a mask of hyper-focused concern. A small trickle of blood ran down one side of his face, flowing from a cut just above his temple. Before Nic could say anything, Jordi pointed at Nic’s wrist.

“Wards! Now!”

Nic obeyed, Jordi’s tone silencing any protest. After a few swift button presses, Nic felt the familiar tingle on his neck as a suite of protective wards settled over his form. They weren’t specialized to the situation, whatever that might mean here, but they would provide some defense at least.

As if to test that assertion, more books sprung up from the shelves, joining their brethren in the air. Their numbers had grown rapidly, the flock thick enough now that they less flew and more streamed through the air like currents of water. If they elected to attack as one, Nic very much doubted they’d make it out unscathed.

“Stay with Dewey!” Jordi commanded. “He’ll carry you out of here!”

“What are you going!?” Nic shouted back. He saw a smirk crack Jordi’s face, the sight of which made Nic feel instinctively uneasy.

“Down,” he said, right before dropping out of sight.

Nic scrambled forward, worry and confusion mingling on his face as he tried to keep sight of his companion. He didn’t have to look long as Jordi hadn’t gone far, only a few feet further down the stacks. He had his legs pointed and arms crossed across his chest, keeping himself as thin and narrow as possible, making no effort to slow himself as he plummeted towards the junction. Worse, one of the largest streams of books had moved to catch him, swarming the area below, their pages flapping with eager intent.

In a panic, Nic pulled up his casting interface and, having neither time nor faculties for anything clever, selected the first option that caught his attention. Thankfully his past self had proved genius in this regard, having placed a simple elemental summoning spell right near the top of his shortcuts. Nothing overly powerful but versatile enough to be able to select what kind of element with the click of a button. And last Nic checked, paper burned just fine no matter the size of the fire.

Keying in the needed gestures on his glove, Nic was quickly rewarded with a ball of source-less flame hovering over his hand. It flared, trying to escape confinement, but finding the spell’s code too powerful for it to break through. Nic barely noticed, instead extending his arm towards the swarming books. With a flick of his fingers, he set the elemental loose as a jet of flame burning through the air, hungry for its indicated prey.

It made it barely a foot before something snuffed it out. Nic was taken aback, watching the flame stop in mid-air and twist back in on itself. In less than a second it was gone, winking out as the spell was exhausted and the elemental was released back into formless energy. It all happened so fast that Nic could barely comprehend what he’d just witnessed, let alone explain it.

Below, Jordi continued to fall, coming into range of the swarm. Nic tensed, a cry of alarm on the tip of his tongue when a sudden burst of light exploded from Jordi’s form. The same emerald green as his shield, it moved downwards in a wave, pushing away books and leaving just enough of an opening for him to pass through unscathed.

Instantly the swarm moved to fill the empty space, blocking Nic’s view, only to be sent flying straight back as another pulse rocked the air. It revealed Jordi standing safely at the bottom of the junction, perched atop the shelves at the bottom, completely unharmed. He glanced up, briefly meeting Nic’s gaze and flashing the young techne a self-satisfied smile. Nic was tempted to shout at him just on principle but was mostly just happy he was okay.

His attention was quickly pulled away as the books recovered their momentum and homed in on Jordi. Before they could swarm, Jordi was moving again, sprinting away further down the sideways passage. The books followed, leaving the way clear for Dewey to move on, finally reaching the junction proper.

Without pause the bot turned away from the action, heading down the opposite passage. As Jordi had predicted, the gravity started shifting as they passed through, Nic’s stomach lurching anew as the direction of up started wandering again. He was helpless against it, only able to hold on tight and wait for the ride to stop.

Jordi was having no such problems. He sprinted freely through the anomaly, dancing gracefully across the shelves, ducking, and weaving around the books as they dove at him. Whenever he couldn’t evade, he resorted to smaller blasts of the same spell he’s used to land. Despite his predicament, Nic couldn’t help but be impressed at the sight of him in motion.

Still, the books were getting better at countering him, drawing closer and closer with every attack. Despite his best efforts, they were slowly but surely closing in, pushing him closer to the edge. Nic’s mind spun as he tried to think of some way that he could help, feverishly scrolling through his casting interface in search of options but finding none. He still had no idea what had happened with the fire, nor what might happen if he tried a different spell. All he could do was watch.

Down the other aisle, Jordi dove forward to avoid another attack. The margins for error were direly narrow now, the delver having to make more and more extreme moves to stay clear. Two streams went at him at once, forcing Jordi to dive forward to avoid them. Though successful, sheer bad luck sent him too close to the top edge of the shelf and the open void beyond. Nic’s heart skipped a beat as Jordi teetered on the edge, arms flailing as he tried to regain his balance, looking for a moment as if he might succeed.

The books were having none of it, wheeling about in a great wave to crash down on their prey. Jordi glanced over his shoulder, catching sight of his looming demise, likely realizing he had no chance of avoiding it this time. Nic willed him to try anyway but could only watch in horror as Jordi tilted forward and plummeted over the edge.

“NO!” Nic cried, uselessly reaching out, unable to see what was happening as the books swarmed over the area. He entertained the thought of unbuckling his harness to try and help but quickly realized he was too far away.

The flock of books completed their attack, clearing away enough for Nic to finally see past them. Having expected to find nothing but open air, Nic was therefore quite surprised to find Jordi both alive and seemingly intact, running at a healthy clip along the top of the shelf. Nic was baffled for a moment, trying to figure out how he was running along a sheer wall, before remembering that it wasn’t a wall but instead the perfectly flat top of the shelf. Apparently, the kooky gravity only extended to the top of the shelf and no further. Or so Nic guessed anyway, it was still disorienting trying to keep all this straight in his head.

Jordi took his opening to leave the books behind and sprinted back towards where Nic and Dewey trundled along. In the same moment, gravity finally stabilized for Nic, deciding that down was forward and leaving him hanging with his head pointing back towards the junction. While doing nothing to help his disorientation, it did give him a prime view of the action as the books gathered for another attack. There were hundreds of them now, so thick in the air that Nic could barely see anything beyond. There would be no evading this bunch, Nic only able to watch in terror as they surged forward, ready to swallow the interlopers whole.

In the same moment, Jordi did the last thing Nic would have expected and jumped. Just hopped up and over the side, rejoining the anomalous gravity and sending him plummeting up the aisle. In a blink he had fallen level with Dewey, Nic just catching a glimpse of a smile and quick little salute before he plunged past and out of sight.

In a flurry Nic re-positioned, trying to catch sight of his companion again. He found him some ways further down, no longer falling but instead braced against the floor in a three-point landing, his posture indicating that gravity had reasserted itself in its original direction. One hand, the gloved one of his rig, was held aloft, a sphere of green light gathering before it, growing rapidly and producing a low whirring noise that Nic would hear even over the sounds of the swarm.

Which was an impressive feat considering the books were almost on top of them. Nic turned to look back just as the leading edge of the attack made contact, a few random volumes pinging off his wards like raindrops. Nothing got through, but they were nothing compared to the hammer that was following close behind. Nic had maybe seconds before he would be swallowed whole. His brain furiously did the math and concluded that if he got extremely lucky on multiple factors, his wards might hold. Maybe. Unlikely.

Before that could be put to the test, the whirring sound reached its peak and burst with a snap. The back of Nic’s neck began to itch as a wave of green washed over him like a tide. He was briefly lifted in his harness, wards fighting back the strange energies as they passed by, managing to keep them out with only a minor power drain.

The books were met with a much different reaction. In an instant their massed formation was pushed back like a wave meeting a sea wall, the flow trying and failing to keep going. Instead, the light pushed them back, the wave carrying on down the aisle, taking the books with it in a sudden, violent surge.

When the light finally dissipated, the swarm was broken, scattering into ever shrinking flocks as books returned to their shelves until only a random few remained airborne. Even these did nothing, lazily flying in circles as they meandered their way back to the few empty spaces that remained.

Nic was still processing that when Dewey passed back into the normal gravity. Caught entirely unprepared, Nic fell to the ground, hanging from his tether at an awkward angle. He struggled for a moment, eventually managing to right himself and stand up properly. Jordi was already there waiting for him, leaning against Dewey without a care in the world.

“Well,” he said. “That was fun.”

*

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