LSRO: Chapter 321 - Rubber-band (Patreon)

Hi there all.

Here's the next one. Starting to get my ducks lined up a wee bit. Still can't use the left hand so well. Makes editing very slow going.

BUT!

It does work. So, grateful for small mercies and all that. Not sure what I'd do if I couldn't keep writing. I'll take slower over stopping any day.

Now... onto the chapter. I like this one and can't wait to dive in and write the next ones.

Enjoy!

~~

Chapter 57

Rubber-band

Quinn watched the scene unfold in front of her with bated breath. She almost wanted to grab popcorn and sit there, watching the drama unfold. However, this wasn’t a cinema; this was serious. It definitely wasn’t entertainment. No matter how hard she tried to avoid it, Quinn kept thinking the only way they’d get out of this was with a lot of death.

The silence lasted for several seconds before the Sedimentite spoke up. “I hate to interrupt this sibling heart-to-heart, but the fact of the matter is that we still have troops on standby. They cost money, they cost resources, and nobody likes to be set on standby for this long, especially not in expectancy of having to execute an attack as a last resort. Not good for morale, you know.”

Quinn’s heart skipped a beat. She understood that they knew how to use violence. But a part of her had somehow thought that in the wider universe... After all, humans had violent potential, especially when it came to territorial complications. So, it shouldn’t surprise her that the same existed in every other corner of the universe. Still though, who decided they were going to siege a Library or massacre Library inhabitants? Who thought books were so dangerous?

That wasn’t it, though, was it? It didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the books, but the massive filtration chamber contained within the Library’s dimension shift instead. So killing the books and the people was just a sad coincidence. The Library didn’t have the defences to combat something like that. At least she didn’t think it did. She was quite certain somebody would have mentioned sooner or later to her that they had a minor army in another room down in a basement somewhere. So what would prevent their enemies from coming into the Library at any time?

Almost as if it had heard her thoughts, the Serpensiril spoke up. “No, you know it has too many fail-safes. There’s no way for your troops to get in with the way the Library’s security system is set up.”

Quinn was confused and leaned in to pay closer attention as Dro laughed. “My darling paranoid sibling has always judged on pure intentions,” she said. “The only being alive who’s fooled it even for a tiny bit was Drav over there. It was a long time ago and perhaps Drev is now better at, well, examining people’s true intentions through whatever means it’s engaged.”

Drav scowled. “That’s why I set up an alternate entry,” he said. 

“Which isn’t working...” the sedimentite interrupted.

“I know it’s not working, Daskin. There’s no need to state the bleeding obvious,” Drav snapped out the words at the Sedimentite, his eyes flashing in anger. “Keep yourself to the council and its business and attend a meeting. See if you can’t distract Milaro in a better way than this. It’s what you were supposed to do anyway and you haven’t succeeded.”

Drav and Daskin glared at each other across the small table in the middle of the gazebo. The glaring match lasted for so long, Quinn expected to wake up. Finally, Daskin looked away, giving the victory to Dravishk. 

The Sedimentite’s voice was clearly holding contained anger when he finally spoke. “I will bring up trade disputes at the next meeting and attempt to do my best as a distraction.” He practically spat out the last words.

“Haven’t you already screwed up your trade deals with Milaro’s worlds?” Dronar asked in a very bored tone.

“They are not irreparable,” Daskin said, sounding slightly affronted. “It was a deliberate move to shake up some of the council members at the time.”

“Sure it was,” Dronar said.

“Stop needling him,” Dravishk snapped at his sister.

Quinn wondered if he was always that snappy or if it was just because things weren’t quite going the way he’d expected it to and thus he became snappy. If he was always this snappy, though, he was a bit of an ass. Quinn couldn’t really see the Library and its brother getting on all that well.

“Anyway,” Drav said, turning back to the Sedimentite, “provided you actually attend a meeting for once, you can go and put whatever you want into play. The more Milaro has on his plate, the less likely he is to notice the things we’re doing.”

“You think?” Daskin asked.

“Of course I think. I also know. I’ve known the man for millennia. Keep him occupied. His dream sense, his ability to locate minds and figure out what they’re doing, to intrude upon our thoughts from a distance. It’s unparalleled and we would do well to guard our thoughts.”

Quinn had to suppress a chuckle. She wasn’t entirely sure how this worked, and she didn’t exactly want to give away where she was. She couldn’t read Dravishk’s thoughts right now, but she could definitely hear the words he was saying, which gave her pause because she still didn’t understand this ability at all. Just more questions to give Milaro. She maneuvered herself slightly to have a better view and to hear better.

Drav turned his attention back to his sister. “The shutdown only occurred because we forgot to factor the manifestation into things.”

Dro laughed again. She was rather jovial in a strange and cold sort of way. “How could you forget that?” 

I did not realise he was that level of separated from her." Drav sounded suitably chastised.

After interrupting his sister, Drav took another deep breath and continued on. “I assumed and understood that he was simply an extension of Drevicia and thus just another part of her, which meant that when Korradine took memories from the main Library section, it was supposed to affect Lynx as well and vice versa. Apparently, I had my wires crossed and did not realise this. It’s not irreparable. It’s just inconvenient. Kor did a fantastic job, anyway. I think she worked on both of them.”

Dronar watched her brother and nodded, her face suddenly very solemn. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have hibernated for so long. It was just so boring and there was so much that I miss and I can’t do and I’m terribly sorry I left all of this on your shoulders.”

Arguing with his sister seemed to trigger Dravishk’s typical habitual shrug. “It is what it is,” he said. “Once I figure out why the connection refuses to establish itself, despite having laid the back door myself and having the essence of the Library’s coordinates, well, then we can proceed and bring about the universe as it was always intended to be.”

Dro watched her brother closely, then nodded once, her solemn expression still present. “That sounds like a bit of a plan.”

The sibilant words rang in Quinn’s ears as the serpensiril spoke slowly and carefully. “But my liege grows weary of your inaction, of your dropping of promises.”

“I haven’t dropped a promise.” Drav said, his eyes firing up. 

“Not yet,” the serpensiril drawled.

Dravishk raised an eyebrow and his tail swished back and forth in agitation, reminding Quinn yet again of an angry cat. His dark eyes glittered with such a hint of anger that the serpensiril backed up a couple of steps.

Drav obviously decided intimidation was on the cards and stood up. He must have measured an easy eight feet tall, well-built, with broad shoulders. His form was less compact than when they’d fought with him, but somehow more powerful. He stalked forward. They weren’t just steps, they were deliberately planted, carefully chosen. He moved toward the serpensiril as if the snake man was prey. Then he smiled such a wide toothy grin that no one could ever mistake him for human. He seemed like the nightmare Cheshire cat in that Alice video game Quinn saw years ago. It sent a row of shivers down her spine as she watched the way he towered over the serpensiril.

“Boshan, my dear, dear collaborator, have you already forgotten how shaky our alliance became in light of the Tenejo incident that you orchestrated?”

Boshan shook his head and seemed like he wanted to back up further, through the wall and trees behind him, if necessary.

Drav held up his hand to not be interrupted. “Not to mention the preparations that only allowed us to be rid of Escadril instead of the rest of the whole party that was there, including ridding ourselves of this pesky Librarian that came out of left field.”

Boshan made to speak, but it appeared that Dravishk didn’t want that to happen. He held up his hand, effectively silencing the serpensiril’s words with a slight flick of his fingers as if he’d cast a spell.

“Yes, yes, I know you’re about to tell me that you failed doubly, considering Sarila is the one that ended him instead of us. She killed her own husband. That took a lot of guts. I’m not entirely sure where her loyalties lie, but that was one favor she did us before her untimely demise. So I claim the Escadril kill for us because he would never have been there in that state for her to push on if it weren’t for us.”

He paused for a second, but it seemed Boshan had learned his lesson. His lips didn’t even move.

“So no,” Dravishk continued, “we won’t make it into the Library of my dear sibling through any door that opens until such a time as the shields are dropped and allow hostile beings to enter.”

Then Quinn remembered they had reinforced the shields. They’d done a heap of work to make sure that the Library’s wards and protections were holding, including adjusting the acceptance of patrons into the Library based on a scan given by the Library as the door was activated. Not once they crossed the threshold as soon as they touched the door that would transport them in. The scan was a fraction of a second and should it detect any hostility toward the Library at all in that person’s demeanor or aura, they’d be transported to a holding entryway until such a time that security golems could get to them. She couldn’t believe that’d slipped her mind.

Quinn wondered if it was possible for the Library to produce army golems. That was an idea if they were going to need physical defense.

There was still silence among the group as they all watched Dravishk very carefully. It was as if they knew better than to argue or perhaps even provoke him. Especially in a mood like this. He was like a coiled snake ready to strike at any moment if somebody displeased him, which it appeared every single person employed by the Library had already done.

Finally, he sighed deeply and looked up at everybody with that same languid, wide, toothy grin. “Yes, yes,” he said as he stepped back to his seat and made himself comfortable once more on the bench. “Don’t worry, just amass your troops while we move to plan C and I will take care of our... entry fees.” He chuckled at his own joke. 

Quinn had no idea what it meant.

“Plan C?” Dronar asked cautiously, her voice automatically reflecting submission.

Glee flashed through Dravishk’s eyes. “Why, taking the Library by force instead? That is our plan C.”

All of a sudden, it was as if Quinn’s world froze. By force? Surely they couldn’t get through the gaps that easily. She was about to leave when she heard Daskin clear his throat.

“Do we need to plan logistics?”

“No,” Dravishk said, laughing self-deprecatingly. “No, you just do your thing and I will take care of the rest. I will contact you all with the next meeting time.”

Quinn was glad she’d stayed, because everything seemed worse than she’d imagined. He was already working on it. She allowed herself to rubber-band back to her bed, tiredness completely gone, so that panic could set in. 

For a moment, she forced herself to do breathing exercises, calming her whirling mind into some semblance of working. She sat up, even though she knew it was too early for Milaro, and headed down to rearrange her murder board.

~~

And onto the Milaro lesson next!

Much love

KT