What should have been a simple library chamber stretched upward, its ceiling lost in darkness.
The towering bookshelves were scattered around the room, their wooden frames dark with age and heavy with books that whispered of untold stories.
Platforms jutted from the shelves at irregular intervals, connected by ladders and bridges. The air tasted of old paper and forgotten knowledge, thick enough to coat their tongues with the dust of centuries.
At the chamber's entrance, the familiar blue screen appeared in the air before them, glowing with the cold light they'd come to expect :
Locate the following tomes :
The Herbalist's Garden, Memoir of the Void Walker, and The Cartographer's Final Map.
Disturb the librarian at your own peril.
The words faded, leaving them standing at the threshold of a vertical maze. Somewhere in the depths of those towering shelves, three books waited. Somewhere else, a librarian moved with a purpose they didn't know about yet.
Sam opened his mouth to speak, then caught himself. His notebook appeared in his hands, and he wrote quickly across a fresh page: Avoid making noise, don't want to find out what disturbing the librarian will do. Split up or stay together?
They thought about the question for a moment. In the vertical labyrinth before them, staying together might mean safety but it would also increase the chance of making noise. While splitting up offered efficiency but isolation if things went wrong.
AJ, still in human form, moved towards Sam and grabbed the notebook, writing : Together. Start carefully. Learn the rules.
Lily nodded, then realised the gesture made her quiver shift against her shoulder with a soft scraping sound.
She froze, eyes frantically looking around, but nothing happened.
Walter raised his cane and attached it to his back, it would make too much noise. He then pointed towards the nearest ladder. His face carried a question they all understood: Who goes first?
Ethan stepped forward, each step was measured, resembling someone walking through a minefield. The wooden floor beneath their feet groaned softly under his weight, but the sound seemed to be okay.
The first ladder led to a platform that branched in three directions. Ethan slowly climbed up, the others following, their breathing the only sound in the vast space.
From the first platform, the true scope of their challenge became apparent. The library extended in all directions like a three-dimensional maze, platforms connected by bridges, ladders that led to dead ends or spiralled around central columns lined with books.
Some shelves were so high they disappeared into darkness; others hung suspended from invisible supports, creating gaps that would require careful jumps to cross.
And somewhere in that vertical wilderness, something was moving.
They caught glimpses of it as they navigated the maze. It appeared to be small, perhaps child-sized.
Victor caught sight of it first: a porcelain doll dressed in a pristine black dress, its painted face showing an expression of innocent curiosity.
It glided between the shelves without making a sound, its glassy eyes reflecting light. When it moved, it did so with an uncanny smoothness.
The Librarian.
Sam's notebook became their primary means of communication as they made their way across the platforms. Words appeared and disappeared as they shared observations:
Doll moves on patrol pattern - 15 minute cycles.
Books organised by colour and age with the oldest at top.
Some ladders trapped, look for worn rungs.
The vertical maze demanded skills none of them had anticipated. Balance became crucial as they navigated bridges that swayed under their weight. Upper body strength determined whether they could pull themselves between levels.
Most challenging of all, they had to move through a space that was like it was designed for making sound while maintaining relative silence.
AJ proved to be the most adept at navigating the environment. His malleable form could compress to fit through gaps between shelves, extend to reach distant handholds, or flatten against surfaces to avoid detection.
He moved up the sides of bookcases without making a sound. The challenge came when his emotions fluctuated—natural ripples that created tiny vibrations that could potentially be detected by the librarian.
Lily discovered that her archery training had prepared her quite well for the environment. The balance required to draw a bow translated into steady movement across narrow platforms.
She found the first book.
The Herbalist's Garden sat on a shelf not far above the entrance, its green leather binding worn smooth by countless hands.
But reaching it required crossing three bridges and climbing a ladder that creaked ominously under the slightest pressure.
Worse, the shelf it rested on was positioned behind what appeared to be a mechanical contraption—a series of bronze gears and pulleys that blocked direct access.
She studied the mechanism from her platform, noting how the gears connected to a lever mounted on the wall two levels below.
The system looked like it would rotate the entire shelf section, bringing the book within reach. But she wouldn't be able to manage it alone.
Lily caught Walter's attention with careful hand signals, pointing to the lever and then to herself. The old man nodded, eventually understanding what she wanted.
He began his careful descent toward the mechanism while she positioned herself for the approach.
The Librarian's patrol would bring it past this section in less than three minutes. Walter reached the lever and waited, his weathered hands poised over the bronze handle. When Lily signalled that she was ready, he pulled.
The mechanism engaged with a soft grinding of metal on metal—not loud enough to echo through the maze, but definitely audible to anyone nearby. The shelf section rotated slowly, bringing the it within arm's reach of Lily's platform.
She grabbed the book just as the Librarian appeared two levels below, its porcelain head tilted like a confused puppy.
For a heart-stopping moment, it remained motionless, processing the sounds, perhaps trying to decide if it was acceptable or not. Then it continued its patrol, disappearing into the maze's depths.
One down.
Meanwhile, Sam had located the Memoir of the Void Walker. The book was bound in deep blue leather with silver clasps. But it sat trapped behind a glass panel that didn't have a handle and wouldn't budge when he tried moving it.
Sam studied the arrangement carefully. The glass case was built into the bookshelf itself, surrounded by other books that looked perfectly ordinary.
One book, however, caught his attention—a slim volume titled "Hidden Mechanisms" a couple books to the right of the glass case.
It took him a moment to realize the solution was staring him in the face. The book wasn't a decoration, nor was it really a book, it was the key. Sam reached over to it and grasped the spine of "Hidden Mechanisms."
The book pulled outward like a lever, sliding smoothly from its position with barely a whisper. As it extended, the glass panel responded immediately, sliding upward.
The Memoir of the Void Walker sat exposed, waiting to be claimed.
But as he reached for the book, his notebook slipped from his other hand.
The book tumbled toward the platform below, its pages fluttering. Without thinking, AJ flowed downward, his malleable form stretching to catch the falling notebook before it could hit anything.
The catch was just on time and silent, but the effort left AJ's form rippling. Sam grabbed the Memoir of the Void Walker and gave AJ a grateful nod as his notebook was passed back to him.
Two down.
The Cartographer's Final Map proved most elusive. Victor and Ethan had taken the lower levels, following what seemed like logical organisation systems only to find books arranged according to rules they couldn't decipher.
It was Walter who spotted the Map's distinctive brown leather binding, tucked away behind a locking mechanism on the maze's highest accessible level.
The lock consisted of three rotating dials, each numbered from 0 to 9, like a safe combination. There was no riddle or clues, just the locks.
Walter studied the lock with growing concern. Without any hints, they would need to search the library for the combination, likely written in other books or hidden among the maze's many labels and inscriptions.
He caught Victor's attention with careful hand signals, pointing to the lock and then to the surrounding shelves.
Victor nodded grimly, understanding the challenge. They would have to split up and search every nook and cranny of the library.
Victor began checking books on the lower levels, examining any numerical markings. Ethan joined the search as well, checking the bookshelves for markings and checking in between books for some kind of note.
It was Ethan who made the first mistake. While reaching for a high shelf to check a book's spine, he knocked against the bookshelf. One of the books fell out, tumbling to the platform below with a solid thump that echoed through the library.
The Librarian appeared almost instantly, its porcelain head swivelling toward the sound. Ethan tried to retreat, but the creature moved too quickly. One touch of its hand made him vanish.
The others looked around frantically, trying to see where he had gone, then they saw him down on the ground, giving them a thumbs up. Lily let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Victor pressed on, two shelves over, he found what he was looking for—a small placard tucked between books that read "Navigation Reference: 429." He memorised the number and began climbing up towards Walter.
The Librarian's search pattern had changed, its movements were quicker, less predictable. Victor had to take risks, moving faster than was safe, and his haste cost him.
He accidentally stubbed his foot on a ladder, and within seconds, the porcelain hand touched his shoulder.
Back to the entrance.
AJ was the one who retrieved the combination and managed to deliver it to Walter. When he was close enough to Walter, he simply formed the numbers 4-2-9 with his tendrils, clear enough for Walter to see.
Walter set the dials carefully and the mechanism clicked open with barely a whisper, revealing The Cartographer's Final Map in its secured compartment.
All three found.
As they made their way towards the center of the library where a collection podium had materialised—a simple stone pedestal with three book-shaped indentations. Disaster struck from an unexpected source.
Lily, attempting to cross a bridge that had seemed stable on the way up, felt the planks give way beneath her feet.
She jumped, grabbing for another platform's edge. She managed to hold on but she had already made a lot of noise.
The sounds echoed through the library. Everyone paused what they were doing, turning to look at Lily, hanging onto a platform.
Then the Librarian appeared.
It materialised between the shelves almost as if it had teleported, its painted face turned toward the source of disturbance.
Lily quickly pulled herself up and ran, abandoning stealth for speed as she leaped between platforms and scrambled down ladders.
The Librarian gave chase following the sounds of her footsteps and the creaky wooden planks.
The pursuit didn't last long before the inevitable conclusion. The Librarian's porcelain hand touched Lily's shoulder, and she vanished—transported back to the entrance to begin again.
But the others had what they needed.
They continued converging on the maze's centre.
The moment they placed the books in their designated spots, the volumes began to glow with soft light.
The light spread outward from the podium, illuminating pathways through the maze that led directly to the exit.
The books themselves remained in place, their purpose fulfilled simply by being found and correctly positioned.
Whatever knowledge they contained would remain unread, their secrets preserved.
The Librarian stood motionless at the far end, its porcelain face turned to stare at them. Then it too dissolved.
Trial Complete.
The familiar blue screen appeared briefly before fading, and the corridor ahead opened to reveal their path back to the main chamber.