Serena read the ancient text fluidly, as if she had spoken it her entire life. Her eyes glowed gold, and the voice coming from her was different from her usual voice.
Hyran stood with his arms crossed, observing.
The runes carved into the library walls flared gold in perfect unison.
Whispering mage-librarians fell silent, watching with curiosity.
Serena looked up from the scroll, still glowing, and turned toward the stairs leading back down to the main floor.
Hyran took the scroll from her hands without ceremony.
"Something is calling for you," he said calmly. "Go to it."
She seemed to have heard him, but gave no response.
She vanished down the stairs in a blur of alpha speed. A handful of mage-librarians gasped. One clapped before realizing he should not.
"And she moves at alpha speed," Hyran muttered, already striding after her. "You are showing far too many of your cards."
Serena stopped at the gate to the restricted section, staring it down like it might flinch first.
"Do you have permission to be in there?" asked the Master Mage-Librarian, Thalen.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Hyran said. "Yes. She has permission."
At his words, thirty mage-librarians turned as one and shushed him in unison.
Hyran stared at them flatly. Unimpressed.
Master Thalen fumbled through his keys. Metal clicked. The gate finally swung open.
Serena blurred again, stopping dead before a white marble pillar identical to every other one lining the level.
She placed her hand against it and spoke in Draken-Vorah.
The stone answered.
The dragon carved into the pillar shuddered. Stone scales shifted as its eyes ignited gold, and the carving tore free of the marble.
Its jaws opened, revealing a golden token embedded in its throat, warm and waiting.
Serena took it without hesitation.
The library responded. Shelves rattled. Books shuddered. A drink tipped and shattered on the floor.
Hyran glanced up at the ceiling, then at the walls, then back at her.
"Do you plan on warning me before you tear down the oldest arcane library on the continent?" he asked dryly. "Because if we are remodeling, I would like a significantly larger office."
Serena looked past him, token still in hand.
At that moment, Dexmon entered the library with King Tiberon. Dexmon had just escaped a miserable lunch, trapped in forced conversation with the Princess, while King Tiberon had come from his study across the hall.
Her scent hit Dexmon immediately. He followed it without hesitation, relief cutting through the lingering irritation of whatever that lunch had been meant to accomplish.
He found her standing like a statue, gaze drawn upward to the highest shelf.
Hyran stood nearby, arms crossed, observing.
"Serena?" Dex asked gently. She didn't move or seem aware he was there. Hyran's lips twitched in amusement.
"You need something up there," Hyran said, not asking, just observing.
She nodded once. Did not speak.
A mage-librarian was already moving, like this was the highlight of his academic career.
Before the librarian could grab the ladder, Serena vanished in a blur, climbing the shelf. She turned and jumped backward to the opposing shelf, landing light as breath.
King Tiberon glanced sideways at Hyran, expression flat. "Hyran, if my library explodes, you are reorganizing the ashes."
Her eyes flicked to the second-floor balcony.
Dex stilled, eyes locked on her, already feeling her urgency through their matebond. Surely she wouldn't attempt that jump. No sane wolf would attempt that distance.
He felt her intent coil and release.
"Serena, wait!" he called.
She was already airborne.
She caught the edge of the balcony and hauled herself onto the marble railing, still moving in a blur, stopping only when she reached a pillar anchored to the rail.
On the side facing the main entrance, hidden from view unless one stood where she did, was a narrow indent. Serena slid the token into it. The fit was perfect.
It clicked.
Every torch flared at once, then died.
The floor rumbled.
Hyran, Dexmon, and King Tiberon reached the second level in time to see her still standing on the railing, fingers braced against the pillar as the vibration deepened.
Dexmon did not hesitate.
He grabbed her, swift and unapologetic, hooking an arm around her waist and pulling her back onto solid ground.
Her gaze locked onto a massive painting of dragons mounted high on the wall, at least twenty feet above where she stood, centered between two towering arched windows.
"Do you need to get to that?" Dexmon asked, tension threading his voice.
She gave a single nod.
A mage-librarian bolted for a ladder.
Dexmon felt her through the matebond and had just enough time to realize the ladder was already irrelevant.
"Serena, don't—" He reached for her arm.
His hand closed on air.
She was already moving up the wall, stepping on stone that jutted out, not visible to the naked eye.
Gravity did not fail. It was ignored.
She spoke Draken-Vorah again, voice steady, absolute.
The dragon in the painting came alive. Its mouth opened, revealing a golden latch.
Serena reached it without slowing and pulled.
Deep beneath them, the library answered with a low, ancient rumble.
She stepped back down the wall in a blur. Her head snapped toward the fourth floor.
Dexmon was ready this time.
He hooked his arm around her waist and caught her mid-movement.
"Stairs this time," he said firmly, scooping her up without waiting for permission.
She did not fight him or seem to notice him. Her gaze stayed locked upward, intent unbroken.
King Tiberon and Hyran followed close behind, both their gazes sharp with calculation.
The mage-librarians stood frozen, torn between shutting this down and witnessing the single greatest academic flex of their careers.
She was breaking rules and absolutely should be banned for life.
But holy shit, it was a treasure hunt.