Chapter two:
Connections
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thionen’s claws gouged chunks of stone out of the floor, as he rounded the corner only to see the girl’s fingertips inches from the book, his book. He increased his speed in an attempt to intercept her hand, but it was too late.
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Light pressure revealed the leather texture to be quite rough, almost sharp although it looked smooth. The contact sent shivers down her spine, her lungs tightened, and her heart slowed. Her body felt cold and her hair stood on end as she collapsed to her knees, releasing her hold on the book, and consciousness.
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Time seemed to slow down as Thionen watched the whelp's hand flatten against his book's cover. Heat rushed up in his chest, ready to be unleashed. His mouth opened wide and a column of flame leapt fourth from his parted jaws. The fire barely missed the human but still burned her shoulder with it's passage, exploding against the far wall instead. Thionen's shoulder tightened with pain as scales flaked off and blisters formed, shocked eyes darted between his shoulder and hers. How did it happen so fast? I thought I had more time! Thionen glanced back at the limp body before him as he did, drowsiness washed over him despite the pain in his shoulder. I can't get rid of her now, she'll get me killed. Instead of taking an involuntary nap Thionen opted instead to wake her up.
The book he chose was "Tree Hopping. A History of Unpowered Elven Flight" The book itself was sturdy and tied with a leather cord, and though the elves chronicled within took ages to perfect their craft, he would only need a second to achieve his desired effect. Thick golden talons opened, dropping the book about five feet onto Julie’s waiting head. The impact caused a few things; Julie started awake and clutched her forehead, at the same time Thionen cursed and began rubbing between his horns.
“LUSEKEH! It couldn't have been more than an hour and you're already causing me trouble! What am I going to do with you?!”
Julie, who was still in pain, glared up at him, presumably for dropping a book on her head. Strangely enough it seemed she was yet to notice the burns on her shoulder.
“Don't give me that look, I basically dropped it on my own skull too.”
The girl’s confusion at his statement was quite evident.
“Well whatever happens I can't have you touching any more books, ESPECIALLY THAT ONE!”
Her hand stopped on its course to one again grasp the glowing leather tome.
“Come this way.”
Thionen gestured with an open paw to one of the side tunnels. Julie begrudgingly got to her feet and passed in front of him. As she walked past, Thionen backed up slightly allowing her a wide berth. For a second Julie seemed confused, before she shrugged and continued down the designated passageway, Thionen ducked into the hall and followed a short distance behind her. The sides of the tunnel were lined with yet more bookshelves and even higher stacks of scrolls. The cavern that followed was mostly dominated by the massive tangle of uprooted trees and vegetation that comprised Thionen’s nest. Julie walked to the middle of the room and turned slowly gazing at figures depicted on the walls, and the stars spread across the ceiling.
“You paint?”
“Sometimes, I haven't painted for a few centuries though.”
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CENTURIES?! Julie had more questions than she could track, she turned her head to see the answers walking out of the room!
“STOP, WAIT! I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS!”
Thioned’s head turned, looking down at her small figure far below.
“Make it quick, though I doubt it will be.”
His tone was impatient, and Julie took a moment to gather her thoughts.
“Your name, Thionen, why did I remember it? I usually forget names, especially of people I haven’t met yet.”
He pondered for a second before answering.
“You've met me before. Next question.”
“W-what?! But I don’t-”
“Next question.”
“Umm, I uh. Do you know more about my past?”
“Everything.”
With that he turned back around and left the sputtering Julie to sort it out herself. On his way out his tail struck the tunnel’s roof causing rocks to block the entrance.
“I’ll be back later.”
And with that he was gone. Julie tried to sift through the impossible answers she had been given. This creature was centuries old, supposedly knew her entire past, and that they had even met before? She had also noticed the burns on her shoulder though the pain was distant somehow, as if it had been a few weeks since it happened. As she continued to sit and ponder her odd circumstances a strange feeling crossed her fingers, it almost felt like she was flipping through the pages of a book.
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Thionen’s claws moved at a rapid pace, he had already flipped through a few of his books on time, and blood magic. Thus far he had nothing to show for it but he knew it would be somewhere here, he returned to frantically browse the shelves in the magic section.
His progress was slowed by the rough hewn wooden book cart, and that he hadn’t properly organized in decades. He thought back to the girl trapped in that room. She was supposed to help me with that, but she also wasn't supposed to be a human. Yet another thing on his mind, not only what kind of ties did this magic come with, but why was she a human? He also realized that in addition to his other mysteries, he had yet to even ask the girl her name.
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