The second door led us into light.
After so long in darkness, it hurt. I raised a hand to shield my eyes, blinking against the sudden brilliance. When my vision cleared, I realized we weren't in a cavern anymore.
We were in a library.
Shelves stretched in every direction, towering so high they disappeared into golden mist. Thousands of books lined them... no, millions. Leather spines, ancient scrolls, clay tablets stacked in careful rows. The air smelled of old paper and ink and something sweeter underneath. Vanilla, maybe. Or memory.
"I could live here," Des breathed. "Actually, Amara could."
"Don't get comfortable," Kai warned. "This is the second trial."
A figure emerged from between two shelves. It was humanoid but not human. Its body made of shifting text, letters crawling across its skin like ants. Its face was a blank page, smooth and white and terrible.
