Book 5: Chapter 5 (1/2)
A foolish grin was plastered on Prika’s face, a book splayed out on the surface of the boulder in front of her. A movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she raised her head. “Vur? That was the shortest nap in the history of naps. Where you going?”
Vur yawned and stretched his arms over his head, arching his back. He closed his eyes and soaked in the sunlight for a few moments before putting his arm down. He glanced at Prika. “I’m going to the library,” he said. “Do you want to come?”
“Library?” Prika asked, her eyebrows perking up. Her eyes shifted, and she made sure Vur wasn’t eyeing her pile of books nearby. “Which library?”
“The one at Tafel’s home,” Vur said.
“Oh, the one where we went to back when you were little?” Prika asked. She nodded. “Didn’t we rob, err, obtain all the books we wanted from that one? They’re still in Sera’s cave. I thought you read them all already.”
Vur rubbed his chin. “Don’t libraries get new books over time?”
“You want to rob them again?” Prika asked, raising an eyebrow. “Humans and demons are pretty slow writers.” She closed her book, placed it back on the pile, and hopped off the boulder, landing in front of Vur. She bent her legs and gestured for Vur to climb on her back. “Get on. I’ll take you somewhere even better.”
Vur jumped up with the help of a simple wind spell and landed on top of Prika’s head. He sat down and crossed his legs, not caring about being polite. “Where are we going?”
“There’s a little island chain between here and the eastern continent,” Prika said. “They’re occupied by owlcats. As the self-proclaimed most voracious reader of love stories, I can vouch for those little guys and their story-telling abilities.”
A fairy’s head popped out of the tattoo on Vur’s chest. “I’ve never heard of owlcats before. Isn’t this exciting?” Stella asked. She stretched her neck up and rolled her eyes to make eye contact with Vur. “See? There are so many new and weird things you’ve yet to encounter. Aren’t you glad I convinced you to go out of your cave?”
Vur grunted and braced himself as Prika launched herself into the air. The red dragon flapped her wings and let out a snort. “Can you believe Grimmy and Leila just left me behind and completely ignored my awesome idea? It’s almost as if they have zero respect for me just because I’m single.” She snorted again. “So, what kind of books are you looking for anyway? Romance novels? How-to books?”
“Books on interesting things to see in the world,” Vur said. “Tafel likes adventuring to interesting places. I’ll explore them all first, and if any of them are fun, I’ll bring her there later.”
Prika blinked. “If that’s the case, the owlcats won’t have what you’re looking for,” she said. “They’re very creative, but almost everything they write is fiction. Luckily for you, I know just the place to go to find what you’re looking for.”
“You know a lot more than I thought you would,” Stella said.
Prika’s eye twitched. “And what’s that supposed to mean? You think I’m boring just because no one thinks I’m interesting enough to take as a mate, huh?” She let out a sigh before Stella could respond. “Forget it. I’m not going to argue with something tinier than one of my scales.”
“Are we still going to a library?” Vur asked.