Chapter 32

When Kyle took that first step and then another and another he was never more thankful for feet in his life. Sure they smelled, ached at times, and they looked stupid, but they were carrying him to his goal. He spun around excitedly to beam at his friends. They'd made it!

Before him lay another stack of books, but this time there was an archway built into it. Piles of books were stacked neatly around the arch which led to an inner room lined with more books. The corridor was complete. They'd made it through the time trial alive.

There was a chorus of triumphant We made its! in his head while the gang silently celebrated their victory. CJ ran over to a shelf and plucked a book from the stack at random to show them all it had a title on the spine. It wasn't in a language they understood but they'd defeated the libraries challenges and were now able to read the books.

Once inside the room Kyle marveled at the fantastical number of volumes, but when he looked up the gleeful look was wiped from his face. The sheer number of floors that soared up and up to well beyond where even his preternatural eyes could see was simply staggering.

When they viewed the library from outside it looked to only contain four or five floors, but he should have know better. A mystical library that held all knowledge would have had to be bigger. Kyle groaned in his head and thought guys look before pointing up.

Some of his friends were already looking, others looked up when he pointed and he got to experience his reaction to the nightmare they'd entered on their faces. How would they find it now? Even with the eye of Horus it could take them days, weeks or even months to locate. Who knew how far the building went.

Lauren held the eye of Horus up to her eye, while he crossed his fingers for good luck. Maybe they'd get lucky and it would be just a few floors up.

But when he saw the awed look on her face and she pointed way up, his hopes were dashed. With a collective sigh they started climbing. By the 100th floor the entire gang was done, spent, never mind that they were in peek physical condition, they just survived a deadly gauntlet now they were doing cardio.

I mean . . . COME ON!

What did his magical world have against elevators anyway?

If it wasn't for the interesting people they'd seen on the landings, and nodded silently at on the stairs on the way up, he would say this was the worst experience of his life, but can you say that when you pass a guy in a toga, and a Geisha in a Kimono and those wooden platform shoes, a medieval knight, and a woman wearing a futuristic neon color body suit. He lost count of the number of 'out of time' people they'd encountered. They were wildly entertaining to him, but it made him wonder what they must think of him and his motley crew. A bunch of soaking wet teens.

After half a dozen shocked stares they decided getting some cloths on Cam's fully naked body and Meg half naked one would be a good idea. Zach was good enough to offer Megan his hoody, it was so big on her that it nearly went down to her knees and CJ offered Cameron his button up shirt that he tied around his waist.

Everyone tried not to laugh when CJ pointed at Cam's crotch and thought: Dude keep the shirt.

But still they garnished attention from the occupants of the library, of course they would, they were a bunch of soaking wet teens, two of which were partially naked and barefoot.

When they collapsed on the 200th floor Lauren consulted the eye of Horus and afterward let her arm flop down uselessly beside her. She didn't even have the strength to tell them the bad news. No one really cared at the moment anyway. All they cared about was getting air into their oxygen deprived lungs. Marley was the only one unaffected by the endurance challenge they'd just been through.

The other fifteen teens lay in heaps on the Persian runner that ran the length of the landing surrounded by all the world's knowledge and all they could think about was how to make the torture end.

Kyle's lungs heaved as he thought Lauren there has got to be a spell . . . anything . . . just please make it stop?

What about teleporting us to the top? Zach offered and Kyle couldn't help but think he even sounded winded in his head.

I can't teleport us to a place I can't even imagine. God knows where we'd end up.

But I can perform a renewed energy spell when I can breathe again, and move, but I don't know how long that will last.

They all agreed it was better than nothing. So when she could drum up the leg strength to stand she spoke the incantation. And you gotta love magic, because suddenly he felt like he could run a marathon, which was good because, that's what they would probably be doing.

It was the three hundredth-and-seventy-seventh floor that housed the Ankh, and he would know, he'd counted every step. He would have jumped for joy when Lauren announced We're here, but if he never had to lift either of his legs ever again that would be so utterly cool.

Horus' eye pointed them left when they could stand so the kids disappeared for the first time into the many stacks that lined the landing. The books that lined the stacks to either side of him were all in English and he would have loved to stop and take a peek inside some of them, but that wasn't what they were here for.

Lord only knows how much time they had wasted already and he could only pray that they weren't too late.

When he saw the glass display pedestal he gestured for his friends excitedly to look ahead. Several turned their happy faces to him as they picked up the pace.

The dark wood display case looked remarkable ordinary, like any you'd find in a museum. He couldn't even see if it was locked or not, but what would it matter if they could just break the glass. There wasn't even any security for it. WOW! he thought They haven't even got a guard or anything watching it.

I know, right? It has the power to control the dead and restore life and it's just sitting out like this? Zach rightly questioned their good luck.

Guys be on your guard, something doesn't feel right about this. Lauren cautioned.

Kyle started looking all around trying to imagine all the possible traps, but no one was more surprised than him when they walked right up to it without being challenged, and knock him over with a feather the glass case wasn't locked.

Inside the case sat a golden Ankh on a red velvet cushion. There's plenty of debate over what the figure symbolizes: whether it was representative of a sandal strap or a tied rope, but from what he could make out from where he stood, it looked like a woman's uterus. Kid you not. And the outer ring looked like an umbilical cord.

The Ankh's shape made sense really, when you think about it, how are we all born anyway? They had been cautioned by Liam that Kelly would be the only one able to touch the powerful device, given her affinity for the dead.

So everyone moved back to give her room to open the glass lid on the top of the stand. She stepped forward more than a little hesitantly and when it was Donnie who tried to reassure her and mouthed 'be careful' everyone kind of looked at Xander with a WTF look on their faces, but he didn't seem the least bit perturbed. WEIRD.

With a trembling hand she lifted the lid delicately. You'd have to be a complete magical nitwit if this moment didn't make you want to defecate in your pants. He could feel the magical whammy off this thing five stacks back.

When the lid was fully open they heard a pleasant bing bong chime. Like a really cool doorbell. IT wasn't even loud, but apparently it did its job, because a tall light being popped up in front of them.

The action was so sudden that he and several of his friends fell back or cried out in shock, but they recovered fast -- none of them were any strangers to stupidly abrupt magic.

But it startled him so much that he clutched his chest, and thought, as he gripped his rapidly beating heart, oh yeah it was certainly getting a workout today.

She or he, he couldn't tell -- the person seemed genderless -- stood next to the display and said in a musical voice," May I help you?"

Even its voice didn't give its gender away. The humanoid made entirely of white light stood over seven feet tall. It was long and slender and would have no problem reaching even the highest shelves on the stacks, which made him wonder if this was the librarian?

When the being caught on to the fact that they were all too dumbstruck to response, it changed from liquid light to a solid human form and the shape it took was almost comical. Skip that . . . it was downright hilarious.

Donald Trump stood in front of them complete with a bad comb over and orange face in a ridiculous suit and tie.

And he just had to think to his friends: Now I've seen it all.

When everyone cringed the being laughed a musical trill and asked, "Does this form displease you," and it morphed into George's wife Mary in It's a Wonderful Life. The black and white version, but it was the librarian 'Mary' complete with glasses.

The librarian must have taken the image straight from the original black and white movie because she was all grayscale and colorless.

"Is this better? She trilled.

Kyle thought they'd better answer her . . . him . . . them soon or it might go through a whole cast of characters.

He cleared his throat and said as resolutely as he could, "No we're fine; we just came for the Ankh."

"Oh I'm very sorry to hear that. I know it has been a perilous journey for you, but I'm afraid I cannot let you leave here with it. It is the property of the Library now, and as I am its curator, I would be remiss if I let you take it."

Kyle didn't know what to think. She just addressed them with the emotional equivalent of reading off her weekly to do list, but there was no mistaking the vehemence of her words.

He started to step forward when she calmly raised her hand and suddenly he couldn't physically move. He was stuck. His feet were useless.

"Nooooooo . . . he cried out.

"You don't understand," he pleaded, "I need it."

Tears started to stream down his face unchecked. Who gave a fuck about that? If he didn't get the Ankh Travis was going to die. Flat out dead – die.

"I know dear Knight that your quest is a noble one, but if you take this item millions will die." She continued with the monotone thing, but she didn't seem impassionate to his plea.

When from the corner of his eye he saw his friends attempt to rush the podium and suffer the same fate as him, it was heartbreaking, and he knew it was over.

They'd failed.

She addressed them all then and said, "I understand that you fight on the side of light, and your cause is a righteous one. And as such, I feel I must help you, even though it is forbidden. It is suffice to say that you must go to the mountain.

When she waved her hand, and in a blink they were back on the English countryside in front of the current day Stonehenge, Kyle had to shield his eyes to the vibrant colors of dawn that were now creating a lightshow on the horizon.

And as soon as he felt his feet on solid ground he sunk to his knees in the dead grass feeling utterly lost. With a few spare words they had been dismissed:

Go to the Mountain . . .

What could that mean?

Welp! Looks like Travis is done for?

How are they going to save him now?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.

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