What she was the most surprised about were several volumes labeled things like Wielding Water Magic and Lighting the World. They were probably books about those specific elements, and she grinned, pointing at them. “Are there books for all the elements?”
He looked thoughtful and then mused, “Most of the more common ones, yes.” She grinned gleefully and he sighed. “I’ll get them for you.”
She didn’t even glance at the rest of them, hopping up as she requested, “Wait a sec.” He turned to gaze at her questioningly. “I just wanted to say thank you for helping me find these. I’m actually going to get something to eat, but I’ll be back, so no rush. These will probably last me for a bit anyway.” He nodded again, since that made sense. She paused, then thought of something that she had yet to ask anyone about. “Why is everyone carrying weapons all the time? Do fights break out a lot or something?”
His gaze turned complicated, and he finally answered after a moment with his own question. “Was your world particularly peaceful?”
She reflected for a minute. There were wars, but they were far away from her. She’d never seen much violence personally, though she supposed she’d heard about the after effects of it when people came into the hospital mangled. Not quite sure where he was going with his question, she tried to explain. “There were wars, but infrequently. On the whole, I suppose most people lived their lives peacefully. Only the soldiers or police saw much violence up close and in person. I guess there were people in bad areas too, like gang violence, but I think, for the most part, people were fairly removed from it. So I guess you could call it a little peaceful? What the average person saw was mostly a fistfight at best.”
Thoughtful, he questioned her, “You had no monsters to fight?”
She frowned. “I mean, I guess in Africa they fought lions and stuff, but no. Humans in my world were the top of the food chain, and we had… Well, let’s say hunting was a pastime for some people.” With a sigh, he seemed to be considering how best to tell her what she needed to know. A little light bulb went on in her mind as she remembered some of the video games she’d watched streamers play. “Wait, is it like… Humans live in tiny concentrated patches here, and everywhere else is pretty much overrun by monsters?” Usually, people in the games were hunting the monsters for experience or gold. She supposed it was probably similar here, in that they would get experience in their skills…
Surprised at her guess, he nodded. “Yeah, that’s about right. Here, the monster threat is ever-present. We’ve claimed a certain amount of land, but we have to constantly subjugate and eliminate the monsters so they don’t invade our villages and cities. Most people carry weapons in case one of them manages to infiltrate the city, which happens occasionally, despite our best efforts.”
Okay, so that made her feel slightly less safe wandering around on her own, but she figured if almost everyone aside from her was armed, she was still probably reasonably safe. With a frown, she asked. “Wait, that means I’m probably going to have to hunt them, aren’t I?” She wasn’t sure she liked that. When she had pictured her new, normal life, she hadn’t included killing things on her list of things she’d do. Was accepting violence a part of the price she had to pay for being here?
Lucas had a thoughtful look on his face as he speculated, “As a healer, you probably won’t be put on the front lines. You’d be fairly protected on any raids you went on, simply because healers are so rare, but in such high demand. But yes, you’ll probably be asked to go. It’s part of the training of Dracona.”
She sighed, staring at the pile of books in front of her. Suddenly, this seemed a bit less fun. However… She was determined to succeed in this world. She’d just be so strong that nothing could hurt her. Steeling her resolution, she nodded to herself and regarded Lucas. “Do you have something like a monster book of monsters?” If Harry could deal with monsters, so could she!
“You mean the Monster Compendium?” He asked quizzically.
“Yeah, that.” Sigh. No Potter references would ever make sense to these people. Such a sad thing. You were practically shunned in her old world if you didn’t know your Potter trivia. Unless you were one of those people who thought it was of the devil, of course.
He nodded. “I’ll add it to the list of books to bring.” He glanced at the large pile of books on the table. “You said you wanted to go eat?” She nodded a little sullenly, still a bit put out by the prospect of monsters attacking her randomly or her having to attack them in their homes. “Then might I suggest you try Evergreen? It’s just down the street, and they’ve got the best steak around.”
At the mention of steak, her stomach grumbled, and she smiled despite herself, aware that he was trying to distract her from darker thoughts. “I’d like that. Where do I go?” He gave her directions and then excused himself to go find books and tend the front desk. She glanced at the books on the table, running her hands across the letters. First thing I’m going to do when I create the printing press is get rid of cursive. I can’t believe I miss Times New Roman, Calibri, and Arial. Sometimes, boring is better. Shaking her head, she left the room, closing the door behind her and making her way quietly out of the library.
Stepping into the sunshine, she found herself relaxing. Somehow, thinking about monsters in the darkened library made it seem so much scarier. She knew Eric meant well by giving her that room, but she really needed to see if there was somewhere with a window that she could read. Trapping herself alone in the dark to read was bound to make her paranoid.
She wandered down the street in the direction Lucas had told her, doing her best to brush up gently against people, her fingers feather light as she grazed their arms. Whenever someone regarded her strangely, she gave her best innocent smile and said sorry quietly. She was nearly there when she stopped in her tracks, staring into a window.
The most fantastical little glass creatures were suspended in the air, much like Christmas ornament stores in the movies would do. They were so colorful, lifelike, and beautiful in their design. It was almost as if they were in motion. Entranced, she found herself entering the store. Inside was a little stuffy, as heat was escaping from what she guessed was a workshop in the back room. She couldn’t quite place the smells, though heated leather was a part of it. The little bell above the door tinkled, announcing her entry.
She drifted, mesmerized, to the display of fantastical animals. Whoever had made them was a master. A dazzling phoenix in flight caught her attention. It almost seemed alive, and the only thing that would make it better was if it glowed from within. She glanced around, but seeing that no one had come to greet her yet, she reached out a finger, delicately touching the cool glass.
Glow for me. She imagined a faint burning glow of light coming from within the phoenix, and was delighted when the warmth in her fingers moved into the glass. The light played with the glass, and it genuinely seemed as if the phoenix was now on fire. She sighed in satisfaction, drawing her hand away. Only, the glow didn’t disappear when her hand left it. She stared, mystified, realizing she had just magicked someone else’s wares without their permission.
“Hello there. Can I help you?” The gentleman’s gruff voice made her straighten and turn, blocking the phoenix from his view guiltily. He seemed to notice her action and sighed, asking quietly, “You didn’t break anything, did you?”