At this point, it felt like getting surprised was just a testament to my own na?veté.

  I stared wide-eyed, my brows nearing my hairline. If I still wondered how an eight-foot portal of eldritch horror stayed hidden — I wondered no longer.

  We were…

  Inconsequential.

  Like the rats that scurried through the non-human quarter, ignored until they made themselves a nuisance.

  They weren’t removed because they mattered.

  They were removed just because they got in the way.

  So, too, were we.

  I gaped at the vastness around me. The only sources of light the small, glowing orbs hovering every thirty feet — scattered like stars in the void, illuminating just enough to hide what truly lay beyond.

  The bookshelf stretched into the void — upward and onward — lit only by orbs scattered like stars, each floating gently until swallowed by distance.

  And above?

  There were twelve orbs.

  Before they stopped, whether because the top of the bookshelf was almost four-hundred feet into the air, or because whomever made the orbs figured no one would be getting any higher — I have no idea.

  I paused, feeling frustratingly small.

  Someone built this.

  I wanted to be the someone to create such things.

  To bend the world to my whims.

  And then the smell washed through me.

  It smelled… like knowledge.

  There, dwarfed by the shadow-drenched columns and shelves, for what felt like the first time… I finally inhaled.

  ____

  “How… where do we even start?” I croaked, glancing at my companions.

  “Stupid starts here, because it eez closest!” Stupid shrieked, sprinting to the nearest book.

  I grunted in surprise, then paused.

  I had expected her voice to echo, but the books swallowed the sound almost instantly.

  That’s not… ominous.

  I gulped, then looked at It. Who was looking at me like Stupid’s answer was the most obvious thing in the world. He scoffed and turned to follow her.

  I, however, was of the opinion it made no logical sense whatsoever.

  “What if someone finds us?” I hissed, hurrying to keep up as Stupid air-planed to the bookshelf and started tugging on a book wider than she was tall and just as high.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Oh! They wont’s, Beeg,” Stupid gasped, feet planted on the book beside her as she tugged. It sighed and shambled forward, grabbing the other side. Together, the two finally started making headway.

  “Library eez much bigger! This just Forbidden Section, so is super small!” She tumbled head over heels as the book slid free and crashed to the ground. I couldn’t help the bemused smirk as I watched her grab her ears, jumping up and down in excitement.

  Super small, I sighed, looking around me.

  Right.

  “Aaaaand, you has to be super special to come here, or the Library will eats you! — just like Old Man Mageek Store!” She babbled on, pushing the front cover open with her entire body.

  The cover fell open with a puff of dust, and Stupid sneezed hard enough to rattle the shelves.

  It and I both flinched.

  Thankfully it wasn’t one of her reality-warping sneezes.

  “So… why isn’t it eating us?” I prompted.

  “Because Stupid wanted in and sneezed a portal,” She chirped, puffing her chest out proudly.

  “Oh! And Old Man Store is Little Library’s big brother,” She paused to look up at me.

  “Just like you are my Beeg Brother, Beeg!” She giggled, turning back to her book to happily trace the letters on the open page.

  I froze, the warmth in my gut and the tears threatening my eyes giving me pause.

  “Oh,” I managed to mumble, clearing my throat. I side-glared It as he smiled knowingly, but he just continued to smile and search for his own book.

  I wandered away, wondering how big this place was if the Forbidden Section was just a small part of the “Little Library”. As I left the shelves and entered the Forbidden Section proper, I stared in awe at the darkness, broken only by the orbs drifting within; the bottom-most orbs illuminating the ancient tables stretching further than I could see.

  Maybe it was deliberate? I wondered. A way to make visitors think of the stars, and the knowledge hidden among them?

  Slowly trailing my finger along a banister, I descended a level — the slight layer of dust making the surface slick.

  “Where would I learn about Runes… and more importantly, Sigils?” I mumbled to myself.

  As if on cue, the stairs before me gently creaked as the banister twisted — the entire stairway slowly winding itself in a different direction.

  A direction that threaded up. Up to where the stars stopped hundreds of feet in the air — and then beyond.

  I smiled.

  Just like his Big Brother.

  “Thanks,” I whispered, taking my trusty dust rag from its holster. I trailed it along the banister.

  And I climbed — hundreds of feet into the air.

  After all, I mused, The Store’s Little Brother probably wants to be dusted, too.

  ____

  When I reached the end of the lights, the final orb pulsed red and detached itself from whatever invisible hand previously held it.

  The orb bathed me in light, before pausing on my name-tag. I waited silently, proud to wear the badge.

  My doorway to worlds.

  I waited, regarding the light as it regarded me. Flickering back to its soft gold, it floated up the stairs, waiting for me to follow. I straightened slightly, proud to know I belonged.

  Onward I climbed, further and further into the void.

  Now, it was just me, the darkness, and the few stairs the light illuminated before me; the lights below nothing but distant stars.

  Time faded to memory. Each time I felt I would collapse, my unlikely guide would softly pulse, and I would find the strength to continue.

  I wanted this so badly, to be part of this world so vast I couldn’t yet comprehend it.

  To be the cause of the awe I now witnessed.

  And Sigils were to be my path, and I wanted them fiercely.

  Anticipation hammered in my chest.

  Yet I walked slowly. Methodically.

  I walked to honor the moment.

  The orb pulsed brightly and floated ahead, revealing the end of the stair.

  Before me lay a platform and a bookshelf, hovering in the darkness.

  And so I followed that light, my feet keeping pace with the pounding of my heart.