"Me." Severin’s voice answered gently, and then he pressed the mask more firmly on his face. The mask squirmed as if it had a life of its own, and then it seemed to fuse into his face.
It was a raven mask, and Severin’s face turned into a raven’s head. A cloak appeared around him, covered with raven’s feathers.
He took a step forward and the assistant hurried back. "No, wait, it was a mistake! I don’t know anything! Please!"
Severin paused. "I didn’t say you knew anything."
His voice came out warped and strange, like a hiss and a growl mixed together.
Severin shook his head. "But it seems you know something."
The assistant realized what he had said and turned to run. Severin drew a sword from the tattoo still on his right hand, and with a leap he caught up with the man.
He slammed into his back, leg first, and sent the man sprawling. His head cracked on the ground painfully, and he screamed out, but Severin was faster.
His sword shot forward and pierced him right at the back of the neck and straight through his skull, cutting the sound he was making off.
Severin stared at the blood pooling beneath him. The dark beady eyes of the raven were cold.
He stood up. "Maybe you shouldn’t have shouted. You would have lived for a few minutes left at least."
He had no intention of letting him live when he could just turn around and shout out or report to the nearest person.
He turned to the door again, the sword still in his hand, and then he pushed it open.
It opened without sound and he stepped into the room.
The office of the Head Librarian was just as before, the only difference was that it was darker, and the light from the crystal in the roof spilled gently downward.
Even Head Librarian Teresa was sitting where she was, on a rocking chair with a book in her hand. She looked up and smiled warmly. "Who is this unexpected guest?"
The door closed gently behind him as he stepped forward. He flicked his sword, the still-warm blood of her assistant splattering the ground. "I killed your assistant."
She smiled. "Oh... I know. I always told him he would die from curiosity, and he always laughed and said he’s not a cat. Seems a cat after all, one with no nine lives."
Severin paused and then he sat opposite her, just where he sat before. "You don’t care about him?"
"Oh, I do. He’s one of my best assistants and he worked diligently for me. He’s actually on his way to being a good Librarian. Such a pity."
Severin looked at her through his mask. "On his way to being a good Librarian. So there are good Librarians. Are you one, Head Librarian Teresa?"
She snorted softly. "I am considered one of the best, and that’s why I am here in the first place. One of the three Head Librarians."
Severin looked at her. "At first? Do you mean your purpose has changed?"
She froze and then she relaxed. "You sly bastard. So what are you here for? To kill me? I can smell it on you. That smell of damp and lonely place. Of isolation and darkness. Of pain. So I ask again, what are you here to do?"
Severin looked at her. His voice was strangely calm. "You jeopardize my safety and my survival by a thin thread. Yes, I am here to kill you."
Teresa was shocked. The wrinkles on her face moved a bit before she opened her mouth. "Boy, what made you think you are strong enough to bite more than you can chew?"
Her voice was lined with anger.
Severin’s was calm. "What stage of advancement are you? You said the system stopped for you when you came back from the Sector Delta. You only use your Stigma. Tell me, what made you think I don’t have a mouth big enough to eat what I want?"
Silence settled between them.
They stared at each other. She was the first to break. Her face twitched and the warm smile she wore turned cold. "You bastard. What did you do? I can smell the Shadow Lord on you! What did you do!"
The room darkened. The light fluttered as if in response to her anger. Severin suddenly saw that he couldn’t see past her. Everything behind her was covered in a thick layer of overlapping darkness as if he was staring at cobwebs of darkness.
"Shadow Lord? Ah! I remember him. He begged me for his life, and he paid the price so he could continue to exist. I took his shadow from him."
Different emotions exploded on her face. Fear, shock, disbelief, and anger.
Severin continued casually. "I wonder if it’s also the same for him, the thing he told me about one’s shadow. That those without shadows are not long for the world. What do you think?"
His question hung in the air and settled like a bad stone at the bottom of a lake. It hung there like the calm before the storm.
They stared at each other. One was smiling casually while the other watched with disbelieving anger.
She struggled to speak and eventually, she spat out some words. "I will get it all out of you, Reignhart!"
The space between them exploded.
The small table broke with a loud crunch that sent splinters flying as something slammed into it.
Severin had already taken several steps back, and he stared at what stood in front of him with mild curiosity.
It was Head Librarian Teresa and yet not.
Her skin had turned grey, her head enlarged, and her body disfigured. Her spine bent and twisted into a hunch, and she had to crawl on the ground.
With nimble limbs, she jumped into the webs of darkness and stared at him. She hissed and her mouth dripped with green poison that scorched the ground.
He raised his sword. "I’m really not a fan of spiders."