Dillyweed | Söl / Rial

The battle had not been full of damage. Mostly the books shrieked and screamed in language older than all four of them combined. Languages either of them doubted that anyone still spoke. Still the books would have been rare and worth a lot. 

Söl had tried to get some of the books bound. He managed a few but overall the books were either destroyed by the four of them or flapped themselves until all their pages disappeared and they flopped onto the ground with a sad thud. In the end the four Coursers had to think of their own safety before the books.

Rial was fighting at one end of the room. The books were screaming words he didn't understand at him but one book had flapped its way in front of him and it spoke, on repeat, three words. Ignartii dux nor. It repeated the words to him. And understood the words. He learned them. But he didn't know what they meant. He stabbed the book despite its weird behavior and it flopped onto the ground revealing fading ink that turned white.

Eventually there were no books left.

Söl had managed to save one book and it angrily flapped on him until he tied it down. It tried to shriek but it sounded more like whining at this point.

They decided that it was not quite worth staying and began leaving quickly out of the door. It led into a corridor. The corridor didn't look special other than it almost seemed like the cracks in the floor between the rocks had holes in them. At the same time it could be natural corrosion. 

It took them a bit before they realized that the air became hard to breathe. It was slowly becoming heavy and it almost seemed like there was fog in the room, barely visibly. Just enough so you'd suspect it. Söl pointed out a hissing sound from one of the cracks. It was clear that something was pumping into the corridor.

“Get the pets up high.” Rial said as he threw Goosebert up on his back. “It's probably thickest on the floor.”

355 words 

AberrantKapro | Strohmeier / Senbonzakura

Eventually, they came out victorious over the books. It seemed they had either given up or that whatever triggered them had lost its influence. Either way, Senbonzakura was satisfied with the outcome. Just like Söl, he had managed to get a hold of a valuable looking book. The title read “Hur man framkallar Dödskallen”*, he had no idea what it meant, but the cover looked fancy and had a cool yet menacing skull on it. He was enthralled by its cover, so even if it didn't sell he could put it on display back at home. 

The group had left not long after the two got their books contained, and were once again on the move. Strohmeier hoped that they would soon have an opportunity to rest, he wanted to make sure that their pets as well as themselves were all in good shape. 

He looked down and Micke met his eyes, happily chirping and making other weird fox noises. Strohmeier smiled, but he suddenly came to a halt as he heard an all too familiar sound. The sound of that horrifying gas that knocked him, Tor and Sprakfåle out a while ago. Before he had the chance to, Rial suggested that they get the pets up from the floor. 

“You're right, Kinka, Micke, get up on Senbonzakura.” Strohmeier said in agreement to Rial’s statement. “We should get out as fast as possible, this if it's the same gas I've stumbled upon all it'll do is knock us out, but we can't be certain it's the same type. Let's get a move on.” he added and they hurried towards the exit as best as they could. The way back had been blocked, just like last time, which wasn't surprising to him. 

Senbonzakura was starting to feel dizzy and weak, and so did Strohmeier. The madder champagne fought the dizziness as best as he could. He couldn't fall, not now. Micke and Kinka’s well-being depended on his ability to stay strong and get out. His lungs felt tight and heavy, every breath was a burden. He started to black out. Damn it.. 

*”How to summon The Skull” in Swedish

351 words (excluding translation!)