Zahir knocked before opening the massive wooden door to the Red Dome. He slipped in, letting the door close behind him.
He was met with a sprawling hall of books, stretching halfway to the curved ceiling. A small table stood to his right, holding a convoluted looking telescope. Crucius popped out at Zahir's side.
"I know, wow." Zahir marveled, looking around the hallway with Crucius.
Their gazes fell upon a warlock in the distance, hunched over a pile of books laying on the red carpeted floor.
"Damn it, I told those two to put their books back where they came from." The warlock muttered, putting another book back in its place.
Zahir walked over. "Uh, excuse me," Zahir looked down at a notecard in his palm, "Merlin-2?"
The warlock jumped, looking over at the duo. "Ah, I wasn't expecting any visitors today." He said, turning around as he stood up, his robes unfurling against the ground.
"Ah, yeah, sorry. It was kinda sudden. I know you've got a large collection of literature, and I have an urgent request for some books."
"What a courteous titan. Alright, what do you need?"
"I was wondering if you had any books on our enemies, for rookies."
"Got an apprentice, do we?" Merlin asked, chuckling.
"Haha, yeah, you're spot on." Zahir replied, "she's a warlock named Eltanin, rezzed last month."
"Your student's a warlock, eh? We have a lot in common. Anyway, you're in luck. My students just got through with their studies on that subject. Follow me, we're going to the sorting pile." Merlin said, beckoning to the middle of the dome.
Zahir was led through a series of corridors, learning that Merlin's Red Dome was not just a library. Some corridors were bare, some littered with books or trinkets or both. Finally, they reached a door labelled "Books to sort". Merlin unhooked a massive set of keys from within his robe, flipping them one by one.
The two entered the dark room, which was quickly illuminated by a switch Merlin pulled. The room was fairly small, and a pair of carts with several books stacked on them sat in the corner. Merlin walked over to the rightmost cart, pulling several thick blue books off of it.
"Get ready, titan!" Merlin huffed, as Zahir held out his arms. The books piled onto Zahir, weighing his arms down. The book on top read "the Enemies of Humanity: a Guardian's Guide. By Merlin-2."
"Whew, that's a lot of books." Zahir grunted, hauling himself up to standing height.
"It never hurts to be prepared. Our enemies are dangerous."
"True that."
The two made it back to the entrance of the Red Dome. As Zahir approached the door, his arms met a table, knocking the convoluted looking telescope he had seen earlier off of its stand.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Merlin exclaimed, running toward Zahir.
Merlin dove next to Zahir, thrusting his palm above his head. The telescope rocketed upward and into the air. Merlin held out his hands, letting the telescope fall into his grasp.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't really able to see." Zahir apologized.
"No no, it's alright, my students have done the same thing thrice now, I should really move this thing. It's quite expensive." Merlin said, studying the telescope before putting it back on its table. "Anyway, good luck with your student, you can keep those, I've ordered more copies. Have a nice day!" Merlin finished hastily, ushering Zahir out of the door.
Zahir set the books down as Crucius transmatted them, seeing as it was safe to transmat now.
"Did you notice that he seemed really pushy?" Zahir asked Crucius, who was finishing the transmat.
"Yeah, but you have to remember, Merlin's a scholar and a teacher, so he's probably really busy." Crucius answered, disappearing from view. "Let's get these books to Eltanin, I bet she'll be really happy with her rez day present. "
"Yeah, I bet she will." Zahir walked down the city street. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow against him.
(Merlin-2 comes from someone on Discord, and he suggested I write about his guardian with mine)
