“An interesting tale, it was.” El commented but withhold her opinion of the man over-glorifying himself.
Her body leaned forward with her tiny hands propping up her rosy cheeks on top of the table. She took in his words and emotions with grateful warmth and enjoyed it just as much as he did while talking about it.
“With that done, I suppose you came for something. I am feeling generous so feel free to ask away.” Her pupils looked up at him from her position waiting for his wishes so that she may hear the next part of the story as soon as possible.
“My wish has already been granted, I cannot ask for any more.”
“Cheeky. Some beg for me to talk to them yet you brush off my offer? My knowledge is more vast than you can imagine. This is the library of knowledge after all.”
The girl teased the man with strong words, if not for the slightly playful tone he would have felt threatened by her sentence.
“I wouldn’t dare to refute that. Merely, the only thing I want is something that I already know of an I already am set on the path I choose for myself.”
“Good for you.”
She stood up and turned her head away from his direction. The man followed behind her as they walked towards the counter.
“When will I hear the end of the story?”
“In the future.”
“Are you leaving already?”
“Yes.”
“Take care of yourself out there.”
“I will.”
They stopped before the counter, the girl still facing away from him. Giving a slight bow to the cat-eared woman, the man turned away and left. The library stood still with only her in it, looking at the vase of flowers with dark amusement in her eyes. The nervous quiet between the rows was the greatest feature for any place for reading much delight to the lonesome readers, writers and El herself. The girl’s weak left hand reached towards the vase and removed the withered roses from it one by one. Without thinking too much about them she disposed of the leftovers instantly. Her clean, petite hand poked the blue flower which remained alone, unchanged no matter how long she waited for it to perish.
“He does have a great sense for irony.”
For a change, she decided to keep this gift on her desk for visitors to admire. Walking behind the counter she took out the book she hid there before and pulled the front page open. The large leather cover only held a single page, yet it was written on at everywhere. She brushed the last part where a sentence was crossed out and could not be read with a finger before returning the book to one of the many shelves of the infinite rows of the tall library.
Behind her, the unexpected sound of cursing filled the air.
“To hell with this crazy place. Just where did that assassin go?”
“Calm down and help me find her!”
“But look around, there is nothing but books here. There are only books in every direction. I can't see the end of it!”
“Shut up already.”
El walked up to them.
“Welcome. Are you looking for me?”
The two rugged men with eyes blue from sleep-deprivation turned towards her sudden call with murderous looks. One of them raised a sword while the other a spear, both pointed in her direction. Both took stance wary of an ambush and glaring a hole in her body.
“Who are you and what is this place?”
The person who asked first was the spear-wielding man with brown hair and a beard. His clothes looked mostly clean and sturdy fabric.
“My name is El and this is my library. May I ask what is your purpose brandishing your weapon in another’s home?”
Looking confused at the lack of interest in their hostility, the second man with black hair and eyes signaled to his companion to lower their arms. He didn’t care if the impudent woman was acting crazy but they had no time to deal with another problem at the moment.
This time he had another chance to take a good look at her and saw her special features.
“It’s a god damn beast. What is it doing here?”
“What?” Apparently, his companion did not notice it either before. His reaction was different from the other one though. “A cat person, a rather cute one at that. I would like to stay and flirt but we are pursuing an assassin. Generic dark clothes, knives tipped in poison. Did you see him?”
El tilted her head a bit looking at them, thinking for a second before answering.
“I haven’t met yet the person you are looking for. What is the problem?”
At the innocent question, the swordsman sneered back in ridicule.
“Assassin. Knife. Poison. Stabby-stabby in the back person. What the hell do you think, you mindless beast?”
While the other man was annoyed by the remark, he chose to ignore it.
“Forget the idiot. We were lost here while following a murderer who more than likely already ran away by now. Can you show us the way out?”
Trying to act nice, he smiled at her while already on the move. The girl pointed behind them and when they turned in that direction they found a door just single step away from their faces. With an awkward laugh, the man wielding the spear thanked her and left in rush, chasing a person without any idea where they might be. Gritting his teeth in disgust the other man followed behind and left the library, ending their short and abrupt visit as fast as he could.
“Well, that was fun. Now, you should come out before I get angry.” Spoke El without looking anywhere in particular.
A shadow dropped from the bookshelves behind her and a person wearing black disguise fell on the floor onto their stomach without strength to move. The woman stepped up to them and pushed them over with her feet.
As the assassin turned to their back the cloak hiding their face folded away and revealed the assassin to be a woman with small devil-like horns. El crouched down and grabbed the horn, feeling it up with her skin. She enjoyed the touch of the smooth keratin surface for a second before letting go and talked.
“Still alive?” Her partner couldn’t answer, only groaned.
“Fine, fine. I’ll help you.”
The girl crouched down and a brush of cold air flew out from her hands towards the person on the ground. In the blink of an eye, the small pool of dark blackish puddle of blood disappeared from under the victim along with any previously visible wounds.
She crouched down next to her and watched as the other person was amazed by their own sudden miraculous recovery. The assassin examined her body and finding no problems she looked at her savior with gratitude and a hint of fear.
“Thank you.” She spoke genuinely.
“It’s fine.” The cat-eared girl brushed the gratitude off with a disinterested reply. “Since you have recovered, I will see you off.”
She urged the unwelcomed guest to leave without shame knowing how much trouble she might bring. The demoness felt despair thinking about the dangers that currently threaten her life. Throwing away her shame she crawled forward and hugged into the girl’s legs. Tears flowing silently she whimpered.
“Please don’t throw me out, they will kill me. I will do anything.”
El looked at her consider her offer.
“Anything?”
“Anything.” She could swear she saw a murderous yet almost innocent glint in her eyes.
“Fine. Talk about the outside world and yourself and you can stay.”
The assassin did not question her intention, merely nodded in agreement. To her, it didn’t matter if she leaked out secrets for free because she has always worked alone. Something like that was worth nothing compared to her own life.
Pushing off the pathetic woman from her leg, El walked towards the table to take a seat. Forgetting her previous actions instantly the woman followed her like an obedient cub and seated herself diligently next to her. When both of them felt comfortable the host poured her guest a cup of ginseng who was quite surprised at the gesture and thanked her profusely.
“Let’s start with introductions first.”
“Yes. My mother gave me the name Golde, but feel free to call me Goldy. A professional thief by trade. I will make sure to return the favor of saving my life so feel free to ask me anything.”
“That’s what I’m expecting. You already heard my name, but shall introduce myself properly. My name is Ele and this is my library of knowledge.” She waved her hand towards the bookshelves which shook in delight at the attention. “Now please, tell me something interesting.”
