Library Mice – Grab the Book before the Hydra

Welcome back for the last post in the Library Mice adventure!

If you missed part one or two or three, you can read them by clicking the links, or here’s a quick recap:

You’re a mouse who maintains the Master’s library. He’s sent a man to you who’s researching large snakes but in five days, you haven’t found a book containing the snake he’s searching for. You get the feeling the man’s situation is rather dire. So, you and your companions, Vincent and Amalia, decided to search the Library’s monster room to see if there are any books about monster snakes.

You didn’t make it very far into the monster room, however, before a hydra book grabbed Amalia and offered to help you search if you will bring it books on rodents.

You and Vincent agreed and brought a stack of rodent books only to have the hydra eat them. While you’re arguing with it, you noticed a book on snakes in a pile to the side. The hydra saw your focus and darted for the book, probably to eat it. Readers voted to snatch the book before the hydra does.

Now to see if you’re faster than the hydra!

Library Mice – Grab the Book before the Hydra

Your legs are moving before you think about the danger. Dust puffs into the air as you barrel into the stack of books and grasp the snake cover in your paws.

A hydra head catches your tail, pulling you off the stack, but you grip the book tight and take it with you, hearing it hiss at the sudden movement.

As you fall, you catch a glimpse of Vincent and Amalia charging the hydra’s back with raised swords.

“Amalia!” you call and, as soon as you hit the floor, you shove the snake book her way.

She pivots mid-stride to catch it. A forked book-mark tongue hisses from the spine but Amalia stabs it and it recedes back into the book.

The hydra changes course. It lets go of your tail just as Vincent drives his sword into the thick cover of its body.

It jerks violently and all three heads dart for him but you grab one of the heads in a paw and pull.

“RUN!” you shout.

They do, Vincent helping Amalia with the snake book while you haul on the hydra head to keep it occupied.

As soon as you see they’re out the door, you bolt for it.

The hydra expects you to rush through and so heads for the opening. You feint like you’re escaping and at the last second, turn to shove the door closed, directly on one of the hydra’s heads.

The room descends into darkness and all you hear is the raged whimpering of the hydra.

You know it’ll be coming after you soon, so you retreat to a stack of books in the dark to make your stand.

***

Amalia sits on the desk the next morning when Mr. Mason arrives. He frowns at seeing an unfamiliar mouse but reaches for the book she presents. Before he can pick it up, however, she grasps the forked book mark and pulls. The book hisses, and then goes still.

“Ah,” Mr. Mason says. “Warning taken.”

Amalia nods and scampers off the desk to join Vincent.

“Time to go looking?” Vincent asks her.

“We look until we know one way or the other,” she agrees, and they turn toward the monster room, armed with their swords and a couple candles. When the door creaks open, the library’s light spills into the monster room, touching dusty books and the torn remains of a thick tome about hydras.

“That’s promising,” Amalia whispers. A moment later, they see a small paw waving at them from behind a tumbled over stack of books.

The End

Yay, you survived! That was a close one. Thanks for joining the Library Mice adventure. We’ll return next week to start a whole new story =)

Blessings,

Jennifer

(Pre-orders opened this week for my newest adventure book, Discarded Dragons! If you enjoy multi-ending adventure stories, check it out =)