Quote:Paige visibly cringed as Gunoy ran up the shelves. She had no problem with the ladder in the past, but those shelves were likely as old as the castle! Teeth grinded against each other with every advance Gunoy made up the shelves. The librarian had her doubts as to whether they could hold up to the rambunctious acrobatics of her guest. Her job (as well as her comfortable lifestyle within the castle) hanged on their continued sturdiness. While the shelves held up to Gunoy, the stress of the situation had made her deaf to his reply. All she could think about was making sure her career didn’t physically collapse before her.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but could you please not climb on the shelves like that?” Paige urged Gunoy. “They’re not made to be ladders. Ours is perfectly capable; I use it every day.”

Her tone was stern and nervous, though not as much as it was when the librarian smelt the aroma of burning tobacco.

“Who could be smoking in here?” Paige said almost in a shout. She looked around: none of her guests were taking such liberties. In fact, the aroma grew much stronger as she approached the door to the basement.

“Someone else is here,” Paige remarked as she pulled the door open. She rushed down the darkened stairway, hoping to catch the culprit. Smoking and books did not mix, not in her domain. As she made her way to the bottom, the smell grew stronger. The librarian reached the bottom to find the dark basement not as dark as she remembered. The shelves of scrolls and old wooden desks were glowing amidst the blazing fire.

…Wait, fire?!

On one of the desks was an open flame. It was not big enough to endanger the castle: it was isolated to a small spot on the desk. Unfortunately, that spot happened to be occupied by a book.

“No!” Paige shouted, frantically searching for something to put out the flames.