There was another scuffle, and with it came the faintest scent of old moss and earthy soil. Those were not library scents, but rather a living entity. “There’s someone under there,” I said with urgency, and Sam and I worked frantically to move the items off the pile.

It took us a few minutes to lessen the heaviest part, and by this time, the scuffling was louder. “I really hope it’s not a giant rat,” Sam said, staring down with a look of unease. “I have my doubts anything else could survive under that much weight. Unless it was small enough to move between the pieces.”

If it was a larger being, they would have to be exceptionally strong to survive. Strong and possibly dangerous. Still, I couldn’t leave anyone trapped and hurt when I could help; it wasn’t in my nature.

With that in mind, Sam and I scrambled to get the final layers of debris off, and much to our surprise, the cloud helped as well, zipping down to scoop up the heaviest objects, its misty substance apparently able to solidify and wrap around shelving, to drag it from the pile.

The physical work helped to keep my mind from wandering into panic territory, though I did find a second to hope that this was a new clue to uncover.

I’d come looking for answers, and at this point, I only had more questions, but as long as we were moving in the right direction, I would keep on pushing.

I had no other choice.

16

It took us another ten minutes at least to get the being free. It was not a rat, or a cockroach, or any other critter, but it also wasn’t a human or shifter, that much we knew for sure.

Despite her previous fear of what we might uncover, Sam was the first to dive down and help them up. I was slower because I couldn’t stop staring at the hairless, three-foot-tall… little dude?

Roughly humanoid, it had gnarled and toughened skin. Despite its small stature, it had to be very strong because there were no visible injuries from being buried under a very large and heavy pile of books and shelving.

When the creature was in a sitting position, it wiped the last of the dust from its face, smiling at Sam before it turned to me. When its huge eyes locked on mine, the dark, unblinking orbs sent trills of unease through me.

Just when I was about to step away, it said, “Mera?”

For a beat, I freaked out before remembering this was exactly what I’d been waiting for. Evidence that I’d been here before. Dropping to my knees, I reached out and grabbed on to its hands, and the firm grip that almost crushed my fingers confirmed how strong the creature was.

“You know me?” I choked out. “You’ve met me before?”