While she’d encountered any number of beasts and monsters in her travels through the library and its books, Alice hadn’t met many intelligent magical creatures, and hadn’t had much opportunity to see the way they lived. There had been the needle-elves who’d nearly devoured her and Isaac, but she’d been too focused on getting herself out alive to really pay much attention.

Here, she felt like a tourist, wandering through a strange country and gawking at the native customs. The arched doorways here were covered by cloth or beaded curtains, and stone and glass tools were stacked neatly in corners. Confections of black glass hung from the walls, teased out into thin strings and elaborately interwoven and braided. They were beautiful, especially in the shifting light from Flicker’s hair. Alice wasn’t sure if they were decorative or had some more practical function.

Fire-sprites were everywhere, in the corridor or visible through doorways. Most were larger than Flicker, the size of human adults, and though they all had the same long, liquid-fire hair, Alice did not see any women among them. I wonder if they live separately. She’d heard of places on Earth where things were done that way.

There were children too, running and playing in a way that was not too dissimilar from human children, although once or twice Alice saw them kicking around tiny balls of fire as humans might toss a beanbag. They stopped their games as soon as they saw Alice and stared in wonder. The adults watched her too, but there was less awe and more anger in their glowing eyes. She could understand the curiosity—after all, with her leather coat and her dull, flame-less hair, she was probably just as odd to them as they were to her—but she wondered about the rage. She thought about asking Flicker, but before she got the chance, a little fire-sprite emerged from a doorway and wrapped him in a hug.

“Flicker! Are you okay?”

Flicker hugged the newcomer back and ran a hand through his hair affectionately. “I’m all right.”

“I was so worried.” The other fire-sprite pulled away slightly. He was shorter and thinner than Flicker, with a blue tint to his hair at the edges. “Pyros was very angry with you.”

“I’ll handle Pyros.”

“Did you find the bluechill?” the smaller sprite said excitedly. “Did you kill it?”

Flicker shook his head. “I ran into this instead.” He hooked a thumb at Alice. “I need to take her to Pyros.”

The fire-sprite looked at Alice and blinked in confusion. “The Reader?”

“It’s not the same one,” Flicker said. “The old one was taller, and had hair on his face, remember?”

“This one must be a runt, then.” The smaller sprite came up close, goggle-eyed, like someone peering into an aquarium.

“Actinia!” Flicker barked. “Stay out of her way.”