As it turned out, the little sack could store an enormous amount of things. Despite putting most of the library and its furniture into the sack, it still looked like a cute little round sack. The only difference was a discreet little marker on the side that denoted it being half-full.
"Isn't it an interesting trinket?" Dahlia Crocus asked, wiping off a bit of sweat from her brow. She glanced around the denuded library with satisfaction. "All that's left is the popular part, and that'll be it!"
Lorenz tried to hide the doubtful look on his face. Cora and Heidi were forever saying that all his feelings were written all over his face.
"Are you sure that this is okay? Won't Queen Lydia have something to say about all this?" Lorenz finally asked.
"It's fine, fine," Dahlia Crocus replied with a careless wave of her hand. "I'm the librarian, after all."
Lorenz nodded to show he understood, but really, he didn't. What did being the librarian have to do with her giving away all the books?
"Shouldn't we be worried about the battle?" Lorenz asked as the walls shook, dislodging a remarkably small amount of dust.
Upon thinking about it, it made sense that the library would be sparkling clean, and the dust sent to the compost heaps the flowerlings managed.
Dahlia Crocus looked upwards, her expression turning serious. Then she latched on Lorenz's arm and tugged him to the farthest corner of the library. The books here, while carefully maintained, showed signs of wear.
"Store these first," Dahlia Crocus instructed, glancing worriedly towards the entrance to the library.
When they'd entered, Dahlia Crocus and Lorenz had dragged a few of the tables over and wedged them under the door handles. Lorenz hadn't thought it'd be needed but wanted to give her some peace of mind. The tables had been surprisingly heavy before Dahlia Crocus had slapped some sort of note paper onto the bottom of them.
Once they'd moved the tables, Dahlia had peeled the notes off and tucked them back into a little pouch hanging off her belt. Lorenz hadn't been bold enough to ask to keep one. He was burning with curiosity about it.
Lorenz looked at the tables which were shuddering in time with the heavy thumps against the door. He gritted his teeth and stored the books that Dahlia Crocus indicated.
"These are the books that were very popular during the heyday of the castle," Dahlia Crocus told him with a proud look.
"Is that door the only way out?" Lorenz asked, wincing as one of the tables scraped just a little against the floor, signaling that the table had shifted just a little. "Are we trapped here?"
"There is," Dahlia Crocus said. She ran a tiny hand across the now empty shelves and pressed down in a corner. "Here."
With a grinding shiver, the bookcase slowly swung open on rusty hinges. Dahlia Crocus smiled at him.
"Off you go," she said cheerfully.
"What?" Lorenz glanced from her to the library door.
"A librarian defends her turf, even if there's nothing here anymore," Dahlia Crocus said. The smile on her face faded as she turned towards the shivering door.
Chunks of wood were starting to rain from the door as axes were used on it.
"Do you know? There's a market for old magic libraries," Dahlia Crocus said conversationally as she moved back away from the bookshelf. "It's because the old books are limned in metal, don't you know?"
"Dahlia Crocus!" Lorenz said, taking a step after her only to come up short against some sort of invisible barrier.
"You should read more, Lorenz," Dahlia Crocus said, turning back to him. She made a short gesture.
Lorenz was thrust into the tunnel that had been hidden by the bookcase. He stumbled and fell back against a dirty, brick lined wall. Lorenz shoved himself back upright only to see the little flowerling make a gesture, causing the bookcase to swing back into place.
Lorenz stared wildly at the brick lined wall in front of him. If he hadn't just came through it, he wouldn't have thought that there was a secret passage there. He cautiously touched it, his hands moving faster and faster as he heard harrowing sounds from the other side.
Finally, he took a step back and tried ramming it, only to wind up with a hurt shoulder. Lorenz looked down the hallway. It was barely lit with luminescent moss.
He thought of the flowerlings fighting in the bailey. Perhaps the hallway led somewhere outside.
Lorenz started running.
*****
The hallway led to a cavern that exited half a mile from the castle. Lorenz stopped, panting, at the entrance. He propped himself up with one hand, the other on the stitch in his side. A quick glance to the side showed that his stamina bar was empty.
"I solemnly promise to read that stupid guide front to back tonight," Lorenz growled as he straightened up.
He'd been hampered by that glowing little bar. While it glowed to him, it didn't provide any illumination to his surroundings. It also affected his night vision, screwing up the level of comfort his eyes developed during the first part of his trip. The glowing blue bar started acting up first when his stamina hit halfway, then quarter and then turned into a steady pulse afterwards.
Right now, it was a dangerous red. The red had clashed rather horribly with the faint bluish green light the moss gave off. Just the memory made his stomach churn and breakfast threaten to erupt. He'd never been good with clashing colors.
"I have to get back," he muttered, leaving the cave.
He hadn't taken more than a few steps when goblins surrounded him. Lorenz felt his heart jump into his throat. He didn't really have any weapons other than the beginner dagger he'd gotten for some quest, and his clothes were still beginner's wear.
"No, no, he's with me!" June said, jumping out from the forest. She stared at Lorenz, wide eyed. "Why are you here?"
"The castle was attacked. They shoved me in a tunnel and locked me in there. It came out here," Lorenz explained, warily eyeing the goblins.
He wasn't worried about the tunnel. It was seemingly one-way only. When he'd turned back halfway, he'd discovered a wall of bricks behind him. When Lorenz had entered the cavern, the entrance to the tunnel had vanished as well. There wasn't any hint that it had ever existed.
"The castle is under attack?" A burly hobgoblin strode forward, frowning ferociously.
He was clad in silvery armor with a blue sigil in the shape of a spray of berries over his heart. The helmet being held under his arm had braided blue and silver flashing on its crest.
"Vauchon?" Lorenz summoned up the name from the depths of his memory.
"That is me," the hobgoblin said with a pleased smile that quickly vanished. "Now tell me: is it true that the castle is under attack by Skarane's forces?"
"If he likes brown and yellow, then yes," Lorenz replied with a nod.
"That upstart!" Vauchon slapped his helmet on his head and turned to the goblins behind him. "Get in line, you mangy rats! We've got bees to stomp!"
The goblins cheered. Vauchon quickly led them away. From the muffled sounds in the distance, these few weren't the only ones he'd brought.
"Are the flower people okay?" June asked, catching Lorenz's arm.
"I don't know. I was in the library and then the tunnel," Lorenz replied. He ruffled his hair. "I need to go back."
"Then we'll go back," June said with a shrug. She smiled at him. "Vauchon had some stone flowers that he gave me. They're so strange looking!" She pulled out a blue flower that looked as if it'd been carved from several little pieces of stone. "I got a few seeds as well. I'm going to see if I can plant them somewhere."
"That sounds interesting," Lorenz said with a nod. He felt that he shouldn't mention his stash of seeds to anyone except perhaps Cora and Heidi. "We should hurry. Those goblins travel really fast. I can't even hear them anymore."
June frowned. She looked in the direction that the goblins had gone.
"Now that you mention it, I can't hear them at all, either." June stashed the flower back into her inventory. "This is starting to feel really weird."
"Starting to?" Lorenz shook his head as he finally caught his breath. "This has felt weird for a while now. I just wish I could have finished breakfast."
"You had breakfast?" June threw up her hands and stalked around in a little circle. "I haven't had a chance to eat anything in this game. Was it good? I bet it was good. Wait, have they even instituted the five senses update yet?"
"I don't know about the update, but what I got to eat was delicious," Lorenz said with a heavy sigh.
"Seriously? Delish?" June groaned, slumping against a nearby tree. Then she straightened. "Let's go. This is just a depressing conversation."
Lorenz chuckled at her antics as they trailed in the goblin army's wake. The further they walked, the more their brows furrowed. The obvious signs of the goblins' passage decreased the further they walked.
Finally, they reached the clearing where the castle was first visible. They stopped, staring incredulously.