[The Sunken Conundrum] Books and Water (Dra-Vyra)

[Dra-Vyra]

Day 77 of Summer, Year 512 AV Once she left The Stallion's Rear, it took her about forty five minutes to find the library, and even that she achieved with pure luck. The streets themselves seemed intent on deceiving her senses. She was certain that the street outside the inn when she left wasn't the same one it was when she arrived. She tried to follow a sign, but instead of leading her to the library it led her to a dead end, a street that was somehow paved with strange wet fur that seemed to tremble under her feet. When she heard the ground growling, she turned and ran, terrified. Thankfully, the owner of the inn she'd been staying in for two days was an unexpectedly helpful man. He warned her that Alvadas was called the City of Illusions for a reason. He didn't try to give her any directions, instead told her to watch her step everywhere she'd go, and that advise at least proved to be valuable. She had almost given up when, unexpectedly, she found it after just turning round a corner. It was a simple building, unassuming. Above the door, the sign read "The Sunken Conundrum". Allegedly, it had earned this name because the place was filled with water, like it would be if it was under the sea. Dra-Vyra found this hard to believe. How would the people visiting breath underwater? How would the books not get damaged by the water? Even for a city as strange as Alvadas, that was a far-fetched rumor. She walked up to the door and opened it. At the sight, she recoiled immediately, expecting gallons of water to crash into her. But nothing happened, and Dra-Vyra understood with astonishment that the rumor of the water-filled library was true. The water sat calm, a few inches from her face, as if there was an invisible barrier that prevented even a drop from spilling outside the library. How would she breathe there? Perhaps it's not filled up to the roof, so people can take a breath and swim underwater again, she thought. She took a deep breath and pushed her head into the water, trying to peer inside. For a moment she felt her lungs burning from the lack of air but then, to her astonishment, she felt a strange sensation on both sides of her throat, as if her skin was opening up painlessly. She touched the spots gingerly. Gills! So the water itself must have magical properties here. That made her somewhat uneasy, but she had come for an important purpose. She stepped inside the library very slowly, feeling her clothes becoming wet, her body becoming lighter.