Today is the day that Rachel Griffin learns that she is destined to become the Librarian of All Worlds.
Her friends are experimenting in dreamland and, due to a problem in the waking world, forget to wake up Rachel, who is thus stuck in dreamland. Luckily, someone else comes to protect her:
“Be gone, sweet figment. Frighten not my little one,” said a familiar voice that rang like the sound of bells.
Rachel spun around. “Illondria!”
The elf-woman towered over Rachel. She stood seven feet tall, more glamorous and voluptuous than any mortal. Her skin had the luminous gray of beech bark. Her eyes, warm as polished wood, had starshine where mortals had pupils. Her features were upswept, high cheek bones, slanted eyes. Her brows and her long flowing hair were fern-green.
The Elf knelt down and opened her arms. Rachel ran forward and squeezed her tighty, resting her head on the tall elf woman’s motherly shoulder. The Elf hugged her in return.
The tall woman leaned back and touched Rachel’s head fondly, her fingers brushing over the spot where the Rune of Memory was hidden beneath Rachel’s hair.
“You have so much resting on your shoulders, little one. But fear not. I see wonderful things ahead for you.”
“What sort of things?” Rachel asked curiously.
The Elf stood and glanced around the dream facsimile of the school library. “I am not surprised to find you here. I see you, years from now, in a place of great knowledge. A library such as no other that has ever existed. And happy, with these things far behind you. Do not falter, I think your victory is assured. Though achieving it will be great work.”
“A library such as no other that has ever existed?” breathed Rachel.
The elf woman smiled down at her fondly. “The Library of All Worlds.”
Rachel repeated the name silently.
It was so wonderful that she almost feared to speak it aloud. Her imagination ignited with visions of faraway places and vast halls of learning.
“That’s what I want to do,” she vowed. “To create the Library of All Worlds!”
“If you wish to, you shall.”
Rachel was quiet for a bit, caught by the wonder of it. She and Illondria sat close together for a bit. Towering palaces grown from trees atop trees rose around them. Roses bloomed everywhere, their fragrance heady and sweet.
In the way of dreams, Rachel realized that much time had passed. She sighed audibly. “I think they forgot to wake me up.”