The Gods realm was like looking at a better version of the human world. Everything seemed brighter and shiny. It was as if the light from the sun reflected off everything. The clearing where Fer lived looked like the slums compared to this place.

Just looking at everything was making my head spin. I closed my eyes willing the throbbing in my head to disappear. I felt something covering my eyes and opened them.

Fer’s hand was covering my eyes again. She removed her hand a second later saying, “I keep forgetting, the gods are like powerful crows. Always wanting to be surrounded by shiny things. The spell I placed on your eyes should allow you to look at everything without getting headaches.”

I looked down at the hand that had covered my eyes a few seconds ago. A bluish black swirl of magic had wrapped itself around Fer’s hand. It reminded me of the scars on her back. The colour was the same.

Seeing where I was looking, Fer shook her hand, the magic disappearing into the air. It seemed like she didn’t like people looking at her magic. Fer began walking westwards towards a palace-like building a distance away. It was a large white building with columns in the front and gold trimming around the whole building.

I suddenly understood what Fer meant by when she called the gods powerful crows. Nothing was saved from their love of shiny things. Not even the path I was standing on had been spared. It had small shiny stones embedded into it.

Running up to catch up, I asked, “Where are we going?”

“The Library of Omnia.”

I stopped in my tracks. The Library of Omnia was where the history of every being of the seven realms was held. All the knowledge of the seven realms was guarded and stored in the Gods realm – the most powerful realm of the seven. It was a dream place for all storytellers. Not everybody was allowed to step foot inside the great library.

“Um… Fer… H…how are we getting in?” I stuttered shock still coursing through my body.

Fer stop turning around to look at me. “Look, just follow me and keep quiet. You’ll see how to get in. It’s quite simple actually.”

We continued walking until we got to the outskirts of the forest. The Library loomed in front of us. Fer stopped and signalled for me to also stop. In a low voice, she said, “Okay, you need to stay close and quiet. Very quiet. Just follow my lead.” She pulled out a green mint sweet-looking thing from her bag and handed it to me. “When I tell you, place this in your mouth and chew. When you’ve swallowed it, grab my hand.”

 I looked down at the sweet. “Wait, are we not going to go through the front entrance.”

“No, we’re going to do a little breaking and entering.” She smirked.

Breaking and entering. That was going to be okay. I mean we were going to break into one of the most secure places of the seven realms, but it should be fine. Nothing could go wrong. We just needed to get pass five magic wards, a couple of monsters and a guardian sphinx, but it was going to be okay. I was starting to panic. Everyone knew the consequence for breaking and entering the Library of Omnia.

“Seriously, don’t worry. I’ve done this hundreds of times. Even borrowed a few books before.”

“Of course, you have.” I rolled by eyes. “But, if they catch us, I’ll say you brainwashed me into doing it.”

“Fine, whatever makes you feel better.”

Fer walked away, heading for the side of the building.  She soon disappeared from view. I ran to catch up. When I got to the side of the building, I couldn’t find Fer.

Hissing in a low voice, I called out, “Fer, you…”

A hand covered my mouth and pulled me behind a bush growing by the side of the building. “You are going to get us killed.” Fer’s voice hissed in my ear.

Fer removed her hand and pointed towards the giant that had turned the corner. He was at least five metres tall, covered in silver armour and a face painted in red paint. No, it looked more like blood.

The giant suddenly stopped walking and lifted his head into the air. He began smelling the air and snarled, showing sharp, pointed teeth. Gripping his spear, he turned to where we were hiding, and began walking over.

“Crap.” Fer hissed, facepalming herself. “I forgot it’s Tuesday today.”

“Tuesday?”

“The Fire Giants are in charge of guarding the Library on Tuesdays. Nasty pieces of work. Always picking a fight and out for blood. They are quite difficult to kill, considering their skin is like steel.” She picked up a small stone from the ground. “At least the dragons are not guarding today. You would have been dead by now.”

The giant was now ten metres away from us. Fer was looking really calm for someone who just said that fire giants were hard to kill. Unexpectedly Fer threw the stone and it hit a nearby tree.

The giant stopped and turned to where the stone had been thrown. Running over to the tree it began looking around the tree, before disappearing into the forest.

“They were never the smartest of the giants. So easy to distract.”

“Are you crazy? We nearly died.” I was shaking from the whole experience.

“No.” Fer said, getting up. “You would have died. I can take on a fire giant. I just hate doing it.”

I got up and glared at Fer. “Why are we even here?”

“I need a book.”

“A book. You can find many great books in the Human realm that does not need you to risk life and limb for. And I’m pretty sure you can find many others throughout the other realms that also don’t need you risking your life for.”

Fer rolled her eyes. “It’s not just any book okay. It’s one on a forbidden subject.”

She turned and began moving her hand across the white marble wall. Smiling, she stopped her hand and pushed it. Suddenly a small wooden door appeared, swinging open.

“You need to eat the sweet now.”

Nodding, I placed the sweet in my mouth and chew. It was soft and melted quickly in my mouth. It was like eating a normal mint sweet.

Once I had swallowed everything, I grabbed Fer’s hand. She pulled me towards the door. I followed and walked inside. As I did, I felt a wave of dizziness slam into me. It was like walking into a wall. Painful and numbing at the same time.

Fer looked at me and stopped. “Don’t worry. The pain is from walking pass the five wards protecting this place. If you haven’t taken the sweet, well…”

I groaned. If this was what it was like with something to help with the pain and dizziness, I never wanted to know what it was like without the sweet. The only reason I was standing right now was because Fer was holding me up.

Looking up, I saw that Fer didn’t seem to be experiencing the same pain, “H…how arr… are you okay?”

“After doing this so many times, the pain dulls. Besides, I’ve been worse pain so this feels like getting a paper cut.”

When I finally got over the pain, Fer guided me through a corridor that led to the main hall. I couldn’t help but stare. The library was beautiful, a work of art.

Rows upon rows of shelfs were filled with books, scrolls, and parchments. The shelfs run up all the way to the ceiling, a glass dome that let natural light flood in. In the centre of the hall were five long wooden tables to sit and read. Owls were flying to and fro, between shelfs, picking up and packing away books. Grey mist-like magic was flowing all over the place, leading to the centre of where the tables were.

On top of the centre table stood what looked to be an elf. She was small elderly lady with  big pointed ears, hair in a tight bun and grey feathered wings on her back. She had an air of goodness flowing around her. Turning to our direction, she pushed up her glasses. She smiled at us, completely unsurprised to see us.

“Fer, dear, how have you been.”