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It was Saturday morning and Alex and her friends were standing in the foyer of the Library. Despite her desire for time to slow down, the last few days had passed by annoyingly fast. She’d tried to stall by going to visit her parents again, but they’d been overcome with excitement by some new artefact they’d unearthed. She’d ended up leaving them to their work after a token catch-up that, in Alex’s opinion, didn’t take up anywhere near enough time. And now here she was, standing with Jordan, D.C. and Bear, and trying to summon the courage to continue onward.

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Jordan asked, nudging her in the ribs. “Just think of how awesome this’ll be!”

“I agree with Jordan,” Bear said. “This is going to be epic.”

D.C. shared a look with Alex, “Any minute now they’re going to start grunting and beating their chests, cavemen-style.”

“Are we going or what?” Jordan whined, bouncing up and down and acting much younger than his seventeen years.

“We’re going,” Alex confirmed, leading the way towards the staircase on the far side of the room. She had tried to convince her friends to stay behind, reminding them that she had no idea what they would face and how dangerous it couldpotentially be. But they would hear nothing of her concerns and adamantly refused to let her go without them. Part of that, Alex knew, was because of their overwhelming desire to see the Lost City, but another part—a larger part, she hoped—was because there was no way they would let her face such an unknown situation alone. Her friends were good like that. Even if they all unanimously agreed to keep any and all details from D.C.’s parents, certain that the monarchs would not be too pleased at the idea of their only child and heir to the throne going off on perilous adventures unknown.

“Do we have a plan?” Bear asked as they started their journey downwards into the Library.

“Nope,” Alex said. “You guys know I have no idea what I’m doing. But my best guess is to start in the corridor of doorways and hope for some kind of direction.”

“Wicked,” Jordan whispered excitedly.

None of her friends had experienced the wonders of the Library quite like Alex had. Sure, they’d heard her stories and witnessed little bits and pieces, but they’d yet to discover first-hand what it meant to be a part of a ‘Library adventure’. Judging by the exhilarated looks on their faces, they were giddy with anticipation.

The staircase continued much further down than it was architecturally built to descend, and only when they reached a dead end did Alex will a doorway to appear in the stone wall.

“Ready or not, here I come,” she mumbled under her breath, stepping into a labyrinth of corridors filled with doorways that continued out of sight. She knew from previous experience that some of them opened to exotic, even impossible places, while others led to more door-filled hallways.

D.C. moved to stand beside Alex. “Where do we start?”

When Aven had captured the two girls, it had taken him some time to find the doorway to Meya, even with his advancedgenes and his direct line of descent from the founder of Akarnae. Alex may not have shared his relation to Eanraka, but she still had something Aven lacked: she was Chosen, and the Library favoured her.

“For the record, I think this is a bad idea,” Alex said.

“But it needs to be done,” D.C. said. “You said so yourself. We wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Alex slumped her shoulders. “I know.”

Best just to get it over with, she thought as she stood up straighter, steeling herself with determination.

“Excuse me, Library?” she called out, ignoring the startled and frankly amused looks from her friends. “Can you please show us the way to Meya?”

“Alex, what—”

Bear didn’t get a chance to finish his question before a doorway further down the corridor clicked open, revealing a familiar-looking suit of armour.

“Sir Camden!” Alex cried, moving forward to greet the knight.

“Lady Alexandra,” he replied with a formal bow. “How doth thee?”

“I’m well, thanks,” she said. “But what are you doing here?”

“Did thou not call for an escort?” Sir Camden asked. “Perchance the fair Lady Alexandra and thy loyal retainers be embarking upon a quest for the Lost City? Sir Camden be thy guide!”

Alex stared at the knight, dumbstruck, before she managed to mutter, “This Library sure works in mysterious ways.”

“Follow me, Lady Alexandra,” the knight offered. “Sir Camden shalt lead the way to thy destination.”

The suit of armour did an about-face and began walking down the corridor, stopping to open a door and waiting for them to follow.

“That sounds like an invitation to me,” Jordan said, gleefully rubbing his hands together. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think today feels like a great day to find a missing city!”

Although D.C. and Bear were just as enthusiastic as Jordan, the three of them unanimously voted for Alex to take the lead behind the knight.So much for their adventurous courage, thought Alex. But they needn’t have been concerned, because the door led to another hall of doorways. The four of them followed the knight along the new hallway until he opened another door for them, once again leading to more doorways. They continued this routine for some time, until Sir Camden came to a halt in front of another door.