2. The Dragonfly in the Tower

As Sharon was sweeping, she saw something strange in the corner of her eye.

That’s strange… was that a green glimmer?

There shouldn’t be anything green in the tower, she thought. Could it just be an errant vine making its way through the stone?

She went through several more paces of the library’s marble floor before catching it again.

No – it’s an insect!

An iridescent green dragonfly revealed itself.

It was skimming over the diamond wallpaper like a green ocean crest. Sharon paused a bit from her broom to watch it.

Where could it have come from? she marveled.

All the windows were locked, nearly airtight. In fact, she had no idea how she got fresh air.

The dragonfly zigzagged over the diamonds, and then again, and again, as though a marathon running on a track course.

Sharon came closer to inspect the diamond paneling.

To her surprise, when she touched it, she realized that the gold outline was actually raised.

Strange how I never noticed this before…

Tracing her fingers on the wall, she felt the bumpy outline of the gold embossment over the chocolate brown wallpaper.

She looked at the vast, rapidly darkening expanse of the library. Sharon never turned on lights here in the day, preferring the natural light to come in, but she had been so intrigued by the dragonfly she hadn’t even lit the sconces on the wall. Now half the library was covered in opaque blue shadow.

She weighed finishing the task of fully cleaning the library today, versus investigating this dragonfly mystery.

Hey, maybe this little guy came to visit me…

Her mood brightened.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” she cooed at the dragonfly, who had now stopped and cocked its head almost like it was watching her.

Is this little guy my birthday present?

The dragonfly suddenly appeared to be peeved. It seemed to straighten its back and look at it from under its eyes, almost like an old lady admonishing her under her glasses.

Or, Sharon quickly revised, this ma’am has come to teach me a lesson. Yes indeed.

The dragonfly landed on a particular diamond, and then looked at Sharon with the look that said, young lady, you come here.

Since Sharon was not the disobedient type, she walked over and touched the diamond.

“There’s nothing here,” she said aloud, when the dragonfly suddenly flew into her face.

She winced and took a step back, and realized her hand had depressed a button.

A melodic noise like a wind chime with a hundred silver pipes came out of the wall.

Sharon leapt back.

“What? What?” she exclaimed, her heart hammering.

The dragonfly flittered anxiously around her in circles, until she had calmed down enough to extend her hand for the dragonfly to gracefully land.

Her brain started to work again.

Maybe the dragonfly wants to go home. And there’s a secret corridor in the library to the outside…

Or , her mind raced, maybe she wants to lead me out.

She’s going to show me how to escape the tower.

Heart in her mouth, she raised her hand to be level with her eyes, staring right into the dragonfly’s tiny jeweled ones.

“Is that what you want to do?” she whispered. Her voice cracked. “Free me?’

The dragonfly looked back her calmly. Perfectly poised.

Okay, deep breaths. I have to show her I can do this.

After she had completely calmed herself, Sharon began to analyze the picture before her.

This is the diamond that I pushed back.

Is there anything special about it?

She traced the outline with her fingertips. It has the gold embossing. She looked over to the diamond next to it.

So does this one…

Confused, she ran her fingers lightly to the diamond the square over.

Oh! The gold outline for this diamond isn’t raised at all!

After lightly tracing through the whole wall, Sharon had a clear picture of how the wall worked.

The diamond I pushed back is part of a larger pattern. It starts a V that goes all the way to the end of each wall. The V ends at the corners.

But what now?

Sharon was exhausted. This was more activity in one day than what she normally had in a year. Briefly she had the thought of taking a break. But the dragonfly whooshed at her hair, making loose strands fluff up.

Sharon lit the sconces by hand, giving her a brief break time, then sat down and thought, hands playing with the dragonfly absentmindedly.

The dragonfly flew to one dusty corner and sat, its glimmer almost totally obscured by the dust.

Is… is she telling me to clean more? thought Sharon guiltily.

She followed the dragonfly to the corner with her broom and tidily swept it up. Sharon felt happy and slightly ashamed that at least she could do this.

“All done,” she called out to the dragonfly.

But it still sat in the corner.

“Do you need me to pick you up?”

After all, dragonflies must get tired, too. And I don’t know how much flying she did on her way here…

Sharon knelt on her knees.

“What’s a good name for you? After all, I can’t keep calling you dragonfly.”

The dragonfly looked peeved, like she wanted Sharon to move onto other matters, but Sharon refused. Sharon could be very obstinate when she wanted to.

Hmm… draco is dragon in Latin.

“Draco? Draca? Dracarius?” she tried out.

The dragonfly fluttered its wings in dislike.

“Dracrys?”

The dragonfly cocked its head to one side, as though thinking about it.

“Dracrys it is!” cried Sharon, not letting Dracrys think.

As she picked Dracrys up, her finger pricked on a wire.

“Ouch!” Sharon put her finger to her mouth and bent closer to examine the wire.

The wire came out of the gold paneling. It was almost as if…

Oh!

Suddenly Sharon realized.

That’s not gold embossing. The gold line is raised because it’s a cover for wires running through it!

Two things simultaneously occurred to Sharon.

First, she realized for the first time in her life, there was a possibility of her actually exiting the tower. Some kind of feeling coursed through her, but she couldn’t name it. Was it excitement? Was it fear? All she knew was that she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

The second realization, she didn’t expect. The second gave her a thrill of fear that shook her to her toes.

What is this tower? Who designed it?

She slowly turned around the room as though she had never been in it before, even though she had grown up with the library her whole life.

What has been hiding in plain sight in front of me?

Next Chapter: 3. The Mage in the Tower

Previous Chapter: 1. The Girl in the Tower

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