Book Five: Save Yourself — 7.

Seeking safety in public, Gwen takes Arthur’s notebooks to the Brooks Library and settles at her usual table. She reflects on suspending her studies and the registrar’s gentle note, accepting she likely won’t finish her degree. Immersed in Arthur’s longhand, Gwen savors his excitement for knowledge and his view of libraries as portals as potent as magic swords.

Arthur’s notes dwell on named blades as mirrors of the human soul, suggesting a righteous spirit might be drawn into steel. He also outlines how dragons possess a fatal weakness not in armor but in character: a greedy compulsion for sorrow that blinds them. Heroes exploit such blind spots with invisibility or compassion, and evil collapses on itself—the ouroboros devouring its tail.

After dark, Gwen leaves and checks her phone. A fresh voicemail from Allie spills out: apologies, confusion, and panicked directions amid horns and curses. Gwen realizes with a shock that Allie is on foot on the interstate, wavering between exits 8 and 9, directly in harm’s way.

Connecting the location to the Market Basket managed by Tana Nighswander near exit 8, Gwen immediately dials Tana for local help and sprints toward the scene, determined to reach Allie before disaster.