Lions in the Arcane Archives by J.S. Douglas

I recently asked my newsletter subscribers to provide story prompts. I aim to write one short story a week based on those prompts and share it with everyone!

The first story prompt was provided by my mom. She sent me: The lion hid behind the tall grass. That prompt made me think of The Veldt by Ray Bradbury. If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s a great story.

Anyway, here is the story I wrote based on my mom’s prompt.

Lions in the Arcane Archives

By J.S. Douglas

The book appeared in the middle of the table, open to a detailed illumination. Two lionesses crouched behind tall, straw-colored grass. Both animals, depicted in minute paint strokes, shimmered with gold leaf.

Security cameras scanned the room, capturing the book with six mechanical eyes. The image raced through the wires, showing up on three security screens.

“Damn,” muttered Stephanie. She put down her chicken salad sandwich and swiped a napkin across her face. Sliding on her nitrile gloves, she looked around for her weaponry.

A rungu club, two fimbos, a samurai sword, an aluminum baseball bat, a claymore, and several different guns lined the far wall.

“Which should I choose?” She wondered aloud.

On the monitor behind her, the image moved. Light flickered across the least visible of the two creatures. She crouched low behind the sun-scorched grass. Her tail flickered, and her nose twitched.

The second lioness turned her face and squinted up at the light. A low growl filtered through the pages.

Stephanie picked up the rungu and a fimbo. She gave the rungu an experimental swing and tucked the fimbo into her belt. Grabbing her SWAT-style helmet, Stephanie heard the growl float through the speakers.

“Shitshitshit,” she muttered as she ran out the door.

Stephanie shoved on her helmet as she sprinted past two doors, heading to the arcane archives at the end of the hall. Typing her code into the keypad, she caught a muffled roar through the magnetically sealed steel door.

The magnets clicked, and the door opened. Stephanie stepped in and hit the emergency door close button. The heavy door slammed shut behind her, locks snapping into place.

The room had three walls covered with shelves filled with metal boxes, display cases, and books. Ladders were attached to each section as the shelves rose well above head height. On one side, a ladder led to a metal catwalk, which provided access to even more shelves.

The far wall was an empty rippling blue that occasionally spat out various objects. Anything that arrived was locked with straps or a clasp - or sealed in a lockbox by an on-duty librarian. Then the item was archived based on how difficult it was to contain.

Stephanie headed to the metal desk set in the middle of the room. It held one book, pages fluttering slightly as reality stretched around it. A massive paw pushed through, grappling for purchase and crinkling the pages. A bone-chilling roar reverberated through the air.

Swinging her club, Stephanie whacked the paw with all of her weight. Instead of flinching away, the paw swatted at her. More of the lioness’s front leg pushed its way out of the book. The enormous claw scrabbled against the steel desk, trying to gouge the surface and gain purchase.

Stephanie readjusted her grip on the rungu. She unclasped the fimbo with her other hand. Letting fly with the rungu, she slammed the club onto the paw, pinning it. With her other hand, she drove the fimbo down, stabbing it through the tawny fur and piercing the tough hide beneath.

The lioness let out a roar tinged with pain and fury.

Sweat trickled down Stephanie’s face, blurring her vision for one frozen moment. Then, she let the paw go.

“I don’t want to hurt you too much,” she whispered. The paw grappled around, and Stephanie’s heart sank. She would have to damage this beautiful beast - perhaps ruining the book and the story within.

Instead of trying to pull itself out of the book once more, the paw retracted, fading back on the page.

Stephanie licked her salty lips and smiled. She leaned over the book, glimpsing a close-up of a lioness’s face. A wet, black nose shimmered into existence. The air rumbled with a guttural growl.

Stephanie dropped her weapons, pulled the heavy book cover shut, and pressed down with all her might. She used her chest to hold the book in place as she fumbled at her hip for a containment pouch.

Her fingers flipped open the pouch filled with nylon straps and titanium locks. Using one hand, she pulled everything out. Then, she adjusted her grip to pull the straps around the book, securing the heavy-duty strapping with a padlock.

The book bucked under her grip, trying to open once more. She sighed and pulled back her sleeve to check her watch. It was nearly six o’clock. Her replacement would be there any minute.

Stephanie brought the book over to the nearest bookshelf, pulling out a metal containment box and placing the twitching book inside. She closed the box and clicked the lock shut, typing in the code for an active object. Then she took the box to the table and set it down.

“I’m going to let Martin figure you out, buddy. It’s quitting time.”

Picking up her weapons, she left the room, making sure the magnet locks sealed behind her.

End

That’s the story! I hope you enjoyed it. I will be posting prompt-inspired stories every Tuesday, and I will also be posting some older stories I wrote for my old blog on days in between. I’ll also give more people a chance to provide story prompts, I just wanted to give my newsletter subscribers first dibs.