The Infinite Athenaeum (A Time of Darkness, #2) / A Time of Darkness (ePub)

Cricket, the legendary dragon slayer who picks her nose, is back! Young and becoming ever more in charge of her destiny, she must find a cure to the sickness that cripples her or else slowly perish as her friends helplessly watch. With the help of said friends - an elven warrior, a giant wolf, and a bird-like young woman who can turn into an owl - Cricket must journey to the heart of ancient Azord and find the medicine hidden there before it is too late.

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The first time I saw Cricket, I loved her. Little did I know that skinny, goofy girl would one day grow up to be a great dragon slayer. I would have pegged her for a shoemaker.

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Cricket nodded apologetically. She ripped the blankets back and hopped off her bed. Enkai snorted out a laugh, and it took her a moment to realize she wasn't wearing pants.

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One only had to glance up to see the great empire that sat on floating islands among the clouds, but it seemed to Cricket that the ericine never looked up. They were content to ignore the dragons so long as they believed themselves safe. Cricket found it baffling. To her, it was like a mouse that lived in the same cave with a lion and just pretended the lion wasn't there.

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Cricket glanced down when she saw a cookie slide under the wall. She plucked the cookie from the ground and bit into it, dirt and all. It was so disgusting, her eyes watered, but she was starving, so she choked it down.

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Cricket frowned. "Why are you helping me? You don't even like me."

"Because you're the key to ending the dragons, dolt," was the impatient answer.

Cricket scowled.

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"I knew you'd be stupid enough to eventually leave Zerc," said the woman, head tilted down, hungry eyes narrowed on Cricket's face.

Cricket raised a brow. "I'm the stupid one? Who's the one trying to fight the girl with the big-ass wolf?"

--

Cricket found it ironic, then, that Owllwin of all people had been chosen to one day protect and care for the library. Owllwin was terribly clumsy, and not just in the cutesy loose shoelaces way. Owllwin regularly brought down shelves, shattered windows, caused fires, and injured other people. A law had been passed that banned her from the kitchen, and she was not allowed to eat supper with anything sharper than a spoon.