So many titles on so many book spines. Big titles, small titles, indecipherable titles, titles with pictures. Which one of them is what we want?

I scan the list of titles.

* Wolves Of The Curse

* Guardian Of Time

* Owls And Invaders

* Songs Of The Demons

* Cats With Strength

* Descendants of Silver

* Artifacts of Destiny

I’m drawn to the last title. Beckoning Kasz, I point to the book in question. He pulls it out and places it on the ground. Lobo knocks it open with his nose and paws.

"You want me to stay here and help you read?" Kasz asks. "Or keep watch? Make up your mind. I haven’t got all night."

I point to the door. It’s more valuable for him to keep a lookout.

Not invested either way, Kasz shuffles across the carpet and tile to the door. Lobo and I turn our attention to the book.

Memories surface of reading thick textbooks and my eyes glazing over. Reading a digital version on my phone while waiting in line or on a computer screen. I would turn the pages without a thought or with the click of a mouse or the tap of an idle or impatient finger.

Now, my paws strive to turn the pages of Artifacts of Destiny.

I growl, frustrated. [Let’s just read this page here and see where it goes.]

We begin to read. The words, at first difficult, become clearer the more we read. Maybe our human brains kick in. I don’t recall if the game had the option to read books from the library, but maybe it did.

"The Amulet of Beast Power was lost long ago, and its whereabouts are currently unknown. Of course, the amulet is sought after by many treasure seekers and beast tamers for its magical qualities. The artifact grants the beast wearer, and the tamer, strength and speed and defense beyond a creature’s normal abilities."

We purr together, excited that we can decipher these words as beasts. Spurred on, we continue reading while Kasz remains by the door as a silent green sentry. He shuffles his feet on the carpet in an unconscious dance to keep himself alert.

The text continues.

"The Amulet of Beast Power was lost when a cunning thief, who also ran a beast stealing ring, absconded from the Noble House of Varhoeven with both a gifted Cobalt-Bellied Sheep and the amulet. The Noble House of Varhoeven never recovered, and the family changed its name to Riddlehoeven after the thefts."

Hold up.

I’m in awe. [The amulet comes from this house?]

Lobo sniffs the page. [Smells true.]

I roll my eyes. [You can’t smell truth in a book!]

Lobo laughs softly. [I somehow can. If you can’t, I don’t know what to tell you.]

[Okay, okay, fine. That isn’t the takeaway here! The takeaway is that we’ve returned a lost prize to this house. A piece of their inheritance that they might have been seeking. And we’re not even going to tell them about it?]

[Do you want System to know about it?]

Ooof. Lobo has a point.

But I think on my feet. [How about this: We can tell them when we are at the tournament, just before the competition.]

Lobo wags his tail and woofs. No words needed.

We read further.

"The Amulet of Beast Power disappeared that night from the villa. In the years after the thefts, various theories surfaced about where it went. Interestingly, the thief was found dead in a ravine, body crushed from a fall. No sign of the Cobalt-Bellied Sheep, which has never been found. The amulet was not found either. However, sightings of the amulet have been reported over the years. In the North, in an elven kingdom, in the Scarlet Mountains, in a tavern (!), and somewhere in a hidden temple. Seers and mages predicted that searchers would not have to travel far from the villa to find the amulet; however, villagers and treasure hunters combed the area around the villa, turning over every leaf and stone, and found nothing."

We stop to digest the information.

I stare at the lines of text. [Hidden temple. They were right. Why did they give up searching close to the villa?]

Lobo wags his tail. [Where was this ravine? What happened to the sheep?]

[Sad sheep. But not relevant to the story.]

Lobo woofs. [Wrong! The sheep probably hid the amulet.]

We spitball that theory back and forth, with me cheerfully attempting to disabuse Lobo of the idea that the sheep hid the amulet in the jungle temple. Because, after all, why wouldn’t the sheep just bring the amulet back to the family?

Of course, my brother Lobo/Damon has a disturbing answer. [Maybe the sheep was in on it? And then killed the thief and stole the amulet?]

I feel a chill. [Does that mean it’s cursed? It didn’t feel cursed, though.]

[I don’t know! Read more. Read faster.]

We continue reading, and discover the following.

"One must not implicate the Cobalt-Bellied Sheep in the theft from its own Master and Mistress. The creature appears to have gone with the unnamed thief under duress."

In the margins, Lamant has written, in sloping cursive, "Not guilty. Sheep returned later. No amulet. Carried secret. Oath."

[Oath?] Lobo is curious now. [What kind of oath did the sheep take? And to whom?]

I think hard. [Maybe to the thief? Maybe the sheep swore to the thief that no one would harm him or her if the sheep was allowed to go free?]

Lobo growls. [If I were the sheep, I’d have knocked the thief out and just hightailed it out of there with the amulet.]

[Maybe it wasn’t that simple. Maybe the thief was more powerful than the sheep. Or maybe the sheep outwitted the thief.]

Lobo is doubtful. [Lamant says "oath." We can’t ask him what he meant, though.]

My eyes widen. [Maybe we can. Maybe we can "accidentally" leave this book lying around so he picks it up? Look at the other books scattered on the desk.]

Lobo bumps me with his cold nose. [I thought no one was supposed to know we were here!]

He’s right, but I use logic. [With all this going on what with the tournament and us capturing the thieves, do you think Lamant will remember if one book is out of place?]

I’ve got him there and he knows it. [Older bro always knows best!]

[Yes, and younger bro came in to save me, so we’re even.]

Lobo woofs and licks my face.

Kasz harrumphs, sounding like he has a lot of phlegm. "I would hurry up before some servant hears something out of place."

He’s right. We’ve got to speed it up.

Reassuringly, I give a little "mrrrp."

Not reassured, Kasz grunts, "Hurry up."

We continue reading, scanning for Lamant’s notes to see what the "oath" is, and how we use the amulet, and whether or not this "oath" is something we should worry about. We turn pages, not deftly, and scan for the information we need. Then, Lobo woofs, spying a key sentence.

"The amulet can boost a beast’s power..."

Finally! Let’s have it.

"The amulet can boost a beast’s power. Not infinitely, but for three days at a time."

My mind whirls. [The tournament is five days. Three days is better than nothing. I’ll have to wear the amulet the last three days of the tournament.]

Lobo has another opinion. [Maybe at the beginning instead. You don’t want to get knocked out of the competition immediately. By the time you compete in the final rounds, you’ll be on your way to victory!]

[Fair point. Let’s see if there’s a cost. There is always a cost.]

The book goes on. "The amulet will give the wearer and the tamer incredible power. However, it may also overload the bond between them if the beast does not conserve his or her energy. Wild attacks and grandstanding and recklessly responding to threats will overload the magic."

Now we know!

Lobo’s tail is a tom-tom beating against the floor. He is not best pleased with this information. [This sounds dangerous, and yet it’s our best hope. I wish we could read up on it more.]

I, too, am hungry to read all we can about this amulet and its effects. Good and bad. [We’ve learned a lot. Maybe we should quit while we’re ahead. Let’s just leave the book here.]

Lobo woofs. [Perhaps I can find out more online in real life.]

I catch sight of something. Another of Lamant’s notes. [Look!]

[We’ll have to check it out another time. Kasz is ready to haul us out of here.]

I can’t help being distracted by Lamant’s writing. [Just one more little peek. Here it says, "Oath" again, underlined. What is this oath???]

Kasz hisses, "Clock is ticking. I can hear every sound. Oh no, that’s not the clock..."

And then, what we’ve been dreading happens.

Slowly, holding its breath, the door to the library creaks open! We better hide!