Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

sand-based weapons – and so they think that guns are the primitive weapons. It makes sense, if you look at it from their prospective.
    And anyone who’s not willing to do that… well, they might just be a moron. Whether or not they live there.
    “Sing, put those primitive guns away!” Bastille snapped, stepping away from the hole in the floor. “Those shattering things are so loud that half the library must have heard your racket!”
    “They’re effective, though,” Sing said happily, changing the clips in a pair of his pistols. “They stopped that Alivened long enough for Alcatraz to take it down. I didn’t see your sword doing half as well.”
    Bastille grumbled something, then paused, frowning. “Why is it so hot in here?”
    I cursed, turning toward the glowing, smoking stones around the Firebringer’s Lens. The floor looked dangerously close to becoming molten.
    “I still can’t believe old Smedry gave you a Firebringer’s Lens,” Bastille said. “That’s like… “
    “Giving a bazooka to a four-year-old?” I asked. I edged as close to the heated stones as I could stand. “That’s kind of what I feel like when I pick the thing up.”
    “Well, turn it off!” Bastille said. “Quickly! You think Sing’s guns were loud – using an Oculatory Lens that powerful will draw Blackburn’s attention for certain. They longer you leave it on, the more loud it will seem!”
    The reference to loudness probably doesn’t make much sense to non-Oculators. After all, the Lens didn’t make any noise. However, as I tried to figure out a way to turn off the Firebringer’s Lens, I realized that I could feel it. Even though I’d only been aware of my Oculatory abilities for a short time, I was already getting in synch with them enough to sense when a powerful Lens was being used nearby.
    The point is, I knew Bastille was right. I needed to turn that Lens off quickly. If Blackburn hadn’t heard the gunfire, then he’s certainly notice the Lens “noise.”
    “Sing, loan me that shotgun,” I said urgently, waving with my hand.
    Sing reluctantly relinquished the weapon. As soon as I touched it, the barrel fell off – but I was ready for that. I grabbed the tube of steel and used it to flip the Firebringer’s Lens over. The Lens was convex, meaning it bulged out on one side, and now that it was flipped over it looked like a translucent eyeball staring up out of the ground. It continued to fire its superhot ray of light, which was now directed at the ceiling. I used the barrel of the gun to scoot the Lens away from the heated section of the floor, then carefully reached out. I gritted my teeth – expecting to get burned – and touched the side of the Lens.
    Remarkably (as I’ve mentioned before) the glass wasn’t even hot. As soon as I touched it, the Lens shut off, the ray of light dwindling. I stepped back, surprised at how cold and dark the corridor now seemed by comparison.
    “My shotgun,” Sing said despondently as I handed back the barrel. “This was an antique!”
    That’s what happens when you stay around me, Sing, I thought with a sigh. Things you love get broken. Even when I don’t do it on purpose.
    “Oh, get off it, Sing,” Bastille said. “I lost my sword – you can’t even understand how much trouble I’ll be in for that. I was already bonded to the shattering thing; now I’ll have to start the process all over, if they even let me. Next to that, your gun is nothing.”
    Sing sighed but nodded as Bastille reached into her handbag and pulled out a large, crystalline knife. You may, by the way, have noticed the connection between the word Crystin and the weapons made of crystal that Bastille uses. This is actually just a coincidence. Crystin is the Vendardi word for “grumpy,” which all Crystins tend to be. And I think…
    Nay, I’m just kidding. They got the name because they use crystal swords. Plus, they live in a big castle (dubbed Crystallia) made of – you guessed it – crystals. That clear enough? Crystal clear?
    Ahem.
    “I’m out of bullets for the Uzis too,” Sing said, looking in his bag. “Small weapons for us both, I guess.”
    I knelt down and tentatively poked the Firebringer’s Lens, still trying to pick it up off the floor. It began to glow. Blast ! I thought and touched it again. The glow dissipated.
    “Try being dumb,” Bastille suggested.
    “Excuse me?” I asked, frowning.
    “Think dumb thoughts,” Bastille said. “Or try not to think