Rescue of the Scrolls by rodiziorobs, on Flickr
Here is the story for my Seed-Part contest entry:
Gonfredo awoke with a start. Thunderstorms were not uncommon this time of year, but this one seemed especially close. Glancing out his window, he saw that lightning had struck the Old Keep on the north side tower.
"Awake, Menino! Come quickly!"
Dutifully, the boy rolled off his cot and followed after his master, still half asleep. Outside, the noise and commotion helped rouse him suddenly; already villagers were rushing forward with pails to douse the spreading flames.
Gonfredo knew that their only concern would be to save the structure itself. The Keep had survived a number of fires before, and would probably survive this one, as well.
But the archives would not.
Embers fell all around them as they climbed the stairs. Menino wondered if there would be anything left to save, or if they themselves would even make it back out.
When they reached the landing, the old scholar winced to see that several rolls of parchment had already been charred. He realized they must have been the works of Wagstaff; luckily, however, the fire had not yet reached the de Portola manuscripts.
They stuffed their arms full of whatever they could find, and ducked back down the stairs through the burning wreckage of the staircase.
