The three who jumped through the door in the floor did not feel the pain of crashing onto the ground as they had imagined. They fell into a pile of something with hard edges, so it was not much better than hitting the floor hard.
"God!"
Barry cried out in pain. He struggled to push away the things around him with his arms, like a drowning man flailing helplessly. Only after Harley and Bruce fell down as well did the mountain-high pile of hard objects slide down a little, allowing Barry to free himself.
He felt his way forward through the dark room and nearly tripped over something on the ground again. Fortunately, he found the door and opened it, then located a source of light in another room with a candlestick.
When Barry carried the candlestick back into the room, he realized that they had landed on a pile of books. It truly could have been called a mountain of books. Probably thousands upon thousands of books had been heaped in the center of the room, and the exit from the passage was at the summit.
Harley rolled down the book mountain, finding it rather entertaining. She even rolled around on the spot a few more times and struck an agent landing pose. Little Bruce was far more graceful and reserved. He steadied himself, then followed the path Barry had rolled down.
"I hope you are not moved by your own sacrifice, because we already knew this was a trial that would not put anyone's life at risk." Little Bruce's words were as cutting as ever.
Barry pursed his lips and exhaled through his nose. Shaking the candlestick in his hand, he said, "There are plenty of books scattered all over the floor. If you keep talking like that,