"I didn't tell you to steal it!"

The shout came from the direction of a tall man, but his mouth didn't move to make the words. He wasn't human, wasn't anything like human except his shape. His grey, bare feet pounded against the street as he ran, leaving wet footprints, and he grumbled a low reply to a tiny, blue-green person. "You told me you wanted to read it before you died."

In one hand, the man held a massive book, bound in red leather and gold thread. In the other, he carried the seven-inch-tall girl that did most of the shouting. She had a humanlike figure, wore absolutely nothing, and was currently tearing at her messy hair. "I'm not going to die for another six years at least! We had time to petition the scholars for it! Except now you've gone and bungled the whole thing!"

"My mistake," mumbled the grey man. He wore a simple shirt and a pair of pants, and his hair appeared molded to his head, which had been carefully sculpted out of clay some seven months ago. 

"Your mistake is costing us our lives!"

Once the two were out of earshot, a light shone from beyond the horizon. Dozens of angry people, all dressed in scholars' clothes, ran after them. Many of them wielded fire, which lit their way. Once they passed, the street settled into quiet once again.