“We have quite a large library of texts here,” the tall priest said, as he turned left and opened a huge wooden door. “Brother Parneus! These visitors may have something of value.”
“Oh, yes?”
Seated beside a map, a gray-haired monk blinked up at them, half-rising from his chair. The room was surrounded by sturdy wooden shelves, no doubt felled in the Lifeless Hills and fashioned in the nearby lumber mills. Their contents, on the other hand, were much more foreign. A grimoire surrounded with metal chains glowed a faint yellow, seeming to float in place, and beside it was a collection of leather-bound scrolls. The other shelves contained an enormous quantity of books, as well as a few curios and relics, a gleaming golden dragon’s claw most prominent among them.
“I think you’ll be very interested in this, sir,” Vexx said, handing the book over, but the monk just frowned. He stared at Vexx for a long moment, as if attempting to solve a puzzle.
“You…you’re the White boy, aren’t you?” the monk asked after a moment.
Vexx flushed. “It’s Vexx White, sir.”
“Ah, I knew your father. Didn’t much care for him. You…you were sent to the magical academy as a boy, weren’t you?” The monk squinted. “But you were kicked out. I see you had your father’s discipline.”
“Hey! They just…” Vexx grimaced and gave up trying to explain himself. “Look, let’s get this deal done and we’ll be on our way.”
“Fine,” the monk said, opening the book. He skimmed through the first few pages. Then, his eyes widened as the hair on his fringe rose into the air. “This…this really is magic!”
“Told you.”
He flipped to another page and a look of dismay descended upon his face. “Oh…oh no. Oh no.”
Vexx frowned. “What?”
“Gaius, come here,” the monk said to the tall priest, who hurried close and blanched as he looked at the pages. The monk continued skimming before finally slamming it closed and setting it on the table. He took a deep, shuddering breath.
“What’s going on?” Vexx demanded.
“It’s been profaned with demonic symbols. There is absolutely no way we could have this in our collection.”
“I’ll destroy it,” Gaius announced, placing a hand on the book. Vexx rose to his feet, and to his surprise, Kaylin rose along with him, even taking a step forward to block the priest.
“That’s our book!” she snapped.
“Damn straight,” Vexx replied, earning glares from the others. But he was past caring now. “You want to destroy it? Well, you’ll have to pay for it.”
“I am not paying a single copper coin for those heretical ramblings,” Gaius said even as he retracted his hand from the book. “It must be destroyed!”
“Heresy, is it?” Vexx glanced at the monk, who was shaking slightly from fear. “What does it say?”
“Nonsense,” the monk stammered. “Ramblings about sacrifice and some Ruby of the Pure hidden in the Western Ruins! No, Gaius is right, it must be destroyed.”
“Ruins…” Vexx muttered, then snatched up the book. “Fine, you won’t pay? Then I’ll destroy it myself.”
“See that you do,” Gaius said with a slight look of fear in his eyes. “There is foul magic trapped inside.”
The sensation of magic kept barely at bay travelled up Vexx’s arm. But it seemed familiar by now, and the discomfort lessened as he dropped it into his leather pack.
“Don’t worry yourselves. I’ll take care of it.”
Gaius grunted and quickly ushered them out of the room. “See that you do. I will see you out.”
Kaylin paused for a moment. “Do you have a restroom I can use?”
“We do not have restrooms, for the truly devout never rest, but we do have a washroom.”
“Over here?” Kaylin asked, pointing towards a massive white door with a shimmering golden doorknob.
“No! We keep our most priceless artifacts in there. Holy relics, fashioned by master goldsmiths. Not for the likes of you to see.” The priest jerked his head to the left. “The washroom is over there.”
20
Caravan Guards
“Your church officials are a very cranky bunch,” Kaylin observed once they had left the reliquary.
“Yeah, I never much cared for them,” Vexx replied. “Too many rules for my tastes.”
“So, what do you want to do after we destroy the book?” Kaylin asked. “Maybe we could find someone else who needs a dungeon cleared.”
“You heard what they said,” Vexx replied. “The Western Ruins? I think I know which ones they meant. The old empire used to have a garrison here centuries ago, though it’s been abandoned for ages. I’ve heard there are wights and spirits that haunt it to this day.”
“If there are wights, maybe you could say you’re family, Vexx!”
Vexx White kept his face carefully neutral. “Don’t. Just…don’t.” He raised the scroll up high.
“Get it?” Kaylin grinned guilelessly. “Because—”
“Let’s get ourselves something to eat,” Vexx snapped. “I’ve got to plan our next adventure.”
A half hour later found Vexx idly munching on a loaf of bread. Food had given him a clearer picture of the adventure. He unrolled a cheap map and tapped it with the end of his dagger as Kaylin looked on, midway through her meal of noodles in some sort of strange sauce.
“So, we’re here in Cloudbury. We’ll have to skirt the Lifeless Hills, but there’s a logging road heading northwest, and if we’re lucky, we might be able to earn a few coins as caravan guards on that route. Lots of goblin raids, or so I hear. Now…” Vexx moved his dagger and tapped an image of a ruined castle. “We’ll go off the road and head south. The old Imperial ruins are here. The caravans avoid it, so we’ll have to travel alone at that point. Based on what I’ve gathered in the dead adventurer’s scroll and the magic book, I’m fairly confident the Ruby of the Pure can be found there.”
Kaylin slurped up her noodles and nodded. “How do you know which way’s northwest?”
“Magic.”
“Oooh…”
They paused as a woman in farmer’s garb passed by, watching as she shuffled through the cramped outdoor eating area. It was packed full for the mid-day meal, a crowd that consisted of loggers and shopkeepers eating simple fare from overworked stalls. A few hunters, often wearing their own pelts, could be found around the periphery and there were about a dozen farmers and ranchers taking a break from the errands that had brought them to Cloudbury.
No strangers though, and no elves in this crowd—certainly none as attractive as Kaylin.
Vexx had seen more than a few looks at Kaylin, though she seemed cheerfully unaware of it, and Vexx himself had even been the subject of a few stares as well.
We stick out here, even though I grew up just outside town. Well, so what? We’re dungeoneers now, and they are just common folk.