Now I knew why she looked so angry. We were so close to Ciara, yet we couldn’t attempt to rescue her yet. I understood Pandora’s frustration immediately, because I was feeling the same way.
“Hey,” I whispered, and squeezed her arm.
“I miss my sister,” Pandora said. She wiped her eyes, as if trying to wipe away tears that hadn’t even come yet, then cleared her throat. “Yes, the library. I know how to get there. As much as I loathe to admit it, I’ve spent a fair amount of time in this city, and I know it well.”
I nodded confidently toward her, because the faster we finished here, the faster we’d eventually come storming back into this city to set Ciara free. “Lead the way, then,” I told her. “And let’s get this over with.”
*****
ENCHANTMENT SKILL INCREASED +1
The notification flickered across my vision as we made our way to the library. It was another passive skill increase from wearing Bella’s enchanted amulet.
Along the way to the library, I noticed just how awful and bigoted the Emperor was in this city.
First of all, the city was highly segregated. Lower class humans were cordoned off, well away from the market and financial districts in the city. They were crammed into ramshackle houses that looked like they’d blow over if you sneezed on them. The elves had it even worse.
Well, I should clarify that the wood elves had it worse. There were high elves everywhere, most of them appearing quite wealthy. They walked with the haughty confidence that was so prevalent in high elven culture, and the Imperial elites seemed to regard them as equals, or close to it.
Not so with the wood elves. They seemed to work only the crappiest jobs. Plenty of shops had NO TREE DWELLERS WELCOME signs in their windows, a bigoted reference to the way the wood elves would traditionally build their villages among the trees in Darkwood Forest.
However, even with the dense clusters of poverty among the lower-class humans and the wood elves, the streets were perfectly safe, and no wonder.
As we passed a small market area on the edge of a poor neighborhood, a starving wood elf boy snatched an apple from a vendor. The vendor – a fat Imperial human – shouted at the guards to catch him. They did, and quite viciously at that, cracking the hilts of their swords against the boy’s head.
“All that for a fucking apple,” I growled to myself.
“The guards keep a tight grip on safety and security here in the capital,” Pandora explained at a whisper. “It keeps the wealthier, more loyal Imperials happy to know that a poor human or wood elf could lose a hand over some scraps of bread.”
I wondered if there was much love for the rebellion among the poor folks here in the Imperial City. I was sure of it, given the conditions in which they lived.
Pandora, as always, seemed to know what I was thinking before I said it. “We have our sympathizers here, yes,” Pandora said, answering my question before I could even ask it. “The men and women who run our networks throughout this city are some of the bravest, most selfless of all our numbers.”
“I can’t imagine the local judges show much mercy to them,” Bella said.
Pandora shook her head. “A mere accusation of harboring rebel sympathies is usually enough to get one put to death,” she said. “And still, they persevere.”
“We’ll make sure it’s not for nothing,” I said.
Once we’d left the poorer and more working-class areas, we finally came upon the library. It was a gargantuan building, constructed of smooth marble with jewels and bricks of gold lining the archways. Even this made me angry. It wasn’t enough to cram his poorest citizens into slums. The Emperor had to rub his wealth in their faces by decorating public buildings with jewels.
We made our way inside. Immediately, I saw that we were going to stand out among the crowd in here. There were mages studying, philosophers having hushed conversations, and various intellectual snobs that glared at us, because to them, we were just common trash that had come stumbling into their library.
One young human Imperial librarian glared at us over his glasses. He wore a spotless, flowing white robe as he stomped over to us, scowling. His voice, though hushed, was cutting and disrespectful.
“Might I ask what business commoners such as yourselves have in a place of learning and culture?” the librarian asked.
“Hey, take it easy,” I said. “We just came here to find some information on the N—”
A small, delicate hand shot out and grabbed me tight by the wrist. “Come to find information on the Emperor’s fledgling literacy program?” a young female librarian said. She wore matching white robes and had a pile of books under one arm.
“Um…”
“Of course you are!” she said, then waved off her colleague. “I’ll take care of them, sorry for the interruption. We were supposed to erect signs to direct the commoners to enter through the rear doors. So sorry.”
The other librarian scowled again. “Better get those signs up sooner rather than later,” he said, then went grumbling back to his desk.
The young, female librarian turned to us. “Come this way and play along,” she whispered. “We’ve been expecting you.”
I looked at Pandora and Bella uneasily. No one should have been expecting us at all. Part of me was ready to abort the mission, because this was far too suspect.
“Come on now,” the young librarian said. She leaned in closer. She spoke so softly that I could hardly make out the words. “The Emperor has agents all around, looking for three travelers that will come asking about the Necromancer. Come with me before they get suspicious.”
God damn it! I thought we’d kept this mission a secret, and now once again, the Emperor’s spies have gotten word back to the capital. I couldn’t believe it.
With no other choice, we followed the young librarian through the endless rows of books and winding hallways, until we came upon a quiet, dark portion of the library. Back here, there was nothing but water-damaged books and cobwebs, along with a single, wall-mounted candelabra in the rear corner.
The young librarian looked over both her shoulders and, when she was confident we were alone, yanked down hard on the candelabra. A false wall slid open and she ushered us inside, then sealed the secret opening behind us.
Chapter Fourteen
We kept quiet as the young librarian led us through the cobweb-lined hidden passages, lighting our way with a torch. Eventually, we came to an old, wooden locked door. The young librarian thrust a key into the lock and the door squealed on its rusted hinges.
Inside, I saw that there was a study, full of rare books crammed onto shelves. There was a desk in the center of the room, where an old wrinkled man in a moth-eaten robe looked up from the thick tome on the desk. His eyes grew wide with shock.
“Malia, is this…?”
“It is, father,” the young librarian said. Malia turned to us. “You may remove your enchanted disguises now, Gamelord. This is Ivus Raydon, head librarian of the Imperial City.”
We removed our enchanted amulets and took our true forms again. The head librarian was in a ramshackle wheelchair, I saw, and he wheeled himself over to us, marveling at the Soulguard and the Mananymphs.
“Not to be rude,” I said. “But how the hell did you guys know we were coming?”
Ivus Raydon reached out to touch the Soulguard, but pulled his hand away, as if he were afraid the gauntlet would burn him.
Malia answered for them. “We received word just this morning to be on the lookout for three travelers inquiring about the Necromancer,” she said.
“Yes,” her father continued. “Though the guards didn’t let on, we assumed it would be you coming, Gamelord. It just seemed obvious, given the rumors that we’ve heard regarding your adventures in the south.”
I looked back to Pandora and Bella. “No matter how much we try to keep quiet, the Emperor’s spies keep discovering our plans,” I said. Then, back to the head librarian: “Ivus, do you have any idea about the informants in Ho
mehold?”
“Me? No,” Ivus Raydon answered. “I’m just a scholar. I’m no spy or intelligence agent. And, for that matter, I’m no rebel, either. I’m just an old, old man who has come to despise his Emperor.”
“The Emperor has weaponized education,” Malia said. “No longer does he allow the teachers and philosophers in the Imperial City to educate the commonfolk about decency and enlightenment. Now, the schools just serve for Imperial indoctrination.”
“Aye,” the head librarian said. “He’s even forced us to burn texts that aren’t sympathetic to his authoritarian philosophy.” Ivus Raydon gestured to the many books in this cramped study. “Or, so he thinks.”
“Well even if you’re not rebels, I’m glad you’re no friend of the Empire,” I said. “Now please, is there any information you can give us about the Necromancer? Anything at all regarding his strengths and weaknesses?”
A dark look overtook Malia’s face. “Gamelord, we’ve studied the Dark King extensively. That creature has no weaknesses. He’s spent centuries upon centuries empowering himself with dark energy.”
“So we’ve come all this way for nothing,” Pandora said. “We’ve come all this way just to hear that the Necromancer is invincible.”
“Not quite,” Ivus Raydon said, with a mischievous glint in his eye. “While he has no overt weaknesses, it is possible to overpower him. It happened before, you know.”
Pandora’s face hardened. “You mean the False Champion,” she said.
“Indeed I do,” Ivus said. “That great warrior was able to fight on even footing with the Necromancer once she wielded a Gaia Gem.”
“Do you know where to find one?” I asked.
The head librarian grinned. “Indeed I do,” he said. He looked to Malia. “Daughter, if you would.”
She paused, hesitating. “Father, are you sure?” She turned back to me. “Forgive my caution, Gamelord, but we’ve only just met, and the Gaia Stones and Gaia Gems are items of incredible power.”
“Then it’s good that you’re being cautious,” I answered. “I don’t know how to prove my intentions to you, but I’ll try.”
The head librarian waved off the idea. “Nonsense,” he said. “Daughter, I understand your hesitation, but this man comes bearing the Soulguard, and with two free Mananymphs, as well. That’s all the proof I need. Give him the gem.”
I gasped. “Wait, what?” I asked, not quite believing what I was hearing. “Are you telling me that you have a Gaia Gem here in the library?”
“Better to have it here, where no one would expect to find it, rather than have that wicked Emperor get his claws on it,” the head librarian answered.
Malia went to the corner of the room, removed a rug from the floor, and wiggled on a floorboard. It came up at once. She reached inside and carefully removed an ornate gold-and-silver box, about as wide as my palm.
“I don’t know where the previous head librarians found this gem,” Ivus said. “But we’ve pledged to keep it safe, until the right warrior comes along to claim it. Gamelord, I’ve decided that you’re that warrior.”
Malia offered me the box. I felt a bit of sweat beading up along my brow as I held it.
GAIA GEM CONTAINER
EFFECT: CONSTANT-EFFECT ABSORB MAGIC +1000
CHARGE: ∞/∞
“God damn,” I said. “Even the container is massively powerful.”
“Because within it lies a gem of unimaginable might,” the head librarian answered. “Inside that box is the Storm Gem, Gamelord. With it, you can wield the power of thunder, lightning, wind, fire, and ice. But you must be cautious with it.”
I thought about how weakened the False Champion had looked after using her gem, and I knew the risks involved.
“How do I wield it?” I asked.
“DO NOT touch it with your bare hand!” the head librarian shouted. “It’ll turn you to dust instantly. If the texts are correct, you’ll be able to use the Soulguard to call out the gems and stones. Also, you must be careful not to wear the gem for too long. Until you’re stronger, doing so will make the gem’s magical energy consume you.”
I swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and opened the container. The gem was small, just the right size to fit into the groove on the Soulguard. It hummed with incredible energy, crackling white and blue like a lightning bolt had been caught inside it.
I closed my eyes and focused and, at once, I realized what the head librarian had meant. There was a slight tingling coming from the Soulguard. It was like I could feel the gem, although I wasn’t physically touching it. If I chose to, I could let the Soulguard’s inherent telekinesis pull the gem into the groove.
“When you don the gem in your Soulguard,” Ivus said, “you must be incredibly careful not to unleash its true might. While you’re a stout fighter, I don’t yet think you’re strong enough to channel the gem’s full energy. In fact, I don’t think there’s a being alive that could do so without risking death.”
I closed the box and looked to the head librarian. “This is going to—”
Suddenly, the world went white.
My consciousness was thrust across the city, turning my psyche inside out until Ciara’s face flashed across my third eye.
She was panicking, terrified, and all I could hear was her screaming, “RUN!” before I went shooting back into the head librarian’s study.
I staggered backward. That wasn’t quite the telepathic vision of Ciara that I was used to. This was more like an emergency message.
One look at Bella and Pandora told me that they’d seen the message as well.
“They know we’re here,” I said softly.
“What?” Malia asked, panic rising in her voice. “Who knows you’re here?”
“The Legion,” the head librarian said without asking. Now, he didn’t hesitate to grab the Soulguard. He held it tight, with fear brimming in his eyes. “Gamelord, you must help my daughter escape.”
“Father, no! You must flee with us!”
He shook his head. “Nowhere for me to run, daughter,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. “Listen. I can hear their footsteps already.”
And he was right. Though the acoustics of the study muffled the heavy footfalls, when we listened, we could hear the Legion troops thrashing through the library, trying to find the secret entrance.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” I said. “But Ivus, I have a teleportation amulet, but it can only transport three people.”
Pandora stepped in front of me. “That’s true, Earthman,” she said. She took a deep breath. “But I think, with some effort, that I could cast a teleportation spell.”
“That’s risky,” I said to her, and grabbed her hands. “It’s a tough spell, Pandora. You’ve only just started to reconnect with –”
She kissed me, wrapped her arms around me, and when our lips parted, she smiled. “I can do this, Earthman,” she said. “Just buy me some time.”
Staring into her dark eyes, I believed in her more than ever before. I drew the Dayfire longsword. “Get to casting that spell,” I said. “Bella, stay close to her.”
Bella was panicking, too. “But listen to their footfalls! There are many, many soldiers on the way!”
I grinned and, I swear, the gem inside the container seemed to pulse in anticipation. “It’s alright,” I said. “Because I’ve been dying to try this thing out.”
Through the many passageways that led to this study, I could hear the legionnaires trying to kick in the secret entrance.
“Come on out, rebel bastards!” their captain shouted. “We’ve got fifty soldiers and ten knights out here, so you might as well make it easy for yourself and give up!”
“You’re outnumbered…” Bella said.
“Yeah, and that’s just the way I like it,” I said, then opened the container and made a save point.
I couldn’t say I wasn’t nervous to wear the gem, but being this outnumbered warranted it.
Because if there were sixty or so
Imperial troops about to barge in, I was damn sure that hundreds more would be on their way to back them up.
I rushed toward the secret entrance as I heard the thunderclap impacts of a small battering ram punching against the door. I reached the final hallway, saw the wall and the secret door coming apart, and finally, they kicked the door in.
A knight in ornate silver armor growled to his men when he saw me. “That’s him,” he said. “That’s the Earthman.” He took a few steps forward and drew his silver longsword. “Rebel Earthman, turn yourself in and make this easy. Bring us the Mananymphs so that we can bring them to Imperial justice.”
I grinned. “Nah,” I said, then, using the Soulguard, I reached out to the Gaia Gem.
All the soldiers gasped and took several steps backward as the cracking, lightning-spewing gem drifted into the Soulguard’s groove.
The Storm Gem locked itself in place and I screamed.
The power was overwhelming, almost too much to bear, and I hadn’t even activated the gem yet.
Notification after notification shot across my eyes.
ENCHANTMENT SKILL INCREASED +3
MAGIC RESISTANCE SKILL INCREASED +5
SPELL ABSORPTION SKILL INCREASED +3
LEVEL 24 REACHED!
I fell down to one knee, gritting my teeth as the Soulguard synthesized the Storm Gem’s magic then let it run through me.
I threw my head back, feeling like I was going to come apart at the seams, and when I screamed again, lightning shot out of my eyes.
Yet, I focused harder than ever before. I felt the gem’s energy rippling through me and, in a moment, I managed to channel the energy so it wasn’t quite as overwhelming.
With my Second Sight, I pulled up the Storm Gem’s stats and my jaw dropped.
STORM GEM
EFFECT: CONSTANT EFFECT
-STRENGTH +100
-HEALTH +100
-FATIGUE +100
-MAGIC RESISTANCE +100
-SPELL ABSORPTION +100
Monstergirl Quest Book Two Page 12
