Grimoire Bound

by Jeff Sproul

  Upon doing so, he revealed a black metal crossbow, much smaller than the kind Bavol had let him borrow. It was even smaller than the model that had… been used to kill him, by the guards in Grittin.

  He set the quiver down and carefully lifted the crossbow out of the chest. It was small enough to be wielded with one hand. It only had the capacity for a single bolt to be fired before needing reloading, which was a bit of a shortcoming compared to the one Bavol had. But it was sturdy and had some weight to it. There was silvery lining around its frame. He held it in his right hand and gripped the handle, and rested his finger on the trigger. Then, he noticed that on the back of the handle were three squares, with three Xs within them. The one on the left had the letter 'F' written above it, but not attached via linework to the X itself. The center X had a V shape above it, and the third X had a C drawn above it.

  With curiosity, he pressed his thumb to the X with the 'F' above it.

  Nothing happened.

  He shook his head, and pressed his thumb to the X with the V shape above it.

  The metal implement that held the silver-looking string pulled all the way back in an instant. The suddenness of it made Chaxin flinch. "Ah!" he gasped, then quickly shut his mouth as he quickly looked around. Everything was silent. He let out a breath and looked back at the crossbow. He reached down and pulled one of the bolts from the quiver, and slotted it into the crossbow. He aimed around the room, and then centered the silvery sights of the weapon on the door.

  With a pull of the trigger, the string released and launched the bolt across the room. It smacked with a thud against the door. An instant later, Chaxin's lips curled in a wide grin.

  "Definitely better than a sword," he said as he turned it in the air, admiring it.

  A few seconds later, several rapid thumps came from the stairway. Chaxin glanced over and saw Verun rush halfway down the steps, and stop.

  "What happened?" asked Verun. "Sounded like you might've collapsed."

  "Uh, no," said Chaxin. He pointed to the crossbow in his hand, and then to the door. "I um, shot the door. Sorry, was testing this out. Pretty nice find, don't you think? I used a crossbow in the past, but this one's smaller and has a runic method of drawing the string back," he said as he tilted it down and looked at the back of the handle.

  Verun squinted. "Well, it sounded as though something might've killed you, and you collapsed on the floor. Be more mindful of what you're doing, when we're supposed to be quiet," he said, keeping his voice low. He descended the rest of the steps and walked over to Chaxin. He inspected the crossbow and lifted a brow. "That's not a crossbow.”

  "What?" Chaxin asked, giving him a strange look. "Of course it is. Even I know this."

  "No, that's a mage-caster," said Verun with a shake of his head. "Obviously, it looks like a crossbow, but it's meant to use your mana. "Let me see it," he said, and held his hand out.

  "Alright, but I want it back, I did find it, after all," said Chaxin as he handed it over.

  "I have no interest in a mage-caster. I already found what I was looking for." With that, Verun lifted his right hand and held out an old tome. "Take a look," he said. "But please, please please please, do not actually touch any of the surfaces of the pages. Don't want you destroying yourself. Or worse, destroying me."

  Chaxin handed the crossbow over, or more aptly, the mage-caster. He accepted the tome and placed his thumbs to the edges of the covers, and slowly opened it. It was made of old parchment. The cover was some sort of metal, which seemed awfully familiar, and similar to the metal of the weapon he'd just handed Verun. On the many stiff pages were all sorts of runic writing. Spell after spell. Some spoke of fire, some spoke of arcane elements, and a few spoke of lightning and freezing things. "It's a spell book," said Chaxin. "The metal cover, is it the same material as that crossb—er, the mage-caster?"

  "Trillin has deep-rooted mines," said Verun. "They gather an ore which smelts into a dark metal. The same metal used on the cover of that book, and this weapon here. They also use it for armor, and all sorts of magical weaponry."

  "Is it a strong metal, or something?" asked Chaxin.

  "Not particularly, no. However, it's very enchantable. Take this mage-caster for instance," he said and held it in such a way to show off the lines that went to the three Xs on the handle. "It looks as though there are three different functions on this mage caster. Sometimes, they only have the draw-back function, but yours has fire and corrosion. It looks as though the weapon was made in such a way as to hide the actual scrawl on the inside, during its construction. That way, people might not know what they're up against until it's too late. Here, take this back. I want my book," he said, and traded the weapons back.

  Chaxin accepted the mage-caster crossbow, and looked at both of the other Xs. "So, the 'F' is for fire? And the 'C' is for corrosion?"

  "Precisely right," said Verun.

  "I pressed the 'F' earlier, and it didn't do anything," said Chaxin.

  "Did you have a bolt loaded at the time? It may only work if a bolt is readied, as to not waste your mana, if you were to accidentally press it when no bolt was loaded."

  "Oh, yeah, that makes sense," Chaxin murmured. "So, I was told that a crossbow was a strength and dexterity weapon. But this… is different?"

  "Indeed," Verun said, as he held the spell tome at his hip. "When you use the scrawl magic, and then do subsequent damage to anything, you'll gradually build up your mind stat. By firing regular bolts, without any flame or corrosion, you'll increase your dexterity. Over time, you'll probably unlock some new stats that you're not aware of, since you're still probably level one, based on what you told me before. You said at most, you were, what? Level five?"

  "Something like that," Chaxin admitted.

  "You haven't even scratched the surface of specialty stats," said Verun. "And since you're back to level one, you're going to need to be careful. Especially since we don't know what's going on here in Trillin yet." Verun then glanced away. "Hmm," he murmured as his hand rubbed at his chin. "If we could find some soul crystals that actually have power in them, I could enchant you directly, or perhaps enchant some armor, if we could find you some."

  "I guess you didn't find any in your search?" asked Chaxin. "Did you look through everything up there?"

  "I did," said Verun. He then gestured to his feet. "Just an old pair of boots. Did you find anything other than that weapon?"

  Chaxin pointed to the bed, with all the clothes on it. "There's some socks over there, if you want them. I found a quiver with more bolts, and a locked box. A bunch of cloth, some candles, parchment, nothing else of note."

  "Oooh, socks. That would be helpful," said Verun, as he promptly went over to the bed and set down the book. He seated himself and sought out two matching socks, before pulling his boots off and putting them on. Then, he put his boots back on and stood up. "You said you found a locked box, of some sort?"

  Chaxin nodded. "I did, but I didn't find any—"

  "Key?" asked Verun, who pulled his hand out of his pocket and held up a small metal key. "I couldn't find a lock."

  Chaxin set his mage-caster on the bed and knelt down to grab the lockbox. He picked it up and held it for Verun to unlock it. "Well, let's hope there's something good in there."

  "Hmm. Could be trapped," Verun murmured as he looked at the key, and then at the box. "Could be that this is the wrong key, and upon using it, the box releases a poisonous gas, meant to subdue and kill would-be robbers."

  Chaxin's eyebrows lifted. "Um, is there anything we can do to prevent—"

  "But we haven't the time for such nonsense," said Verun, as he took a hold of the edge of the box and put the key right in, then turned it to the side.

  Click.

  The lid on the lockbox opened, and without hesitation, Verun pulled it up.

  Chaxin's eyes were wide as he looked down into the box. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't breathing in some sort of horrible poisonous gas.

 
; The second thing he noticed—

  "Jackpot," Verun whispered.

  "Are those…"

  "They are! How fortuitous," said Verun.

  Within the lockbox was a smooth, cushiony white material. Lying in the material were eight white finger-length soul crystals.

  Chapter 20: Trillin

  "What can we do with these?" asked Chaxin. "You just said you could enchant with them, power us up, right?"

  "Well, I certainly could!" said Verun, before his smile shifted to a frown. "But that will require one vital step, which I hadn't planned for yet."

  "What do you mean?" asked Chaxin.

  "I haven't the slightest idea if these crystals have any power in them, and if they do, I have no idea about the quality of such power. Scrawl requires an intimate understanding of the material being enchanted, the power in the crystal which you are using to enchant, as well as the words being written. It's a three-factor process, which can be very complex. So what we need is a grimoire."

  Chaxin took in a slow breath, then released it. "Do you know where one is?"

  Verun silently stared at the crystals. "Perhaps," he said. "But more importantly, we need to come to a decision, and since you happen to be here with me, I suppose in some small part, you must be a part of that decision-making process."

  "Well, I would hope so," said Chaxin.

  Verun picked the crystals from the box, one by one. He put two in one of his pockets, and then two in the other. He then held out the other four. "Put these in your pockets, two in each. It's good to keep them separated. That way, if you were to, I don't know, fall, or be hit by something powerful, then only a couple of the crystals would break."

  "Good thinking," said Chaxin, as he set the now-useless box down, and then took the crystals, placing two in each pocket. Then, he went over and grabbed the quiver, and slipped the strap over his head, so the quiver would come to rest against his back.

  "Yes, thinking is generally what I'm best at, among other things," Verun murmured.

  "Should we take any of these candles?" asked Chaxin.

  "Only if we plan on staying in here for the night, but I'd prefer to carefully discover what's become of Trillin. We are suitably prepared. Which reminds me. Since you're a level one, you should realize that by using that mage-caster, you're spending your mana when you trigger those enchantments."

  Chaxin nodded. "When I first arrived on Wake, I was poisoned, and some… someone helped me, and used time magic to slow the poison. But in doing so, they prevented me from ever being able to use mana. So, can you explain how mana works exactly? I never really cared to know before."

  "You expect me to believe someone used time magic on you?" asked Verun incredulously.

  "Yeah, I was hurt, close to dying, I think. There was this woman—"

  "Someone used time magic, on a dying level… what? You were probably, level zero, or something?"

  Chaxin sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, is that so incredible?"

  "It is, actually," said Verun. "I'm sure you already know. I mean, someone has to have told you how rare time magic is, correct?"

  "Yeah, it's been mentioned," said Chaxin.

  "Let me put it this way," said Verun. "I know far more than the average arcane practitioner. I'm even considered above my peers of the mitigators. But if I was forced to write scrawl with time? Well… my only hope would be to somehow fumble my way through it, and not end up destroying whatever I was attempting to enchant. Any magic dealing with time is incredibly… I don't think I can stress this enough for you, Chaxin, incredibly unstable and powerful. When you enchant something, failure has consequence. It's why recipes are so important. Through trial and error, and a basic understanding of materials, soul energy, and the requirements of the enchantment, we are able to safely enchant things. Such as when I enchanted my arm so that I could eject every bit of mana I had into that flame. If I’d messed that up, I might've severely injured my arm or burnt my own flesh at the least. At worst, I could've lost the entire limb. But with time magic, the energy requirement is so much more substantial and precise that an error could wipe you entirely out of existence and potentially everything around you. A few feet, a few meters… a few miles."

  Chaxin swallowed as Verun seemed to take an actual breath. It sounded as though Verun was chastising him, but at this point, he realized that this was just how Verun was.

  "So believe me," said Verun. "When I say, that I, as a master of enchantment, have never even seen or known of a single properly-functioning recipe for time magic. Even if I saw time magic written, I wouldn't be able to duplicate it, as I'd have no idea of the soul energy requirement, which is a very important portion of the formula. Now, with that aside, you're telling me, that a person with this incredibly rare knowledge, decided… out of the goodness of their heart, to expend what I can only imagine to be a very large sum of soul energy to save you. A human who hadn't even been on Wake for a single day. And from all things… poison?"

  "I get it," said Chaxin, finally able to get a word in after Verun's endless rant. "Time magic, really strong stuff. Whatever. All I know is exactly what I said happened. If you don't want to believe me, then I don't care. All I wanted you to do was to explain how mana works."

  Verun blinked several times. Chaxin could practically see him still ruminating over time magic.

  "Well, that's very simple, really," said Verun. "Depending on your attributes, you absorb the mana that exists all around you. It's partially what we see in the sky. It's something that replenishes over time, and you have to keep track of how much you've spent."

  "How do I keep track?" asked Chaxin. "As you said, all the scrawl on the mage-caster is hidden."

  "If we find a grimoire. You can actually place the weapon against a page on the grimoire, lift it away, and it'll tell you every word that's part of the enchantment on the item."

  "Great, so it really sounds like we need to find a grimoire. I can check this weapon's enchantments, and you can check the crystals. That should be our goal here, right?"

  "That all depends," said Verun.

  "On what?" asked Chaxin with a sigh. "That's a clear plan, we both need the grimoire. What's the trouble?"

  "As I have to keep reminding you, something is terribly wrong here in Trillin. Yes, there is surely a grimoire nearby. If my memory serves, there's one…" Verun trailed off a moment. "There are two possibilities," he corrected himself. "The quickest would be the city library, at the very center of Trillin. The other option would be the wharf master at the north dock."

  "So let's get to the library then. That way we can figure out what's happened."

  Verun sighed and shook his head. "Whatever is going on, I fear that going deeper into the city may not be the best prospect. The wharf is further away, but it may be the safer destination."

  "You seem to have your mind made up about this," said Chaxin. "I'm not sure why you're even bothering consulting me on the matter. You're just going to try and convince me your way is best, like how you didn't want to save that woman, and how you killed a man to get us out of Purgatory."

  Verun's eyes narrowed. "You woke in the Graymos only days ago. A child of ten years knows more about what it takes to survive here than you do. Don't think for a moment that your opinion holds any great value. At most, you're useful for bouncing my own thoughts off of, so that I can best determine the route we should take."

  "Why even have me around then?" asked Chaxin. "You saved me from Purgatory as well. Why? You could've just left me there, but you took added risk and kept me around."

  "Because even at your worst, you're still another pair of hands which could carry a weapon, or help open a door, or any number of things," said Verun, his voice gaining sharpness the more he spoke. "I certainly didn't keep you along for your intelligence, nor your wisdom. So keep that in mind. You're another body. Anyone would've done, but you're what I was stuck with. So I'm making the best of it."

  Verun's earlier chastisement had been tolerable, a
nd something that Chaxin had been easily able to deflect by merely thinking of something else. It wasn't Verun's blatant openness of what he thought about him, but the fact that it was all true. Every word of it.

  Chaxin looked away as he came to terms with the reality of the situation. "I'm sorry," he said. "You're right. I'll go along with whatever you think is best."

  "Well, alright then," said Verun. The edge to his voice had alleviated considerably.

  Chaxin was silent for a time. He wondered what Kaiz and Deloris had truly thought of him. They were far friendlier to him than Verun was. Of course, there were several differing factors behind how he and Verun had met up, and how he and the people from Kamber had met. As much as it hurt him to realize it, Verun was right. Verun had done what he needed to, to even keep the two of them alive. It seemed like that was just how this world functioned.

  Survival at the cost of others.

  "As I was saying," Verun spoke up again, after allowing Chaxin a few moments to himself, "the wharf is our best chance. It will allow us to gain a bearing on what's going on, and if there is actually anyone still around. If there has been some tragedy, then we should see signs of it. If there's something harmful out there, we'll have to deal with it as we go. But just as important as checking out the wharf for the grimoire, we need to figure out what we're doing after we check the grimoire. If by chance, Trillin is better off than I assume it is, then we can stay here longer and gain our bearings further. But if there's a good reason that people don't still seem to be here, then we need to leave with all due haste. The only way of doing that is by ship."

  "And I'm guessing that travel via the mausoleums is out of the question?" asked Chaxin.

  Verun looked to the ceiling and seemed to shrug. "I'd considered it, and there are some alternate locations we could try going to. I'll have to check the power in the crystals regardless. But if we go that route, we take nothing with us. No weapons, crystals, clothes, enchantments, nothing."