I guess now I have a decision to make: do I sneakily give the cultist minions back the drone while making it seem like it was merely misplaced, or should I keep it and face the consequences? Taking into consideration how worried Mibata was, how effective the seekers were able to evade detection, and the overall lack of attention I desired, I almost fell into the mistake of crafting a ruse to return the drone by. Wait, why would I want to give them their toy back? They were already after me as an ingredient for their evil plans, so why should I be concerned if they add another reason to come after me? The short answer: I shouldn’t, they should be worried about what I’m going to do with it now that it’s in my grasp.
I informed Mibata that I wasn’t going to let any fear or paranoia keep me from doing whatever it took to unravel the plot looming overhead, even if it meant that there would be more trouble down the line. We both agreed that today was already much too eventful for any more spy antics. We both sort of bumbled over to the new room that our father had been working on while we were doing all of this, him being completely unaware that we had even left for recon on the situation. Since we were there and had a pair of strong hands each, we were asked to help build some plating boxes for Humey’s little garden, so that’s what we set about doing until we heard the whistling of Tokols as he meandered into the den. He relayed that all of the patients were fine, and Tuleni herself was doing rounds to administer some medicine to those having feverish symptoms.
With his reluctantly added hands we were able to get the closet sized room put together with a dozen or so platforms for the moss growing. We all decided to work together on making dinner for the other two before they came home, and it was then that I got the chance to show them some dangerous yet practical usage of electrical magic in order to fry up some bacon. Connect Kayrux positive on one end and Kayrux negative on the other, get delicious bacon in just a few seconds! Maybe I burnt myself a few times, and maybe there was once or more times where someone experimentally touched the live wire of magical electricity in my claws, but the end result was a surprisingly decent BLT minus mayo.
As if they were summoned by the magical lure of dinner, Humey and Juaki appeared in the doorway after we had finished cleaning up and took their sandwiches that had been set aside for them. Humey only got halfway through his sandwich when he saw the new door, and upon seeing the new room he ecstatically swept dad up in his arms, a clear display of the comical difference between the boy standing nearly two feet taller than his dad. Everyone fell into talks of what kind of ideas the red brother had for the garden, of all of the spices and dishes he wanted to try making and ideas of mine he wanted to mimic in this world from Earth. This went on until everyone had processed their meals and grown tired, bringing this emotionally intensive weekend to an end.
As I lay there on my bed waiting for sleep to take me, I couldn’t help but think again of how insane everything was becoming. So many questions, so many riddles, and now there was something beyond mortal comprehension going on that I needed to get a better grasp on from the one elder in my corner. Would he really answer my ludicrous questions, and did his support guarantee anything? I’d know tomorrow, but tonight I couldn’t help but try and write a mental script of what I needed to ask him in order to sway him. Who knows, he might just know something that would make this whole situation make sense.
…
Faerkurch sat at his desk, his claws clicking together as he looked over the sheets of parchment I’d compiled to explain everything that I knew of the relationship between the dark elders, the dragon, and the three deals it had made with me. His eyes looked passively at the words, my list of questions to the side, and the ancient tome he had extracted secrets from before. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he plucked at a loose scale under his chin, almost like an old man tugging at his beard. His voice escaped like wind pushing its way through an old tunnel.
“This information, it is greatly distressing. Our divine lord has tasked you, a mixed blooded one, with the mission of slaying a powerful leader of our society. This…cannot bode well for the future of our city. We shall address that in a moment, however, as it seems that you have some questions you wish for me to answer first. Allow me to do that first, as there is something I wish for you to understand first.”
Okay old man, lemme have it. He slipped the sheet of parchment into his fingers, his free hand tugging at that loose scale harder as he squinted at the page.
“Your first question, asking me what this shadowy dragon could be, I do not have an answer for. It is unknown to me, and must be something tied to the priestess and her dark concoctions. Your second question asking me why I had assumed that there would be something wrong with the ritual has a simple answer: I had observed something unusual. Increased protection of the altar, more concoctions being emptied into the mirror, a lingering miasma of mana escaping from the base of the pyramid, all signs that something malicious was being carried out beyond my reach. I am glad that you and those pups did live, and that the dragon had lashed out at the cruel ritual master.”
He readjusted in his seat as he looked harder at the page, his nose wrinkling as he squinted at item three.
“Your third question is difficult to answer, as I have never heard of flying eyes patrolling the city. You claim to have one in your possession, so if I may ask, might I see it for a moment?”
I dug into the side pouch of my bag, withdrawing the gold and white orb for him to look at. His elderly eyes seemed to flicker with fascination as he took in every detail of the device. Seemingly satisfied, he placed the eye into a strange machine composed of rings and dials to his side, from which came the familiar sensation of scanning magic pulses washing over the drone. A moment passed as the large scale scanner ran its course, until a gemstone popped out from the side of the gizmo and into the waiting hand of the scribe elder. He placed the gem into his desk and returned the drone, his head bowing slightly as he spoke.
“My thanks, I shall have my analysts examine this inspection gem for schematics and mana traces in order to compare it with our records. We shall uncover the truth behind their creator and method of creation.You have already discerned their purpose and current usage, but I must have more information before I can safely act.”
I wasn’t expecting him to be so gung-ho about this, but I guess learning that someone else is stepping on your information gathering toes it gets personal. Faerkurch clenched his fist in order to crack his knuckles, then picked up the page once again.
“Your fourth question is in regards to your brothers and whatever might happen to them on a physical level. I cannot tell you any more than I know, and it would be Tuleni that would have better answers than I. This fifth question…is a request for permission to use the scribe hall’s equipment to create schematics for military grade weaponry. I do not object, but do not let it get in the way of your work. This sixth question is also just another request, one for monster information pertaining to local creatures such as the iron shelled companion of yours. This can also be allowed as long as productivity is not impeded.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
He set the page down on the table and looked me straight in the eyes, his impassive gaze sharpening to a razor sharp glare of concentrated focus.
“Your last question: how does one kill an elder? You must understand that this question on its own would be considered heretical, and by asking it you are possibly tossing your life away, do you not?”
I audibly gulped as he said that, as I had not thought it through that he would possibly anticipate it this way. I quickly scribbled down an explanation and turned it his way to hopefully defuse the situation.
“I did not mean it that way! I was only looking for your guidance!”
The elder shook his head solemnly, then flicked his eyes back to me with a devilish light in them.
“I know that. I just wanted to impart on you the severity of those words you have written, and the possible ramifications you would face if this sheet were to ever be seen by another.”
With that, the page in his hands was fed into his desk drawer, never to be seen again. He made an arch with his hands as he leaned into his desk, his eyes lingering on my chest as though he were reading something off of my scales. His index finger tapped the back of his other hands a couple dozen times before he finally spoke again.
“I have already decided on how to ascertain if your claims are true. If you truly have recieved some form of vision of the dragon and their blessing, then surely there must be some form of impression left on your spirit. Kayrux, would you submit to having your source inspected by me?”
Well, if it meant that he would give me the answer on how best to ice the crazy cultist, the I guess this was the best way forward. I nodded slowly that he would be allowed to proceed with whatever check he wished to perform, expecting some kind of wand or gizmo to scan me like that wand had done for Tuleni. Instead, the old kobold approached me slowly, his claws outstretched towards my chest as he uttered a single word.
“Revelation.”
The sensation that someone had removed the layer of skin between him and my heart was alarming and sudden, but not painfully so. Something about this spell was different yet similar from those awful eyes of the dark elders, but this felt more akin to uncomfortably being inspected by a doctor, rather than the grasping hands of airport security looking for contraband. I closed my eyes and waited for the elder to finish his analysis of whatever he was looking for. Ouch, what was that rough feeling in my center?
Charles began to warn me of outside invasion, but as he described it there was no hostile action, just a finger running over the outside of my source as if tracing something. Neither me nor Charles could see what exactly Faerkurch was looking at, but every motion he made with his claw felt as though it caught on the edge of something solid, unyielding, and altogether strange feeling. He did this three times, each time following a small center loop, then circling into a bigger hoop, then again and again until a sort of fingerprint was traced. Everywhere he had traced left the feeling of being off, and inspecting it with my mana senses told me that there really was something there, just so well blended in with my own mana that it was invisible until now. Sneaky dragon, just how the hell did I not notice that?
Soon enough his spell ended and let me feel like my ribs were no longer exposed to open air, and the elder hobbled back behind his desk with a grave look on his face.
“It is true. You bear three marks from the dragon, each corresponding to a quest. Give me a moment, this requires some thought.”
The elder didn’t move a muscle as he stared absently at the desk. There wasn’t a sound, even from the army of scribes working hard below us. He snapped back into reality and placed his hands in an arch again, his face stern once more.
“Very well Kayrux, I shall impart a strategy upon you, as well as explain the foreboding future that awaits the completion of this mission.”
I braced myself to hear what he had to say, and even prepared a sheet of parchment and quill just for this.
…
Faerkurch teleported me back down to the scribe hall floor, and I spent the rest of the day working as usual. We went out to lunch, joked around with a couple of the other scribes, and even took a little extra time off to go find some books on taking care of Tim. This was one of the old master scribes pieces of advice for the immediate future: act normal. As long as I didn’t seem like I was gearing up for war, then the bad guys would assume that I wasn’t doing anything beyond messing up their rituals.
Other pieces of advice he had given me were just obvious things I would do anyway: avoid the altar, avoid the praetorians, don’t ever visit the top floors, and keep from rousing suspicion in the workshop. Okay, maybe that last one was already a bust, but I could at least try not to cause trouble for the other crews. No guarantees, but a mental note has been made. If you ask me it seemed a little late for any low profile stuff, but maybe there was something I couldn’t see from the bottom.
The elder had warned me that things were going to get more dangerous from now on, and had even told me that he himself was going to be changing some things. He had accepted my mark of the dragon as justification of action, and was actually already preparing to mobilize his own agents to begin gathering opposition towards the priestess. That wouldn’t be an issue from where I was standing, as her little blunder on the altar and almost being jellified by the dragon had probably shown the entire city that she wasn’t exactly fit for her duties anymore. The question wasn’t really how much support we could gather for our own cause, but to see if the dissatisfaction and anger of the common ‘bolds was greater than their fear of the witch and her oversized guards. I can only hope that the years of seeing loved ones swallowed by that damn mirror would help us rally some allies against her.
As for me, Faerkurch had given me specific instructions on which of my ideas to take her down would work. See, the elders we were after had barriers, wards, and shields between them and the world, meaning that in a head to head confrontation they had an overwhelming defensive advantage on top of their decades of combat magic experience. I was told of two ways to overcome this: a whole lot of small attacks to whittle them down, or one really big attack to break through everything all at once. As awesome as it would be to kill two birds with one stone, the numbers Faerkurch hit me with said that I’d have to turn this mountain into a crater to guarantee that they didn’t live through it using the strongest barrier, and I’m not keen on mass extinction events. A death by a thousand cuts it would be, though really it would be much more than a thousand for the both of them.
The last thing Faerkurch had warned me of was the possible moves our opponents would make. Presently their true goal was still unknown to us, though the both of us agreed that they were likely going to up surveillance and make a move of their own in the near future. They wouldn’t be in the dark about where their drone had gone for long, and an attempt to get it back, punish me for taking it, or a demonstration of their abilities would ensure soon enough. I already had that same concern and made a humble request that he possibly keep an eye on Tuleni and her patients for me, only to have him laugh and assure me that Wilter is the best guard dog the clinic has. I’m not going to dwell on what that might mean, but if he’s so sure I can instead focus on keeping those in arms reach safe from whatever was coming.
I returned home that evening and relayed all of this to my family, minus mother who was out on a monster hunt already. My brothers were all fired up upon receiving confirmation that this vision of the dragon was no illusion or hallucination, but a genuine order to eliminate the wicked witch from her seat of power. I’m sure mom’s going to have a similar reaction when she hears that she’s being given explicit permission to punch an evil cultist in the face. Mental note: let Juaki punch a cultist and use mana threads to measure just how far they fly.
I sat in my bed unable to sleep again, looking down at the floor trying to make sense of it all once more. This was really happening and I had proof now, so what was still nagging at the back of my mind? Whatever it was, it can bother me tomorrow.