Kaara rummaged through the fox hole. Where were they? They had to be here. She patted down every dark corner and crevice she could, and yet she still found nothing.
“Deka.” She muttered under her breath, crawling out of the fox hole emptyhanded, “The scrolls aren’t here, I think Deka took them!”
Shiira rested her weight on one leg, “Let’s hope he hasn’t shown anyone else. Are you certain Deka took them?”
“Well, they’re not where I left them, Rorik wouldn’t take them, and I- well I guess the Xirxus brothers could have taken them as well.”
“What a headache,” Shiira said, pinching her brow.
Kaara nodded, standing up and wiping the mud from her hands, “If it’s Deka he’s probably taken them to unlock their secrets. I guess it doesn’t look too good that he got his horns cut last night.”
“All he’s really going to do is snap his mind in two. Let’s hurry,” Shiira said looking to Argo and the rest of his friends, “I will handle this. The rest of you can return to the medical tent and wait there for me. You too Arika.”
As Kaara moved to leave with them, Shiira pulled her tail, “Not you. After all, someone’s gotta be the one who let me know about those scrolls right? If they ask, I have no connection to them aside from knowing what they can do. Think you can manage that?”
Kaara looked back and nodded, “Are those scrolls really that dangerous?”
“They are. Deka, as a prince, has likely been taught to read Ux scrolls before. Perhaps by Vilkus or one of his other tutors. He likely possessed some sort of inherent aptitude for it. However, reading Ux scrolls comes with a grave risk. It can shatter your mind, and make you disassociate from yourself. If you do not have a strong willpower, you can succumb to madness and begin to question what is reality and what is not. There are some scenarios in those scrolls which can lobotomize even the most iron-clad minds if they are not read with proper preparation.”
Kaara remembered the dreams she had experienced. Some of which had been brutal, and others which she had lived entire lifetimes which dwarfed her current one. She had lived several times longer in a dream than she had in this life. Even now, she could understand what Shiira was saying. What if this moment wasn’t truly real? What if she woke up in a different body with different memories the moment this life ended?
Did her life have meaning if it was not real?
Kaara shoved those thoughts from her head. She did not want to think about that. This life was real. She was real. She could feel, taste, touch, think, and believe.
The two of them arrived at Deka’s tent, pushing through its opening to find the prince unconscious over an unfurled scroll. The place was a lot less organized than it was before. Books laid strewn about the floor. Chairs had been tipped over, bits and baubles scattered, vases broken.
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Food had been left to rot out in the open. It looked to be days old. This amount of damage did not look like something which had happened within a single night. Kaara gulped, realizing she had not been inside Deka’s tent for quite some time now.
When they met, Deka had seemed to be well put together, but seeing the inside of this tent made her realize that it had been a mask for the chaos beneath. Someone like Deka despised failure. Kaara knew it from the first times they had tried and failed to make those scrolls work.
“Such a pitiful sight,” Shiira said, pulling the scroll from under his face. Deka’s hand came to life and clutched Shiira’s wrist, “Oh? Quite the grip you’ve got, lad.” Shiira said, effortlessly escaping his grasp, “Welcome back to reality, Prince. Did you have fun?”
“What… who…” Deka blinked. There were dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. His normally pale skin was now a ghostly white. He looked as if he had not slept for years. She shook his head, “Dekadimus Alveridan, inheritor of the Ziikiro…” He muttered to himself, glaring as Shiira collected the scrolls, “What are you doing? Give those back! Stealing from nobility is-”
“A crime punishable by death, yes yes, young Prince. Although, this is not yours to begin with, is it?”
“They are mine! They are rightfully mine!”
“They are not. And you should take a good look in the mirror to recognize that. You’re only one failed scenario away from having a mental break.”
“Who are you to tell me-”
“Shiira Tibur, Life Godslayer of the Greatwyrm Malikala the Sun Eater. Or has your mind been torn so much you’ve forgotten who you speak to, boy?”
Deka fell silent, a recognition in his eyes of where he was and who he was, “How did you find out about this?” He glanced over at Kaara, “You-”
“Kaara did try to keep your secret, Prince. But did you honestly think I could not already see the signs of your deterioration at the hands of these scrolls? You are lucky I do not tell your father about what you’ve been doing in secret. What you tamper with is danger beyond your comprehension.”
Kaara knew Shiira was bluffing. The last thing she wanted was for anyone else to know about these scrolls. And yet, she was not exactly lying either. While Kaara was good at the art of telling half truths and never lying, Shiira was a master. Even if they took the scrolls, Deka would not tell anyone. Argo would be safe, and no one would know to question how she came to know of the scrolls in the first place.
Deka stood up, walking around the table towards them, “I can handle these scrolls. I’ve already solved one of the tests. I am worthy of solving the rest.”
“Good for you, Prince. But judging by the crazed look in your eye, you’ve sacrificed too much to find only one answer.”
Red lightning arched from his shoulders, “By my right as the crown Prince of Itaro I lay claim to those scrolls. I cannot let you take them from me! Recuso-”
“Sleep.”
Deka fell face first onto the floor with a sickening CRACK!
Shiira clicked her tongue, “Damn brat really thought a simple Recuso technique would be enough to fight me? He really was crazy.” She packed up the scrolls and hid them beneath her shawl, “Get him into bed, Kaara. I will rehabilitate the idiot prince when he wakes up in eight hours. For now, we’ve got what we need.”