My eyes went wide. The Dungeon Master had brought Razorbeak up here? So many questions popped into my head all at once, but it was Ferrisdae who spoke first. “The Master of Dungeons?” she asked.
I was about to say something when Oristrella giggled like a teenager, swaying back and forth. That… hadn’t been the reaction I was expecting. It was pretty shocking, actually, coming from what was supposed to be a scary, evil Dragon.
“The very same,” she confirmed with a nod. “He came not too long ago. I was wary, of course. I mean, who has ever seen a Human with that much raw magical power, you know? But he didn’t just talk, and… Oh, I can’t tell you two, this is a professional meeting.”
By the way her face turned red and she looked away, the implications were obvious.
“We’re very curious about him, too,” I said, placing my hands together on the table. “And your followers are pretty worried about you because of him. They say they haven’t seen you in quite some time.”
That gave Oristrella pause, her grin slipping, and she stood up straighter. “That may well be a fair cause of concern,” she admitted. “But, you see, I’ve been reading.”
I waited for her to continue, but it seemed like that was the end of her statement. “Is that what’s on the glowing rectangle we heard about?” Ferrisdae asked. “More books?”
“More than you can imagine,” Oristrella said with a nod. “And I’ve been spending night after night here learning the languages required to read the books on this tablet. It’s been quite the thrill.”
“More books than you have here in your marvelous library?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I felt that I was in the right to be skeptical, but she just laughed at my disbelief.
“That’s right, little Halfling,” she said smugly. “And from unknown languages I’ve never seen nor heard of before. I take trips out into the world between kidnappings, you know, so I have seen quite a lot over many of your lifetimes. I have not encountered these languages anywhere. I knew I most certainly had to have it the moment I laid eyes on it and its mysterious text.”
“And you offered up your dungeon for it?” I asked incredulously.
“I offered up everything for it. Material things are just that, I can always get more,” Oristella said defensively. “However, he was only interested in the dungeon and myself. He had to work extra for the latter, but he didn’t complain.”
“Okay, I believe you,” I said, holding my hands up. My gaze traveled to the stone rectangle she called a tablet. From her reaction to it, I was more curious about it than before. “May we see the tablet? You have me curious about it now.”
“No,” Oristrella said quickly and forcibly. She clutched onto it with both hands. “It’s mine, and I won’t let it out of my sight.”
“Did you fall asleep because you were studying it for so long?” Ferrisdae asked.
Oristrella hesitated, but then nodded. “Like I said, it is quite thrilling.”
I had to stare at her for that. Dragons could stay awake for days, possibly even weeks at a time. If she had gone on to the point of exhaustion, who knew how long she had been awake? I coughed, averting my eyes when I realized I was being rude.
“Warchief Corez asked us to come and see if there was any way to break up your, what was the phrase he used…” I paused, thinking. “‘Dalliance with the stranger,’ right. The Coldspring Clan is worried about you.”
The Dragon huffed and pulled out one of the stone chairs easily before sitting down. “Corez doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Oristrella said dismissively. “He never takes breaks and never leaves the clan by itself. If anything, he needs to find a mate far more than I do.”
“But you haven't left your library in weeks, right?" I asked. 'You can see how they could be worried?”
“Yes,” she conceded, after a few moments. “I suppose I can see how my attitude towards the clan and my dungeon could be somewhat alarming to them. But that is outside of your purview, Dungeon Inspector. People far older than you have come in here trying to tell me what to do, and they didn’t last very long. I won't take demands from what is essentially a toddler."
“I’m not trying to make waves,” I said, holding my hands up again. I didn't take offense to her words; she was a Dragon, it was natural. “It was a request from Corez that I’m honoring, is all.”
Oristrella scoffed and crossed her arms. “Fine, I can see that,” she said. “But you came for my help, not to lecture me in place of my subordinates.”
“That’s true, and while I’m very disappointed with what’s going on here…” That earned me a sharp glare from Oristrella, which I ignored. “... We still need to make it to Razorbeak’s caravan in one piece.”
“I’ve said what I said, and I’ve told you that it would be difficult to allow you a path forward.”
I nodded, and began reaching into my Dimensional Pocket. “I didn’t come without tribute, Lady Oristrella, and I think it’s something you may value quite highly,” I said, smiling for the first time. She didn’t look convinced, likely because of the sheer amount of books she claimed to receive, but I was optimistic. “As you know, the writer known as Norsky perished earlier this year.”
Oristrella stiffened immediately. Strangely, I noticed Ferrisdae did the same. I continued. “Norsky was hard to track down, as it was just a pen name, but Sophia Blair laid down the groundwork to find his widow before the fox became liaison to the Mages Guild. With her leads, we did find Norsky’s wife. She had a mostly finished first draft of the final book of his bestseller series, Of Dragons and Dungeons.” I pulled the scroll case out of my pocket and laid it on the table between us. “I’ve brought you that draft today.”
Both ladies erupted from their seats.
“You had that on you this entire time and you didn’t tell me?!” Ferrisdae shouted, standing and slamming her palms on the table.
“You had such a precious artifact and you were carrying it around with you in an ordinary scroll case like some fool?!” Oristrella shouted at the same time. She also slammed a fist on the table, but her strike caused it to crack along the middle.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I looked between the two women, confused. Sophia’s notes had said that there would probably be a strong reaction to the manuscript, but this was unexpected. “Ferrisdae, you didn’t ask,” I told her, then shifted my gaze to Oristrella. “And this was how it was given to us, Lady Oristrella. Had I known that there were… problems with the method of transportation, I would have rectified it.”
“I could have told you that!” Ferrisdae huffed. “Norsky's death was one of the worst things to happen in the literature world since Filfren tanked his Bride of the Prince series with senseless drivel!”
I looked at Oristrella, who was nodding vehemently. Clearly, I was the one in the wrong here. "I'll file a formal complaint once we're back in the office, then," I said, trying to cut whatever this was off before it could grow.
"I am terribly sorry, Lady Oristrella," Ferrisdae said. "If I had known, then things would have been different."
"I can tell," Oristrella replied. She looked me over in disdain. "I've always said Halflings were just tamed Goblins. I bet this one has never even read Tigrest, let alone Pojlok."
I opened my mouth to rebut her claims, but realized that it would have been in anger. I stopped myself. Nothing good would come from an outburst no matter how enamored she was by the tribute. It would be better to keep my mouth shut.
"He's usually far smarter than this," Ferrisdae said. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting him to have such a disdain for peak literature. I may even have to switch mentors at this point."
I fixed Ferrisdae with a flat stare, but she was too busy with Oristrella to notice. I was starting to feel like this was getting personal.
"That's right, you're a Junior Inspector, aren't you dear?" Oristrella asked. She took a seat and Ferrisdae did the same.
"Yes ma'am," Ferrisdae said proudly. "Youngest to be accepted. Well, based on Human age equivalencies."
Oristrella waved her hand dismissively. "Humans, just as bad as Halflings," she claimed, looking at me as if daring me to refute her. I continued to keep my mouth shut. Her eyes wandered to the scroll case between us. "This is an excellent tribute. Ferrisdae, please give my regards to little Sophia when you next see her."
"I absolutely will," Ferrisdae said with a smile. "And now, I have to ask…"
Oristrella returned the smile. "Come back for the next inspection," she said, apparently knowing what Ferrisdae was going to ask. Not as though it wasn't easy to tell. "Bring me some of your favorite books and I may let you read it."
Ferrisdae's face brightened. "Absolutely, Lady Oristrella, I'll make sure to let the chief know that I was specifically invited back."
"That's a good girl," the Dragon cooed. She kept one hand on the tablet and now her other hand on the scroll case, protective of both. "You know, this whole situation reminds me of the fourth Of Dragons and Dungeons book."
"The Saturnine Mirror," Ferrisdae said excitedly. "Do you mean when Sébastien meets with the Queen of the Shae over the ocean's territory dispute with Ralk?"
I arched an eyebrow. Ocean's territory dispute? What in the world was a Shae?
"Almost, darling, though I can see where you're coming from," Oristrella said. "The ocean arc was one of the greats, wasn't it?" Oristrella and Ferrisdae nodded along with one another. I continued to sit still and let whatever this was run its course. "But no, I'm talking about Sayyas and the enigmatic Mr. Frost."
"Of course you would love Mr. Frost," Ferrisdae practically sighed. "I will admit that I had some reservations about that storyline when it first started, but when he used the Saturnine Mirror to save Sayyas and thwart Sébastien, I cheered. Almost got kicked out of the library. I had no idea that having the villain, sorry, antagonist, win would lead to such a delightful kerfuffle."
"In Barquala, on the northeastern continent, they have a troupe who act out scenes from Of Dragons and Dungeons almost exclusively," Oristrella said. "They're wonderful, the magical duel after Sébastien and Mr. Frost work together to finish off the rampant nature god is so well choreographed that I invited them to perform here, once. None of the Kobolds appreciated anything but the fighting."
What the hell was this story? Ferrisdae finally glanced at me. She looked amused. Amused! I couldn't help it. I scowled.
"I hope you'll forgive me, Lady Oristrella, but I think we'll need to be moving sooner rather than later," Ferrisdae said apologetically. "Would this be sufficient in helping us traverse the blizzard to get to Razorbeak's caravan?"
"It is more than sufficient, little Ferrisdae," Oristrella said, standing. "Come over here so I can give you a gift. Just you, however. My mood has soured on your senior."
I did my best to not say anything. To just let it go. Oristrella’s boon would impart Ferrisdae with one or two magical abilities that would help us get through the storm. We were getting what we came for. I had to let it go.
Ferrisdae stood and walked around the table. She was beaming as she looked up at her fellow reader. "I really appreciate your help, Lady Oristrella," she said. "Please, call me Ferry, if it pleases you."
"Think nothing of it, little Ferry," Oristrella replied with a smile. "And, now that we have bonded over mutual love of great literature, Ori is fine."
How did she keep getting away with this?!
Oristrella looked down at Ferrisdae, nearly two heads taller than the short Elf, and reached out. Her palms covered my junior’s eyes, and her fingers intertwined with blonde hair. There were no words of magic spoken, no signs made; Dragons had an innate magic within them that bypassed all of the preparations the lesser races had to do to perform magic. Instead, after a few seconds of holding Ferrisdae’s head, Oristrella leaned down and kissed her on her crown.
I stiffened, knowing exactly what the Dragon had done. She pulled away from Ferrisdae, and when my blushing junior opened her eyes I noted a silver sheen in her emerald green eyes.
“Dragon's blessing?” I asked, almost not believing it.
A Dragon’s blessing was a rarity. In all of my travels I could count the number of people who had received them on both hands. It was something that could only be given every century or so, though only Dragons knew the timing and they were fine with letting us lesser races guess. It showed other Dragons that a person had been favored by one of their kind, as well as imparting other gifts.
Ice sight, for one, would allow Ferrisdae to see through any kind of snow or ice, magical or mundane. That was one we knew about and came specifically for, though that was less a blessing and more a temporary boon. This one was going to last a lot longer than we needed it to.
The receiver would also instinctively know what kind of magical gifts they received, so I made a mental note to ask her about those later.
Ferrisdae gasped at my words, causing her benefactor to laugh. “It may be capricious of me, but I have been in an extraordinarily good mood lately,” Oristrella claimed, plucking a few of Ferrisdae's errant strands of hair and tucking them behind the Elf's ear. “And your tribute is worth it, little Ferry. The blessing looks good on you.”
“T-thank you so much Lady… Ori,” Ferrisdae stammered before composing herself. “Thank you, Ori. I’ll be sure to bring you more to read at the next inspection. I’m not sure what I can give you that you don’t already have, but I’ll try my best.”
“The Department of Dungeons has an extensive list of the items in my library,” Oristrella said dismissively. “I’m sure you can find something to pique my interest.”
It was true, too. As much as I hated to admit it, Sophia had done an extraordinary job of organizing everything we had on the White Wyrm.
“I won’t let you down,” Ferrisdae promised, bowing her head.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Oristrella said with a smile. “Now, I have given you what you need to make it to the caravan, and I have told you all I’m willing to about my newest darling. Now it’s time for you both to leave so that I may enjoy this story.”
“Thank you very much, Ori, thank you again,” Ferrisdae said with a another very quick bow. Smiling, she spun on her heel and started moving towards the door.
I quickly got up, facing Oristrella first with a bow of my own. “Thank you, Lady Oristrella,” I said, keeping my voice civil. There was still the list of complaints to go through, but I recognized that this wasn't the time anymore.
Oristrella waved me off dismissively, but by then I was already following in Ferrisdae’s footsteps.