Chapter 211
Jay and his friends hung out for a bit while they waited for someone to return with their requested books. It wasn't Glenda that knocked loudly on their door before the door swung open and a rolling cart with a few books on it was pushed in to the room. The man that had delivered the cart was as tall as Glenda, but thinner, and his leather armor did not bear the Librarian's seal.
He was older, with thin gray hair cut close to his scalp. He looked like a grizzled older army general, not a librarian. At least not the kind of librarian Jay was used to dealing with back on Earth. The Librarian didn't say anything but offered a quick nod to the group before he turned and left, closing the door behind him as he did so.
Norri called out “Thank you!” in a sing song voice before the door had closed entirely. They heard the Librarian grunt but the door closed before any words could be made out.
“Well. Let's see what we have,” Jay said with a smile as he got up and rolled the shelving unit over to their round table. He picked up a book and handed one to each of those seated at the table.
Sha'li smiled in thanks as Jay handed her a thick book bound in purple leather and held shut by an iron locking clasp. The book was heavy and each corner of the book cover was capped with a triangle of metal held in place by a shiny rivet.
An oval shaped sheet of metal had been attached to the front leather cover through the use of two shiny rivets that kept the oval in place, centered on the book's front cover. The oval had a title engraved in to the metal.
Compendium of First Hand Accounts: The Emerald War
Sha'li turned the book over in her hands. It was heavy and awkward to hold. She rested it on the table and worked at the clasp until it popped open. “What am I looking for?” she asked.
M'redith smiled at her, “Icemaiden. Look for that word or anything that might refer to them. You can skim the book, you don't have to read all of it.”
“Anyone ever hear of the Emerald War?” Sha'li asked the group and they all shook their heads no as they examined their own books. Even M'redith hadn't heard of it.
The other books were all unique as well. Aiden's book for example was bound with hard wooden covers that had been stained a dark brown. Its pages were stiff and blank until viewed through a small magnifying glass that was attached to the book with a length of red cord. The glass did not magnify at all but rather revealed the invisible text written on the pages of the book.
Even the title was blank until one looked at it through the circle of glass. Aiden held the little glass up to one eye, closed the other eye, and slowly read the title to himself.
Compendium of Forbidden Acts, Vol XI
Aiden showed off his book to the others at the table and they were all suitably impressed by the odd book, but all of their books were a little odd.
“What's the title?” Norri asked.
Aiden replied, “Compendium of Forbidden Acts Vol XI.”
M'redith looked worried, “Volume eleven? How many forbidden acts can there possibly be? And should we really be trusting Aiden with forbidden acts?”
“What!? I'm trustworthy! All I do is eat for Gaia's sake!” Aiden complained as he used both arms to protect his book so that M'redith wouldn't take it away from him.
M'redith made a hrmmm noise but relented. “Fine. But I don't want to see you end up in jail or prison for copying anything you read in there.”
Aiden looked up a little worriedly. “I don't either!”
The others laughed.
“Don't worry. I'll just look for Icemaiden stuff. I've no desire to go evil any time soon,” Aiden calmly explained before he wiggled both eyebrows up and down just to show he was still the same old goofy Aiden.
The group quieted down for a bit as everyone read their books. Sha'li flipped her pages fast at first but gradually slowed down as she would get sucked in to whatever first hand account she was reading. Norri was scanning her pages fairly quickly. Aiden was hunched over his book with the glass lens held up to one eye as he flipped pages.
M'redith held a thick book that was over a foot wide and tall. It read Atlas of Ancient Realms and was mostly maps.
“Why do you think they would bring us an atlas? Where in here would I find anything about Icemaidens?” M'redith wondered aloud. The others were too engrossed in their own books to answer save for Jay.
“Maybe there was a place named after them?” Jay wondered.
“Ew. So I'll have to read every little place name? This is going to take forever,” she hissed under her breath but complained no further. She bent over the opened atlas and began to methodically go over it page by page.
Jay's book was probably one of the most interesting. Carver's Grimoire of Ancient Relics was chock full of weird magical items and devices. Jay could see himself reading the book just for fun given the chance, but they were not there just to have fun. He began to search through it to find any mention of Icemaidens.
Norri's book was smaller than any of the others and had a simple leather cover but the pages were onion skin thin. Skinner Wars, Atrocities & Lessons Learned was written along the binding of the book. The covers were blank.
Norri sighed and got to work. The room was warm, the lighting wasn't too bright, and they were all content and full from just eating. It was the perfect time for reading.
Time passed as the entire group paged through their assigned books.
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We set ambush points along a path with a 90 degree turn that was surrounded with vegetation. Our men took positions up along the outer edge of the curve so that their attacks would overlap. The elves approached silently and moved faster than any human group would as if they could sense what was ahead without having to look. They did not, however, sense our men and the ambush was triggered once the entirety of the elven line had passed in to the ambush zone.
Our mages opened fire and threw prepared streams of magic and elemental projectiles that hurtled towards the elves but with little effect. Before even the elves themselves could act a single individual bearing the sigil of a snowflake on her chest who stood in the center of their formation made a sudden motion with one finger and a shimmering dome snapped in to existence and completely covered the elven group.
A flick of her wrist and the dome pulsed and sent out a wave of icy blue light that shot out through the surrounding area. Anything that stood above knee height was cleaved in half out to a distance of a few hundred feet from the elven position. Men, warriors, plants, trees, rock formations, other animals, everything around us was thrown in to chaos as a fountain of plants, blood, and body parts were scattered across the area.
Our men fell to the ground in pieces, and as I watched the dome collapsed and the elves moved quickly and dispatched their attackers without opposition, one by one, using their blades. Our unit was entirely wiped out while the elves suffered not even a single injury.
I alone escaped unharmed. As the primary scout my job was to observe my unit's ambush from a distance. I have done so and I tell you this: Beware the Icemaidens. - Compendium of First Hand Account – The Emerald War
“That was all that I could find in the entire book. I think the elves and humans didn't get along very well,” Sha'li said with a frown.
Norri looked sick and shook her head, “I don't think you're going to like this.” She read aloud from her book, still open in front of her.
Other prisoners were kept for target practice. The Icemaidens would use them to hone their craft and then dispose of them without the slightest emotion. They did not appear to consider humans to be any more than animals, and unwanted ones at that.
The injured were killed not out of any sense of mercy but instead due to the fact that the noises they made in their pain was considered distracting by the practicing Icemaidens. Their targets were left unrestrained as a way of offering up the illusion of hope, but none made it out alive save for those kept for other purposes. - Skinner Wars, Atrocities and Lessons Learned
Sha'li frowned and tapped one fingernail on the table slowly. “Am I the bad guy?” She spoke slowly and was still frowning when she had finished.
M'redith frowned as well and shook her head. “You're you. No one else, no matter what class you have. The class doesn't make the person.”
Norri smiled sadly and reached out to pat Sha'li on the back. “We still like you.”
The scent of daisies and pepper filled the room and Norri wrinkled her nose.
“Pepper?” Norri remarked to Sha'li, who shrugged in response.
“No control – remember?” Sha'li answered with a light smile.
Norri smiled as well and shrugged as if it weren't a problem.
“I'm afraid to ask to hear the next one,” Sha'li said with a crooked smile and a slightly worried expression.
The group was quiet for a moment and Jay spoke in to the silence.
“Well I guess I'll go next. This is from Carver's Grimoire of Ancient Relics,” Jay said as he began to read what he had found.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Davic's Lava Stole – very rare – This stole is powered not by ambient magic but instead is powered by any ice attacks directed at the wearer. Any ice attack directed at the wearer is instead entirely negated – the mana used to cast it is absorbed by the stole and stored. Once the mana reaches a critical point the wearer is presented with a list of all attackers that have directed ice attacks at the wearer.
The wearer of the stole may pick one attacker from the list. Once selected, the entirety of the mana stored is used to trigger a lava based attack that seeks out the selected party. The lava inflicts one point of lava damage for every point of mana expended. Ice abilities may not interact with the lava attack and will neither protect nor prevent the damage
This stole was used to end the Emerald War and shatter not only the Icemaiden's Empire but their authority over elven-kind as well. Its present location is unknown.
Jay pursed his lips and sighed. “Is anyone else getting the feeling that Icemaidens weren't well liked?”
Aiden nodded, “They weren't well liked but it seems like they were well feared.”
Norri shrugged, “Sha'li doesn't seem so scary to me.”
M'redith raised an eyebrow, “That's because you're not fighting her. Of course she isn't scary right now.”
Norri shrugged again. “Still. Doesn't seem fair to assume Sha'li is bad just because Icemaidens were known to be really terrible people apparently.”
Sha'li smiled. “I'm glad you guys are all taking this so well because it's freaking me out a little.”
Aiden gave her a pat on the back before he opened his book up.
“My turn?” Aiden asked and the others all nodded. “Right then,” he said and began to read.
Compendium of Forbidden Acts, Vol XI – The forcing of an advanced class on to a basic frame is fraught with not just difficulties but dangers as well. While the process might at first seem successful as time wears on issues start to crop up. Class Abilities that don't work as they should, abilities that cost too much mana, mana not regenerating properly, sudden inability to gain experience points – there are too many possible issues to list.
How exactly the elves manage to have so many combat units with advanced classes is a matter of dispute. How do their bodies handle the strain of an advanced class? Do they suffer? How do they force their bodies to generate advanced classes rather than the basic array of fighter, mage, healer, scout? Where do they get so many Icemaidens?
It is quite possibly one of the most important questions of our generation as the Emerald War wears on – how is an advanced class obtained? Humans do not seem to have any easily obtainable method of doing so. As long as this is the case humans will be on the losing end of the war.
With that in mind, our mages have developed the following method of forcing a human to trigger an advanced class with the use of specialized stones. Unfortunately, the process is ultimately fatal to the user, and humans rarely live longer than five years once ascending to their new class. Five years is plenty of time to fight when a war is on however. The process is as follows:
“Er, this one seems to be about... Gaia this seems awful. They did something to their warriors to force advanced classes on them. It killed them after a few years but during those few years they were given advanced classes to fight against the elves with,” Aiden finally said.
Sha'li looked guilty. “I didn't know elves and humans had fought that much. How long ago was this anyway?”
Norri looked up, “A few thousand years ago I think? Like, eight or nine? It's been a long time.”
“Well that explains why no one talks about it anymore. It's older than ancient history.” Sha'li said with a sigh. “Why couldn't there be some happy books about elves?”
M'redith smiled, “There most likely are – but we asked for books about homicidal merciless killing machines called Icemaidens apparently – so that is what we get. Next time we'll ask specifically for stories about elves and humans getting along. Promise. Ok?”
Sha'li seemed to brighten a bit and nodded as her hair flashed red and purple in streaks.
“What about you M'redith? You find anything?” Jay asked and M'redith smiled sadly.
M'redith opened her book. Displayed across the two pages was a large map that showed a continent that was a large land mass that spanned both north and south of the equator – much like north and south America. The map was shaded various colors. There were small enclaves of brown dotted about the left hand page, but the enclaves were small and sparse.
On the right hand page the entire map was shaded in blue and it spilled out on to the left hand page as well. It spanned most of the northern half of the continent and the entirety of the southern one.
“The brown areas are the human ones. Notice anything about them?” M'redith said.
Sha'li frowned. “There aren't very many of them – and they're rather spread out too. The elves seem to have most of the land.”
M'redith nodded and made a hrm noise. “Not just elves – Icemaidens. The elves were ruled by the Icemaidens, and they ruled over everything you can see that is shaded blue.”
“So almost everything,” Aiden said as he turned the book slightly.
M'redith nodded. “Yup. Whatever the Emerald War was about, the Icemaidens almost wiped humanity out on this continent.”
“Will anyone be upset that I'm an Icemaiden?” Sha'li asked worriedly and the group wasn't quite sure how to answer that. Of course it was M'redith that finally spoke – she often seemed to know just what to say.
“I think anyone that knows their ancient history would be shocked and worried to see a living Icemaiden in the city. Lucky for you not many people know their ancient history. The fact that you are elven but not a full blooded elf and are comprised of human blood as well would be a point in your favor. I think most people will have no idea what you are. None of us did,” M'redith pointed out.
Sha'li nodded and looked relieved as the scent of peppermint and loam filled the air around the group. For a moment the group could feel Sha'li's sense of relief before the sensation rapidly faded as Sha'li struggled to reassert control over her body.
A sudden commotion outside of the room drew the group's attention and after a perfunctory knock a worried looking Librarian opened the door and waved at the group.
“Big problem. You come now!” the Librarian said as she rested one hand on her sword.
Jay startled and raised an eyebrow. Librarians carried fighting daggers in the library, not swords. What was going on?
“NOW!” the Librarian yelled which startled the group in to motion. They collected their things and left the books on the table but closed them so as not to ruin the book's binding. Even in an emergency it was expected that people would treat the books with care.
The group followed the Librarian down the hallway and had without thought fallen in to their normal marching order that they used whenever they expected combat.
Yelling could be heard coming down the stairwell from above them and the Librarian took the stairs two at a time as the others hurried to keep up with her. They reached the top of the stairs and stepped in to the center of the library where the Librarian brought them to a halt.
A Guild Guard unit was just inside the entrance of the Library and was yelling at the desk Librarian.
“We're here on orders! If they're here you have to hand them over!” the Guard said in anger as he waved one fist in the direction of the seated desk Librarian.
The Guild guards were all fully armored and were carrying swords as well as fighting dagger. They all wore their helmets – not a good sign. The guards hated wearing their helmets. They only wore them when they had to – or when they thought they might be useful. There were five of them – four guards and a Sergeant.
The Sergeant was still yelling at the Librarian, who had up until this point remained calm.
The Librarian leaned towards the ranking guard without standing up and shushed him.
The Sergeant's face turned bright purple in frustration. “Fine! If you're not going to give them to us then we'll get them ourselves. Move aside!”
As the guard stepped into the Library the other guards behind him drew their weapons and stepped forwards.
Crashes could be heard throughout the Library as well as from the front desk as the seated Librarian shot to her feet in one sudden motion. Her seven foot frame leapt on to the counter and drew her fighting knives.
Both knives burst in to a shimmering glow.
Teal.
“This land not belong to you,” the woman at the front desk said as she jumped down off the desk and blocked the guards from proceeding any further. As she did so a popping sound was heard and a golden transparent shield suddenly shimmered around her.
“This land belong to Gaia!” said another Librarian as he crept out of his hiding place in one of the nearby rows of books. He held his fighting knives at the ready and moved to flank the guards.
Additional Librarians filtered quickly in to the entry area, each with their weapons drawn – knives, swords, one held a fork – and each weapon glowed with a teal light. As each approached the gathered guards a shimmering gold shield would entirely surround the Librarian.
Additional guards were entering through the front door and were readying magic to assist their comrades.
As Jay's group watched more and more additional Librarians arrived and began to prepare for combat. They watched as Glenda strode forward in her lacquered armor, her title glowing over her head.
The Sergeant spoke to her in an attempt to defuse the situation. “Give us the girl and we can go. Why are you being so difficult? You're librarians!”
It wasn't a great attempt as de-fusings went.
Glenda frowned. “I greet her. Welcome her. You leave now. While you still can.”
“We're not leaving without her!” the Sergeant insisted.
“Then we fight.” Glenda said and grinned a very unpleasant looking grin. She withdrew what to Jay looked like a poker chip made out of clay. It was black and gold and Glenda held it in front of the Sergeant and broke it in half.
“Now we really fight,” Glenda said and dropped the shards to the floor. She and her fellow Librarians surrounded the guards and dwarfed them.
For the first time since he had arrived at the Library the Sergeant paused to consider where things were and where they were headed. He realized that things had gotten away from him somehow but was unsure of how to recover control. He wasn't a very good Sergeant and had failed upwards until that day. Today he had failed in a spectacular and entirely new way.
He had pissed off the Librarians.