Silas POV

The monkey girl hopped off into the trees, pushing herself as far as she could go. Her whole body had been unsteady from the vomiting, bleeding, and near drowning that I had caused her. If she had only stayed, I could have healed the poor creature. Braxton sat on the ground next to me moping. "Come on, Braxton. We need to get a real bath and a full night of sleep. We are done here for today."

Braxton looked up at me with tears in his eyes. He looked like a smelly drunk crying over a broken toy. "Why did the fluffy monkey leave, Silas?" He pouted, which looked ridiculous because of his battle scars and a short beard.

"Honestly, Braxton?" I asked, pitying the state of my dear friend. He still smells of vomit. His eyes stared at me waiting for me to continue. "You scared the monkey away with your desire to play with her."

"Why is she so scared to play?" He pouted.

I just shook my head at my drunk friend. The monkey girl was gone, and her wolf "familiar" had run into the cave although I don't believe that wolf was a familiar at all. Simian beasts typically can't use summoning magic like that. How could she have a wolf as familiar? Plus, the wolf was using powerful lightning magic, which is impossible for a normal wolf to do. This girl, that wolf, and the missing book must be connected somehow. Didn't that fairy say the thief used lightning magic? "What kind of magic did the thief use, Braxton?"

"Thief? Huh?" Braxton looked at me confused.

I sat him down on the ground. War general, my ass. He can't hold his liquor just like everyone else. "Focus, Braxton. What magic did the grand fairy say the book thief used against him?"

"Hmm…" Braxton seemed to be thinking hard. "The thief was blasted by the…fairy’s lightning magic… I think."

"Okay, but what magic did the thief use?" I asked again.

Braxton ran his fingers through his hair. "The same as the fairy…maybe…"

Could the wolf be the thief? Now, there's a wild idea. A wolf with a human-like form is a beast person. But a wolf? None have been seen for centuries. Could one exist? Better yet, can a beast person use lightning magic? I thought their element magic was terrain magic. Is the monkey girl hiding the thief?

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Si, can we go back to the guild now?" Braxton said, trying to stand up again.

Going back to the guild was the last thing that I wanted to do. My instincts told me to chase the wolf into the cave that disappeared or find the monkey girl.

Braxton tugged on my shirt. "Come on, Si. Help…" Braxton let out a large burp. "Me get back to…the guild."

Braxton was pitiful and a deeper shade of green. Damn it. I will just have to hope the monkey girl and her wolf stay put. "Give me your hand." I sighed. With that, I carried the big, bad, war general of an orc back to the wizard’s guild. I prayed that we didn't miss our chance.

Once we reached the guild, Master Renaldy sent for us, but I put Braxton to bed. He had enough excitement for one day. I walked down the stairs of my dorm into the grand courtyard. Master Renaldy's office was on the west side of the courtyard with the other wizard guild employees. To North of the courtyard were the grand entry, an extensive lobby where job requests and reception took place, and the great dining hall where wizards could eat their fill. To the south of the courtyard were research laboratories, classrooms, practice fields, and the great library where all the wizards could practice their magic. On the east side, is where I was coming from, the dorms and the magic archive. From the outside, the guild looked like a castle or an impenetrable fortress. The thief proved that thought untrue.

After a maze of hallways, I made it. I dumped my lump of a friend on his bed. I turned him on his side to be sure he didn't vomit and choke in his sleep. I am not sure when he passed out exactly, but if not for my magic, I would have been crushed under his gigantic weight. My bed caught my fall as I clasped out of exhaustion. So many things flashed through my mind of things I needed to do, but my eyes closed without warning. The day had worn me out.

A loud pounding stirred me from my slumber. “Silas! Braxton!”

Huh? Who could that possibly be at this hour? No light came through the window, so it must still be night outside. Sitting up in my bed, I glanced over to see Braxton still snoring like nothing was going on. Got to love the effects of overdrinking.

“Silas! Braxton! Master Renaldy has summoned you!” The voice announced through the door.

I forced my body out of bed and hurried to the door. Opening the door, I saw little Polly Wog, a dwarf research assistant to Master Renaldy. “What in blazes does Master Renaldy want at this hour?” I exclaimed at the frustrated little dwarf.

“You must hurry. Where is Braxton?” Polly Wog responded.

“What does Master Renaldy want?” I repeated.

“For both of you to meet with him, right now.” Polly Wog answered.

I was too tired to do this back-and-forth game with Polly Wog. “Okay. Give me a brief reason why I should drag my hungover, giant, orc friend out of bed.”

Polly Wog looked past me to see Braxton half hanging off his bed while snoring loudly. “Master Renaldy wants to talk about the library thief and a dragon sighting.”

I wasn’t surprised about the first thing, but the second thing didn’t make any sense to me. Dragon sighting? Why would we care about a dragon sighting? Dragons can shift into people forms too, so they usually come and go as they please. “What about a dragon sighting?”

“One nearly destroyed a town last night.” Polly Wog stated.

“Does that mean we are going on a dragon hunt?” I asked. My voice became shaky from excitement. Could anyone have imagined that I might get to hunt a dragon in this day and age?

“Master Renaldy is waiting for you,” Polly Wog answered.

“Fine. I will wake the cranky, hungover orc,” I muttered.