Chapter 12: The Book Blessed by the Stars

Arriving in port Calima was delayed beyond their initial plan, certainly, but touching solid ground again was nothing short of its own sort of relief. Balthazar was thankful they had even made it that far. It had been a few days since the Vermillion Bird had come to their rescue, port security being relatively lax with the ship’s flying of Mist Alliance colors. The atmosphere was similar to Port Royale, people bustling back and forth. The crew of the Daybreaker were filing their reports with the sailors guild, Atma and Sienna tagging along, respectively reporting for Zephyr, and the Guild House acting as an in-between for the Pirates and Mist Alliance.

Balthazar couldn’t quite place it, but his mind felt as though it were in a haze ever since he stepped foot in town. He was dizzy, his head felt as though there was an odd pressure against his skull. He felt like a compass, drawn towards something, the only relief he felt coming as he faced towards the city center. He looked over a map of the city that Peony had given him, trying to make any sense of the odd sensation he felt. A library stood in the center of the city, impressive in size, certainly, but nothing compared to the Temple in Linia. He sighed, unsure of how to progress, figuring he’d wait for Atma and the others to come up with plans on where they were headed next.

“I figured you weren’t really just Sigurd, blondie,” Sienna laughed as she stepped out of the building with him. “But a prince? Now that would make for a pretty penny.” New to her outfit was a bandolier, to which she held her ax, casually ignoring its weight.

“And that would be the reason I said otherwise,” Atma half chuckled, a bit thrown off by her moxie as she slapped him on the back.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a bit like how in my line of work, you get used to wanting to punch someone one day, and taking them for drinks the next.” She paused, reconsidering her words. “Something along the lines of that.”

Atma half-heartedly chuckled, it was obvious that he wasn’t particularly comfortable talking with her. Balthazar took immediate notice, and tried butting in. “Sienna, anything worth knowing about Calima? I hear they have a pretty impressive library.” Atma mouthed a thank you, Balthazar smiling subtly to him. Still, he had at least some interest in the area.

“Ah, that’s boring, but for a bookish guy like you?” She tapped her chin with her finger, growing a devious grin. “Say, you care to join me on a treasure hunt?”

“Excuse me?”

Sienna wiggled her fingers, as if telling a ghost story. “Peony always hunts down local legends, and she told me of one where, long ago, before the library was a library, it was a temple to the Goddess, but its secrets were buried when enemies of the faith ransacked the place in search of its treasures. Unable to find them when the place burned to the ground. Now, somewhere in the old catacombs, there’s rumors of one last entrance to the hidden cache.” The last bit she spoke in a sing-songy tone.

Balthazar had admittedly heard stories of the waterways before, but never of a treasure trove. Calima had been on his list of places to visit, when it came to his interest in history and archaeology. Miles and miles had been discovered, with who knew how many left to be found. It was tempting, to say the least. “And you want to find it?”

“You’d better believe it. I’ll split the loot with you if we find it.”

Balthazar sighed, glancing over to Atma, who shrugged sheepishly, not wanting to answer, but with a familiar twinkle of curiosity in his eyes. Balthazar thought back to the temple in the forest, and how he’d found Faust. He didn’t have any other leads, on repairing Faust, or the odd sensation in his head, this one might be worth checking out. “Alright,” Balthazar answered, “But we’d best grab Alice and Locke if we’re going to do this. Locke would feel bad if we went off and got hurt, same for Alice, but she’d be jealous we didn’t invite her to come with us."

Locke was easy enough to find. Ever the loyalist, he hadn't strayed far, restocking supplies at nearby booths with money he'd hidden away among Balthazar's books, where he'd figured the pirates wouldn't check.

Alice wasn't particularly difficult to find either, standing perfectly still, skimming through a book at a stall. Sienna snuck up on her from behind, while the others were still catching up, and restocking with Locke. "Whatcha got there?"

Alice slammed the book shut immediately, shelving it back where she'd found it. "Just checking out some of what they've got, you know? Different places, different books."

"Endymion Nights Vol. 1 by 'Victory and Peace?'"

"It's a romance series," she blurted out, blushing, "bit of a sucker for it, you know? What's up? Where is everyone? What are we doing?"

Sienna raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. "We're going exploring. Your booky boyfriend gave me an idea to try hunting down some old stories about treasure in the city."

"Baltha-" Alice cut herself off. "Wouldn't it have been found by now? This city is old right?"

"Not necessarily. The catacombs sprawl all over the place, have different levels, and new areas are found all the time. Hell, there's even still stories of people getting lost down there." She grinned maliciously. "But that's not important. So there is something going on with you two, isn't there?"

Alice's eyes narrowed. "You heard nothing."

Sienna raised her hands in a fake surrender. "My lips are sealed." There was a gentle smile between the two, and a bit of relief, as they felt the tension between them fade away more and more. "Listen, I-" She stopped herself, glancing back to see Balthazar and the others about to join them. "Another time, Alice."

Her sister nodded, playing it off as the others caught up. "So where exactly are we starting this search?"

Balthazar caught up as Alice asked, lagging behind as much as he could to not get involved in anything they were talking about. "That's easy enough," Balthazar answered as he saw a bit of relief in Alice's eyes. He wasn't entirely sure of the talks she and Sienna had been having, but it'd clearly done them well. "I checked a map of the city, and there's a few waterways that seem to stem right from under the library. I say we start there."

Atma nodded, his enthusiasm returning at the prospect of old ruins. “We deserve to have at least a little fun after everything. No harm taking just a bit of time checking this out.”

Finding a way in was no problem, the people of Calima used the waterways frequently, paths and stairs leading down to the water line, and gondolas littering the networking paths, connecting all across the city. Some even mapping out some underground portions they could use to get around. Balthazar found himself at the front of the pack, flame in hand, searching for any clues to go off of. He rubbed his head, feeling the pressure on it greater and greater.

“You alright?” Atma leaned forward, checking in on the Mage.

“Okay, just… off. You?”

Atma seemed a bit embarrassed to answer at first. “You remember my story, right? It’s just difficult having someone so stuck in your mind show up when you thought you’d never see them again. I don’t know how Alice and her are managing.”

“You don’t talk to people a lot, do you?” Balthazar spoke before realizing what he’d said. “Sorry, I mean-”

“No, you’re not entirely wrong there. Most conversations I have tend to be political or scholarly. My brother aside, I’ve only had one real friend in my life before my pilgrimage.” He sighed. “I’d like to be better with people.”

“You do alright.” Balthazar relaxed a bit, trying to keep his voice down a bit to avoid echoing about too much in the tunnels.

“I can give a speech, make a political statement, but individual people are harder for me.”

“Well, I think you should try talking to her. It’s what helped you before, right? And it’s what helped Alice and Sienna both. My mom always told me, ‘it’s nice to be strong on your own, but being able to be weak around others is its own treasure.’”

Atma frowned a bit. “That’s easier said than done, I think.”

“Maybe, especially in the world we live in. But, you find the right people you can be weak around, and I think your world gets a lot brighter.”

“You’re probably right. I’ll give it a shot.” Atma stared out to the darkness of the tunnels. “Any clue what we’re looking for? You’ve been making a few turns here and there, but you don’t seem to be paying too much attention to the map.”

“I’m following the water, trying to take us upstream. All the maps of the city portray the water flowing out from the centerpoint.” And he was drawn like a compass towards the center of the city, but he didn’t want to mention that part aloud. “If we’re looking for anything? Maybe something like the symbols we saw at the forest temple. If what Sienna said was accurate, we might find answers that way.” They crossed a stone bridge leading over an intersection of water, coming to a stopping point just beyond it, a massive boulder made of brick and mortar lying in their path, debris from a prior cave in, that had simply been repaired around. Water still swept past, and peaking around didn’t reveal any alternative routes to get past. “Through here.”

“You’re sure?”

Balthazar rubbed the temples of his head. “Yeah.” He brought his hand up to his chin, his mind racing on how to best deal with the obstacle, without bringing the ceiling crashing down. “Earth Magic maybe? I could try-”

“Leave that to me.” Sienna pushed past him, and patted down the rock, trying to size it up. “Oh, this’ll be no problem.” Balthazar was curious, not expecting her to seem to have the magical solution, stepping back with Atma. Sienna took a deep breath, put one foot forward, and another back. Balthazar stood still in anticipation. Though, he wasn’t quite sure how to respond when she punched the boulder. Less so as it shattered, bits of brick splattering into the water and across the path. She wiped off her hands, the task said and done like it hadn’t even remotely been a concern. “Like I said.”

There was a bit of stunned silence across the group. “You are scarily strong.” Atma stepped forward, nudging a bit of the debris with his boot.

Balthazar couldn’t tell how much was her own brute force, and what was magical enhancement. He couldn’t tell much, if anything in the way of any magical exertion to try and strengthen herself. Either way, it was a stark reminder to not get on her bad side. “Right. Let’s err… keep going.” The particular path they were on extended for some time, not a sign of any others in the waterway. Balthazar could feel the sensation on his head now more than ever before, it was as though he couldn’t turn away, not so much out of pain, but a drive, a gravity. Eventually, a T-shaped fork, water flowing in from either side.

“Well now what?” Alice glanced down either side. “Your pattern of following the flow of water kind of doesn’t work here.

Balthazar faced the brick wall before them, and crossed over to get a closer look, wordlessly. It was hard to make out fully, but still there, even if worn from years of aging, were old runes from the worshipers of the Goddess. Alice walked up to him, aware of how unusually fixated he was, even for his interest in archaeology. “We’re here,” he said, patting the wall down, searching for something, like a man possessed. “There’s got to be a switch, or-”

Sienna tapped her foot impatiently. “Want me to bust this wall down too?”

“No! No.” He yelped, before turning back to the wall.

“Is he always like this?”

“No…” Alice mumbled a bit, tilting her head slightly, and backing off. “This is new.”

Balthazar stopped, his eyes landing on a circular indentation, which he wiped clean, revealing a bronze emblem. It was just like a Faust’s core, like his mark. “Fey. I.”

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“Fey, isn’t that-” Alice cut herself off, as Balthazar seemed to unconsciously remove the glove on his right hand, revealing the unfamiliar mark of Mercury, the mark shared with the emblem on the wall. “When did-”

Balthazar pressed the emblem, and poured his magic outward, feeling it flow into the wall, which rumbled and shuddered. The others backed off in shock, Alice dragging Balthazar back, as he remained in his trance-like state.

“A cave-in?!” Atma’s eyes darted about, trying to gauge the best way to run to make their escape. Right as he was about to lead them out, the rumbling stopped, and with a sonorous thud the brick wall made way for a large metallic door, which opened itself to them. “What the-”

Balthazar stepped forward, his mind ignoring the world around him for the sake of whatever was on the other side. It was almost like a ringing in his ears, not hearing a word the others said as he stepped inside. As he did, torches, completely independent of any action on his part, lit themselves, littered across the walls. Shelves, lab equipment, with scant few books to be seen.

“I’m going to owe Peony so much money for this…” Sienna curiously followed, glancing around. “Not really what I was expecting though, not really anything in the way of books for being under a library, and I can’t really see anything worth calling treasure.”

Atma was put off that such a place really existed. He traced the iconography on the walls with his eyes, similar, nearly exactly the same as the forest temple. “This place is ancient, but-” He reached down and picked up a stray book. “Arrogance and Hatred? A novel. That’s only…” He did some quick math in his head. “Forty-two years old. This place is old, but its seen visitors, relatively recently.”

“First edition,” Locke pointed to the cover. “I’d say its last visitor was long before any of us were born.”

Atma looked at other books scattered around. “None of these are non-fiction, It seems more like someone’s private collection of entertainment. It doesn’t really match up with any of this lab equipment.” He scratched his head. “Alice, you and Balthazar said Fey, right? Is that like the creatures of myth?”

“Sort of,” she spoke with reverence in her voice, as Balthazar stepped closer and closer to the center of the room, an altar with a lone tome atop it. “When we say Fey, we refer to an old House, House la Fey from ancient Arcadia. The home of the original Dark Mages. It’s a major part of our history, so we’re all taught about them. As our history tells it, well over a thousand years ago, a scion from House la Fey ended the great war between Arcadia and Arcana, for the first time in our history. He and his wife from Arcana’s House Megistus laid the foundations for Linia.”

Something seemed to click in Atma’s head as Balthazar laid hands on the book. “I think I remember hearing a related story. My ancestor fought alongside Mages to end a great war across the sea, it’s said she swore an oath of eternal brotherhood with them, it’s the Deponesian side of our first relationship with Linia.”

For Balthazar it was like pure clarity as traced his fingers across the cover of the book, black leather binding it, silver adorning it, including a cover bearing the same brand as the emblem he had used to enter the room. The pressure on his head, his mind was gone. He didn’t realize how wide he was grinning as he began to open it, nor did he realize the intense red light from above, and the heat descending towards him. Locke yanked him away from the altar, as a mass of flames crashed down where he’d been a moment before.

“What the-” Balthazar snapped to his senses, fully awake and aware, still clutching the grimoire.

“Balthazar, I need you awake and in the now!”

Balthazar’s gaze darted back to where he’d been a moment before, the mass of flames contouring and reshaping into that of a dragon, still made of pure flame. It roared bestially, an intense wave of heat blasting out. It was massive, nearly nine meters from its head to the end of its tail, glowing with embers popping off its body.

“The hell is that thing?” Sienna readied her ax, the others following suit with their weapons.

“That’s a fire elemental!” Balthazar found himself calling out without knowing where the information came from. “Salamander!”

Locke and Atma stepped up front as the creature clawed at the stone floor, singing it black. Locke raised his shield, and glanced back to Balthazar. “What’re our chances of running and making it?”

“He’ll catch us and torch us before we make it to the door, we fight or we don’t get out of here!”

“Peony can forget about me paying her for this…” Sienna grimaced and glanced around, trying to gauge what to do next. “You got a plan?”

Balthazar tightened his grip on the grimoire. “Made of fire or not, an elemental is still a physical form, we can still hit it if we can catch it off guard. Ice and Water are going to be our best bets here. I don’t suppose you can work any of that?”

Sienna gritted her teeth. “Not particularly well. Don’t exactly practice.”

Balthazar glanced back over to Alice. “I’ll take support, you’re going to find an opening and snuff out its fire, everyone else, I’ll enchant your weapons!” Salamander stomped with its right foreleg, taking in a deep breath, and stomping with its left. “Here it comes!” Balthazar raised up a wall of earth as the elemental spewed a torrent of flame, which coned out from the wall as it impacted, singing walls and books off to the side.

“Balthazar, that thing’s not stopping!” Alice called out, Salamander’s flames not weakening, converging even, into a controlled beam, that had the earth wall glowing, as if it were being melted through.

“Balthazar, leave this to me,” Atma called out, “Just like our duel!”

“This one’s for real, Atma.” Balthazar nodded, getting the idea, and with a swipe of his hand, and a snap of his fingers, Atma’s spearhead lit up with a frosty white glow. The prince rocketed off to the side, Salamander wholly focused on the conjured wall, missing as Atma kicked off of a wall from the side, and rammed his spear into its neck, crystals of ice spewing from the wound, and melting all the while as the elemental roared and flailed, its flame attack dispersing. Balthazar crumbled away the earthen wall, enchanting Locke and Sienna’s weapons with ice as Atma backed off, pulling away with his spear as the monster swiped at him with its flaming claws.

Sienna swung her axe full force into its head with a slight jump, just as it tried regaining its bearing, Salamander brutally slamming into the ground, jaw first, her ax buried in its skull. For a being of fire though, it wasn’t nearly enough to inflict any lethal damage. Smaller flames snorted from its nose, as Sienna ripped her axe free, the wound vanishing among the flames, and the elemental reared back for another blast of flame.

As it opened its jaws, with a swing of his icy broadsword into the beast’s chin, Locke slammed its jaws shut, rolling back as Sienna made another swing, batting Salamander’s head off to the side. Again, Atma leapt and stuck its head, and again it slammed into the ground, though this time, his spear pierced not only the dragon, but straight through its jaw into the ground, pinning it. “Alice, you’re up!” Atma called out as he leapt back, Sienna and Locke falling back with him.

“I’ll help hold him down!” Balthazar dropped to the ground, touching the bricks beneath him, stone constructs forming from below to try and shackle Salamander’s limbs.

“Extinguish!” Alice clapped her hands together, calling upon as much power as she could to summon up enough water to drown out the elemental, waves crashing together from either side, forming a massive dome to contain the creature. She interlocked her finger, her eyes holding a new intensity to them. “And freeze!” Her dome enclosed itself in ice, water still swirling around beneath, and encasing Salamander. She silently stared forward, trying to focus on maintaining such a massive and powerful casting, as the intense glow of Salamander dimmed.

“Stay on guard,” Atma ordered. “We stay on guard until we’re sure this thing is down.” He readied up his shield, just in case, Locke doing the same.

“I’ll take over the ice, you just focus on the water.” Balthazar snapped his fingers, another layer of ice forming. He wasn’t quite as adept at ice as Alice, but he would have to do, lest she give out before the monster was finished. He was quick to realize just how intensely she had to apply her magic, almost immediately having to double down on investing his energy, and constantly freeze.

“That thing’s not giving up, Balthazar…”

Salamander’s eyes still burned under the dome of ice and water, its form still visible, and an all too uncomfortable sound emanating from it. The water was boiling. Steam burnt a hole in the icy prison, Balthazar attempting to patch it, but the intensity of the heat was unlike anything he’d ever seen before, beyond his own flames, or any mage’s for that matter. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her fall to one knee. Between the strain of maintaining so much water, and trying to support the ice that was failing, she was running out of energy, and Balthazar nor Sienna were skilled enough to fully supplement her.

“Alice, drop the spell! If you burn out everything you’ve got, we’ve got not fall back for support!” Atma put himself between the dome, and the others, Locke loyally at his side. “Locke, we don’t let that thing pass.”

“Fall back, sir, your life is more important than mine.”

Alice released her magic, the water and ice remaining, but creating a cloud of steam as it boiled. She panted, surprised she’d been able to hold the spell for as long as she had. “Damn it…”

Balthazar grimaced, stepping up to hurl everything he could at the elemental. Lightning arced from his fingers to attempt to electrocute the beast in its watery prison, raising stone spikes from the earth to impale it, or icicles dropping from above. Anything he had, he threw at it, giving little care to his own stamina, so long as he could put the thing down. He kept it all concentrated on where the dome had been, as steam filled the room, enveloping them, and cutting away at their visibility. Balthazar lost sight of the others, and they him

Salamander was not simply made of fire, rather, it was fire itself, and still it burned, even weakened. It was like looking at hot coals, as some of the steam made way for the monster. No longer did its flames burn so intensely, nor did its wounds heal so instantaneously as they had before, steaming and smoldering, but not closing. It was pinned in place by Balthazar’s attempt to attack it,spikes holding it by its tail, and claws. Atma’s spear had long since melted away, left as little more than a slag heap on the ground. Balthazar panted, having burnt through nearly everything he had to try and put a stop to the elemental. The others would have to try and finish it. Once more it reared its head, its attention squarely on Balthazar. The steam was so intense, Balthazar wasn’t entirely certain if they knew where the fire was headed, isolated in a sea of white.

An idea came to mind. One last ditch effort. What if he redirected the flames, just as he’d done the lightning before? Salamander loosed a pillar of flame, cutting through the steam, directly at Balthazar. He didn’t have a sword, but he was more than familiar enough with fire magic to try. He held of his hand, igniting it ever so slightly. Almost immediately he was struck by the intensity, not burning, but he wasn’t sure how long he could last. It fought against him, not quite like natural or magical fire, well and truly alive. He grunted as the heat got worse, as he tried guiding the flames towards the ceiling.

The black mark on his hand pulsed with an ominous aura, and he felt a new sensation in his head, one he could only describe as revelation. He closed his eyes, opening them to find the Black Grimoire at his side, hovering just at eye level, its pages flipping themselves open to an entry. Balthazar grinned as his eyes met the page, and in an instant, everything became clear. “Siphon!” Balthazar adjusted the aura of his magic, it was darker, consuming, and in that instant, he felt a sense of euphoria as the flames were consumed, absorbed. Balthazar staggered a bit, readjusting to the new surge of power entering his body. If anything, he felt overcharged, like no power he’d ever known before.

Salamander’s flames let up, and the steam began to dissipate. Balthazar glanced back over to the grimoire, as it flipped to another page. “Oh.” He grinned. “Oh that’s real nice.” He raised his hands and lined up Salamander between his fingers. “Nova.” Salamander’s color drained, compressing to a single point at its core, its flames well and truly extinguished, then bursting into a sphere that carved away at anything in its radius. Truly nothing remained, except a smoldering crater, and wisps of pure magic flowing into the air.

“What the hell was that?” Sienna called out, the first he could see as the fog dispersed.

“Agreed, what did you just do?” Alice wafted steam out of her face, glaring at the perfectly cut crater in the center of the room.

Balthazar found himself a bit confused, disoriented, and the grimoire back in his hands. He opened the book, its contents filled with old Mage script, no longer flipping around as it once had. “I’m not entirely sure.”

“It worked, whatever that was.” Atma peaked over at the book. “Was that thing guarding this?”

Balthazar shrugged, returning to the opening pages. “I can’t say for sure. But this thing- I could just, I don’t know, feel it?” He traced his hand across the paper, his hand coming next to the same emblem that adorned the book and entrance to the mysterious laboratory. Fey. Tarot of I. Bearing the same mark of Mercury on his hand. Beneath, a signature from the writer. “Ebon la Fey. 2nd son of House la Fay.” He was completely still, despite wanting to shake in his boots. This grimoire was nothing short of an unmatched treasure. “This is his Grimoire! Ebon la Fey, his magic, his formulas, they’re all here! I don’t-”

Alice scrambled to get a look. “ I can’t believe it! This thing would have to be ancient! How is it still readable? What’s it doing here?!”

“So this thing is pretty valuable after all, right?”

“Sienna,” Alice answered, excitement building, “You couldn’t begin to put a price on this thing!”

“I suppose then, that that makes this a successful treasure hunt?” Atma glanced around the room, still alert.

“I’m all for never doing that again.” Locke sighed, sheathing his blade.

Balthazar grinned ear to ear. “I’m going to have to try and read this. There’s got to be answers here for so many different types of magic! Who knows what kind of history I could… could…” Balthazar staggered a bit, Alice and Locke catching him before he fell. He nearly dropped slack. “That last spell’s catching up-” His eyes felt heavy as if he were being swayed to sleep. “I’m okay.”

“I’ll carry him,” Atma offered. “Let’s hurry back to the surface, get some rest. I think we all deserve some down time after that.”

“Agreed.” Completely unanimous.

Balthazar was on Atma’s back for most of the journey, the prince carrying him with surprising ease, up until they saw daylight on the far end of one of the tunnels. They could hear some commotion outside, people shouting, and something far louder above. Atma set Balthazar down cautiously, a cacophonous beating of the skies above. They crept towards the entrance, trying to find out just what was going on.

“That sounds like one of ours,” Locke called out. “Our airships I mean, they have a real distinct sound to their engines, kind of like that.” He peaked out of the entrance, gazing out at the city, and the skies above. “Sir! That is one of ours! They have troops in the city!”

“What?!” Atma wore a look of confusion. “Let’s move, I want to know what’s going on out there.” He strode outside, Locke at his side, searching for any sign of a commander among the soldiers. Balthazar looked around meekly, looking up to the sky, seeing five, make that six, ships circling above. This wasn’t some small force, any more, and it would be a full on invasion fleet.

Locke pointed up at a few of the ships. “That’s the Marauder! And over there is the Midsummer Night! And that’s the Pleiades! It’s the flagship of our fleet, if it’s here…”

“Prince Atma!” A voice called out. A man in dark armor, a near-black purple, stepped into view from an alleyway. His face was impossible to make out beneath the helm he wore, his armor had spike pauldrons, and a fur collar. His feet had a noticeable clanking noise with each step he took. A pair of massive greatswords rested at his back.

“Agravain. What’s the meaning of all of this?”

The knight tilted his head slightly. “Why, you. By order of the Council of Lords, the Knights’ Council, and your brother, you are under arrest for suspicion of the murder of King Escalus.”