Caldor reached the castle just as the sun was beginning to rise. He had started to worry he would get noticed and arrested as the convenient darkness of the night slowly disappeared, but thankfully that hadn't happened, and he'd managed to reach the castle without incident.
He had left the horse to graze in a glade near the castle and had gone to the edge of the small forest he had found himself in to look the building over. His first thought after seeing the tall, stone walls was that he'd expected it to be bigger. It was really only a few towers and a keep, all connected to each other directly with no other protection. It was especially odd in comparison to how garish and huge Augerill's palace was, but then, Augerill hadn't had this place built—one of his ancestors had. Perhaps they hadn't all been so vain.
Caldor walked along the edge of the forest, staying hidden as he studied the castle from all sides, trying to find a good spot to use to hopefully get inside. He could see a couple of balconies, but he hadn't brought any rope to try to give himself a convenient way of climbing inside. Because of course he hadn't thought of that in his rush to get here.
Trying to get the book back was practically impossible, he was well aware of that, and bringing rope with him wouldn't have helped much either way in the grand scheme of things, namely getting caught before he could escape, but he hadn't needed to make this even harder for himself.
Huffing, he shook his head. There had to be an alternative way of getting inside. There always was. He would have to wait until it was night again, anyway, so he had plenty of time to figure this out.
He continued to walk around the entire castle, stubbornly ignoring his complaining stomach. He hadn't eaten anything for an entire day, so Cal wasn't surprised, though he was a bit shocked that it had taken him this long to realize it. He supposed he had been too busy being stressed. And heartbroken.
Caldor couldn't help but feel a bit pathetic about that. He shouldn't be this affected by Idri telling him to leave forever. Sure, Cal had more than enough reasons to feel guilty, which he did, but this was much more than that. And it was crazy to Caldor that he had been this upset about it. That he still was upset.
Though he could very easily tell that his decision to try to retrieve the spellbook was entirely rational on his part, which might have been a little concerning. If it had been a rash decision fueled by his emotions, then it would have been more excusable.
Caldor had almost walked around the entire castle when suddenly he spotted stone steps leading underground right next to one of the castle walls. That had to lead to a basement of some kind. And with any luck, that basement would also be connected to the castle itself. But even if it wasn't, this was his best chance, either way, so he would have to try it.
However, Cal wasn't sure it would be a good idea to look inside before he embarked on his heist. If anyone walked in and noticed the door, which was no doubt down there, was unlocked, they would know something was up. It wasn't as though Caldor could lock it again. Unless of course it wasn't locked, which was unlikely.
Looking around and not spotting a single soul, Caldor rushed over to the steps, peering down. There was indeed an old, wooden door at the end, around six feet beneath the ground.
Caldor approached it silently, trying the handle, only to find the door locked. As expected. With that done, he scrambled to get away as quickly as possible in case someone had been on the other side of the door and had heard the noise the handle had made, hiding behind trees once more.
He wished there was a way to prepare further, but he had no way of knowing what the castle looked like on the inside, and he couldn't guess either, not having been in many of them, so he would have to improvise while he was there. However, the fact that there was not a guard in sight was giving him some hope. It was odd that there weren't any horses either, but they were likely stabled inside. Augerill wouldn't want the common rabble stealing them, after all.
With nothing else to do, Caldor decided to try to quench his hunger and thirst, which had now joined in as well, with whatever he could find in the surrounding forests. He decided to begin by going back to the glade he'd left the horse at, remembering that there had been a small stream there.
When he arrived, the stream was indeed there, the water clear and rushing past, but the horse was nowhere to be seen. That wasn't exactly ideal, but Caldor supposed it didn't matter much. Time wouldn't be of the essence anymore after this. If there was something after this....
After drinking some of the water and managing to find a few wild raspberry and strawberry bushes to put at least something in his empty stomach, Caldor walked back to the castle, staying hidden behind the trees as he looked for a good place where he could stay unseen while having a view of the castle gate. That would be the most obvious place to see if anyone arrived or left, and so it would make the most sense to watch it since he had so much time with nothing else to do now.
Caldor felt his mind start to wander as hours passed by, despite his best efforts thinking about Idri over and over again. He couldn't seem to help it, and it was frustrating. There was no reason to think about the dragon anymore, given how things had gone between them. Getting that spellbook wasn't going to get him another chance either, not that Caldor truly wanted it. He had already blown his chance, and he didn't deserve another one.
But none of that seemed to help him not think about the dragon. Cal couldn't help but wonder how Idri was doing in general. If he was okay, and what he was doing at the moment. Caldor felt like he knew answers to some of these questions, and they weren't positive, but that hardly stopped him from thinking about them. Unfortunately.
The only thing that seemed to help him keep his mind blank was watching the sun slowly move across the sky. It was calming, for whatever reason. He didn't remember ever doing that. His life had always been too hectic to pay attention to things like this, and when it wasn't for a moment, he had spent that moment underground in the guild's hideout.
Perhaps he should have gone outside more, beyond the city gates. Perhaps....
No, he would not spend what could be his last few hours thinking about what he should have done differently in his life. That line of thought never ended well, and he would just end up making himself sadder.
He stared up at the dark blue sky, its color draining from it as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon. Soon it would be time. Soon he would attempt the most dangerous heist of his life. A few days ago, he'd think stealing from a dragon would take that title, but somehow it hadn't turned out that way. And yet the object he was planning on stealing was the same.
He got up, stretching. He'd better get his muscles ready ahead of time if he didn't want to spectacularly fail due to a cramp. At least that had been his plan until an angry voice spoke behind him.
"What do you think you are doing?"
Caldor flinched and spun around, coming face to face with a glaring Idri. Cal gaped at him for a moment, his eyes wide in surprise at seeing the dragon. There was something different about him, and Cal quickly realized what it was—Idri was wearing a cloak over his robes, probably to hide his wings.
"What are you doing here?" was the first thing that came out of Cal's mouth, and he immediately had to resist feeling irritated with himself. Of all the things he could have said....
"I am here to stop a fool from doing something incredibly unwise," Idri replied, his glare lessening as his eyes softened. Caldor grimaced. His resolve to get the spellbook back was immediately crumbling under the weight of that one look of concern. He couldn't even get it together to feel offended at being called a fool.
"I'm getting you your book back," Cal said, lowering his voice now that some of his shock had worn off. He couldn't afford anyone in the castle overhearing them.
"Yes, exactly," Idri said, shaking his head. "That is what I flew here to stop."
Oh. Idri had flown here. Caldor should have figured that out on his own, he supposed, but now that it had been spelled out to him, he felt even worse. Idri had already explained his reluctance to being seen in his true form enough for Cal to get how worried Idri was about it. And now the dragon had flown here because of him.
"If you do this, you will be killed."
"Well, if that happens then at least I will have died trying to fix the mess I made," Caldor replied, sighing. "How did you even find me, anyway?"
That was a good question he hadn't thought to ask until now. And another good question would be how Idri even knew what Cal had been up to. Had the dragon been stalking him?
Idri looked away, probably blushing, though Caldor couldn't see that in the darkness of the night. "I used a tracking spell, using an item you touched."
Cal raised an eyebrow, not sure what item he should be imagining here when the dragon parted his cloak, revealing his golden wings that he was holding protectively around his chest. And from beneath them, Idri pulled out a dark piece of fabric. Caldor's eyes widened as he quickly realized that it was in fact his cape.
He eagerly took it from Idri, putting it on and pulling its hood over his head. Immediately he felt more confident. In this case, it might be a bad thing as it could make him less cautious, but he didn't care.
Caldor wondered if this was how Idri had found him in the first place, though he couldn't quite think of anything he'd left behind that he'd touched. Maybe the grappling hook?
"Do not do this," Idri said. His uncompromising tone would have been intimidating, if not the desperate, barely-there tremor to it. Then the dragon sighed, hanging his head. "I don't want you to die."
Caldor grimaced. Damn, Idri sure knew exactly what to say, didn't he? But Cal wasn't backing down. Getting that spellbook back wasn't something he was willing to debate over.
"I will get you that spellbook back, and that's that."
Idri huffed, shaking his head. Though he was very obviously doing what he could to avoid direct eye contact. "Are all humans so annoyingly stubborn?"
Normally Cal would have laughed, perhaps made a self-deprecating joke, but he couldn't bring himself to do it right now. He could feel his resolve to go along with his heist plans slipping more and more, and he just knew that if Idri continued to argue with him, he'd give in. But then what else was there to do? Just leave Idri with his problems? Idri had made it clear he wanted Caldor gone.
Though that begged the question of why he'd flown over here just to stop him. Idri had practically threatened him to get him to leave, and yet he cared enough about Caldor not getting killed enough to risk being seen? It didn't make sense to Cal, no matter which way he looked at it.
"Very well. If you refuse to see reason, then I am going with you," Idri said, narrowing his eyes. Caldor's eyes widened. He certainly hadn't expected that.
He shook his head, ignoring the way the dragon was glaring at him for it. "Wait, what? No, if Augerill's people see you—"
"And what do you think will happen if you manage to retrieve the spellbook, even without my help?" Idri tilted his head to the side in a very irritated way. Caldor couldn't help but see the angry face of Idri's true form like this, and it was more than a bit intimidating. "Where do you think Augerill will assume it's gone?"
Caldor grimaced. He hadn't thought of that. Though he doubted he and Idri were the only ones who knew that Augerill had a spellbook and could therefore steal it, it would be the most logical assumption. Which meant that no matter what Caldor did, he would be putting Idri in danger again.
And come to think of it, Augerill might be planning on sending an army to Idri's fort either way if humans really couldn't use magic. The lord had said something about Idri seeming like less of a threat than he'd thought, earlier.
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Caldor gritted his teeth. Just thinking about that bastard hurting Idri made him want to march over to the castle's front gate, his likely immediate death at the hands of Augerill's guards be damned.
"Do you know how to move silently?" Caldor asked instead of saying any of the other stuff that was bouncing around in his brain. He wanted to ask why Idri had come here, maybe try to apologize again since Idri didn't seem furious anymore, but Cal had a feeling that they'd just start fighting if he did that, drawing attention to themselves. Besides, Idri had already said his piece. If he decided to let Caldor talk to him after this was done, he would bring it up then.
Idri proceeded to stare at him for a few seconds, his face completely blank before he answered the question. "Yes."
Right, so that was a lie, though the fact that he was lying so obviously was sort of cute. Still, it had been a bit dumb of Caldor to expect otherwise. Idri was a massive lizard, even if right now he looked mostly human. How sneaky could he possibly be? Hopefully, his brute force was going to even things out, though.
Cal turned around, looking up at the castle in front of him. He had been ready to get going, and yet suddenly he was having second thoughts. Did he really want to risk Idri's life to fix this? He had caused him trouble by stealing that spellbook, sure, but without it Idri wouldn't have to be afraid of Augerill marching over and threatening him with an army.
Or would Augerill do that anyway because only Idri would be able to use the spellbook?
Caldor sighed, looking back at the dragon.
"Do you want the book back?"
It was a question with an obvious answer. Idri wouldn't be here if he didn't want it back. But Cal needed to ask. He needed to hear him say it.
Idri frowned at him, looking confused. "Of course I do. But not for the price of your life. I appreciate that you found the book's possible location, but if you would now let me go in alone—"
"Not happening."
Idri huffed, shaking his head, looking like he was calling Caldor some colorful words in his head. Cal couldn't help but feel touched, though, that Idri seemed to hold his life in such high regard. But given what had happened, it was probably just a general thing with dragons. He had seemed very accepting of what Caldor had done when it had been made clear Cal had stolen that book to save his life, earlier.
"Right, then let us, please, not waste time."
Caldor almost laughed at the irritated tone. It was just too grumpy not to find it humorous, but he managed to keep it to himself and just nodded. He felt considerably more confident with Idri with him, and he had to use that before he started getting cold feet again.
And so he once again made his way around the castle, staying hiding among the trees, throwing a look over his shoulder every once in a while to make sure Idri was still following him. He had the cutest frown of concentration on his face, but Caldor pretended not to see it. He didn't dare think about any of this since Idri wanted nothing to do with him. It just hurt too much.
As the door to the basement came into view again, Caldor leaned against a tree, looking around if any guards were around. But just like before, there was absolutely no one. The only one Caldor could hear was Idri, who despite what were clearly his best efforts kept accidentally stepping on dry leaves.
Looking back at him, Idri did seem rather embarrassed about it, so there was no reason to tell him he should try not to do that. The grimace Idri was wearing made Caldor want to assure him it was fine, even though it sort of wasn't, but it was probably best not to talk until they got this over with, so instead Caldor waved his hand at him to follow him as he rushed over to the steps and the door.
Cal quickly and easily unlocked the door, despite his slightly shaking hands, and he was swinging it open as soon as he could, not thinking about anyone that might be inside.
He squinted into the darkness of the castle basement, quickly running his eyes over as much of it as he could see before breathing out. There was no one here. Thank the gods.
Without thinking about it he grabbed Idri by his arm and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind them. His eyes widening, Caldor opened his mouth to apologize for definitely stepping over the dragon's boundaries, but Idri just seemed very confused, frowning in thought at the arm Caldor had just touched.
Well, at least he wasn't angry, Cal supposed. "Come on."
There was light ahead somewhere, illuminating part of the basement's brick walls. There were a lot of crates and barrels around in the room they were in, as well as shelves with bottles lining the walls, but Caldor didn't bother studying any of it beyond that. They needed to get moving and somehow find that spellbook in this maze of a building.
He snuck towards the light, pleased that Idri was managing to stay fairly silent now that there was stone beneath their feet, but that made perfect sense with Idri's tendency to not wear shoes.
As they reached what seemed to be a well-lit corridor, Cal narrowed his eyes. He couldn't see anyone around, but someone must have lit both of the metal chandeliers hanging above.
But he also knew better than to be too cautious during heists and waste time thinking instead of taking action, so he once again looked back at a rather nervous seeming Idri and gestured to him to follow him.
Staying as much in the shadows and close to the wall as possible, Caldor made his way over to a stone staircase at the end of the hallway, making sure to check every entrance to every room they passed in case some of Augerill's people were there. But yet again, there was no one around.
Caldor was ready to head up the stairs when suddenly he heard the sound of distant talking. And it was getting closer. His eyes widening, he immediately grabbed Idri by the shoulder, covering his mouth with his other hand to avoid him making any noises of surprise and dragging him to the room closest to the staircase.
Thankfully, Idri went willingly, not fighting Cal until they were hidden. Only once they were squeezed into a corner did Caldor let Idri go. And realized once again what he'd just done.
"Uh, sorry," he whispered, grimacing. He seemed to be forgetting that Idri was an ancient dragon that could easily push him off at any time, it seemed. But they couldn't risk anyone overhearing them, and given the fact that Idri had never done this, he was very viable to make mistakes.
Idri just nodded in reply, avoiding eye contact, which Caldor wasn't sure what to think of, but he supposed at least he still wasn't angry.
"What do you think he's doing up in that study?" came the voice of a guard from the corridor right next to them, forcing Caldor to stop thinking about Idri and just focus on his breathing staying as silent as possible.
There was no light source here in this room either, so as long as they stayed in the corner, even if the guards came in, they should remain undetected.
"Look, it isn't my job to know. And it isn't yours either," replied the second guard as they walked past. Cal let out a small breath of relief. But now he was left wondering if they should try to get upstairs before the guards came back or wait until they returned the way they came.
"I know, I know," the first guard said, sighing, her voice now sounding more distant. "But don't tell me you aren't curious about what Augerill is doing with that book. It's all very strange if you ask me."
"No one asked you."
Caldor left the corner he'd been hiding in and stuck his head out of the room just in time to see the two guards enter the room at the very end of the corridor. The two continued talking, and they didn't seem to be in a hurry, so it was probably safe to come out.
"Come on, Idri," Caldor whispered at the dragon who was immediately behind him. Cal rushed over to the stairs and began to climb the spiraling steps as fast as he could without making his footsteps be heard. Idri followed right behind him without missing a beat, clearly as unbothered by his lack of shoes as usual.
As they reached the top of the stairs and yet another corridor, Cal quickly realized he didn't have much of an idea where they could find the book. Sure, those guards had talked about a study of some kind but that didn't narrow it down when it was somewhere in a castle. And they couldn't stand around here for long, deciding where to go next, so they would have to pick a direction at random, he supposed.
Still, he couldn't help but take a second to scowl at the carved, wooden walls of the corridor, the red and gold rug on the floor, the paintings.... Gods, he hated opulence. Though he supposed he hadn't minded Idri's in the least. Perhaps he just hated Augerill, then.
Thankfully there was no one around, but there could be a guard just around the corner, and Caldor had no way of knowing. Not to mention the guards in the basement who were going to return any minute now. Caldor and Idri needed to move.
He turned to the dragon to say as much when he noticed Idri...doing something. Was he sniffing the air?
"This way is safest," he finally said, pointing to the right. Caldor wanted to ask how he'd figured that out by smelling the air. Could he smell the guards? But then Cal just shrugged and nodded. What did he know about the kind of abilities dragons had at their disposal?
Staying close to the wall, Caldor began heading right, forcing himself not to let down his guard despite trusting what Idri had said. That guard had implied the study was somewhere high up, so possibly the tallest floor of the castle, which meant they needed to find another staircase.
Thankfully the castle truly wasn't so large that it was impossible to navigate, especially once Caldor started to ignore all of the side chambers and doors that clearly didn't lead where they needed to go.
Idri kept on telling him where they could go without being discovered until finally, they came across another set of stairs. Since Idri said nothing, Caldor began to climb the stairs, getting almost all the way up when suddenly Idri grabbed at his cloak and pushed him to the ground, the edge of one of the stairs poking painfully into his ribs and legs.
Cal threw a quizzical look the dragon's way, who was now wearing a serious grimace.
"Guards," he whispered grimly. Caldor frowned, raising himself up just enough to look over the last few steps of the stairs. And indeed there were two guards, standing at the end of the corridor in front of a door, maybe twenty feet away.
It certainly looked like the study they'd been looking for, but how were they supposed to get past the guards? Even just standing up would let them see him easily because there were tall stands with candles on either side of the top of the stairs. If they could somehow put those out without the guards seeing it....
But before he could say anything to Idri, behind him the dragon got up, quickly saying a few words Cal didn't understand. And the next moment everything turned pitch black as a gust of wind flew into the room, putting out every candle in sight.
Caldor blinked, trying to orient himself now that the only source of light was the window on the left, casting very faint moonlight into the room.
Confused voices of the guards filled the air. He wondered if they'd seen Idri when he'd used magic, or whatever he had done, but they had no time to think about that. Caldor quickly grabbed Idri's hand, pulling him along into the room and to the wall.
Before Cal could decide how to go about this Idri took the lead, letting go of Caldor's hand and moving towards the guards at a surprising speed for how difficult it was to see anything. Cal grimaced. Right, stealth wasn't Idri's style.
He ran after him, worried the guards would kill Idri, but the dragon attacked first, slamming his fist into one of the guards' temples, knocking him out instantly before doing the same to the other the next second.
Caldor blinked at the two unconscious guards at his feet when he reached them, unable to not feel impressed. He would have to add lightning-fast reflexes to his mental list of dragon powers.
Idri made a move to open the door to the study immediately. Caldor was about to warn him that there might be more guards inside if Augerill was in there, but as the door swung open, revealing a cozy, well-lit room, he breathed out in relief. No one was inside. That was very fortunate because even from here he could see the spellbook on the table in the middle of the round chamber.
The dragon ran to it, picking it up and clutching it to his chest as if it was the most precious thing ever. It was sort of adorable, though it also made guilt churn in his stomach. If Cal hadn't helped Augerill, none of this would have happened, and while not doing that would mean his death, he still couldn't help but feel bad about the entire situation.
He opened his mouth to tell Idri that they should get going, only for his eyes to widen as he suddenly heard the sound of chainmail behind him. Whirling around and backing off into the room, he came face to face with Zaria.
"Oh, great, it's you again," Cal said, sighing. And she wasn't alone. Behind her, two more guards stood, and there might have been more off to the side. Caldor couldn't check.
Zaria rolled her eyes, brandishing her sword at Caldor's neck. Cal flinched, raising his hands in surrender and taking a step back. Before he could even attempt at talking his way out of this, though, Idri rushed over to him, putting one arm around Cal's chest protectively and glaring at the guard fiercely.
"We need to go," Idri muttered into Cal's ear. The human couldn't help but snort, despite practically vibrating with fear. Yeah, they really needed to. But guards were blocking their exit. At least it was just them, and not—
"Just what is going on here?"
Caldor sighed again. Despite the awful situation they'd gotten themselves into, Cal couldn't help but feel exhausted. Of course Augerill was right here. Cal had been hoping they would be able to avoid him, but now, seeing the lord's intrigued expression, clearly it had been naive to think otherwise.
"Well, well, look at that. Is this who I think it is?" Augerill asked, turning his full attention to Idri. Cal already wanted to slam his fist in his smug face. He was glad Idri's arm was keeping him in place because otherwise, Cal might do something stupid.
"And I didn't even have to go searching for you. How lucky," Augerill continued, still completely ignoring Caldor. It just served to make him angrier. "How about we make a deal, dragon? You teach me to use magic, and I'll give you your book back afterward."
Idri let out a dismissive snort. "I will not help you in exchange for something that is rightfully mine to begin with."
Augerill sighed, waving his arm as if this was a minor inconvenience. "Very well." He then turned to his guards, folding his arms. "I'd like the dragon captured alive. Feel free to kill the other one."
Caldor almost felt offended that he was being handwaved like this, but now was not the time. Both he and Idri backed off as the guards moved into the room, their swords drawn. And more kept coming, until they formed a line of six, not letting anyone through. This was really, really bad.
"When I say jump, jump," Idri whispered in his ear, dragging him back as the guards advanced forward. Caldor wanted to ask where he was supposed to jump when he turned around and saw the window.
Dread filled his heart. Oh, no, he didn't like this plan at all. But he didn't protest when Idri pushed the spellbook into his arms and swung the window open, cold, night breeze hitting their faces immediately.
"Jump!" the dragon ordered. And by the gods, Caldor did. He wasn't even sure why, but he didn't hesitate. Even though Cal knew there was no way he would be able to survive a fall from this high up, his legs carried him to the windowsill, still clutching the book in both of his hands. And with one last breath, he did as he was told, shutting his eyes and jumping down.
He plummeted only for a moment, though. Instead of falling to his death, he found himself being caught just a second later in midair. His eyes snapped open, immediately looking down at the strong, golden claws gripping his midsection securely but shockingly gently, holding him close to the dragon's chest.
Caldor sagged in Idri's hold, breathing out a sigh of relief as the dragon continued carrying him to safety. He closed his eyes again, letting the beating of wings calm him down.
For a moment Cal refused to think about anything that might happen now. He just kept reminding himself that they'd been successful as he clutched the book tightly to his chest.
Despite all odds, they'd done it. He just hoped the book had whatever information Idri so desperately needed.