The door was heavy. Even with Anna having lifted the magic keeping it closed, it barely budged when she tried to open it. Andrew and Peter joined her, and together, they were able to force the stone door to scrap across the floor. There was no light inside the room, save the light cast by Halcyon, who hovered over their shoulders. The room was a simple square, a few meters deep, with dust piled up higher than Anna’s knees against the walls. A stone pedestal against the far wall was the only unique feature still intact, and something glinted in some of the piles of dust.
Anna bent down to examine it. It was a sheet of glass, almost a centimeter thick and a meter long. Its edges were chipped, and a long crack ran through it, but it was still in one piece. “What do you think it is?” Peter asked, looking at the glass over her shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Anna said. “It seems totally smooth. And it couldn’t have weathered in here. Maybe it was part of a table or something?”
“What makes you say that?” Peter asked.
“Well, if the table was made of wood or metal and glass, only the glass would be left. The rest…” she gestured to the dust. As she did, she saw a more substantial lump in it. In the blue light, it looked black, but by feel she knew she was holding something very rusty. In fact, she thought, it may be nothing but rust.
Andrew frowned, looking at a similar glass panel in the dust on the other end of the room. “Looks like anything we might have been able to learn from decayed a long time ago, then,” he muttered.
“Maybe not,” Anna said walking over to the pedestal. It was as tall as she was, but she could see something resting on top. “I think there’s another glass panel here,” she said. “Could you help me with it?”
Peter came and opened what seemed like a glass box on top of the pedestal. He had to hold it open as Andrew reached inside and drew out an odd object, frowning. He handed it to Anna. “Is it a book?” he asked.
“How could a book survive?” she replied, taking it. But it was. At least, it was the right shaped to be a book. But it certainly wasn’t made of paper. It seemed to shimmer in the light cast by Halcyon, like a crystal or polished metal. She opened it, and found the pages were the same. They were bound together with rings of the same material, rather than glue. The first page had many decorative characters engraved into it, none of which Anna recognized.
She turned the page and noticed a few things. The crystal substance the pages were made out of wouldn’t bend at all. She was gentle, but that first motion told her that for pages as thin as normal parchment it was sturdy enough chip, even as they clinked together. And the characters were carved into the pages. It was hard to make them out in Halcyon’s light, but she could tell they were the same symbols they’d found around the fountains.
“It is a book,” Anna said.
“What’s it say?” Peter asked.
Anna glared at him. “I can’t read this script, remember?” she said. “We’ll have to take it back to Sol.” She held the book up to Halcyon. “Is this what you’ve been looking for?” She asked. The Wisp’s influence reacted to her desire to know. For a few seconds, nothing else happened. Then there was a flash of recognition. “He knows it!” Anna said, feeling the Wisps excitement. Several of the other Wisps popped out of her bracelet, and Anna had to focus to keep their influence at bay.
“Really?” Peter said. “So this is it?”
Before his sentence had finished, Anna could feel the other Wisps’ influence shifting to disappointment. “What?” she asked. “No! What is this?” she turned to Halcyon. “You act like it’s important, but the others don’t like it. Is this not…” she trailed off. “We won’t be able to answer that here.”
“Great,” Andrew said. “Then let’s leave before the Mottled come back.”
“Is there anything else in the pedestal?” Anna asked hopefully.
Andrew shook his head. “It’s a miracle that book survived. There’s nothing else in here.”
Anna didn’t want to leave until she’d checked more, but she knew Andrew was right. If Mottled appeared in that doorway, she wasn’t sure what they’d be able to do. So, clutching the book to her chest, she followed the boys out. She insisted they close the door. Better not to leave the place open for the Mottled to destroy more.
Moments later, they were back outside, the ruined walls of the citadel over them. She wondered if the book she was holding was a book of law for this civilization, or a tome describing their magic. More than anything, she hoped it would give them some insight into the Wisps, though she doubted it would be so direct.
Jarnvaror called a greeting down to them, and Peter replied, telling him about the book. The dragon snorted, and Peter turned to the others. “No Mottled nearby at the moment.”
“Great,” Andrew said. “Call him down and let’s get going.”
Peter nodded, but he’d started scanning the ground. “Just a second, first.”
“What are you looking for?” Anna asked.
“That sword,” he said. “There was a Wisp in it, remember? Besides, fighting with both just seemed… right.”
“A Wisp?” Anna asked.
“There was a Wisp in one of the Mottled’s swords,” Andrew explained.
“Here it is!” Peter said, picking up the curved sword. Anna watched as the gem in its pommel flashed red. “No!” Peter said. “Bad Wisp. Stop trying to make me angry.”
“Here,” Anna said. “We’ll let Halcyon—” The dragon cut her off with a bark.
“No time!” Peter said. “A group of Mottled are coming.”
The group scrambled up out of the ruins. Jarnvaror came down off the wall to let them mount up. “Where are they?” Andrew asked, drawing his bow as soon as he was strapped into the saddle. Peter put the question to Jarnvaror, then told the others they were coming from the other side of the citadel. Andrew faced the bend around the wall, an arrow at the ready. They appeared just as Anna and Peter finished strapping themselves in. Andrew got the one shot off, and Anna heard a monster roar. It must have been a good hit.
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As they rose up, Anna looked down and saw the small party of Mottled hunters. Then, behind them, she saw a line of cavalry. “It’s captain Yamada,” Anna told the others. “They’re about to fight the group chasing us.”
“And?” Andrew asked. “That’s what they’re there for.”
“We can help!” Anna said.
“It’s not our fight!” Andrew replied.
“Hey, Jarn?” Peter called. “Feeling like torching a few more of them to help out those riders?” Peter nodded as the dragon replied. “Great. Let’s do that, then.”
Anna felt her stomach tumble as the dragon swerved around. A chorus of triumph rose up from the monsters as they saw the dragon coming back for them. Then a hail of arrows hit them from the riders. Only a few went down, but it was enough to send confusion through the ranks of monsters.
They were just turning to see the warriors from Ryukyuu when Jarnvaror sprayed fire over the monsters. Anna shivered at their screams, and again when she realized that still, very few of the creatures had died in the attack. Another volley of arrows crashed into them, and they broke, each monster sprinting for any target they could reach. Andrew added a few of his own arrows to the assault, wounding monsters before they got too close to the cavalry. The warriors themselves had slung their bows back over their shoulders and began hacking with their long spears.
Anna saw Captain Yamada riding with a small group of other warriors around to the monsters’ flanks, his dual blades whirling in a bloody frenzy. One of the Mottled, smaller than the others, began charging at him with a long spear. Anna flung out her hand, and tried thinking of a spell she could cast in time. Her practice with the wind came back to her, and she imagined making just the opposite sort of net, one to draw the wind in instead of pushing it out. She was sure it had failed as only a tiny whirlwind appeared before the monster. But it stopped, confused, long enough for one of the riders to dispatch it.
In moments the Mottled hunting party was routed. Jarnvaror landed, snorting over a pile that had fallen to his fire. She was sure it had been a sound of satisfaction.
“Well met again, my friends,” Captain Yamada called.
“Are all of your men alright?” Anna called.
“Thanks to you, I think,” the captain replied. “After you flew off, we noticed many of the Mottled hunting bands started moving in the direction of your dragon.”
“Why would they do that?” Peter asked.
“He’s the biggest source of meat for kilometers,” Captain Yamada said. “We were worried our advice might have put you in danger, so we so we changed course for the ruins, hoping to hinder at least some of them.”
“I think two attacked us while we were in the citadel,” Andrew said.
“Forgive me,” Captain Yamada said with a bow. “Your mission was interrupted due to my inadequate advice.”
“No need to worry,” Peter said. “We found an old book in the ruins. Seems like just the thing we were looking for.”
“A book?” the captain asked.
Anna could feel Andrew glaring at his brother over her head. But she reached into her back and drew it out gingerly. Then she handed it to the captain. He examined it a moment. His eyes growing wide. “This is quite the artifact. I know this is script is of the Ancient Mages, but I know none who can read it.”
“It’s not for the High Elves?” Anna asked.
The captain shrugged and handed the book back to Anna. “I do not know what the race of the Ancient Mages was. Only that they rescued our people after the Great Catastrophe and then disappeared…” He handed the book back up to Anna, a frown creasing his face. “You think this ancient people has something to do with the Wisps?”
“We do,” Anna said. “We came to these ruins because they showed me a vision of the city. We thought what they wanted was here. But it seems like it wasn’t.”
“You are certain it was this city?” Captain Yamada asked.
Anna started to nod, then she paused. “High Elf ruins,” she muttered. “Before the Catastrophy…”
“What?” the brothers asked together.
“The Catastrophe,” Anna said. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize this before! Sol said the ruins were from the High Elves who haven’t been seen since the Catastrophe, right?”
“Sure,” Peter said. “What does that have…” he trailed off, and it was Andrew who finished for him.
“Everything shifted,” he said.
Anna nodded. “Everything. Magic stopped working. The seas, the land, the stars. All of it got mixed up. It took centuries for people to rediscover how to use magic, and by then, so much was lost. But if the Wisps are related to the High Elves, if they are thinking of these places from before the Catastrophe then…”
“A city they remember being in the north might not be anymore,” Andrew said. “It could be in the Salesem, or in the desert, or even at the bottom of the sea.”
“That will make things difficult for you,” Captain Yamada said. “Nothing is likely to have survived so long at the bottom of the sea.”
“It’s been what- a hundred thousand years since the catastrophe?” Peter asked.
“Approximately eight thousand,” Anna said.
“Well,” Andrew said, groaning. “This is going to be… frustrating.” He looked down at Anna’s bracelet. “No wonder they’re always so angry. If they’ve been searching for the same place for the last eight thousand years and never found it.”
“I’d be mad too,” Peter said. “And yeah, this Wisp is just here already,” he added, holding up his sword. “This must not be the right city.”
“It’s not over yet!” Anna insisted. “Maybe it’s not the city they were all hoping to find, but Halcyon did know this place. He recognized the book!” She clutched her bracelet, feeling the Wisps inside. “We just… have a bit more to do.” She held up the book. “This may tell us more about the connection between the Wisps and the High Elves. And maybe even the ancient mages!” She looked at Captain Yamada. “Do you think you’d be able to share any information on them with us?”
The captain nodded. “Perhapse… if they will listen this time…” he muttered. He nodded to himself again, more vigorously and looked up at them. “I believe it would be wise for our nations to collaborate on solving the issue of these Wisps. They have affected us as they have you, and they have been infesting the Mottled as well. I cannot abandon my mission of culling some of the monsters here, but when I return home to Eastern Ryukyuu, I will propose this to our leaders. I humbly request that you do the same,” he added, bowing from the saddle.
“That would be wonderful!” Anna said. “We’d love more help!”
“We’ll pass on your message,” Andrew said, though Anna could tell he was a bit stiffer than she was. “We were planning to take this book straight back to Woadrok.”
Captain Yamada nodded. “Of course. Do not worry about us. We are prepared to deal with whatever Mottled remain.”
“In that case, we’ll see you later,” Peter said.
“We look forward to working with you!” Anna called, as Jarnvaror prepared to take flight again.
When they were safely in the sky, she looked over her shoulder to Andrew and wove a barrier against the wind. “Is something wrong?”
Andrew didn’t answer right away. He glanced down at the ruined city, receding into the distance behind them. “I don’t know,” he said. “Ever since he mentioned that Ryukyuu has been struggling with the Wisps as well, I’ve been thinking about the mage in the forest and at Prohr. And the spy.”
Anna nodded. “There’s not much we can do about them,” Anna noted.
Andrew nodded. “I know that. It’s just… How many are there? Is there another group in Ryukyuu, or is it the same one? And the Mottled… There was the one in that sword—”
“Right! I need to get Halcyon on that!” Anna said.
“Wait a moment!” Andrew said. “From the sounds of it, that’s not the only one.”
“What are you getting at?” Peter asked.
“Why would Wisps be working with the Mottled?” Andrew asked. “I don’t think they can use magic, so why? Unless someone is giving them Wisps, too. To our rebels and bandits. To Ryukyuu’s. To the Mottled. And who knows who else.”
Anna found she couldn’t say anything. Halcyon’s influence flowed into her from her bracelet. She was grateful for that. But it didn’t drive out this new sense of unease.