The next day, we went through what had beco our morning routine at the tavern before separating. Stone went toward the outer part of the city, and Hrig, Kyren, and I headed through the inner gates before separating. It was a gloomy day, the clouds pregnant with rain, and the sun had only managed brief peeks down on the world below. I didn’t particularly mind rain. I liked the sound it made bouncing off .
We made it into the library just as the first few telltale tings started ringing out from my helt. The outside of the building was relatively nondescript, stuffed between the magistrate’s office and a bank. Inside, it was gloomy, with only candles lighting the building, with any light the windows would’ve brought in significantly diminished by the storm outside.
It was surprisingly organized, and clean, with only the design of the building itself and the sll of rotting books showing its age. Hrig and I were among the only four people inside, with one man studying, and another standing at a desk at the end of the room, writing sothing in a ledger.
I began approaching the man at the end of the room, assuming he was a librarian, and it was at that mont I beca distinctly aware of how loud a suit of armor is in a large, echoey room. As I approached him, I watched the man slowly put down his quill, close his ledger, raise an eyebrow, and scowl. By the ti I reached him, I understood, even with my limited personal experience with body language, that I was perhaps the most disdained piece of scum he had ever had the displeasure of seeing.
"Ser, I’m afraid you’ll find no monster to slay here, no giant rats, or goblins, to run through, and certainly no snipes to hunt."
Hrig approached the desk, as well, much more silently than I had. "Are you sure?" she asked with a cheeky smile. "I’ve read books full of such things."
"I apologize for my manner of dress. I have made an oath to Dur not to be seen outside of my armor, but I still had so research I needed to do here. I apologize for the noise I’m making, and will, in all honesty, likely continue to make."
The man sighed, and I saw a bit of his contempt for leave his expression.
"I must be being tested." He pulled an amulet out of the folds of his robe and showed it to . It was a golden coin engraved with a scale, the symbol of Dur.
"That explains why this place is so well-maintained."
The man managed to turn his scowl into sothing approximating a smile. "Well, the place isn’t too busy today. Honestly, it’s not too busy any day. Is there sothing I can help you find?"
I let Pebble’s researching instincts take over. "I need a reference on the lives of the royalty, any older religious texts with information on rituals that honor all gods, and whatever you have on dragons and their extinction. History, preferably not just tales of knights slaying them."
"I, however, will take any books about knights slaying them."
"Hmm, well, I could guide you to so books, but that’s a rather eclectic mix, and while I understand your oath, I’d prefer not to listen to you clanging all throughout the room." He thought for a mont. "How about you sit down and I’ll bring you the books I think would be most helpful?"
"I’d appreciate that, ser, thank you."
The man nodded and started to weave his way through the shelves. I sat at the nearest desk and waited for him. Hrig returned first, holding a book titled The Duke’s Hamr. She put her feet up and began flipping through it.
Shortly after that, the librarian ca pushing a small cart loaded with books. He put them into two separate piles, with reference materials at the top.
"Unfortunately, we don’t have much in regard to church ritual—much of that is oral tradition—but I did find this rather old prayer book." He placed it in a third position in front of . "Let know if you need anything else."
I nodded. "Thank you, ser, you’ve been very accommodating."
He nodded and thumbed his pendant. "Anything in the na of Dur."
After that, I began poring through all of the material in front of . I started with the prayerbook. It included many prayers I was familiar with through my als and several I’d never even heard of, including a section for minor mantras to lesser gods. Toward the middle, however, I found sothing interesting. A short prayer for protection.
May all the gods
Lesser and greater
Protect from one
Who hears no prayer
Keep his whims at bay
And his flas that slay
From all of those
He sees as his prey
The content of the prayer seed to indicate sothing draconic, but it was clear the prayer referred to only a single entity rather than dragonkind as a whole. Aside from that, the prayer book was a bust, so I moved on to the historical books on dragons.
One was simply a list of dragons killed, who’d killed them, and what kingdom they hailed from. I saw no indication of Aurum’s na, though there were a few that ca close. Another was a more general history of dragon slaying, and it was there that I found that while the earliest dragon slayings had been commissioned by kingdoms sick of unruly dragons pillaging livestock or destroying villages, the later ones had been issued by the temples. Priests of every god began offering paynts to any individual who could kill a dragon, regardless of whether or not they’d been disturbing anyone.
Shortly after that, dragons went to ground, taking the form of humans, elves, and other races in order to blend in and survive, but eventually, even those were found and killed by dedicated hunters until there were none left.
I wondered if perhaps Aurum was one dragon that managed to hide all this ti, but based on what I’d seen in the shipwreck, I had a feeling he wasn’t much for hiding.
Finally, I moved on to the books on Caedun’s royal line. There were many ups and downs throughout its history. Recognized bastards, usurpations, cousins fighting over claims, it was quite a spicy bit of history, but most of it was superfluous to what I was looking for. Eventually, I found it, a small line in one book detailing how a queen, pregnant with the king’s child, had been the only survivor of a shipwreck. That had occurred more than eleven hundred years ago.
So, the current king was descended from that queen. Due to the incestuous nature of royal marriages, he was as full-blooded as any other king at this point, but I wondered how cautious I would need to be of him. If he was a descendant of that dragon I’d seen in that vision, it was a concern, but that had also occurred more than a thousand years ago. There were likely many people descended from dragons, who might not even be aware of what lay within their bloodline.
I was snapped from my study by Hrig shaking my arm. I was surprised, as she’d seed completely absorbed by The Duke’s Hamr, even seeming to be blushing at tis. She gestured around the room with her eyes, and at that mont, I noticed that the library was completely full. There were more than a dozen dwarves all around us, so leafing through books and others looking directly at us. All of them had weapons at their sides.
I calmly closed the book in front of and placed all of them in front of back onto the cart the librarian had used. I then simply sat and waited with Hrig, not making any sudden moves. Another dwarf entered the room then, and though he was wearing less armor, I recognized him imdiately. It was Rock, the man I’d taken my shield from.
He sat down in front of , a wide smile on his face.
"Hello, bastard," he said with a sneer on his lips.
"Hello, loser," I responded, wishing I could return his expression.
"I’ve co for my shield. Give it to , and I’ll spare your friend here."
I noticed then that the n above us began drawing crossbows while the n near us unsheathed their weapons.
"Even if you spare her, I don’t think she’d grant you the sa kindness."
"You and her may be strong in a one-on-one fight, but co now, you’re outnumbered."
Hrig and I laughed.
"We’re actually more used to fighting outnumbered," I said.
"Fine. Be that way." Rock snapped his fingers.
Hrig dove under the table as a half dozen bolts shot down at us. I simply turned my back toward the majority of shooters, blocking the bolts with my shield.
Rock’s n attacked while I was sitting. I threw the chair back and rolled under their blows before they could strike, then I threw myself back up. I considered drawing my sword, but I was concerned about knocking over the bookshelves.
Hrig launched herself out from under the table and into Rock’s chair, pumling him with blows that quickly wiped the smile off his face. She only ceased her attack when two of his n attacked her with swords, forcing her back.
The n I was engaging began attacking in earnest. I caught one’s shortsword before it gained montum and threw a swift jab for his face, knocking him out cold. I then used the hilt of the shortsword to club the shoulder of the other dwarf, forcing him to drop the mace he was holding. From there, I dropped my elbow like a hamr into the top of his skull.
It was then that a bookshelf fell on top of . I heard the librarian cry out as it slamd into , driving to my knees. I felt a hamr slam into the shield on my back through several books. I was tempted to simply throw the shelf back toward the dwarf with the hamr, but I didn’t want to create a domino effect, and so instead, I rolled forward and let the shelf fall the rest of the way, cringing as I heard a page rip when I rolled over one of the books.
Hrig was finishing up with the two dwarves who had engaged her, knocking one out with the copy of The Duke’s Hamr I realized she was still holding. From there, she leapt onto the ledge of the second level, pulling herself up just as two more crossbow bolts whizzed by her. The crossbowman nearest to her had his nose broken with the palm of her hand. The farther one went to fire at her again, but didn’t have ti to as Hrig threw his companion at him, causing them both to roll across the floor and hit a wall of books, which promptly rained its contents down onto them.
I got around the bookshelf, and the dwarf with the hamr took a defensive stance. I decided then to be cheeky and pulled out my shield. He tried to get underneath it with a low swipe, but I dropped it, feeling it take a portion of his energy. He tried a few more tis to get around it, but I blocked him every ti and could feel his blows growing lighter. Finally, I simply fell onto him, shield first, knocking him straight onto the ground. He didn’t get up.
By the ti I was done, Hrig had taken down all of the n on the second level. I looked around for Rock and found him behind , at the librarian’s desk, holding a crossbow aid at . He went to pull the trigger, but at just that mont, the librarian popped out from behind his desk and slamd a massive book into Rock’s head, knocking him flat onto the ground.
The librarian looked at . "Brigands! In my library! The absolute nerve!"
"I’m, uh, sorry about the ss. I’ll help you clean up."
"Don’t bother. I’m going to get the city guard. They’ll clear this filth out of here. Besides, I don’t trust anyone else with putting books in their proper places."
"In that case, do you mind if we leave? I’d prefer not to have to deal with the guard."
"Yes, that’s probably wise."
"I will be taking this one, though," I said, lifting Rock and tucking him under my arm.
"Any chance I can keep this?" asked Hrig, holding up her now thoroughly dented book.
"The Duke’s Hamr?" He laughed. "Go ahead. That romance was last season's great hit. I’m sure soone else will donate a copy soon now that ladies are moving on to The Barbarian’s Sword."
She nodded her thanks, and we walked out of the library with our prizes in tow.
* * *
We moved quickly, not wanting to draw too much attention to ourselves, and we quickly found an alley we could tuck into. Hrig poured so water on Rock’s head, and I gave him an open-handed slap, waking him up.
"Wha—"
His eyes were foggy, but as soon as I ca into focus, they narrowed, and he spat in my faceplate. I calmly ripped a piece of his tunic and used that to clean myself.
"How did you find us?" I asked.
"It wasn’t hard. You left an easy trail to follow."
"Maybe not for soone with a brain, but you? I’m certain you had help."
"Talen told where to find you, where you were headed."
"Talen!? He’s here?" asked Hrig.
"No, he told in Cirros. I’ve been on your trail for so ti."
"Well, that’s a relief, at least," I said to Hrig. "Well, I would appreciate it if you could stop following and maybe get on with your life."
"Only if you give the shield. And also die."
I sighed. "I like the shield. Though honestly, if you’d just asked to begin with, I probably would’ve given it to you. Now I’m fairly certain even if I do give it to you, you’ll still try to kill ."
"Liar, you’d never have given it up."
"He really would have," said Hrig. "He doesn’t really have the best understanding of the value of things."
"Listen, I could just kill you, but how about instead, you just promise you'll take a little break from trying to kill ?"
"A break?"
"Yeah, a break. How about in, oh, six months we et here. From there, we can arrange a ti and a place. You can fight , or I’ll even fight a champion of your choice. Whoever wins gets the shield."
Rock frowned. "I’d prefer to catch you unaware."
"Well, I could just kill you now, if you’d prefer."
"What’s keeping from just gathering more n and attacking you?"
"Nothing, I suppose. Though the n you gathered… Not so impressive. I think within six months, you may have better luck either training yourself or finding a suitable champion."
Rock thought on it for a minute. "Deal."
I held out my hand, and he shook it. From there, Hrig and I left the concussed dwarf to figure the rest of it out himself.
"Was that a good idea?" asked Hrig.
"Not at all, but I’d prefer not to kill anyone while we’re in the city. Besides, I just don't see him as much of a threat, but if he does bring a legitimate champion for to fight, that could be interesting."
Hrig chuckled. "I’m starting to rub off on you, I see."
"Yep, you’re a terrible influence, I’m afraid."
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