But nothing.
I needed Jezz back… I thought she out of all people would understand that.
No, I shouldn’t rush her. The dungeon core knew best, and I needed to wait for her guidance.
As we walked, Rufian strategized, and I continued to listen. By the sound of it, he had this plan all worked out. But I had questions, so many questions. The biggest one being—was all of this actually going to work?
“We take it step by step,” he said. “I don’t want to overwhelm you, but the Forest of Javerssia, our first destination, is anything but friendly. You must beware of enchanting wish fairies. Stand clear, they bring false promises in an attempt to zap your life-force for an exchange of longevity.”
“How coincidental that my gear mechanic was just warning me about them.”
“As he should. They are truly dangerous to Thalians. Especially humans. But we need to visit the land of the nymph maidens to acquire a special plum that, when eaten, could ward off reveal spells for an hour. Infusing it with the dungeon core’s power will make the effects last a lifetime. And trust me, we’d need my disguise spell to last as long as it can.”
“This spell of yours will work on humans, too?”
“Correct.”
“So basically my disguise charm is useless?”
“Not entirely. We may trade it in for goods.”
“No,” I said, recanting what I’d said immediately. “I’ll save it.” He raised a brow up, expecting me to elaborate. But I didn’t. The charm had sentimental value, and I wouldn’t expect him to understand why I was adamant about keeping it with me.
“Theoretically, your Manchavari Charm would be useless in Mavriel. It wraps around your shoulder and is susceptible to being snapped off, snagged, or even stolen.”
“I am aware. We can use your spell, but it stays in my inventory. What is the second step?”
“Obtaining the codex. It is a reference script for reading the special coding used in the Grimoire. This is set in place to safeguard it.”
“Well, wouldn’t my fae decoder ring help with that?”
He grinned. “You have one of those in your possession?”
“Yeah, actually I do. I looted it.”
He chuckled. “While that will become useful in our quest, it will not help us decode the guarded spellbook.”
“All right then, where do we find the codex?”
“Hidden.”
“Hidden?” I looked at him like he had three heads. “Can you give me a little bit more context?”
“We’d need to find ingredients for a spell that will allow us to locate it.”
“Is this recipe known to all fae?”
“Only the ones who have peeked inside of the Grimoire.” He winked.
I sighed. “Honestly, I don’t even want to know how you managed that. Seeing as you already have a criminal past.”
“Crimes of wisdom are not the same. Don’t categorize me with those mindless street crooks!” he teased.
“Okay how hard is it going to be to fetch these ingredients?”
“We find all of them in Mavriel, and one in Dokumbe, in a location that used to be part of the fae region. Altogether, there are five ingredients.”
“So once we secure our identities and locate the codex, we can grab the Grimoire and destroy it?”
“Precisely!” he tweeted delightfully. “The effort will be worth it, I promise you. Together, we will reshape Thalian and end the reign of those bigoted councilmen! Ah, speaking of which, I am still waiting on that party invitation.”
“Oh, right.” We stopped briefly, and I accepted the pairing request from the fae, who continued to hide his real name in even his stats. I read his attributes and thought about the first time I’d crossed paths with a Valentine, my eyes growing after I realized how powerful he really was. Not only that, he also had fire magic skills as well, Rufian noting that his other hand being able to wield flames:
Name:
Rufian
Race:
Fae
Rank:
Arcane
Occupation:
Traveling Priest
