“You can keep on with the guessing, but, it doesn’t mean that—”
“It does, Valentine, it does mean that.” She smirked. “Now I have to ask, why on earth would Silas fight someone as recluse as Ezmar? Someone as strong as Ezmar? What did Silas have to gain by visiting that mountain? Word spreads quickly in Thalian, and you know this from experience. Something amazing must have been in that temple, and I could only imagine what it was that caught Silas’ eye…”
She knew…
“The hero got his hands on a shield, didn't he?” She giggled. “Well, I’ll give it to him. He wasn’t as weak as I thought…”
“Lucyna, you’re delirious! How could a low-leveled human claim something as powerful as a piece of the dungeon core!?”
“A valiant effort in trying to low-grade the hero, wolf. Take her away, Matissa,” Lucyna ordered her with a satisfied smile on her face, before she leaned over my shoulder and boasted, “And FYI, my father is alive and breathing, courtesy of Matissa’s careful thinking,” Lucyna whispered through my ear, her words bringing chills down my spine. “All those smelly goblins did was kill themselves, and proved to us that no nation could be trusted. Dragons will claim Thalian, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. So strap in, and enjoy the show. I can’t wait to show you what we have to offer.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Silas
“Why the hell are we going after some dodo bird?!” I protested, watching as Rufian ate the plum down to its core.
“Why? For the first ingredient to the codex’s location spell, my dear sentimental hero.”
“See? I knew you weren’t for the cause,” I said pointing at him as I walked away from Rufian and away from the fire. “You’re only here to burn the Grimoire to the ground!”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Rufian said, following me. “If I wanted to, I could have killed you by now and taken the crystal shield for myself. Think about it for a second—it would have been painfully easy, like taking candy from a baby.”
“Don’t patronize me!”
“Honestly, Silas, I don’t see where all of this sudden hostility is coming from.”
“You don’t give two shits about saving Senterra!”
“You’re wrong.”
“Am I? Not one time did you suggest pursuing Mavriel’s shield! Not once!”
“Well, that’s because I’m not suicidal.”
“So what are you saying? We were doomed from the start?”
“Has it ever occurred to you that we may benefit from the Grimoire in many ways? You insisted on finding the shard first, but in reality, we need the Grimoire. I was hoping this nymph affair would enlighten you and finally silence those doubts swarming in your head.”
“This doesn’t change a damn thing!”
“It should. It should have opened your eyes to reveal to you how grossly underprepared you are. How underprepared we are. A few sister fae could have easily disposed of us if we weren’t careful. Now imagine if we had the Grimoire! It would have been an effortless execution for us.”
His comment made me stop short. “You see, I could have sworn you said that you were above using it. That you wanted to destroy it so it wouldn’t be abused.”
“I’d say using it to find the shards, not only from the fae, but from the dragons, is more than a fair exception to that rule. And as for the curses that may follow, I am sure the dungeon core would be more than happy to expunge them for us once she is repaired. For her, the task would be as easy as lifting a finger.”
I looked at him cross, my faith in this plan of his see-sawing again.
“We are after the same thing, Silas. I want what you want, and what I want right now is for you to quit posing me as a criminal for Senterrians. You might not trust me, but I am trying my best to give you a reason to. And even if you feel that we can never see eye to eye, at the very least, trust my judgment in the country I was raised in all of my life.”
I didn’t want to fail. Every time we took a step toward a direction, I felt a looming feeling over my shoulder warning me to tread carefully. Rufian was making it seem that I wouldn’t have gotten this far without his exclusive help, and that there was zero chance of me getting my hands on the fae’s shard without the Grimoire.
If this book was so damn important to Senterrian’s success, then why was I just now hearing about it?
Elliot and Madeem let me walk out there knowing I was limited in resources for the fae. Did they know something I didn’t? Or was their faith in me that strong? Were they blinded by desperation? Or were my ignorant pep-talks fueling their inevitable shortcomings?
Maybe they’d underestimated what they were up against. Shit, I was finding that insanely hard to believe. They knew more than me how deadly fae were. And yet, they weren’t reluctant to have me walk into the heat of fire.
With no party I might add.
I’d never been so torn with a decision in my life—to pursue a spell book in a magic world to find a piece of a dying goddess, or to use that time to gather intel from locals to find a piece of a dying goddess.
Time was ticking, and I needed to make a choice quick.
“Silas? This time, the ball is on your court.”
One option was considerably harder than the other at face value, wasn’t it? But that same option was also less risky. If Rufian decided to turn around and backstab me once he got his hands on the spellbook, then Thalian was done for. I’d waste all that time in Mavriel, and would have nothing to show for it.
“Silas?”
“We grab the shit you need for the codex locator spell,” I said almost regrettably. “But I’m in charge. If I say we stand down, we stand down. If I say we move forward, we move forward! And the moment we get that locator spell, we grab the codex. No detours! We don’t have a lot of days left, so we can’t spend a second more than we need to on this spell book.”
He bowed. “Understood. I am glad we finally reached an agreement, hero. My teleporter is ready.”
++++
Ether-Serin, a small district 3 village of more ethereal fae. Rufian transported us to its center, our sudden appearance not alarming anyone as they paced up and down the walkway, going about their daily routine. Some carried woven baskets filled with harvest, other spun wagons loaded with lumber, and a few wrangled farm animals along the horizon. This place was a clear contrast to the first area I landed in when I was brought back to life by Alzera-Kar. The barren badlands of Senterrian borders made this place look like a goddamn paradise, and I couldn’t stop my feet from inching closer to its hypnotic bounty. Everything was very vivid and colorful, something similar to the nymph forest except with quaint wooden cottages laid out in a labyrinth of cobblestone pathways. The smell of fresh bread lingered in the air and music spilled from a storefront to the right, a group of flute players making the passersby stop and dance to their buoyant tune.
