Valley of the Ancients: Book Three of the Restoration Series (13 page)

"If they're looking for you, then they may be looking for Aaron and Mikela, but you still sent them in there," Heather cried, bounding to her feet.

"Yes, but I had Cassandra help them alter their appearance and those two are rather plain looking."

Heather considered that for a moment. Probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell Mikela that she was plain looking, but she knew what Dagan meant. They wouldn't stand out in a crowd. The same couldn't be said for Atock or Enton.

"Can't you alter your appearance?" Heather asked, calming down again.

"Yes, I can. However, that is a well known benefit of sorcery. I am loathe to risk it at this point. So far, I have not sensed another sorcerer, but that does not mean there isn't one here."

"So how long do we wait for Aaron and Mikela to search the library?" Cassandra asked. Her tone had lost all of its earlier anger. She apparently was once again in agreement with Dagan.

"Time is running out. In the next day or so, you and I will need to start searching the library with them."

Aaron silently closed the door behind him and looked around the large square room. He clapped his hand over his nose after just one breath. Something smelled horrible in here.

The room itself was square, roughly twenty feet by twenty feet. Two long tables were pushed up together in the middle of the room. Chairs lined the outside edges of the tables. The tables were covered with books, most of them unbound with their covers lying beside them on the table.

Saying a silent prayer that he was alone, Aaron moved farther into the room. He stopped and glanced down at the table. Several small bowls filled with a white goo were scattered around. He assumed that whatever was in the bowls was what was smelling so bad.

Dismissing the tables and their contents, he turned his attention to the walls. The walls were stone but they were nearly covered up by numerous shelves and bookcases. As quietly as he could he began searching behind the bookcases and looking behind the shelves. Looking for any sign of a secret door or any kind of a release mechanism.

Ten minutes later, he had found absolutely nothing.

Sighing in disgust and frustration, he walked slowly back to the door. He gave one more look around and then quietly cracked opened the door and peeked out. He was in luck. The guard must still be distracted with the old man.

Not hesitating a bit, he opened the door and stepped out intending to head to the nearest bookshelves.

He hadn't even taken two steps when a voice called out. "Stop!"

With his heart threatening to beat out of his chest, he slowly turned to look in the direction of the shout. The guard he had noticed earlier was jogging in his direction. The guard's hand rested on his sword hilt and his eyes were fixed N>

Aaron held his hands and tried to look as innocent as he could.

The guard slowed as he neared Aaron, but he never once took his eyes off of the Guardian or his hand away from his sword.

"Can I be of service?" Aaron asked as mildly as he could. His heart was beating so rapidly that he thought it might explode. He so preferred a straight up fight to all this skulking around. For just a moment, he thought he saw a man peering around the end of one of the bookshelves on the end of the row. His blood nearly ran cold and his pounding heart threatened to stop.

The guard motioned back towards the door. "What were doing in there? That area is off limits."

Aaron glanced to the guard and then back to the spot where he had seen the man's face. There was nothing there now but it had been a face he had seen before, but therein was the problem. The man had been dark, with a long pointed nose and a thin frame. The scary part was that Aaron had seen the man leading goblins into battle at Fort Mul-Dune. How could he be here? Had he really seen him? It had to be a trick of the light, a shadow or something.

"What were you doing in there?" the guard repeated. "You're not allowed in there."

Aaron nodded, "I discovered that." He wrinkled his nose. "The smell nearly killed me. They really should put up a sign or post a guard or something."

The guard sighed and finally pulled his hand away from his sword. "I was posted at that door." His face finally relaxed and he looked back the way he had come. "Some old fool nearly started a fire and I had to leave my post. What were you doing in there?"

Aaron smiled and lowered his hands. "I entered there by accident, was nearly blinded by that god awful smell, and fled as fast I could." He motioned back towards the bookshelves. "I got turned around. Could you tell me how to find the entrance?"

The guard studied him for a moment and Aaron was sure the man could hear the thump thump of Aaron's heart. But if he could, then he gave no indication.

After a moment the guard took another deep breath and motioned off to the left. "It's that way."

Aaron thanked him and took his leave. He sincerely hoped that he never crossed this guard's path again. He was quite sure the guard would remember him.

It was late in the afternoon and the sun was going down as Mikela neared finishing her examination of the exterior of the buildings. Nothing. Not the first hint or suggestion of anything magically concealed.

It was still early in the spring, but they were farther south than she was used to and she had worked up a sweat wearing a cloak in the sunlight. Still though, she had eliminated any kind of magically concealed entrance along the outside of the structures. In addition, she had already examined most of the libraries' interiors and there wasn't the first sign or hint of where Dagan's treasure room was located.

"Fool's errand, indeed," she said quietly to herself.

She was walking slowly along the left hand side of the main library building, heading back to the main entrance. This was the last bit of unexamined wall that was left Nway,div>

People were scattered here and there. The library was more than just a building to house books. It also seemed a place where classes were taught. Several groups of people, men mostly, were gathered around several different individuals conversing loudly. It almost seemed a competition as to who could speak the loudest. Still other groups sat spread out along the beautiful marble stairs that wrapped completely around the library buildings.

She plugged her ears and moved quickly past an especially loud group of men and turned left to enter the main library building. Frustration, and a tinge of anger, causing her to scowl at anyone and everyone.

They were wasting time and what were they to do? Her thoughts came around to Flare and she nearly flinched. It just couldn't be true. She knew that Flare was capable of some truly awful things, but then again he was a soldier and it was required of him, but he couldn't be the monster that Kelcer warned about. He just couldn't. Worrying, and wishing she hadn't thought about Flare, she stepped through the heavyset wooden doors into the library proper.

Just inside the main entrance, was an enormous octagonal gallery. Fifty yards long and fifty yards across, it was easily the most impressive part of the library. Along the left and right hand sides, beautiful paintings and mosaics were hung. Statues and sculptures decorated the open parts of the floor. The most impressive part of this amazing room was the far wall from where she stood. It was an enormous relief that had been cut, transported here, and then reassembled. Heroic humans were depicted slaying villainous looking monsters.

She stopped just inside the entrance, staring at the relief along the back half of the gallery as though she had never seen it before. She had seen it quite often lately, but apparently she had not yet cast her spell in this room. The entire relief along the back wall glowed brilliant green.

Heather, Dagan, and Cassandra were still gathered in Cassandra's room, trying to plan the next day's search when Atock entered the room. He was yawning and still looked extremely sleepy. He took an empty chair next to the door. Dagan sat in the other chair and both women sat on the crumpled bed. A small fire crackled in the fireplace.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea for us to join the search yet." Dagan said. It had the sound of something that he had said multiple times already. "If we are recognized, then it will do more harm than good."

"True," Heather agreed in a calm voice. Judging by her voice it seemed obvious that she was winning the argument. "However, it doesn't do us any good to just keep sending Aaron and Mikela in there." She paused, looking from Cassandra to Dagan. "I think if they were going to find anything, then they already would have."

Dagan looked grumpy but didn't respond, so it seemed a perfect time for Atock to speak up. "I have an idea." Three sets of eyes swiveled in his direction. "I've been watching the guards as they come off of duty. Most of them head to a pub not too far down the street. All of them with the exception of one are low level guards. That one, though, is a captain of the guard." Atock leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "So far, every night that I have been watching, the captain has had a drink or two with the men and then left the bar alone."

"So?" Cassandra N Aarnd asked.

"Well," Atock said resisting the urge to get snippy with the woman, "it seems to me that it might be a good idea to ask this captain a few questions."

"Torture?" Heather asked quickly, obviously not liking the idea. "And what about his wife? It wouldn't take long for his disappearance to be reported and that would cause a whole new set of problems for us."

"Actually," Atock said, now grinning, "I was hoping that our wonderful sorcerer could make him talk without torture. Oh, and I followed him home last night and he lives in an army barracks, so there won't be any wife reporting him missing." He paused and looked at Dagan. "Am I right in assuming that you can get the answers out of him?"

Heather and Cassandra both turned to look at the old man. He was quiet for another moment, chewing his lip. "Of course I could do that, but if there's another sorcerer around he might feel it."

"And what about after?" Heather asked, looking back at Atock. "Do you intend to kill him?"

Atock motioned over towards Dagan, "I thought he could put the hex on him so that he doesn't remember anything."

"Hex?" Dagan asked, his eyes narrowing.

"You know," Atock said, he waggled his fingers, "scramble his memories or give him false ones. That kind of thing."

There was silence for a moment and then Heather turned to Dagan. "Can you do that?"

Dagan sighed deeply. "I don't like it but it may be time to try something like that."

Just then the door shot open causing all four of them to jump in surprise. In the doorway Mikela stood, a wild victorious look in her face. "I've found something."

"I'm an old man," Dagan said irritability, his hand clinched to his heart. "Those kinds of surprises could be the death of me."

Everyone else ignored him.

"What did you find?" Heather demanded.

An intensity shown on her face and Atock realized just how much the woman was putting into this mission.

"I've been a fool this whole time." Mikela said, speaking quickly. She closed the door and moved over to stand in front of the bed. "I have been so busy checking all the different rooms of the library but I forgot to check the entry gallery."

"The gallery?" Heather repeated. She had only been in the library once and had been rightly impressed by the impressive entryway. "What about it?"

"Well, today I thought that I hadn't spent enough time looking around the perimeter of the buildings, so I walked around them casting Cassandra's spell." She shook her head, "But I didn't find anything. As I re-entered the main building though, I was still casting the spell and the entire relief glowed green."

"The relief?" Cassandra repeated dully.

"Yes. It's had a magic spell cast on it and it could only be Dagan's entrance."

"Good," Dagan said N">

"Actually, that might still be a good idea." Heather replied, wiping the smile off of Dagan's face. "Maybe this guard will know how to get into the treasure room. Just in case this actually works, how are you coming with the Kelcer fake?"

Dagan didn't answer but Cassandra rose smoothly from her spot on the bed and crossed over to the small desk. Grinning, she held up a bundle of papers that looked old and faded. "It should be good enough to fool anyone who doesn't actually know the original prophecy."

Chapter 8

Atock and Enton looked out from the shadows, watching the front of the small pub. Enton yawned a jaw cracking yawn and shivered in the coolness of the night air. It was warmer here they were used to for this time of year, but it was still rather cold at night. He had been up all day long watching the library during the daylight hours. Normally, Atock would relieve him at sundown, but when Enton had heard the plan he had refused to go back to the inn. He simply couldn't miss out on the events that were planned for this night.

Atock pulled his cloak tighter about him. It was Enton's own fault that he was freezing. The plan had called for Enton to go home and Atock to capture the guard but Enton had insisted, so now he stood here shivering without a cloak.

"Listen," Atock said quietly, "why don't you head that way?" He pointed up the street in the direction the guard captain had always headed the previous nights. "Go hide in that third alley and take this." He handed over the little something special that Cassandra had given them.

Accepting the item, Enton studied it silently for a moment. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Once he comes out, I'll follow him till we get close."

Without another word, Enton pushed himself away from the wall and started out into the street. He and Atock had been on the opposite side of the street from the pub, but the alley that Atock wanted him in was on the same side as the pub and just a little farther down. He kept his head down, even though the streets appeared empty.

Watching his comrade walk down the street, Atock began to feel the first nervous excitement that always accompanied confrontation, although he hoped this didn't turn into a full fledged battle. Enton had come here ahead of the guards, and staked out a good location while Atock had remained outside the library. Once the small group of guards had exited the main entrance, Atock had discretely followed them here.