Chapter 16 – A Dwarf’s Word

  Sylvian appeared in a new location. After completing the Trial, she agreed to the contract and received the leaf from Arbour allowing her to return to the Trial again. If there were any doubts about what Arbour was, the leaf confirmed it.

  But instead of returning to the others, Sylvian chose to let Arbour teleport her to the location that it sent Clayton before. It was a risk, but they needed to know what Clayton did when he was here, and this was the best chance they had of finding out.

  Now she stood in an empty room with a stairway on one side and an open doorway on the other. Scattered around the doorway were bits of stone and door that looked recently destroyed. She knew instantly that the ruined door had to be Clayton’s doing. In all the time they had been in Kharzast, she hadn’t seen any place broken into like this.

  “At least it’s not a hard path to follow,” Sylvian said, stepping through the doorway. On the other side was a single staircase leading down. She followed it to the bottom. It was a long trek, but it was a straight path with no deviations. There was no chance he could have gone a different way. At the bottom of the staircase was a single opened gate.

  It led to a series of rooms, each the size of a small closet. They each had their own gated door that should have prevented entry from trespassers like herself. That’s the impression she’d got from the place. That it should be left undisturbed, but every room she passed was left open with nothing more than a single blank tome in each. Each book had a unique design on the cover depicting horrors Sylvian had never imagined. She was hesitant to touch such wicked looking things, but the need to know more about what Clayton was doing down here drove her to take the risk. She tested a few, but after confirming they were safe to touch, she placed several in her new Storage to take back to the others to inspect.

  Sylvian left most of the tomes where they sat in their rooms. It felt odd that a place like this would have been made so far away from everything, and only to hold a handful of blank books, but she reminded herself that Clayton had the same ability she had. They might not be able to determine what he removed from the rooms. Still, she was hesitant to remove more than she had to. There had to be a reason these were left down here.

  Once she was done and she was certain there wasn’t anything more to learn, Sylvian pulled out the leaf she got from Arbour. Activating it with a thought, it crumbled with a strangely satisfying crackling sound in her hand. Immediately, a small portal appeared in front of her. She stepped through it, appearing back in the central room of the Trial with Arbour a moment later.

  “You’re back already?” Arbour voice called to her. “That didn’t take long.”

  “Yes,” Sylvian said. “I found what I was looking for, I hope. I am sorry I had to use your precious gift already. I was hoping I might get another so I can return again?”

  Sylvian posed the last part like a question unsure if she was out of line in asking. It was certainly not something that was easy to replace. She hated using it so soon after receiving it.

  “Of course,” Arbour said, promptly producing another leaf.

  “Thank you,” Sylvian said, taking the leaf reverently. She placed it in her Storage and vowed not to use this one so soon. Not until she was ready to fulfill her part of the contract for Arbour.

  “I also have something else for you,” Arbour said.

  “Another gift?”

  “Yes, I been working on this for a while,” Arbour said. “I wasn’t sure who to give it to. I was thinking Jack, but he hasn’t come back yet.”

  “What is it?”

  “A possible way to solve my problem and complete the contract,” Arbour said. As he spoke a small seed floated down in front of Sylvian. Reverently, she held out her hand as the seed came to rest in her palm. She stared at it like a mythical treasure. “I’m not sure if it will work, and it took a lot of energy to create, but if you plant that above in the land outside, then I might be able to connect with it and move to the surface with time.”

  “Would this body not still be stuck here?” Sylvian asked.

  “This one will,” Arbour said. “I am not sure how it would work exactly, but I think I would exist in both.”

  “I will do this then,” Sylvian said placing the seed in her Storage. “Thank you for trusting me with this.”

  “Of course,” Arbour said. “Will you be leaving the way you came in, or do you need to be teleported somewhere else?”

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  “The way I came in,” Sylvian answered. “I’ve kept the others waiting long enough, but I have a sister and others. I am sure they would like to meet you as well.”

  “Of course,” Arbour said. “But if they come here, they will have to undergo the Trial. Even if they use that leaf to come directly to me.”

  “I understand,” Sylvian said. The doorway opened and Sylvian exited the room.

  Once outside the Trial, she immediately went to find Rayne. She needed to know as well. She found Rayne near the entrance standing guard by herself, waiting for her.

  “Finally,” Rayne muttered. “What took so long? None of the others took that long. We were beginning to worry. Did you at least learn anything useful?”

  Sylvian didn’t answer right away. Instead, she grabbed Rayne’s arm and dragged her over to the Trial’s entrance. Before Rayne could protest, Sylvian had already placed Rayne’s hand on the door, initiating the process.

  “What are you…?” Rayne started to say but Sylvian stopped her.

  “I’m sorry, but you’ll understand,” Sylvian told her, pushing her into the Trial the moment the door opened. Once she was in, she wouldn’t be able to leave. As predicted, the door closed almost instantly as Rayne entered, stifling any further objections she had on the subject. Satisfied that Rayne would soon know the truth about the child without needing to risk Savgar finding out, Sylvian turned around only to find Savgar staring at her from the bottom of the stairs.

  Savgar had watched it all happen with mild curiosity. “You going to explain that?” Savgar asked as Sylvian rejoined him.

  “She needed to take the Trial,” Sylvian said simply.

  “Is that so?” Savgar said. “Had a change of heart about it? If that is the case, then perhaps I should…”

  “No,” Sylvian said flatly.

  “No?” Savgar asked, squinting at the elf. “Why not?”

  Sylvian didn’t immediately answer. Instead, she said. “I found information about Clayton. But it is not much, and the others would be better suited to finding out more. I brought a few items back for the others to investigate. Are they here?”

  “Most went off to scout the city a bit,” Savgar said. “Got tired of sitting around, I suppose. Was that everything you found in there?”

  “It was enlightening, but I don’t think it is something you would be interested in,” Sylvian said.

  “Hmm,” Savgar hummed. “Perhaps, but I like to make that decision myself. I was just thinking that the support class might be worth getting anyways. An inventory skill could always be useful. That is, unless there is any reason I wouldn’t want to take the Trial.”

  He said the last part leadingly. They stared at each other for a moment until Sylvian finally said with a sigh. “I can’t stop you, but if you enter then you must promise not to hurt the Moderator. If you do, you will be risking a war with the elves.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Savgar nearly growled. “What did you find in there?”

  “I can’t speak on it,” she said eventually. “You know I cannot. None that have completed the Trial can speak on it.”

  “Perhaps,” Savgar said. “But some things can still be said. For example, I now know it is something of conflicting interest to both the elves and dwarves. There isn’t a lot that would interest both our people.”

  Sylvian sighed again. She had hoped that Savgar would simply not care, but that was wishful thinking. Something like this couldn’t be hidden for long, especially with the quest to bring Arbour to the surface. Instead, she tried a different tactic.

  “There is no way to explain without you seeing it with your own eyes,” Sylvian said. “But this will also affect the Pact we made. If you enter that Trial, then you’ll understand, but if you act on your first instinct, then you will break our Pact.”

  “The Pact has been completed,” Savgar said. “We found the city.”

  “There were two parts to that Pact and a failure condition,” Sylvian said. “Search your interface, it still holds.”

  Savgar eyes looked off in the distance as he checked his own System interface. It didn’t take long for him to find the information concerning the Pact. “Knew that Pact would be nothing but trouble,” Savgar spat. “But the Pact will not last indefinitely. And I am not about to ignore something that has you treating me like a threat so suddenly. I will keep the Pact as long as it holds, but I make no promises once it ends.”

  “Understood,” Sylvian said. “I am sorry about this, truly. You have proven yourself a true ally and friend, but this is something I cannot ignore. We need more time before we figure out what to do about it.”

  “Fine, fine,” Savgar said. “We all have our obligations. We can talk more about it once I take this Trial.”

  “You still intend to take it?”

  “If you are going to invoke the Pact,” Savgar said. “Then I will know what it is I am protecting. That is something I will not back down on.”

  “Understood,” Sylvian sighed. “And I thank you for your word on this.” She emphasized the last part to confirm that the dwarf had truly given his word. That was something he would be less likely to break than any Pact they had made.

  Savgar waved off her concerns. “You have my word,” Savgar said. “Don’t make me regret that. What did you find out about Clayton?”

  “All I was able to determine was that he was in the city and now he is not,” Sylvian said, glad for the change in topic. “I was able to check the area he went originally, and I brought back some stuff that might give us more insight on what he was doing there, but I couldn’t determine anything more.”

  Savgar grunted. “Hopefully we won’t have to wait three days for Rayne to do the same.”

  Sylvian only shrugged at that. “It will take as long as it takes.”

  Savgar shook his head. “It’s obvious whatever you found is important to the elves, but will the dwarves care about it?”

  “Some may not,” she admitted. “But there are many that will, and it won’t be just the dwarves.”

  “I suppose we will have to leave it at that, until I can see for myself,” Savgar said. “Go ahead and rest up. I’ll continue to keep watch for now.”

  “Alright,” Sylvian said. There was a part of her that was hesitant to leave Savgar alone now that she knew what she knew, but Savgar had given his word and a dwarf’s word was his bond. There was little more she could do than that.