“Gertha, how did you find this book so fast?” I turned to Gertha, still reeling from our brief encounter with the walking corpses. We were in a dead forest of tomes, and she’d somehow picked out the exact book we needed the first time. I don’t know enough about magic to critique it effectively, but even to me it reeked of bullshit.

  “It’s the cover. It’s not cow leather. It’s-”

  “Dragon leather.” I exhaled in wonder. Dragon leather was one of the most expensive materials known to humankind. They say that Athepion, the last Dragon Slayer, had gloves made entirely from it, but that was hundreds of years in the past. What I was holding was probably enough leather for us to buy our way into a kingdom, or even just buy us the bloody kingdom.

  “I spotted it immediately. I saw a strip of it once in King Perek’s horde.” Gertha said, her voice reverent.

  “You went into his horde? Bloody hell, Gertha, I thought you were indentured.”

  “I am…well was. He needed me to verify some objects in his collection.”

  “Which bit do you want me to look at? I don’t get to read books that much.” I sniffed. Books were the tools of richer, smarter people than me. I knew my letters and had read books in my time, though - Peevan had seen to that. I was clever enough to know just how clever I wasn’t, which gave me an edge in most things and led to some people underestimating me. Nobody is smarter than me with a blade, though.

  Gertha stabbed a finger onto the page, “like most books, Tull, at the beginning.” She laughed, but I could tell it was forced; she was probably as uneasy as I was.

  The page had strange symbols around the edges. They looked like the sketches of marks that an axe or sword might make, but were arranged in patterns and shapes. It was some kind of language, I was certain, but I couldn’t make sense of it.

  The rest of the page had pieces I could understand; one caught my eye.

  In the wake of the Great Enemy’s insidious victories, our greatest minds and Magi gathered as one and coalesced Humanity’s First Answer. Great inroads were made, and for a time, the terrors in the forests were tamed. We thrived, and the gathering formalised into the Arcuzane. Yet the Great Enemy turned Humanity’s First Answer into a Question none would dare ask, and for lifetimes, we have been pushed to the far corners of the world. To know the Great Enemy is to be known, and so the people must be given a new Answer. To protect their souls.

  To protect our kind.

  I nodded thoughtfully at the page before looking up at Gertha, “I don’t get it.”

  She sighed, “Keep reading.”

  We looked to the old stories, the myths left by the wayside and sought inspiration. We delved and we dived into the lore. Picking it up piece by piece, removing it from the annals of history. Our new Answer would not be uttered in our lifetimes, but the Question that would form it has been asked.

  Humanity’s Actual Answer, ‘Death on Two Legs’, will come, and the Arcuzane must be ready to claim them.

  I looked over at Eggs, who was sitting on the floor, one leg stuck in the air as they cleaned the space between their legs. Two legs. Why was the Wyvern a punishment for those using a sword to take another human’s life after all? The Wyverns' entire myth revolved around them being death for humans. To have one offered as humanity’s redemption? It felt oddly poetic.

  “Eggs, is humanity’s saviour?” I asked. I felt an odd mixture of pride and sadness. I’d be proud to be the man who hatched and bonded with the creature that could save us. However, if Eggs were to save us all, then it would mean hardships, battle and terror. I didn’t want them to have to go through that.

  “Yes, and it looks like the Arcuzane want humanity’s saviour for whatever their purposes are.” Gertha took the book from my hands, snapping it shut.

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  “I reckon to fight against this Great Enemy, they probably mean the Wyrms, Drakes and Dragons of the world.” I was confident in this, after all, they were the reason our lands were limited, and we all hid in our walls. Was Eggs going to be able to take on even the lowliest of Wyrms? Not at the moment, certainly, I would need to protect them until Eggs was ready.

  “That seems likely, but for now we need to get somewhere safe, especially with whatever that group was out there looking around.” Gertha stowed the book in her bag. I glimpsed inside and saw a few of the smaller brass instruments. She’d been busy and sticky-fingered while in here. I could respect that.

  “Will there be any weapons or supplies in a tower like this?” I asked if there was any kind of edge against big bastard lizards or that group of living dead things. I wanted it.

  “Not likely, the Arcuzane never needed weapons. Their magic was enough.” She said.

  I rolled my eyes, “Then where are they all then?”

  “Not here obviously, they must be at the Hold, it’s an island, nothing can get near that apart from a boat or a Dragon, and the Hold would protect against both of those.”

  “Then we head to this magic island of theirs and get help or answers.” I resolved and started walking to the stairs. Just then, Eggs flew over and perched on my shoulder; it was like carrying a small sack of potatoes on my shoulder, but the sensation had grown familiar to me. Ironic that my chest felt lighter when one of my shoulders was weighed down. Gertha followed behind, and our footsteps echoed softly in the large space. We descended the stairs and came to another floor that had not been there on our way up. I looked out of one of the windows and saw we had somehow descended to the top of the tower.

  “Godbody’s balls,” I swore, gesturing for Gertha to look out of the window.

  “Well, leaving might take slightly more time than we thought, Tullen.” She said, smiling faintly.

  A door behind us, where the stairwell we had just walked down had been, suddenly creaked open, revealing a small room with a fireplace with blue flames, two large leather armchairs and two single beds on either side of the room. There was a table with freshly cooked hams, chickens, beef and vegetables. My stomach growled loudly as the smells mixed, and my mouth watered. It was inviting, and I could feel my pent up weariness building up in me. The tower was safe; we’d seen that with our own eyes when that group of the dead flailed uselessly against the gate.

  Gertha stepped in before me, holding a hand up to hold me back. She placed a coin into her mouth.

  “Come on, Gertha, let’s rest, eat and recover. We have a long journey ahead of us.” I said, my eyelids fluttering.

  “Lekh bahl RUSULH!” Gertha intoned, and my weariness faded from my bones like ice in a boiling pot.

  I rubbed my eyes and looked at the room once more. It was much the same, but there was no blue fire, just a glowing red gem that gave off heat, and there was no sign of the food. My heart fell in that moment. I’d not eaten a proper ham in years, and my hunger gave way to anger.

  “Oh great, a spell that destroys meals. How wonderful.” I snapped.

  “Is the only thing between your ears a rock? The room was glamoured, there’s no telling what its true purpose was, but I very well may have saved your life.” She hit back with a firm glance, and I felt like a child who’d just been reprimanded by their mother.

  “Sorry, Gertha, it’s just been…difficult since leaving Avandun.” I rubbed the back of my head. If it wasn’t for Gertha, I likely would be Wyrm food by now. She’d be handy with that fire as well. Like it or not, I had much to learn from her.

  “Forget it, let’s just get some rest while we can, then head to the Hold when day comes,” Gertha said, pulling one of the armchairs loose and sitting in it.

  I approached the chairs warily before kicking one. It slid slightly but did not do anything else untoward; I was still suspicious, however.

  “Wasn’t this room dangerous a moment ago?” I asked.

  “It might have been, but it’s mundane now, as much as a magical tower room can be,” Gertha said, closing her eyes.

  I sat in the other armchair, gazing into the gem, enjoying the warmth on my skin. Eggs crawled in front of the gem and curled up in a circle, resting their head on their tail, they watched me from under their brow, those beautiful, big golden eyes seeming to look into my very soul.

  I yawned and stretched my arms before sinking into the chair. I could feel my eyelids being tugged down as sleep beckoned me. I stood up and walked to one of the beds. Gertha’s eyes bolted open as I moved past, before she grunted and closed her eyes once more.

  I lay myself down on the bed, my head touching the soft blankets piled up at one end, and I relaxed for the first time in a long time. I smelled rotten scents, then felt movement at the foot of my bed and saw Eggs crawling over my legs.

  “C’mere then.” I said and opened my arms to the little Wyvern, and Eggs curled up against my chest. Thankfully facing away from me, so I didn't have to smell their breath as much.

  We lay there, our breathing and Gertha’s gentle snores the only sounds for a few minutes.

  Then, right as I dropped off to sleep. There was an almighty crash from the bottom of the tower, and a high-pitched, repeated whining noise echoed throughout the tower.

  Gertha, Eggs and I leapt to our feet, looking around the room in a panic.

  I raced to the window, looking down.

  There was a large, roughly cut trunk of a tree smashing into the gate; it was being carried by well over thirty people. They mostly wore the colours of Zellund, and they moved in perfect synchronicity.

  I looked to Gertha, the horror plain on my face as she recoiled.

  “The Dead are coming!” I cried.