The meeting was at noon, and Shuren overslept. He rushed to get out of his bed. He jumped out of his night clothes and into his casual outfit. He didn’t stop to wash his face. He ran down the hallway looking the way he did just as he woke up. He scrambled into the grand hall to find a mess of Zelzes. Each Zelze stared at Shuren puzzled as he made his way through the pile of them. Shuren even heard a slight giggle here and there, but he ignored them. Shuren searched for Rollan but could not find him.
Shuren noticed that the Zelzes were staring up, almost at the ceiling. Shuren looked up at the tall ceiling. In mid air, Shuren saw a count of five dragons flying. Three of the five carried two people while the remaining two carried one Zelze each. Shuren saw that Karoline, Lloyd and Rollan were flying above them. Rollan was on the left flying on a sharp blue Dragon, Lloyd in the middle in a dark green Dragon, and Karoline on right with a faint white Dragon. Shuren waited a moment, but no word was spoken. It seemed as if they were waiting for something.
Rollan looked down and saw Shuren. He made a gesture to the Zelze to his left. Suddenly, the bright purple Dragon swooped down towards Shuren. The Zelzes each took a step back. The Dragon landed softly beside Shuren, the Zelze signaled for Shuren get on it’s back. Shuren nervously climbed on. The Dragon lifted into the air quickly almost causing him to loose his balance. Before he knew it, he was at the elevation of the others.
“Well now,” Rollan said to Shuren, “Let’s get started.” Karoline and Lloyd both nodded. Rollan cleared his throat. Everyone’s attention was now fixed on the five Dragons floating above them. “There are a few reasons why the meeting was called today. We are all still grieving upon the lives that were stolen from us by surprise. I’m afraid that the bad news has yet to end.” Rollan looked over at Lloyd.
“Garland and the Ingles have already taken action. They have begun recruiting a few days after the battle,” Lloyd said. It almost seemed as if he was about to choke. The faces below showed a very worried expression. Lloyd continued, “The worst part is that he is doing it forcefully. He threatens villages to join him or become enslaved.” Gasps were heard. Some were angry and others were upset. It took quite a toll on Lloyd to express the worst of news to them.
“There is another thing,” Karoline began. “I’m sorry but we can not exactly tell you what this thing is, but it should be known that we are going away to try and solve this thing.” Complaints were cried all over. Karoline took a deep breath and said, “Rollan, Lloyd, Shuren, a few others and I are going after this thing, and we expect you people to be strong with out us for that while.”
There were more complaints amongst the Zelzes below. Shuren was tired of hearing unhappy comments. “Listen everyone! This thing is important. It may be more important than the war itself! This thing, we think it’s a weapon that Garland is after, and we must stop him! You must be strong! I have revised a plan that I think that would work.” The room suddenly went quiet. Shuren was enlightened for once. “We will divide ourselves into several groups. We are going to have a race with the Ingles. We will go to the remaining villages and recruit them. For this we will need most of the Dragons available. We will need only a few Zelzes per group, and twice as many Dragons. You will fly to the villages and convince them to join us. We can fit about two people per Dragon.
“As for the people to be in each group, that’s all up to you. Are there any volunteers?” Shuren asked. After a few moments, there was nothing. Then, a long hand shot up in the crowd. Shuren smiled, “Yes, there’s one.” Another hand shot up, followed by a few more until there was a total of twenty Zelzes. “Yes, twenty, that’s the perfect amount. You are all brave, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
“Now, for the people who stay behind, I expect you all to prepare for war. Train, practice spells, do anything you can to aid. If there happens to be an ambush, send out one of the remaining Dragons for help. I say that two days time will be enough for us to prepare for the journey ahead of us. Now, are there any questions or statements?” Shuren asked after a deep breath. There were no comments or questions to be said. “Then, this meeting is dismissed. Zelzes, be prepared.”
The crowed below fluttered and scattered into an empty hall. The five Dragons landed in the hall and everyone climbed off. Now was calm. “So who will be traveling with us?” Shuren asked.
“I think Blayger, Thegor and there Dragons should be enough,” Lloyd said.
Shuren paused for a moment. There were seven people going, and there was only three Dragons, there weren‘t enough Dragons. “Lloyd that’s not enough.
Lloyd looked confused. “There is not enough what?” Shuren began to feel that he was being toyed with. He made a serious face, and Lloyd said, “Oh, don’t worry about that Shuren, I have that under control.” Both Shuren and Karoline were confused, they shook off the confusion.
Now, only Shuren, Karoline, Rollan, Lloyd, Thegor, and Blayger were left in the hall. Shuren spoke up, “So exactly what should we be prepared with?”
“Definitely weapons and rations,” Karoline said, “the usual survival necessities.”
“I think that we should travel light,” Thegor said as he patted his dark green Dragon, “they are not super strong.”
“I agree,” said Lloyd, almost as if he understood what she was saying. The subject was soon changed into a more important matter.
“Well where should we go first? Lekay is the closest place,” Shuren suggested.
“No,” Karoline said firmly. “That is where we are most likely to get captured, also, if that is where one of these keys are, Garland is sure to have already retrieved it.”
“I say that we should go to Kyladin first. It’s in ruins so it should be fairly safe,” Rollan said. Shuren agreed, though he really wanted to go to Hogony first. Everyone else agreed. “So it is settled, we will travel to Kyladin fist.”
The seven of them walked out of the grand hall and back to their rooms. Shuren brainstormed on what he should do before he left. He had two days left on the mountain and he has sure that he would not be back for a long while. He will say goodbye to everyone, and gather all of his belongings. He continued to walk and ended up at his own room. Shuren realized that the meeting only lasted half an hour. It was half past noon and Shuren didn’t know what to do. It was the first time since his miserable days at Hogony, that Shuren was bored.
Shuren grabbed a book from the shelf and opened it, it was a non-fiction book. Shuren didn’t have much a taste for non-fiction books. He was into more of an adventure. Though his recent life was an extremely wild one, he would like to enjoy one without his life being in danger. Shuren went through all of the books on the shelf, but they were all informational books. Then, Shuren began to wonder, he never asked about a library in Aela-Doria. Surely all of the books must have came from somewhere. Then again, where would a library get all of it’s books in Aela-Doria? Still, Shuren wanted to search for one.
He walked outside and down to the grand hall. It was less empty than it had been after the meeting. There were several Zelzes in the grand hall. He asked one of them about a library, but they were not sure if one existed. Shuren continued to walk and walked into the healing room, where Shuren was first healed by Niance. The Zelze in there was not Nina, but another one. “Where is Niance?” Shuren asked.
“She is not present at the moment, I do not really know where she is,” the lady Zelze replied.
“Hmm, well thank you.” Shuren walked out of the room and roamed the halls. Shuren made some random turns and found himself in a foreign hallway with a few doors and an archway that led to a balcony at the end of it. A door on the left opened and a familiar face walked out. Catalina looked up to see Shuren and was startled.
Shuren realized how unusual the situation seemed. He has never been to her room before, let alone this hallway. She smiled and walked up to Shuren. She had her usual silky robe-like outfit on. Her hair was tied in a bun. She reached Shuren surprisingly did not touch him.
“What a surprise, I was just about to go see you, but it appears that you have found me,” she said quietly.
Shuren thought for a moment. If there was anyone who would know about a library, it would have been Zelzor. Now that he is gone, Catalina was one who seemed close enough to Zelzor to know about a library. “Hey, is there a library in this place?”
Catalina raised her eyebrows, “As in a collection of books?” Shuren nodded. “I’m not completely sure that there is.”
“Has Master Zelzor ever mentioned anything about a library?” asked Shuren, hoping for a small clue at least.
“Not that I know of, but there are two rather large cases in his room,” Catalina replied.
That struck Shuren, there was! “Yes, lets go see it then,” Shuren said, “lead the way.”
Catalina walked ahead of Shuren. They walked through the set of hallways that Shuren walked through the first time ever. They ended up at the gigantic double doors. They pushed them open to see a deserted room, fairly dusty. The lost of Zelzor struck Shuren again. He took a deep breath ignored it. The desk with the chair look as if it wasn’t moved in ages. The bed was made remained empty as it has been and the windows were closed. On the right side of the room, the large book cases stood tall. They were filled with old books.
Shuren walked up to them as he heard Catalina close the doors. He shelf read the spines, most of them were of a foreign languages of which he could barley understand. Though from the context, he was sure that they were just informational books. Shuren leaned his back against the book case and sighed. He was craving an adventure novel.
Shuren heard Catalina walk up towards him. “Did you not find what you wanted?” Shuren shook his head. She sighed also. She placed her right hand next to Shuren’s head and her left on the other side. She approached him. Shuren was trapped between her arms. “I’m sorry that you didn’t find it.” Shuren began to feel tense. She moved her head closer to the point that their noses were touching. Shuren did not move, and she did the opposite. She then brushed his lips with her own, and then turned into a full fledged kiss. Shuren cold not help but kiss back, it was his first ever. Then suddenly, the force that Shuren was leaning on caved in. Shuren fell backwards into a dark room, and Catalina fell on top of him. Dust fell from the ceiling, making it hard for Shuren to breath. He coughed and struggled to stand up, after doing so he helped Catalina up. They paused for a moment, and began to laugh.
“Ferina,” Shuren said as a ball of fire ignited in is hand. It lit the room, revealing nothing but walls. Though, on the far right side, was a dark hallway. Catalina grabbed Shuren’s hand as they began to explore it. The hallway turned into a flight of stairs that led down. They slowly walked down. Then, there were no more stairs, but a glossy floor instead. Shuren added more energy to his fire, causing his whole hand to catch fire, lighting more the of the room. Shuren saw, above him, a chandelier with a few candles. He shot flames at each one. Then the room was illuminated for the most part. On the walls were torches, he and Catalina lit them also.
The room was bright, and they were astonished to see what they found. The room was about as big as Shuren’s, and inside was stacked from the ground with books. There were no cases, they just sat on top of each other, each one with the fine leather covers that all books were made of. Ironically, it was a library.
Shuren smiled, and laughed. Catalina just held onto Shuren, unaware of what to express. Shuren immediately began browsing. There was a mixture of all kinds of books, from novels, to medicine books, to cooking recipes. Shuren was filled with joy to find one that he didn’t expect to. One that he had began reading before his journey began, titled Her Heirloom. The novel that included Craig as the main character. Shuren strictly remembered the last section that he read. He had left of when Craig outsmarted the trolls and camped out for the night.
It must have been an old book, for that was the only reason that the library let Shuren have it. Though he had not realize that it was old enough to be in Aela-Doria.
“What is that?” Catalina asked Shuren, pointing to the book in Shuren’s hands.
“It’s a novel that I was never able to finish. I read it back at the village before that jerk sent me on a suicide mission.” Shuren replied.
“Who is this jerk?”
Shuren gripped his book tightly. “His name is Bastian Mclore. He hated me just as much as I hate him now.” Catalina looked surprised. “That bastard is the reason why my village was attacked. He works for the Ingles, and he’s the reason why we were ambushed.”
Catalina looked irritated. This was the first time that she ever heard him speak such aggressive words. “Well, then what should we do about this?” she asked.
Shuren shook off the though of his grudge. “I don’t know, what do you think we should do? This must all be Zelzor’s correct?”
“Most likely, now that he’s gone, I think it would be nice to share a piece of it to everyone.”
Shuren nodded, “Well then, lets get to it. We’ll just grab an armful of the now and take them out into the grand hall. The we can tell people to come down here and get them.”
Catalina agreed. Shuren levitated two stacks of books, though he kept Her Heirloom in his arms. Catalina grabbed as many as she could by arm and followed him.. Shuren’s stack was wobbly, while hers stayed still and content in her arms. He still needed work on his magic. The left the room with the many stacks of books and walked up the stairs and back into Zelzor’s room.
They stepped over the pile of rubble and spilled books that they broke earlier. They slowly led the stack of books into the halls. People gathered around them as they set them down in the grand hall. The Zelzes rummaged through the four stacks of books and questioned where they came from. Catalina told everyone to settle down until they were all quiet.
“Everyone, we stumbled upon a library of some sort.” Shuren explained. “There was a room behind the book cases in Master Zelzor’s room. It led downstairs into a fairly large room with tons of books. I thought that you all should be able to read them all.”
The Zelzes began to commute amongst themselves, deciding whether or not it was right to be going trough Zelzor’s belongings.
Suddenly, Shuren came up with an idea. “I think that we should create a library.”
Zelzes were confused to here this. With all of the stress from the war, they had not expected anything like this. “We can’t let this war take everything away from us. Let’s try to stay positive. Let us try to enjoy ourselves while we still can.”
Soon, agreement seemed to be mutual with everyone. Shuren assigned groups of people to go down into the room and retrieve all of the books. They found an empty room, and decided to use it as a library.
“We will need to build book cases, large ones at that,” Shuren said as he helped a group of Zelzes clear out the room. After they moved all of the belongings out of the large room, they began cleaning it up. While cleaning, Shuren assigned a group of Zelzes to fetch enough wood for at least twenty book cases.
While cleaning, Shuren saw Karoline walk in through the room. Her sudden appearance hit Shuren in his gut. He was just with Catalina earlier, and did not think of Karoline once, it was almost as if his feelings for her were gone. Though as soon as he saw her, all the those feelings, and even guilt, rushed back. He was not sure of how to act towards her.
“What is all of this?” Karoline asked in a positive mood.
“We’re building a library,” Shuren replied simply. “We could use a hand, I know you are an excellent builder. Would you mind building some book cases with the wood we gathered? Or at least show them how?”
“I guess so, I have nothing to do in my spare time. I can lend a hand.” She said. Shuren thanked her and showed her the pile of wood in the other end of the room. It was almost a relief to get her out of his presence, he felt so timid and guilty.
Karoline finished two book cases by nightfall. The size of them were fairly large. They were tall enough to fit a lot of books, but not taller than anyone’s reach. She had taught other Zelzes how to build them, and expected them to continue when they were gone. They had retrieved about half of the books from the basement room. Could not think of where to put so they stacked them up in the grand hall.
Shuren thanked everyone and walked back to his room with his book. He was so excited to continue reading it. He had not even reached halfway yet before he left on his journey. Shuren walked into his room, washed up and laid down in his bed.
He grabbed the book and searched for the last page that he was on. When he found it, he began reading it. Before he even read a paragraph, Shuren felt uneasy reading it. He didn’t feel right reading it just then. It just seemed very uncomfortable to him, as if it wasn’t right. He closed the book and set it aside. He blew out his candle and went to sleep.
* * *
Shuren woke up quite early the next morning. The thing he could think of was Catalina. He felt very strange after kissing her. Though he has never before, he was sure that it gave him an abnormal feeling. Not only did guilt fill his head, but he also felt uneasy.
Shuren walked out on his balcony and watched the sunrise. Peace began to sooth his soul. He stared at the orange half-circle rise slowly above the horizon. The sky above him was oddly the color of lavender, but the sky before him was a flaming red. The redness of the sky dispersed and gently turned darker into the early morning of the sky. Before Shuren knew it, the sky was completely lit with a light blue.
Shuren walked back inside his room when he heard a knocking at the door. He almost knew exactly who it was. He opened the door and was correct. Catalina swayed into the room with her long silk robe gently sliding on the floor behind her.
Shuren was not shocked this time. By now, he was used to it, and practically enjoyed it. He shut the door behind her as she sat down on his bed. Shuren walked over and took a seat next to her. “What is it?” he asked.
She leaned over and gently kissed him, this time, shorter than the first and the last. As their lips departed, she put her lips next to his ear. “. . . I’m leaving,” Catalina whispered.
A jolt went through Shuren’s heart. He was speechless for a few moments. Eventually, he managed to say, “Why?”
Catalina sighed. She lifted herself off of the bed and walked around the room a bit. Their backs faced each other as she stood next to bed and Shuren stayed sitting. “There is something that I must do alone. I must take care of something. I’m afraid that this will be the last time we see each other for a while.”
Once again, Shuren said nothing. Once again, he could not have true happiness. Shuren felt as she was his one true chance of happiness, and just his luck, it will leave him. “Is it really that important?” asked Shuren, afraid of the answer. She nodded. “Just my luck . . .”
“I’m leaving very soon, it’s very important that nobody knows that I’ve left,” she said seriously. “In order for me to be safe, you must let everyone know that I have gone missing.”
Shuren wondered why, but did not ask. He wanted her to be safe, “I will try.”
“No, you must promise me that you will not tell. Nobody can know! If they do, then I might . . . Die.” Catalina explained with the same serious tone.
Shuren felt his eyes water. He was not entirely sure if he was crying or not. She came closer and hugged him. After a few moments, she whispered, “I will find you when you find it.” Then, she kissed her fingers and placed them on his lips one last time.
She turned around and walked outside onto the balcony. Shuren stayed inside, wiping his face from the hot tears that he could not control. “I will miss this place,” she began. She turned around to face Shuren and said, “Shuren, I lov-”
Suddenly, a black bolt of lightning struck the balcony right beside Catalina. A man with a dark leather suite appeared before the sky grew dark. Shuren was found frozen. The Mawbryn pushed Catalina aside, causing her to fall to the ground. The man walked blew away the window that led into the room. The balcony shook and began to crumble. The edge of it broke off and collapsed. Glass flew into the room, some of it cutting Shuren. He couldn’t not react, he could not move. All Shuren could do was watch Catalina knocked out on the floor.
The Mawbryn walked into the room and raised his arm. With a deep voice, he muttered, “Dinwoa!” Shuren was blown against the wall behind him. High-speed wind rushed against his body, keeping him on the wall and immobilized. Shuren barley budged his fingers, but it was enough. Books flew out of his shelf and struck the Mawbryn in the back of the head.
Shuren was released from the wind. Shuren waved his arm and said, “Arcaetama!” A web of electricity flew from his arms and struck the Mawbryn. Shuren then rushed over to his bedside and grabbed his scimitar. He turned around expecting an attack but there wasn’t. The man was now outside forcing Catalina off of the floor.
Then, the doors for Shuren’s room flung open. “Shuren! The sky is dark, is must be them-” Lloyd said as he walked in to find a Mawbryn on his now collapsing balcony. Lloyd immediately armed his bow. The Mawbryn grabbed the now conscious Catalina and forced her in front of himself as a shield. Lloyd halted.
“Shuren!” cried Catalina. Before Shuren began to run, smoke was already rising from the ground. Another black bolt of lightning struck and they were gone.
“NO!” Shuren screamed until his face turned purple. He arced his body backwards and threw his scimitar with rage. It sliced through the air and went right into the smoke. There was a loud clunk as it hit the balcony.
Lloyd ran into the smoke, but found nothing, the man was gone, and so was Catalina. The smoke disappeared and the sky regained it’s color. “Shuren, the balcony!” Lloyd yelled as he reached for Shuren’s scimitar.
Shuren ran over to the edge of his room and forced the scimitar backwards. It flew behind them and stuck into the wall. Then he compelled his energy under the falling balcony. It was very large and hard to control. He had to think fast, he could not reattach it to his room. He could only let it down somewhere.
“Just throw it somewhere!” Lloyd said loudly.
Shuren spun around for momentum and forced the balcony away from the mountain with all of his strength and rage. The large chuck of mountain flew out into the valley hundreds of yards away. Seconds later there was a loud thump as it hit the ground.
Shuren slumped to the ground with tears streaming down his face again. Lloyd came over and patted his back. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Shuren took a deep breath, “I couldn’t save her. Why would they want to take her?”
“I don’t know,” Lloyd said, “she was a pretty powerful sorceress.” He tried to comfort him.
Shuren stood up with even more rage. He lifted all of the ruble and shards of glass from his window and forced them out into the valley. Lloyd could only stand there and watch Shuren go out in rage.
More Zelzes ran into the room realizing that there was an attack. Niance asked, “Sir Ruven, Sir Lloyd, are you hurt?”
“We’re fine, but they-” Lloyd began.
“They took Catalina!” Shuren finished. Niance gasped along with the other Zelzes.
Lloyd stood up, “I think we should go talk to Rollan.” Shuren wiped his face and followed Lloyd.
“We’ll take care of this mess,” a Zelze said as he pulled the reverse blade scimitar out from the wall.
Lloyd led Shuren throughout the halls. The Zelzes in the hallways asked them what exactly happened. Lloyd explained it to one Zelze and told him to spread the word. Shuren, however, was not paying attention. He was lost in grief, yet again.
“First Master, and now Catalina, and it’s all my fault! If it weren’t for me, they would still be here, no one would have to be hurt!” Shuren thought. Shuren clenched his fist. He was angrier at himself than ever.
Lloyd opened the door to Rollan’s room. Rollan was inside sitting, looking at a map of Oryk. He looked up, “So what happened?”
Shuren sat down. Lloyd said, “I’ll go get Karoline and the others,” and left. Shuren stared at his fists with his teeth clenched. “It was the Mawbryn, they took Catalina.” Shuren said plainly.
Rollan sighed with disbelief, “What was the point?” It seemed as if he was asking himself that question.
“What was that?” Shuren asked a little confused.
“There had to have been a point. Garland said that he needed you alive correct?” Rollan asked. Shuren nodded. “Then why one of the Mawbryn come to attack you, and also take Catalina?”
“She is a very powerful sorceress,” Shuren replied. Rollan shook his head.
“Though she is very strong, they have plenty of powerful Ingles that can do quite a bit of Gippy sorcery.” Rollan contemplated.
“I was too weak,” Shuren began, “I wasn’t strong enough to save her. When he appeared, when he attacked, I couldn’t move. I-I was paralyzed.”
The doors opened, and a group of people walked in. The first was Karoline, who made Shuren’s spine shiver. He had been so caught up with Catalina that he did not think of her. No longer could feelings of affection rush back to his body with a single glance. Right then, only anger and grief flowed through him. Lloyd, Thegor, and Blayger walked in behind her.
“I head there was an attack, are you okay?” Karoline asked with concern.
Shuren nodded, but said, “They took Catalina.” Karoline raised her eyebrows with disbelief. She did not show an expression of sadness but instead anger, she never really did like Catalina, but she did reside with them. “Was it only one?” Shuren nodded.
“I think we should leave today.” Rollan then said after a moment of thought.
“What about the rest of us?” Thegor asked.
“All of us, we all leave today, even the Zelzes that were going to stay here.” Rollan explained.
“Yes, I agree with Rollan,” Blayger said. “It is no longer safe here since they know where we are. We need to find a safe place for them all.”
“What about Veryala?” Lloyd suggested. “They can’t find the village anywhere in the Dead Forest. Also they have many barriers that protect the village.”
Rollan nodded, “How many Paleps do we have here?”
Thegor said, “A few stables full. It should be just enough to transport them to Veryala.
“Very well,” Rollan said, “call for an emergency meeting in the Grand Hall. This needs to be done quickly.”
* * *
The Grand Hall was quickly filled just as it was the day before. Though, this time, only one Dragon hovered above everyone. Thegor and Rollan rode Rissam in the air. Everyone was now quiet.
“As you all should know by now, there was an attack earlier this morning. It was a Mawbryn, from Garland’s army. Our Ruven tried to fight him off, but he had the element of surprise and overpowered our unarmed Ruven.” Rollan sighed. “Luckily, our Ruven and Sir Lloyd were able to make him flee, but unfortunately, he took one of us with him. Our dear Catalina has been taken with her. We know not the location they have gone, and we are not going to find out. We can only pray that where ever she is, she is safe.
“As for us, we have no choice but to leave immediately. All of us. Now that they know our location, we are no longer safe here.” There were many complaints and cries as Rollan was explaining. “We will all go on our journeys, and whoever remains will travel to Veryala. It is safe there and the magical barriers will protect you all. You guys will take Paleps down there, it should take maybe four days with Paleps if you are hasty. We must pack and leave by sundown. Say your goodbyes, and pray for each other, this is war.” The crowd dispersed into the hallways. They all went back to their rooms to pack and get ready for a journey.
Shuren walked up to his room. He no longer felt grief. Instead, he felt almost nothing. He couldn’t even shed a tear. He found his room to be cleaner than before, with the exception of the big whole in the wall. Shuren saw a big leather sack on his bed and began to pack.
He stuffed his light Zelze armor into the sack along with clean under clothing. He packed a Gippy and a Grundell language book along with Zelzor’s copy of Her Heirloom. He grabbed the already packed leather sack that Blurton help him sew. It was already packed with his usual survival items. He then realized that he never unpacked them.
Shuren sat and thought of when The Trio helped him get ready for his journey. He missed them so much. Thinking of them made tears form in his eyes for the third time that day. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. Shuren grabbed his two leather sacks and his scimitar headed for the door. He stopped right before the exit. Shuren turned around for one last glance. The bed was not made, and the pool of water was motionless. He took a deep breath, turned around and walked away.
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