Missteps V.2

Chapter 17 – Excursions in Dayur

"Ander Tealeaf, T-E-A-L-E-A-F." The halfling spelled out, as he laid down across the counter while he watched the middle-aged man behind it thumb through various missives and letters.

"Mr. Tealeaf, you have had me check this same stack three times already." The man's voice was calm as he stowed the sheaf of papers away. "As you are well aware, it can take weeks for the Recovery Department to send an official response to your application. I will be sure to inform you when it arrives."

Ander sighed heavily. "Fine." He clambered back down to the floor where his pack sat. He and Jun had only just arrived back in Dayur after their excursion in the Silver Rise Mountains. Ander's first stop had of course been the Circle's local chapter.

"Are you sure you won't be needing a room?" The man asked, his black hair swaying as he leaned over precariously in order to see Ander.

"Can Jun have a room here as well?" Ander pointedly did not look up.

The man's mouth pursed. "As Jun is not a member of the Circle, then no, same answer as last time."

"Then we'll be staying at the inn down the road, and I will be sending the Circle my bill. After all, 'in the event that the Circle cannot accommodate a member within the chapter walls, they will offer financial compensation for lodging elsewhere within the city limits.'." Ander sent a smug look up at the man. There was a brief pause before the man answered.

"I know you think you're being smart by reciting the handbook, but we will be challenging that bill. My advice, don't go too crazy with your lodging demands." With that the man disappeared through a door behind the counter, leaving Ander alone in the small reception room at the front of the Sylph Heart Circle: Dayur Chapter House.

Just a few doors down was The Gleaming Rose Tavern and Inn. Due to its proximity to the Chapter House, it was used to seeing its fair share of magically-inclined denizens. It was well-known that the owners, a husband-and-wife team, were able to get their hands on anything their guests requested. In recent years, the two of them had even expanded their operations to a second business. Across the street sat The Gilded Rose, one of the most frequented brothels of Dayur.

Inside The Gleaming Rose, Jun sat at the bar, and nursed a tankard as he chatted with the young barkeep. "What's the verdict?" He asked as Ander climbed into the seat next to him.

"No word," Ander grunted as he maneuvered into the comfortable seat. The stools here had more rungs on them, as the businesses of Dayur were accustomed to having short-legged patrons. "Also we'll have to stay here. Technically I don't have to, but after looking at the Guestbook, they seemed pretty full at the Chapter House."

"I can help you with that." The dark-skinned barkeep flung a rag over her shoulder. "Before I do, can I get you boys anything to eat? It's coming up on suppertime, and I'd recommend eating before the dinner rush starts." Her bushy black hair was barely held back by the large scarf that kept it out of her face.

Jun took a large swig and finished off his tankard. "Depends on what you've got."

The woman flashed them a toothy grin. "We've a meat pie that's just come out of the fire, or a mincemeat stew that's been simmering all day. We just got a new shipment of spices in from Winter Horn, so they're pretty flavorful."

Jun smiled. "The stew sounds great, what about you Ander?"

The halfling shook his head. "I'll take a slice of the meat pie, and a couple of drinks for the two of us. If you've got any warm appetizers you might as well send them as well." Jun gave the wizard a sideways glance. Ander shrugged. "I'm putting this all on the Chapter's House's tab, so I figured we could splurge."

The barkeep gave a loud laugh. "Alright then, food and drink all charged to the Chapter House. Go ahead and grab a table, I'll get everything out to you shortly." She disappeared into the kitchen behind the bar.

The two of them left the bar and headed towards a square table in a back corner of the room.

"So, what's the plan? We just sit and wait for the Circle to authorize us?" Jun pulled out a second chair and crossed his legs while he reclined back, hands behind his head.

Ander placed his pack on the chair next to his. "Pretty much, I mean we can leave, but then we'd have to wait for them to catch up. Staying here is probably our best bet at getting an answer sooner rather than later."

"Have you put any idea into some jobs for after we get the OK from the Circle?" The berserker asked.

Ander nodded and pulled out a book from his bag. "While you were training, I spent some time in the library and talked with some of the Clerics. They told me of a few locations that the Bands had found before, but didn't have time to explore. I was thinking we could start with one of those. Of course, it is protocol as well for the Circle to have some specific missions for the teams, so they're bound to have a few suggestions." Ander quickly flipped through the pages, as he scanned his hastily written notes.

Jun stopped listening halfway through as the sight of their food caught his eye. A black wooden tray laden with mugs plates of food hovered in the air towards them. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. He looked towards the bar, and watched a hooded figure hand over some coin to the barkeep. The figure turned and saw Jun staring at them. They brought a finger up to the hidden lips.

The tray stopped at the table, and slowly the various pieces were deposited on the table one by one. Jun noticed that a second slice of the meat pie and a third mug was placed in front of an empty chair next to Ander. Ander didn't notice as he pored over his own writings.

The cloaked figure made their way over to the table, passing the tray as it took itself back to the bar. Coming up behind Ander, the figure lowered their hood and revealed themselves as a young woman, with platinum-colored hair that was half tied up in an elaborate braid with thin ringlets on either side of her face. Her left eye was the color of the ocean, while the other was hidden behind a dark blue eyepatch. Underneath her visible eye was a thick light blue streak that looked to have been painted on with a brush. As she brought a hand up to her lips and silently shushed Jun again, he could see a similar streak encircle down her arm and end in the center of her palm.

The woman bent down and covered Ander's eyes with her hands. "If you say anyone else's name right now, I'm turning around and leaving." The woman smiled.

"Shenir!" Ander yelped excitedly as he grabbed the hands and pushed them up away from his face. Quickly standing up in his chair and turning around, he faced the woman. The two of them embraced, Ander almost disappearing as Shenir held him tightly. The two of them kissed deeply, before they let each other go.

"What are you doing here?" Ander asked as the chair next to him was pulled out by unseen hands and Shenir settled herself down in it.

"I got your letter, and it just so happened that I had some business to conduct in Dayur anyway. I've been here for two days now. I told the Chapter House to inform me when you arrived back in town so I could surprise you." Shenir and Ander shared another kiss before she turned her attention to Jun across the table. "Was your foray into the mountains a success?"

"In a way," Jun's eyes narrowed. "Cute trick with the floating tray."

Shenir waved him off. "It's just a bit of helper magic is all." Shenir explained. "Now, Ander's letter didn't say exactly why you were heading into the mountains, just something about the berserkers. Can I assume you met up with the Tribe?"

Jun nodded and picked up his spoon as he dug into his stew. "Yeah. I wanted to find out more about them. "Can I assume you're the girlfriend Ander's talked about?"

"You can, unless he's developed of habit of kissing random people." She laughed. She picked up her own fork and took a bite out of her pie slice. Ander was already several bites through his slice. "Was the trip a success?"

"You could say that." Jun held out his bicep and showed her his new ink. "What kind of business brought you to town?"

Shenir shrugged. "Chasing down a lead. That's the symbol of Zhonnic, right?"

Jun nodded. "Yes, I'm now a candidate to be his Champion. Are you going to give me any real answers?"

"To the correct questions." She pointed with her fork at the weapon at his side. "Is that warhammer just for show, or are you a good fighter?"

"Good enough to have saved Ander's life many times already. What's a correct question?"

"See, now that just takes the fun out of it." Shenir smirked "What makes you think you haven't been asking the right questions already?"

"Because I've barely gotten any information in this exchange."

"Now, that's not true." She leaned back and crossed her arms. "You know I'm a spellcaster because I claimed the spell, you've established that I am the person romantically involved with your party member, and the fact that I referred to the berserkers as 'the Tribe' should have clued you in that I'm not your average person in terms of information." Shenir counted off the reasons on her fingers.

"You should also be getting the feeling that she likes for people to think she's the smartest person in the room." Ander grabbed his mug and took a large swig. "She's really not though, she just has a really good memory." Other patrons began to filter into the tavern now.

"Sometimes it's no fun if you just give people the answer." Shenir admonished as she took another bite. "That's why you don't have many friends."

Ander smirked. "Are you implying that I don't have a lot of friends because I don't play mind games?"

"Yes, "

"Alright just checking." Ander scooped up the last bite of his pie. "Are you staying at the Chapter House?"

"No, I made a deal with the owners and got a room over at the Gilded Rose. The rooms there are so much nicer than any of the rooms here or at the Chapter House, and the security around the rooms are top-notch. Part of the deal was that I'd bring in at least one customer for their establishment. So, what do you say, daring adventurer, will you buy a night at The Gilded Rose?" Shenir leaned in close to Ander and whispered the last part in his ear.

"I can't charge the Gilded Rose expense to the Chapter House though, new rule." Ander whined with a pout.

"True, but did I mention that my room over there has an enormous bathtub?" Shenir gave a playful nip to Ander's ear.

"Alright alright!" Ander giggled and pulled his ear away. "You've convinced me."

"Excellent, and what about you Jun? I've seen some exquisite beauties over there, and they pride themselves on not judging tastes." Shenir asked. Her invisible magical helper began to clear away their plates.

Jun quickly slurped down the last of his stew before the bowl He stood up and grabbed his pack. "I don't see a reason why I shouldn't." He grinned and follow the woman out of the tavern into the twilight air.

The three of them headed across the street quickly to the elaborate double-doored entrance. Even before the doors were opened the trio could hear the soft music from within.

Inside they were greeted with the sight of a large dance hall. Colored cloths hung down from the ceiling, while mosaic tapestries lined the walls. Two chandeliers hung from the ceiling and dimly lit the room. Small high-backed booths had been arranged on the edges, each one with its own little candle. In the back corner was a small stage where the live band played.

On the right-side of the room was a spiral staircase that led up to the second floor. Two bouncers stood at the foot, each of them armed.

"I thought this was a brothel." Jun asked as he look around the establishment in amusement. Back home the brothels were strictly business affairs, not combination nightclubs. He swerved to avoid a waitress with a large feathered cap as they carried a tray laden with drinks to a nearby booth.

"It is," Shenir laughed and began pointed out the girls who were either slowly swaying to the music or just lounging in the booths. "If they're wearing red ribbons in their hair they're available for the night. The only way to get a drink is from the waitresses, they've got the bar hidden in the back."

"Do you want to dance?" Ander looked up at Shenir. Their hands were clasped tightly.

"That sounds like a brilliant idea." Shenir and Ander disappeared off towards the band. Jun smiled and shook his head before turning to look over what was offered for company.

For the next hour, Shenir and Ander danced as they requested various songs from the band. For anyone watching, it was quite a sight due to their height differences. Shenir stood about 5' 6", while Ander was only 3' on his tiptoes. However, it was very apparent that it didn't matter to them as Ander literally danced circles around his beautiful girlfriend. Laughter rang out as they enjoyed themselves, with stolen kisses and touches becoming a sort of game.

Jun made his way out onto the dance floor a couple of times, both at the behest of the most current woman he'd been chatting up. He did well with the first one, letting his partner lead the dance more. The second time lasted only a moment and was over the minute he stepped on her foot, hard. Jun didn't stay out too much longer after that before he disappeared upstairs with his first dance partner.

As the night wore on, Ander and Shenir found themselves nestled together in a booth, each with a drink.

"So, this lead you're chasing down, does it have to do with your assignment?" Ander asked.

Shenir nodded. "Apparently a Deva was spotted at a local temple five years ago. I've spent the past two days looking into all the temples in town. None of them remember seeing the Deva."

Ander took a large gulp of his drink. The wine was good, and it was a treat drinking it out of a glass flute, but a part of him missed the ale he'd consumed with the Tribe. "We'll head out and explore the city tomorrow, maybe the temple doesn't exist anymore or moved?"

"That sounds like plan. After all, this is the best clue I've gotten in over a year." Shenir sighed. "I'm starting to think that this assignment is never going to end. The longer I'm here, the more time I'm missing out on. I've already been here for a whole year."

Ander reached over and covered her hand. "Have you had any contact with Remm?"

"A couple of letters, but it's hard to really stay in touch with someone in the Fey Realm. I'm not even sure how old she is anymore, what with time being different there." Shenir downed the last of her wine, her fourth glass.

"Well, no matter what, from what you've told me, 'Grandmother' Jozion isn't going to let anything happen to her." Ander climbed out of the booth and gently pulled Shenir out with him. "It's getting late, we should get some sleep."

"You know, I really lucked out when I met Jozion." Shenir's words slurred and her walk wasn't straight as Ander led her towards the staircase. Unlike Ander, Shenir wasn't as impervious to alcohol. "Did I tell you that if she hadn't taken me in, I would have died in the Fey Realm? I owe her my life."

"I'm sure she saw something special in you." Ander was only half-listening, having heard a variation of this story every time Shenir indulged. He instead focused on how to get her up the stairs safely. Thankfully one of the bouncers took notice and scooped Shenir over his shoulder. At the speed at which the two of them made it to the top, it wasn't his first time climbing the stairs with extra weight. The bouncer gently put Shenir down and gave Ander directions to her room before he headed back downstairs.

"She was one of the best people, though they weren't really people I met in the Fey Realm." Shenir continued as Ander led her down the hallway. "Did I tell you that originally, I was a slave over there? They caught me and sold me so I wouldn't be "Unclaimed". They don't like humans very much, only elves and fey. Eventually my owner kicked me out, I wasn't a very good slave"

"Surprised he didn't try to sell you." Ander dug into Shenir's bag looking for the key to the very impressive lock on her door.

"Oh, he did, but I had a rep and no one wanted me. Decided to let the forest deal with me instead. I got lucky and came upon a small farmhouse."

"With a husband who took pity on you and a wife who hated you." Ander finally pulled out the key and opened the door.

"Well, first the wife only disliked me. She didn't hate me until after I'd started sleeping with her husband. I didn't have any money so I had to pay somehow." Shenir pouted as Ander led her into the room. "I only stayed a week before I left. I wonder if I should tell him he has a daughter."

"I'm sure you're Patron has taken care of it." Ander deposited his girlfriend on the bed. The room was lit by a single candle on a small table next to the bed, throwing shadows over the very large bed. He reached under the bed and pulled out a large brown cloth pack. When he opened the flap, there was only a black void inside. He didn't hesitate before he reached in and pulled out a small vial.

"Drink this," The halfling handed the vial to Shenir. She quickly down the contents with a grimace as he stowed both her and his packs under the bed.

"I should really know better than to try to match you." She sighed and flopped back on the bed.

Ander grinned and began taking off her shoes. "We were having fun, it's been a while since we'd done a night out."

"And it's going to be a while till we can again." Shenir's voice was soft and for a while the only sound was of the two of them getting ready for bed.

They both climbed into bed and under the covers. Shenir snuggled against Ander's chest. "Ander, why?"

"Why what?" Ander whispered.

"Why an adventurer? It's dangerous."

Ander gave a soft chuckle. "Like working in a tower with ten wizard students isn't?"

Shenir sat up on her elbows. "I'm serious, Ander. I'm all for being supportive in career and life, but a lot of people have died doing this. Why take the risk?"

Ander smiled. "I don't want to be just another wizard in a tower. I want to be strong, powerful, respected. I don't want to have to change for the world, I want the world to change for me. Call me selfish, but I want power." He reached out and removed Shenir's eyepatch, revealing a dark blue pupil-less eye that seemed to almost glimmer. "With enough power I can get the kind of life I want and deserve."

Shenir gulped. "Promise me, that in your search for power you won't lose your soul. I watched that happen back home, and I don't want that for you."

Ander cupped her face. "That's why I'm not going alone. These people I'm joining up with, I'm pretty sure they'll keep me honest and in line. They're good people, and together I think we'll accomplish a lot." He kissed her and pulled her back down into the bed. "Now, how about we change the topic and instead talk about how much we missed each other?"

The next morning Shenir woke Ander up just after dawn and bustled him down to the dance hall. Downstairs, windows had been uncovered from behind the tapestries and allowed the morning sun to bathe the room in light. Workers buzzed around as they set up tables of fresh fruit. The smell of hot cakes and various other breakfast meats wafted from the buffet that had been assembled in the middle of the dance hall, a perk for those who had stayed overnight.

Waiting at the bottom of the stairs at a small podium was a woman in her late forties. Her silver hair was curled loosely around her head as she scratched notes into the large ledger in front of her. Beside her on a pedestal was a small chest. Her eyes lit up as she watched Shenir and Ander come down the stairs.

"Ah, finally you have company. Good for you." The woman gave a throaty laugh.

"Thank you Airina." Shenir returned the smile. Without stopping their stride, Shenir lightly tossed a small pouch onto the ledged as they passed by.

"No time for pleasantries?" Ander grabbed a plate as they got in line at the buffet.

"Airina doesn't do pleasantries," Shenir loaded her plate up with several slices of fruit while Ander went straight for the ham steak. "She's a business woman, and that's all she likes to talk about." They finished off their plates with hotcakes and syrup and settled themselves into one of the booths. Soon after a waitress came bustling by carrying a tray laden with several drink options.

"I was thinking that we could start our day off by exploring the markets." Shenir took a cup of tea off the tray while Ander reached for an ale. "Listen to some gossip, talk to the locals. Stuff like that."

"Sounds good, I have a couple of items I need to pick up anyway."

"Like what?"

"A diamond." Ander cut into his ham steak. "There's a spell I want to try out, but I need more than just a focus for it. Thanks by the way." He pointed to the crystal hanging around his neck.

"You're welcome, didn't want you to get stuck without components." Shenir methodically cut her hotcakes fully before she dug in. "I should tell you, it's on loan from the Circle, so you might want to get in touch with them."

Ander chuckled. "You gave me a loaner?"

"You were only supposed to be gone on one job, I wasn't expecting you to catch the adventuring bug." Shenir pointed out.

Ander nodded. "Fair point."

An hour later Jun and his blonde-haired companion from the night before shuffled down the stairs. Jun stopped and spoke with Airina before he handed over a few coins. The two of them grabbed some food before they joined Shenir and Ander.

"Did you sleep well?" Shenir stacked her empty dishes with Ander's to make room for the two of them. Ander's head was bent down in study of his spells for the day.

"From what little we had, yes." The woman answered as she scooted in. In the morning sun, the woman's skin was almost blindingly light. Her blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders, and the tips of her slightly pointed ears peaked through.

"Shenir, this is Zhann. Zhann, this is Shenir and Ander." Jun flagged down the waitress and grabbed a couple of drinks.

"It's nice to meet you Zhann," Shenir shook the woman's hand before turning her attention to Jun. "Do you have any plans for today?"

"Zhann offered to show me around the city." Jun tore off a piece of his ham steak. "There's a traveling music group in town and tonight's their final performance. Zhann suggested we check it out. Do the two of you want to come with?"

Shenir's eyes lit up. "Sounds like fun, where's it at?"

"They've set up a concert stage just outside the city in an open field." Zhann explained, as she nibbled on her small assortment of fruit. "My friend says it's really quite the spectacle."

"Well then we certainly don't want to miss it." Shenir traded a bit more small talk with Zhann and Jun, and shortly after her and Ander left the dance hall.

"Is it normal to spend the day with a prostitute?" Ander asked once they were outside and heading down the street.

The platinum-haired woman shrugged. "Not in my experience. Zhann's probably milking Jun for all she can while she's got him on the hook." She pulled out a small hand drawn map from a pouch at her waist. Both of them had brought their packs with them, though Ander had stashed his inside Shenir's. "This street should take us to a crossroads, where we then hang a left and go straight to the market district."

It took the two of them the better part of an hour to reach their destination. The map's "go straight" was a little misleading as the street curved through the busiest sections of town and the two of them accidentally took a wrong turn. The wrong turn took them straight to the entrance of the Dwarven part of town.

Originally a large Dwarven mining town, the dwarves of Dayur had begrudgingly joined the newly formed Council of Six after Marblebrooke's disastrous civil war over a 130 years ago. Since then the human faction has slowly formed a larger part of the city's population. The Dwarven population, still holding steady to their proud history, built a large wall around their original structures that effectively separated the dwarves from the humans.

It was at this wall that Shenir and Ander received new directions from the guards. In no time at all the two of them found themselves at The Divided Market.

As the name suggests, The Divided Market is split between Dwarven merchants and Non-Dwarven merchants. Stretching on for over two miles, kiosks and vender stands dotted the walls in between storefronts. The dwarves along the northern edge hocked their jewelry, weapons, tools, and ore-based wares while blacksmiths competed for customers on the eastern end. The southern edge sported a variety of non-Dwarven sellers peddling textiles, meat and vegetables, herbs, or anything else that could come aboveground. Food vendors walked up and down calling out their wares, or sat and cooked their food in front of possible customers. The Market was a buzz of activity even at the early hours.

For the first hour, Shenir and Ander just traveled up and down the street as they took in the sights. They stopped at one of the first jeweler stands they saw and Ander was able to buy his diamond without issue.

As the two of them admired a peddler's collection of rare books, a thin man came up behind them. He reached out with a bony hand and grasped Shenir's arm.

"Wha-?" Shenir started before the man's appearance made her shut up. He was painfully thin and gaunt, his hair thinning in patches, while his clothes hung baggy on him, and he was missing a shoe. His sunken eyes were desperate as he clung to her arm.

"Please, please give this to her." He rasped as he shoved a cloth-wrapped object into her hands. "Please, she needs to know."

"Who? Who needs to know?" Shenir questioned. Before he could answer, his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed at her feet. Ander knelt down and checked for a pulse, to no avail. Behind them the vendor called for the PeaceKeepers.

Shenir took off down the street with the cloth-wrapped object still in her hand. Ander hurried after her. The two of them ducked into what appeared a junk shop, and headed directly for the farthest corner out of sight from the entrance.

"Why did you do that?" Ander asked as he watched Shenir uncover the object.

"I wanted to see what this was before the PeaceKeepers inevitably took it away." Bundled inside the cloth, was a small leather-bound book only about three inches in height and length. Burned into the black cover was what appeared to be a Coat of Arms. The top corners curved upwards like two devil horns, while the bottom slowly came a point. In the middle was a paper lantern with a stripe on either side.

"Isn't that the crest of Hitoshi Ijichi?" Ander asked.

Shenir nodded as her eyes skimmed over the pages inside. "Looks like this whole book is about him. It reads like a biography someone else wrote on him."

Ander's eyebrow lifted. "He could have commissioned it. Anything interesting?"

She shook her head. "Not really, it's pretty basic. There are chapters here about him about him betraying his Lord and fleeing from the Nydag Empire, and then swearing fealty to the royal family of Marblebrooke. It talks about how he stayed on the side of the royals for the entirety of the civil war, and then afterwards worked to smuggle the last remaining royal family members out of the defunct kingdom. All of that is basic knowledge if you take the time to study your history."

"Does it say how he got his nickname? 'The Faithless Samurai'?" Ander was intrigued. He knew that the name of Hitoshi Ijichi was basically synomous with misplaced trust and blind loyalty in some circles, but he also knew that the Council of Six had spent a lot of energy disgracing his name.

"No, but this is strange," Shenir knelt down so that Ander could see that the last few pages had been torn out. All that was left was what seemed to be a chapter title: "Escape to Skonia".

"That doesn't make any sense," Ander said slowly as he stared at the word. "Skonia didn't exist at that time."

"What do you mean?" Shenir tilted her head as she looked at him.

"The last citizens of Skonia were already dead." Ander explained. "After their kingdom was destroyed, the couple hundred of them who were left tried to settle down in the Northern Plains of the Kingdom of Pryria."

"Tried?"

"Yeah, they barely lasted ten years. Try as hard as they might, they couldn't grow ample food enough, and the whole region experienced a sudden drought. Bad luck seemed to follow them, and it made the Kingdom and newly formed Sylph Heart Circle extremely uneasy to have them so close. Finally, with their numbers just slightly over fifty, they left the continent on a boat supplied by Pryria. As a final 'fuck you', they were caught in a storm that sunk them."

"Maybe the book's talking about the original Kingdom of Skonia." Shenir suggested.

Ander shook his head. "The Great Calamity tore the very ground apart. You know that chasm that separates Pryria from Marblebrooke?" Shenir nodded. "Part of that used to be Skonia. The only 'land' left is an area just past the Silver Rise Mountains is what the Tribe calls the Realm of Nightmares. If Hitoshi did go anywhere near there, then that's where his story ended." Ander closed the book.

The spellcaster gritted her teeth. "There has to be more to this book, a man died trying to get it someone." She flipped through the book again.

Ander took a step back and grasped the crystal around his neck. A purple film covered his eyes and he took a long look at the small book in his girlfriend's hands. "It's not magical." He informed her. She ignored him as she turned her search to the books bindings. The halfling sighed and instead turned his attention to the wares around him. The first impression of a junk shop seemed to be correct, though most of the junk seemed to be dented armor, broken weapons, or ugly vases. The proprietor of the shop was nowhere to be seen.

A few feet away was a large bin that had been tucked into a corner. He dug through the discarded bits of leather armor. Near the bottom of the pile, his hand clasped around a small box. He pulled it out. Through the spell, he could see the streaks of magical aura that radiated out from under the lid. There wasn't a lock or a hinge on the box. With a bit of strength he pulled off the top.

Nestled inside was a silver compact. The compact opened easily enough. Inside was a mirror, with writing engraved on its surface. He had to angle the compact to catch the light that streamed in through a nearby window before he could read it.

"'Foolish be the one who reads this'." Ander read aloud. Immediately the words began to glow and condensed into a ball of light lifted into the air. It flashed several times, each flash greater in intensity. Finally it gave a flash so bright that it forced Ander to close his eyes for fear of going blind.

The first thing that hit him, was the smell. It reminded him of his youth and summer days spent on his relative's farm. There was a grunt above him as a blast of hot air blasted the top of his head. He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw, were very large cloven feet. His eyes traveled up the heavily muscular body covered in a dark brown fur, and his fear grew. Standing barely a foot from him in the crowded bin, was a minotaur. Held loosely in the creature's hands, was a very large greataxe that still held traces of blood on its edge.

"Shenir, run!" Ander yelled as he traded the tome for his newly purchased diamond from his pack, getting it ready for whatever happened next. He wasn't sure yet if the Minotaur was friend or foe, but he didn't want to chance it.