Chapter Twenty Eight

Four days. Four days of searching and asking question, even cashing in old favors that Ralisdor had saved up all for nothing. He even took Shuka and Xorvos along with him, although Maryam still couldn’t come. Shuka had hoped that things would get better between them, but if anything, they only got worse. Despite that, Shuka still thought that bringing her along with him was a good sign, even if they weren’t getting anywhere. Maryam just said he was only doing it to keep an eye on her though. But after four days spent in vain, Shuka got a letter. It came from Visia and it told her that Validus was about to arrive. If she was going to accept her deal, now was the time. Ralisdor and Xorvos were both against it, but it was becoming clear that they were running out of options. Even then, they almost didn’t accept, until Maryam told them that Shuka was going to go with or without their help, and if they wanted her to be safe, they better go too. That wasn’t quite Shuka’s actual plan, but she did appreciate the help. And now here they were on the fifth day since arriving, having completed the job without a hitch.

Was it really that easy? All I did was look around for a bit and then run over to a door. I didn’t even go in it, although I guess Ralisdors illusion did make it look like I did. I guess now I just have to hope Visia follows up on her end of the deal. Well first I should be hoping that Validus actually finds something incriminating.

Just as she had that though, there was a loud crack of an explosion and wood shattering, and then the roar of an angry paladin that soon followed afterwards. Shuka and everyone who came with her had started to leave the moment Validus had entered the building, but they could still hear him clearly even halfway back to the inn.

Never mind, he clearly found something.

“Man, what where you even so worried about Ralisdor?” Maryam exclaimed perhaps a bit too loud. “That was so easy I bet we didn’t even need you.”

“Tricking Validus in this way is child’s play, that was not what I am worried about. Don’t think Visia will be so willing to give up her books, she has something planned I am sure of it.”

“Oh come on, it’s not like we’re asking to keep the book, just read it for a bit. She has absolutely no reason to betray us like that so why would she do it.”

“No reason that you know of. I, for one will have no part in this deal you have with her past what I have already done. Even then I feel I have involved myself far too much.”

“Hey, hold on! You’re not bailing on us now are you? All we gotta do now is talk to her and get our reward but you can’t even do that?”

“I am not ‘bailing’ on anything. This was always your job and your deal. I should never have been involved in the first place.”

Why is Ralisdor so resistant about this? I get that Visia is dangerous, but is he really more scared of even talking to her than he is of tricking the Grand Paladin? I guess he can deal with one easier than the other, but still.

“I understand you think this is a bad idea Ralisdor. But this is my choice to make and I’ve chosen to make the deal. I don’t like taking a risk like this, but its better than doing nothing.”

Ralisdor reacted to Shuka’s statement with a resigned sigh.

“Alright. I will be waiting at the inn for you to get back. Just make sure that you do come back.”

Shuka nodded at his statement and then watched as he split off from the group. As he was walking away, Shuka’s keen ears picked up someone behind her muttering under their breath, quiet enough that she was pretty sure she wasn’t meant to hear it.

“If you want her to come back safely, then why don’t you try protecting her.”

Looking back Shuka was surprised to see it wasn’t Maryam who said it, but Xorvos.

Even Xorvos is mad at him? When did our group start falling apart?

*

The second trip to the library wasn’t much different from the first. The one difference was this time the door to Visia’s office opened up much quicker after knocking on it. Visia herself was also how Shuka remembered. Calm, composed, and incredibly terrifying.

“Did this ‘Ralisdor’ friend of yours not decide to come along? Shame. Regardless, you did a wonderful job with the task I gave you. I suppose you are here for your reward?”

“Um, yes.”

“Very well.”

Without another word Visia opened a drawer on her desk and took out a thick book with a blank cover. Then, with her other hand she pointed at the book with her wand and with a swirl of magic, the book changed. What was once a boring gray cover with nothing on it was now a dark black cover with the title ‘Beginner to intermediate guide to the dark arts volume 3: curses’ in a stylized font.

“You’re payment. You have exactly twenty four hours starting now to read this book before the illusion disappears and you are left with it’s original blank form. Don’t bother returning the blank book to me, they are worthless.”

“Wait a second, what’s stopping you from putting whatever you want in that book?” Maryam stated. “If it’s an illusion then you can just change it’s contents on the fly, or just give us false information from the start.”

“I could also give you a real, physical book that is also filled with false information. But yes, this spell does give me more control, and thus more leverage to use against you. I could ask you what the point of that would be, but instead I’ll ask you this. What are you going to do about it?”

Maryam thought for a moment, and then went to say something before Shuka interrupted her.

“I’m sorry, we are very grateful that for the reward. Please don’t think too badly of us.”

“Be grateful your friend stood up to me to help you, not for the bad deal that I’m giving you.”

Did… did she just call me out for trying to deescalate the situation? I thought she would be mad at Maryam for questioning her, was I wrong?

This time Xorvos had something to say about the deal.

“If even you know it’s a bad deal, could you give us better terms? I understand letting us keep the book might be too much, but surely you could lend us the original copy to satisfy your own sense of honour.”

“I could, but my sense of caution comes first. The last time I lent out my books with nothing but threats of death they were all destroyed when his ‘secret’ base was raided. I trust the three of you far less than I did him, and so you will take an illusion, or you will take nothing at all.”

“This deal is fine, we’ll take it.”

I know this isn’t ideal, but it’s not like there’s much I can do to make it better. If anything, bargaining with her will only make things worse.

“Then it seems our business is concluded. But before you leave, I have one final offer to make towards you. Don’t worry though, your part in this offer is much less dangerous than the last one.”

“What… are you offering me?”

“The name and location of the most likely person in this city to be able to lift your curse. As luck would have it, they also would be willing to help you. As long as you get on their good side that is.”

That is incredibly tempting. If this person really can help me then it might even be a better reward than the book. That’s only if they can help me though, which doesn’t seem guaranteed, and I still have to convince them to lift the curse in the first place. If they are willing to help me then that means they are probably another criminal too, so it would be a risk even going to them. Well, I guess it’s a risk going to non criminals too with this curse on me. Still… if we only have a day with the book, I’m not sure if any of us can learn enough about curses to be able to remove them before the book disappears.

“What do you want me to do?”

“It’s simple really. I am just going to ask you a series of questions, and all you must do is answer them truthfully. You do not even need to know all of the answers, as long as you are telling me the truth when you say you don’t know.”

“That’s… a really good deal. What’s the catch?”

Visia’s lips oh so subtly curled up into a smile.

“Well would you look at that, you’re learning. That catch, my newly made outlaw, is that every single question I ask will be about your friend Ralisdor.”

*

The questions were surprisingly benign, but worryingly specific. She asked things like how tall he was, if his glasses were functional or aesthetic, and if she had ever seen him bald before. There were some more expected questions too, like what he did in Lancrin and how long ago he had come to Rainsburg. Shuka knew that if Visia ever asked a question that was just a bit too dangerous for Ralisdor she could just not answer it and give up on the recommendation, but that question just never came.

Or maybe every question she asked was dangerous for Ralisdor and I just couldn’t see why. Well, I didn’t even know the answer to half the questions she asked anyway, so I’m not sure how much she even got out of it. Seriously, how am I supposed to know if his glasses actually help him see better or not? How did she even know he wears glasses, I thought she had never seen him before?

Still, for all the questions she asked surprised Shuka, Visia’s reward surprised her even more. Aurulin, the High Priestess of Lancrin. It wasn’t that she could remove the curse that surprised her, but rather that she would be willing to.

I’m not exactly in the Celestial Orders favor right now, why would one of their High Priestess’ help me? I guess I could try to hide my identity, but the curse is going to make it very hard to convince her I’m up to no good even if that works. And here in the city of magic it’s going to be a lot more likely for them to see through any spell I cast. Maybe even a spell Ralisdor casts, although something tells me he’s not going to be very happy about the idea of seeing her. Ugh, whatever, I’ll think about it tomorrow.

Shuka, Xorvos, and Maryam were walking back to the inn now. It was pretty late at night now, as it was already dark out by the time they tricked Validus. Normally Shuka would have been worried walking through a city that late, but with Xorvos and Maryam with her she figured there were easier targets for anyone with bad intentions. All the various dark alleys and shaded corners still had her on edge though.

“Hey, wanna go over to that alley and start reading the book?”

It was Maryam who asked the question while pointing towards what had to be the shadiest alley in all of Lancrin.

“…Why?”

“I just said, didn’t I? To read the book.”

“No, but I mean why read it there and now? It must be midnight by now, and we can just read it at the inn, not in some dingy alley.”

Shuka was tired, weary of all the talking, and thinking, and most of all the worrying. She wanted to sleep, but Maryam had a youthful energy that Shuka lacked, despite them being the same age.

“Come on, Shuka! Aren’t you excited? A valuable book about a rare form of magic? Who wouldn’t want to read it as soon as possible?”

“It’s an illegal and harmful form of magic Maryam.” Xorvos interjected. “This isn’t something to be excited about, we are only learning this because we have to.”

“Oh come on Xorvos, no kind of magic is ever really ‘bad’ there are just bad things that are done with them. I bet curses can be used for good, just like all other magic.”

Xorvos had a look on his face that said the very notion was absurd.

“Well I get that you are excited, but I still don’t see why you can’t just read it at the inn. It’s not that far away, you would only have to wait a few minutes.”

“C’mon Shuka, isn’t it obvious? The moment we walk into our rooms Ralisdor is going to nag at us about making deals with Visia, and then hog the book all for himself. I bet he’ll even say some crap about being ‘the most adept practitioner of magic’ as if a hard-core illusionist like him would know jack shit about anything outside his specialty. A generalist like me would have a much better chance of learning the magic than him.”

“Don’t you only know combat magic though? That’s not exactly a generalist.”

“Hey, combat magic covers a lot of schools okay! And besides, I know a fair bit about enchanting too. I mean I’ve never actually put a permanent enchantment onto an object before, but I’ve done just about everything before that step.”

It might have been a compelling argument, or it might not have been, but Shuka was too tired, mentally and physically, to care either way.

“I’m going back to the inn. If you think you have a shot at removing the curse yourself then your free to talk to Ralisdor about it. I don’t know, maybe read it with him.”

“He wouldn’t allow that in a million years and you know that!”

Even in her fatigued state Shuka knew that she was probably right. It had only been a handful of days since they had met each other, but at times they seemed like mortal enemies. Ralisdor may be a less obvious about it than Maryam, but Shuka knew him well enough to know that the feeling was mutual.

“Can’t this just wait until tomorrow? I would be happy to argue on your behalf then.”

“Well, if you just want to wait until tomorrow then fine. Just go back to the inn and I will read it on my own.”

“Huh?”

Before she could react Maryam reached into Shuka’s bag and grabbed the book before running off to the alley. Shuka hesitated for a moment before going after her with Xorvos close behind. Maryam was a much better runner than Shuka though, and with the head start she had she was already sitting down with the book open by the time she arrived.

“That wasn’t very polite you know.”

“Yeah, but it worked, didn’t it?”

“…Yeah, I guess it did. If you’re just going to do what you want regardless of what I say, then I guess I might as well do it with you.”

With a slightly defeated sigh Shuka sat down beside Maryam, ready, if only slightly, to pursue the tome. Xorvos on the other hand was less content with the situation.

“Maryam, you can’t just take peoples things like that, it’s not right. And the meeting with Visia took longer than we expected because of all of the questions, if we delay even longer than Ralisdor is going to get worried about us. He might already be worried. And this alley looks dangerous, what if someone tries mugging us?”

“You’re worried about getting mugged? You’re a seven foot tall Quanso, who would try mugging you? And me and Shuka aren’t exactly easy targets either you know. As for Ralisdor, let him worry, it might convince him to have a more vested interest in the well being of his apprentice.”

He does care about me; she just can’t see it. Not that I can blame her, Ralisdor hasn’t really been the nicest to her.

“Xorvos, please I don’t want an argument right now. And Maryam, try to give Ralisdor some slack, you weren’t exactly the nicest person to him on your first meeting.”

There was a disgruntled silence between the three of them for a moment. They all had more they wanted to say, but none of them wanted to start another argument. Eventually it was Maryam who broke the silence.

“Well I’m just going to get started reading then if no one’s going to stop me. Lets see, I can skip the opening remarks, chapter one’s just an introduction to magic, ah here we go. Chapter two, ‘what is a curse.’”

Shuka looked over Maryams shoulder as she flipped through the pages of the book. When she finally landed on a page that had useful information, Shuka started reading along side her. She knew that she probably didn’t have a chance of actually being able to use any of the magic in the book, but she still wanted to learn a little more about her affliction. The first few pages she read didn’t seem to have any useful information though, it was all either information she already knew, or wasn’t relevant. That was until she got to the page on actually applying curses. That had an interesting passage in it.

To apply a curse onto your target you require three main components. The first component is a piece of their body. Now before you start taking out your ritual knifes to go chop off some fingers, it doesn’t need to be flesh or blood. While a chopped off finger would work, it is much easier and simpler to retrieve a stray hair, some dead skin, or perhaps even finger nail clippings. The second component is your targets name. Preferably their face too, but that only makes it easier, it is not strictly necessary. The third component is a ritual circle. As previously stated, curses target the soul, and souls are notoriously hard to affect. This is because souls themselves are intensely magical and could be considered a sort of spell themselves. As every spellcaster surely knows, magic is near infinitely harder to manipulate when it is not your magic. To do something as complex as modifying a soul when it is not even your own soul simply cannot be done without extensive preparation. Even for an expert such as I it takes at least an hour for just the casting itself, and days or weeks of preparing beforehand.

“That’s weird. It says a curse needs a piece of the targets body, their name, and a ritual circle, but I don’t think the witch had any of those when she cursed me.”

“Really?” Maryam asked. “Those are sounding like pretty hard requirements to me, but you definitely seem cursed. Are you sure you didn’t just miss them or forgot or something?”

“Well she might have gotten a piece of my body without me noticing if all it requires is a strand of hair, and she might have known my name beforehand somehow. But there definitely wasn’t a ritual circle. And the whole thing happened in minutes, not hours. Actually, it seemed like a spur of the moment thing for the witch.”

The whole thing was so confusing that Shuka didn’t know what to think. Was the book wrong? Were her memories? Or was there something else going on that she didn’t understand? She wished she knew.