The Compass Key (Book 5) (38 page)

“You’re a smart and wise guardian,” Luke claims as he unsheathes his sabers. He glares threateningly at the creatures, their growing screams cut
ting off abruptly. “I don’t want to hear any word from any of you!”

“Stop yelling at the
Lost Ones and let’s go,” Nyx demands. She walks to the open doorway and looks around at the brightly light hall. “Which way to the library, Risar?”

“I will take you upon my paths
.”

The ice giant
steps over Nyx and walks a few yards to the left of the door. He places his forehead against the wall and whispers to the ice, his voice a low rumble. A part of the wall shifts to the side with a loud grating noise. Beyond the new doorway are a set of simple, wooden stairs that are covered in ice. Risar shrinks until he is eye-level with Nyx before he climbs the stairs.

“Be careful, champions. The
steps are slippery and the walls are unforgiving,” he warns as he waits for them to follow. “I will close the doorway the moment you are all inside. Please hurry before trouble finds us.”

“This should be easy,” Nyx proudly states. Her feet glow with magical warmth as she takes to the stairs,
every step creating a thin layer of water beneath her boots. “Looks like it freezes back up the moment I move away. Are you guys going to be okay?”

“I will be fine,” Timoran answers, easily bounding up the
steps. “This reminds me of home during the time of Tavon’s Touch. I am sure the others are more worthy of your worry and concern.”

Luke and Delvin are already slipping on the bottom step when the doorway closes up behind them. They crash into the solid ice and groan in pain. The two warriors try again and use their swords to stab into the next step. Using each other as leverage,
they slowly pull themselves along the stairwell. Several times their feet slip and they cling to their embedded blades with all their strength.

“We’re good!” Delvin announces as he struggles to get his balance.

“Don’t wait up for us!” Luke yells, his hands white-knuckled from clenching his sabers.

Nyx shakes her head and turns to follow
the barbarian. “You two are idiots.”

17

“Put your foot on my knee.”

“Shouldn’t I do that? I’m lighter than you.”

“Good point.”

“Are the ropes tight?”

“Yes. Are you sure we won’t fall back down?”

“That depends on how quick you are. On the count of three.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Thr-”

Timoran puts Luke and Delvin under his arms, effortlessly turning around and walking back up the icy steps.
He drops them on a couch in the vast library and returns to looking through the shelves. The two warriors untie the rope around their waists and join in the search for the bile serpent tome. They can see Nyx on the far side of the room, enchanted books flying around her and returning to their home once rejected. Floating ice crystals follow everyone to give them reading light, their brightness adapting as they move through shadows. The large wooden door is bolted shut with Risar crouched a few feet away, the ice giant ready to attack anything that tries to come into the library.

Luke and Delvin split up to check two sides of a long aisle. They meticulously examine every book, struggling to understand several of the languages. Delvin groans as he tries to read a book that is written in a swirling language. He can hear Luke retch, turning to see the half-elf put a book back. The only sign he gets from
the forest tracker is an urgent shake of the head before they go back to checking books. It is a mind-numbing experience that feels like it lasts for days when it has only been an hour.

“Sorry if I’m rude here, but I feel like this library would be wasted on Sari,” Delvin
says as he rubs his eyes. He turns to Luke, who is staring at a bookcase of green-covered tomes. “She didn’t strike me as much of a reader. This looks more like something Nyx or even Timoran would have. Are you listening, Luke? Hello?” He snaps his fingers in front of the half-elf’s face, not getting a response. “Wake up!”

Delvin’s
voice scares the half-elf out of his trance, causing him to jump away. “I’m awake, I’m awake, I’m awake. What are we doing?”

“We’re still looking,” Nyx
says, walking around a nearby corner and yawning. She waves away a swarm of books that fly back to their shelves. “I’ve scanned so many books that my brain hurts. The languages of some of these are ancient and I can only decipher a few words. You two and Timoran must be confused.”

“Where is Timoran?” Luke asks, arching his stiff back.

“Last I saw, he was sniffing books five aisles over,” the caster answers as she sits on the ground. More books fly around the corner to hover above her until she snaps her fingers and they fall on her. “Son of a troll! These books will not leave me alone. I cast one spell to have only the ancient tomes come to me, but all of these are classified as ancient. At least, they’re coming in tens instead of every book swarming me.”

“There’s also the problem that this book might not count as an ancient tome,” Luke points out
while gathering the books into a pile. “If the monsters wrote this tome then it would look like a mess and barely be considered a book. Also, we’re assuming we can even read this thing when we find it. If not then this is a waste of time. I wish we could get through this library faster.”

“
I think we need another caster in the group,” Delvin states as he thumbs through a book that he soon realizes is on furniture building.

A wave of h
eat hits his side and he cautiously turns to see Nyx glaring at him, her body engulfed in fire. The books move away from the flame, suddenly growing a sense of self-preservation. Delvin gently places the small book back on the shelf and is surprised to see it roll onto the floor. The book races away, starting a stampede of rolling tomes that go around the three adventurers. Nyx reaches out toward Delvin, who feels a few tugs of magic, but each spell stops before it can fully form. Eventually, the fire dies down and the caster settles for scowling angrily at the warrior.

“
You can come back!” Luke calls out. He laughs at the sight of the books returning to their shelves. “I really like this library. Why can’t we ask for the book to come to us?”

“I tried that, but the book was created after the corruption. It doesn’t have the summoning enchantment,” Nyx answers, her violet eyes fringed with fire. She gets to her feet and approaches Delvin, jabbing a finger against his chainmail. “Am I not good enough for you,
Mr. Cunningham? I’m the strongest caster in this temple and maybe even the city. I should think I can handle whatever you need me to do.”

“You still haven’t found the book,”
the forest tracker says before his voice is magically turned off. He rolls his eyes and leans against the bookcase, patiently waiting for his friend’s temper to subside.

“I didn’t mean you were weak, Nyx,” Delvin answers with a friendly smile. Reaching up,
he takes her hand and holds it tight, so she cannot pull away. “I meant that another caster would help take the pressure off you and make this go quickly. I was thinking that you could teach me a few spells. Nothing beyond minor defenses and some finding spells. You said I had a blinding aura, so I should be able to cast spells.”

Nyx breaks out into echoing laughter, the books rattling on their shelves as if joining in the fun. She waves her hand to release Luke’s voice and he nervously chuckles at th
e idea of Delvin casting magic. The caster gasps to regain some control and wipes the tears that are rolling down her cheeks.

“
I’m sorry, Delvin. You have a very strong aura, but that doesn’t mean you can do magic. It’s not just the aura that makes one a caster. You need the mentality and focus to learn how to use your aura. Spending most of your life as a warrior, you would need to quit the road and spend at least a year on basic principles.”

“I think I can do it
. I can be very focused and I’m a quick study. In fact, I know I can do it.”

“It’s sweet that you want to help,” Nyx says without thinking. She blushes and puts her hand over her mouth w
hen she realizes what she said.

Luke pats her on the shoulder and turns her around to face away from Delvin. “I believe Nyx means we don’t have the time to wait for you to learn.
After we rescue Sari and purify the temple, we have to help Gaia with repairs. Then we’re off to the next adventure. The Baron isn’t going to let us rest and learn new skills.”

“
Good point. We’re probably already behind them anyway,” Delvin admits while scratching his head and eyeing the distant, icicle-covered ceiling. “Our enemies have had centuries to corrupt the temples and set traps for the champions. It sounds like they’ve been very successful in killing our predecessors. I’m not saying we’re doomed, but we’re the underdogs here. We need every edge we can get.”

“Teaching you
magic isn’t an edge that we need,” Nyx explains, pausing when a bellowing roar shakes the mountain for a few minutes. “Sari knows magic and I can teach her more if she wants. If you’re so concerned with learning new skills then look into those that match what you’re doing now. There are reasons warriors don’t cast spells and casters don’t wield swords. At least with both abilities being at the same level. It takes years to master either and you will inevitably rely on one more than the other in combat. If you try to use both evenly then you will be killed the moment you hesitate in battle.”

“Then I can learn spells that support my swordsmansh
ip.”

“This isn’t the time or place for this,” Luke states, stepping between his friends. “We need to focus on finding that book and killing the bile serpent. You two can argue this until you pass out once we get Sari back to me.”

Delvin and Nyx stare at the half-elf as he curses under his breath. He shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot, unsure what to say. He lets out a sigh of relief when he hears heavy, booted footsteps coming around the corner. Luke waves at Timoran as soon as the barbarian comes into view.

“Am I interrupting something?” the large man asks when he feels the tension in the air.

“No,” all three of his friends say.

Timoran chuckles and holds out a crude collection of papers that are bound with moist monster gut. A foul smell wafts off the book, the odor reminding everyone of rotten fish and vomit.
Nyx gingerly takes the packet and frowns at the unreadable scribble on the blood-splotched pages. Her anger grows as she thumbs through the pages and realizes that they are filled with rough drawings and nonsensical symbols.

“This is useless!”
she snaps, dropping the book on the ground. “We wasted so much time looking for this thing. There’s no telling what has been happening down there with all this rumbling.”

“The bile serpent is waking and the monsters are still in a slumber,” Timoran responds while picking up the book and placing it on a shelf. He smiles at the confused faces in front of him. “This book was written by a single monster that I assume was k
illed after its completion and delivery. Whatever this creature was, it was not a servant of the bile serpent. It was pretending to be in order to put this book together for us to find. I could not say where this monster went after, but I would not be surprised if it is one of the Lost Ones that we saw.”

“How do you know this?” Delvin asks.

The barbarian points at the first picture of a crude serpent. “Intuition and guesswork. These pictures were done in haste, so I assume the artist was doing it in secret. You can tell that some of the pictures were stopped and restarted because of a difference in color. Also, many of the pictures show the smaller monsters committing ritual sacrifices for the bile serpent. Such actions would not be shared in a method like this.”

“The followers could
simply believe that they rule the temple,” Luke suggests

Timoran nods and flips to a page near the back of the book. “I considered that, but look at this page. It is the only one with
lengthy writing, which I thought was gibberish. I cannot make any sense of this, but I do know it is a warning. That much I can tell from the following pictures of a sealed door and then a skull. I tried Dwarven and Goblin to translate this. I discerned a few letters, but nothing more.”

Nyx gently takes the book and runs her fingers along the letters. She mouths words without making a sound, her attention focused entirely on the book. The others rest against the bookcases while
the caster paces from one end of the long aisle to the other. She rubs her amethyst necklace and bites her lower lip in frustration and excitement that last for thirty silent minutes.

“I have it
, everyone! The monster used letters from various alphabets. I see Dwarven, Goblin, Orcish, Gnomish, and the ancient tongue used by the Hejinn. It isn’t a warning. It says ‘with our deaths, they shall be sealed’. I think the author is the one that convinced the other monsters to sacrifice themselves. It must have left this for us before performing the ritual. Unfortunately, there’s nothing about the bile serpent’s abilities or weaknesses in here.”

“All we did was confirm what we already
know,” Delvin claims. He turns around to look at Risar through a gap in the bookcases. “I guess we should head to the lower level and slay the beast. We’ve wasted enough time here.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Nyx insists as she puts the book away. “We know that there is a seal on the bile serpent and it’s a life seal. Those are very powerful and never weaken. So, the bile serpent is raging against something that it can’t break. We have a better shot at killing it than we thought. It might only take a single strike while it’s pinned down
depending on the paralytic level of the bonds.”

“It’s funny that she believes it will be that easy,” Luke whispers to Timoran, who chuckles at the quip.

Bloodcurdling howls erupt from the other side of the library’s door, causing Risar to stand up and grow spikes around his body. He braces himself as the monsters on the other side strike the door, nearly knocking it off its hinges in one blow. The ice giant takes a few steps back and grows a long spear out of his right hand. Another howl echoes throughout the temple before the door is knocked into the room, smashing against Risar’s icy body.

“Vampires,” Delvin hisses when he sees twenty hungry-looking figures enter the room. “I think they’re new world vampires too. This is bad.”

“They’re really called Dawn Fangs,” Nyx whispers, earning a look of exasperation from Luke. “What? They can probably hear us, so we should use their proper name. No reason making them any angrier than they already are. Maybe they’ll calm down a bit if they think we’re respectful.”

A calico vampire fires tendrils out of her back and into the ceiling, the thin cords retracting to pull her into the air. She twists in order to land on her hands and feet, but Risar’s lance impales her and pins her to the ceiling. The vampire struggles to free herself, slipping off the large icicle and crashing to the floor. Her tail flicks in the air while she
gets to her feet, her yellow eyes locked on the champions. With a loud squish, Risar steps on her head and grinds it into the floor.

“Run for the back door!”
the ice giant shouts, stomping his foot to unlock a door. He turns to swipe at a fat vampire that is covered in spines, the creature sticking to his arm. “I will hold them here! The door will lock behind you!”