Chapter 132: Glimmer of HopeWe had been in the library for most of the day with the snow not letting up outside. The night was settling outside, and the stained windows of the library were darkening. They were not even real windows, just massive blocks of semi-transparent stone, probably quartz. The fire was burning merrily in the ter of the a elven library, stantly supplied by men breaking apart old bookshelves. Fortunately, everything was dry and burned well with minimal smoke.

  The specters kept arriving but much slower, one every half hour or so. Castile was fused and spoke aloud, her ed voice eg in the rge room, “Specters should not be able te so far from where they died.”

  Konstantin was iing the library’s outer wall and answered her, “If you watch them, Castile, they are going about their daily lives until something interrupts their routine. If we had not attacked the first spirit of the girl pig flowers, the others might have left us alone. Well, the non-soldiers, anyway.”

  Castile shook her head while flexing her retly healed frostbitten hands before the fire. “It just s me. If all the specters wander anywhere iy, then we could be rushed by thousands at o any time.”

  Schor Favian was sitting by the fire going through stacks of books Benito and Felix were bringing him as the shelves were dismantled. If he thought a book was trash, he put it to his left in the burn pile. If it was useful, he stacked it to his right. He added his input, “Specters should take a lot loo restitute after being disrupted by runic ons. My guess is the ley line underh the city is feeding them somehow. It is probably a nexus, an interse of ley lines. It also makes it much more probable there is a dungeon somewhere withiy walls.”

  Another specter ehrough the wall, and Adrian moved to deal with it, Konstantin quickly supp him. Castile rose with the urn to permaly end the threat. It was being routine now, and everyo somewhat safe except for the fact the exit was pletely blocked by snow. Castile returo the fire, “There is definitely a nexus uhe city. My aether recovery has increased.” I had not noticed or felt any difference myself.

  Konstantin walked back to the fire, “We should explore the rest of the library. This is just the main room.” It was not the first time he had mentio i few hours. He was smart enough not to wander off on his own without permission. He also had not sheathed his runic oire time and was always moving to attaew specters when they wandered in. His runic on was the only ohat sparked when eg with the specters. It was like his on was taking pleasure in striking the undead.

  “We will wait to see if Schor Favian finds anything useful first,” Castile replied patiently, the same response she had every time Konstantiioned expl.

  Konstantin looked around at the massive room, almost the size of a football pitch. “There are tens of thousands of books, Castile. It could take him months to find anything. At least let me see if I find any access down to the sewer system, so we have the option to move uhe city if the summoner sends something after us, we ot handle,” Konstantin requested.

  “At least it will not be full of elf shit,” Mateo added, getting a ugh, but I shook my head as I knew what Konstantin was going to say .

  “And see. I already have a voluo help,” Konstantin’s smirk had Mateo groaning.

  Delmar had collected everyone’s food, ioried it, and told Castile, “Castile, we have four days of food here, five if we stretch it, more if we start rationing now. I agree with Konstantin. The sooner we find other exits, the better off we are going to be.”

  Castile relented, “In the m. Let’s make sure everyone has dry clothes and is rested.” Half the men walked around in their underclothes, waiting for the heavier fabrics to dry he fire. It was a terribly slow process. As the light from the quartz windows faded, I id down on my bedroll. Half the men had dropped their bedroll at the tower before we ran, so I ted myself lucky.

  I was mentally exhausted from the ck of sleep and fighting all day. Fighting the specters was like striking training dummies, and I had probably killed over two huoday. If I had not had the healing spell form, I probably would not be able to lift my arm. Brutus couldn’t even hold the sword I had lent him; his forearm and shoulder were too sore and cramping. Linus told him he couldn’t afford to use a healing potion on him as we were down to just two of the lesser healing potions.

  My bedroll was o the Schor who was sitting in a chair by the fire. He was exhausted as well but too excited about paging through the viable tomes, humming and hawing as he went. Maveith was also nearby and not in the mood to py checkers. I closed my eyes but found sleeping difficult. I decided I would not use the amulet or an oblivion pill with danger so close. My survival instincts were telli to sleep at all. I heard the other men tossing and turning nearby as well.

  Maveith shook me awake, the rge goliath standing over me, “Eryk, it is time for us to be on watch.” I sat up and looked around. Somehow, I had fallen asleep and didn’t even dream. I always dreamed when I slept and could usually recall most of what happened in them—usually, I gued by nightmares.

  “I thought we were guarding the Schor,” I asked groggily.

  “I will be fine. You won’t be far away anyway.” Schor Favian said from his nearby chair, dismissing me. He was ily focused on the book he aging through and didn’t even look up.

  I stood and looked around. Benito and Delmar were by the entrance, huddled in cloaks. Konstantin and Firth had their backs to the fire, fag the open end of the library. Bze and Donte were hanging by the eastern wall, giving us a total of six men ory duty. At the fire, Lirkin was heating a rge cast iron cauldron. He looked at me and answered my unasked question. “Found it buried under one of the piles of books. Spent two hours ing it and boiled a few runs of water.” He tapped the side, “Looks like we were not the only oo camp in the library, the smith’s mark is in Telhian.”

  The five-gallon cauldron was being used to melt snow and boil water. As I dressed in my armor, I asked Lirkin, “Did you dream st night?”

  He looked at me perplexed but went into deep thought. “No, not that I recall. But I usually don’t remember my dreams. Why do you ask?”

  “Just curiosity. I usually dream, but nothing st night. Not even sure how long I slept,” I said casually.

  Maveith answered me, “Four hours. The watches are four hours, acc to Delmar, and we are on the sed watch. We are to repce Benito and Delmar at the door.”

  Lirkin offered his meal preparation efforts, “Have some weak tea, rice, and hard bread.” I got my cup from my pack, and the hot tea was wele for the warmth it spread inside me. The fire might be half a doze across, but the temperature dropped rapidly once you were more than te away from it.

  The allotment was a lot smaller than I had expected, just a cup of salted overcooked rid a slice of stale bread. I still ate it greedily as my stomach was growling with impatiehe food was gooo soon, and I knew every meal would be simir while we were trapped in here. Maveith got a double portion, but it would not be enough to sustain him either.

  We walked to the entryway, ao jumped when I said, “Relief behind you.” Benito turned and handed me my sheathed bck bde.

  Delmar poked his head out of his own cloak, his breath f dense clouds in the frigid air, “Things have gotten quiet. Haven’t seen a specter in two hours, but stay alert.” He handed Maveith his bde ao get some rest. Sharing runic ons was unusual, but it was necessary with only five bdes in the pany. Firth also had the elven dagger and had used it but had not passed it off to anyone. I po get it back when we were free of the elven ruins—if not before.

  Delmar ao gdly went to the fire to get warm, and we pulled our cloaks tight around us. A glowsto the chamber beyond. The archway we had entered was now pletely blocked by snow, and it was almost eight feet to the top. Maveith fought with a club, and Delmar’s bde looked small in his hand, but he khe importance of it.

  We didn’t talk for most of the watch as I listeo the snowfall ge. Maveith heard it, too. “It is getting much colder outside. The wet snow is ging to lighter snow but will accumute quicker.” I just nodded as the cold was still peing my cloak. I started to focus on the clouds of my exhaled breaths to pass the time, seeing how far I could send them.

  Maveith spoke after a time, “I have never seen this muow before.”

  “It is called a blizzard,” I said, using the English word.

  “Blizzard,” Maveith tested the word. “Sounds ominous and fitting for this circumstance.

  “Still gd you came with us?” I asked lightheartedly.

  Maveith gave the question serious thought, “Expl the elven ruins is thrilling. Being chased by an angry and powerful elven summoner is not as exg.” I chuckled at his hoy.

  I reached doicked up a book. The book crumbled in my hands. I guess these books closer to the entrance had more exposure to the weather, allowing mold to grow on them. Remus and Brutus came to relieve us. Brutus winced as I handed him the bck bde. He was still sore from swinging his bde thousands of times yesterday. I had healed my own damaged muscle tissue with my spell form.

  “Castile wants to talk with you,” he said, taking over the duty at the archway. The red-haired Remus took Delmar’s bde from Maveith. We left them trying to keep the warmth iheir cloaks. I was not sure ere guarding the entrao the room.

  Castile sat on a bench, paging through a rge elven book, and I sat beside her. Each page ainting of a magnifit city with elves walking the streets. I waited while she finished and pced the book dowween us. “Konstantin is going to explore the rest of the library. He wants you and Mateo to go with him.” She spoke softly so no one could hear us.

  I sighed in a long exhale, “You wao leave the potions.”

  “You are not going with him; just Mateo is,” she said heavily. “I wao ask you a question. How much food do you have in your dimensional space? You do not have to take it out, but I o know.” She had spoken softly, and no one was withiy feet of us.

  This was it. How much was I going to reveal? I went through it in my mind what I had left: three gallons of honey, almost twenty gallons of rum, thirty gallons of water, fifteen pounds of salt, five pounds of peppers, fifteen ration bars, and ten pounds of standard legion rations. I also had the two elven packs I had yet to search. I slowly said, “Enough for one person for three to four weeks.”

  Castile nodded, obviously disappointed I did not have aire pantry. Things were going to get bad fast as the food ran out. With the snow, we had no way to get more food. She was quiet for a time, and I sensed despair from her. I suggested a course of a, “Delmar is right. The only way out is to find the dungeon. The summoner may have buried us ue of snow, but he ot spy on us either. If anyone find a duhat has been missing for fifteen hundred years, it is Konstantin.” I also suggested, “It is frigid by the entrance. I suggest we pull those sentries closer to the fire?”

  Castile sidered, her tone ged to fident and authoritative, “Konstantin, you and Mateo explore but no more than four hours. Adrian, tightech closer to the fire and bring the glowstoo Eryk to charge them.”

  Mateo was given a bow with five runic arrows, and no runic bde. Konstantin and Mateo theo explore the library, which I assumed was a rge plex. I recharged the glowstones, marking up the perimeter of the camp. Then, I joined everyone else, making firewood from the shelves and bringing books for Schor Favian to sort.

  Rid jerky stew were served as our lunch, and it was an even smaller ration than breakfast. Lirkin was rationing food as directed, and no one was pini, but everyone was realizing what a terrible spot we were in. I do not think Castile made the wrong decision. If we had ered the city, we would have frozen to death in the snow on the marbsp;

  After just two hours, Konstantiurned, running into the chamber with Mateo, “I have ten or more specters right behind us!!” The men moved quickly to form a wall, and the four men with runic bdes prepared for the charging specters. Over a dozeers of children came through the walls in pursuit of Konstantin.

  Firth barked at Konstantin as he ehe fight, “I knew you were terrible with kids.” It didn’t get any ughs. Castile was ready with the kettle of souls, and the fight did not st long.

  Konstantin was breathing irregurly. Castile was waiting for him to report. Mateo informed us, “He got struck twice. There may be five or six more specters, but they must restitute themselves.”

  Since Konstantin could not speak, Adrian asked Mateo, “What did you find?”

  “Lots of smaller libraries and studies. A few isoted specters. When we finally found stairs going down, they were not to sewers. It was some type e shelter plex. One of the rooms had hundreds of elven bones, mostly of children. Only a few of the children chased us, but there were hundreds more,” Mateo reported. He also had that look that indicated that he never wao work with Konstantin again. A look I knew well.

  Schor Favian approached, “We should be searg the smaller libraries. This was just a general library. Fasating books, but the thousand books I have looked at so far had nothing useful.”

  Konstantin rasped, “I think the underground plex extends uhe ey. The civilians took shelter there when the Legion attacked. The poison gas killed everyone above and below ground, Castile. There will be hundreds more specters—but I think we travel uhe city to search for the dungeon.” Konstantin’s voice was exhausted. Konstantin nodded his head at Mateo in appreciation of his efforts.

  Mateo looked unhappy but uhed a hin bde on his hip. They had found another runic on. An elven fed bde. This got murmurs in the pany. If we could find more, then everyone could defend themselves.

  ? Chted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne

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