The sun was setting as we met with Krimsun on the wall. We were stationed in a tower about 50 meters from the creature. Far too close in my opinion.
Krimsun greeted us and let us inside where she was brewing some tea.
“Krimsun, there is something we’d like to discuss,” Reggie said.
“I know,” she replied, “But first.” She raised a cup of tea and began to sip while she motioned for us to do likewise with her other hand.
As we did, I felt a bit lightheaded and it looked like everything around me was slowing down.
At first, I started to panic, thinking that it had been drugged, but then I remembered.
“This way we should have a bit more privacy,” I heard Krimsun’s voice in my head, “What you wish to discuss is not safe to speak of out loud,”
“So, you did conceal information from our reports?” Reggie asked.
“Yes,”
“But why?”
“For the same reason you held onto that journal you swiped from Frederick Rundoon,”
I slowly turned and looked at Reggie, but my vision was heavily blurred. When did he have time to do that?
“Well, I don’t know the Guildmaster all that well, and Frederick was a criminal. All the same, I thought it would be stupid to not take it. But maybe if I was less focused on swiping it without being noticed…”
“Stop,” Krimsun interrupted, “You cannot change the past, but what comes next it nearly as impossible.
“Explain?” Katherine asked.
“Mere months ago, I never would’ve suspected Vincent of any wrong-doing. He was like a father to most of the guild, showing great wisdom beyond his limited human years,” She explained, “He comes from a long line of guild masters and lived up to his family reputation,”
“But?” Reggie said.
“But when his apprentices rebelled, it shocked us all. They were our comrades, friends for years. Part of me has been wondering why they left,” she said, “That’s when I grew suspicious,”
“I’ve been working with some individuals within the guild to try and figure things out, but we haven’t found much by way of leads. That is until Nivanguis burst through the wall,”
“That dragon?” I asked, “The message said something about relics?”
“Indeed,” she replied, “But we had no idea what relics Rodney was referring to. However…”
She slowly began to turn towards the massive looming monster.
“Between your account of the events in Begoniastead, the warning from Frederick, and that creature…”
“Oh no…” I mentally muttered.
“I’m getting ahead of myself,” Krimsun said, “Please Reggie, relay what you read from the journal. Quickly please, as the tea shall wear off soon.”
“Well,” Reggie began, “I haven’t had much time to study it, but from what I skimmed, these relics are connected to ancient monsters like the one we encountered at Begoniastead. It seems that the Guildmaster’s family has been trying to collect them for generations. When his apprentices caught on to this, he framed them as traitors, trying to steal his family’s magical heirlooms. Since then, they’ve been researching the ancient monsters in an effort to destroy any remaining relics connected to them,”
“Then that means…” I began.
“That monster may have been summoned by the Guildmaster himself!” Katherine mentally shouted.
“That is certainly a possibility, it is also possible that the contents of this journal are fabricated specifically to discredit the Guildmaster,” Katherine said, “Why would he summon a creature like that? To destroy the kingdom? What would he gain from that?”
I had to admit, we had very little when it came to a possible motive.
“In either case,” I said, “We need to find out what the name of this creature is. The only way to beat these things is to figure out what they are made from,”
“Indeed,” Krimsun replied, “I shall get in touch with Ignatius and see what insights I can glean from him on the matter. In the meantime, I want you to try and act as inconspicuous as possible. But keep an ear out for anything suspicious,”
As she finished her sentence, the spell faded and time returned to normal.
“Ah, nothing quite like a cup of tea before an evening of work,” she said as she got up, “Well then, Reggie and I shall take the near end, Katherine and Mak, you take the far. Dismissed.”
And with that, we went to our business.
Business which, as one might imagine, consisted of watching a gigantic monster loom over the city as we dreaded the possibility that one of the most powerful men in the kingdom has summoned it for some unknown reason. We dared not discuss the topic further without the secrecy of Krimsun’s Elven magic, but it would hardly look good for us to sit on the wall in silence.
“Were you really going to leave the guild, Mak?” Katherine finally asked.
I’d almost rather speak openly about the conspiracy.
“Yes,” I admitted, “Or rather, I was, but then I considered working under Wisebeak so I’d still be here… but it seems that under these circumstances…” I gestured to the impending doom above us, “That leaving is no longer an option, even if I still wanted to,”
“And what do you want to do?”
“Kind of a moot point now,”
“Mak…”
“Well,” I paused a moment to think, “I guess I just want to be safe, and I want the people I care about to be safe. Leaving seemed like the best way to do that. Now, I’m not sure,”
She rested an armoured glove on my shoulder.
“But I also want to stay, I’ve learned so much here. And if I lost you while staying safe and at home… I couldn’t stand that either,”
Kat smiled, “Well then, I guess you’ll just have to stick it out and keep me alive yourself!” she said defiantly, “You’d better work hard as I’m feeling extra reckless tonight,”
I couldn’t help but crack a grin of my own, “Do anything stupid and I’ll stuff you into a pocket dimension for a month!”
“Pah! I’d like to see you try!”
It was probably the first time I genuinely laughed since Aldan and Clementina dropped us off here. In spite of all the loss and fear around us, for this brief moment, I had a fun night joking back and forth with my crazy sister.
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