Light slowly began to shine through the curtains. I sat up and leaned against the wall. Only the regular breathing of Tes could be heard. She was only half covered under the blanket due to the heat in the room. Her narrow long leg poked out from under the blanket. I half regretted turning her down. Hopefully he can make it to Medroinia and live a happy life. I would love to join them. After all, living a peaceful life in one's own inn didn't sound bad.
I got out of bed, gathered my things and left her apartment. The next day began. I looked around the street, many people made their way away. Suddenly an old man appeared at my place. He was human, but he looked as if he had lived for hundreds of years.
"Young man, could you please pass one letter?" he paused. "I will pay you handsomely," he added.
"Why me? You can send it through some couriers that will deliver it faster." I was suspicious, and his odd smell didn't help.
"It's needed anonymously, and if you open the letter, trust me, my friends will find you." His face indicated that I was not to ask any more questions. My need for some money got the better of me.
"Okay, where do I deliver it?"
The old man smiled eerily. Something was really wrong with him.
"Deliver it to the headmaster at the Endton National Library."
I took the letter. I looked around to see if I was being followed. The air seemed clean, but I couldn't believe it. I turned back to the old man, but he had disappeared. Some magic played a part in this as it was carried by the wind.
Maybe a changer? I really don't want to mess with this, I thought. I headed towards the center.
The square was almost empty. Most have already evacuated. The library was quite easy to find. Huge building with tympanum and columns in foreground. The door to the inside was wide open. There were many carts in front of the library carrying rare books. I stepped inside. Prominent librarians were recognizable at first glance. Their distinctive dark blue robes with a cap resembling an open book.
"Excuse me, where can I find the headmaster?" I asked a passerby.
"What do you want here? You have nothing to do here." The librarian frowned suspiciously.
"I have a very important letter here for him," I said.
"Give it to me and I'll give it to him," offered the librarian.
"No, it's important, I have to hand it over," I insisted. I tapped the hilt of my sword lightly for a threat.
"There's a big door like this on the first floor, those are his chambers."
Many people with books were passing by. I climbed the stairs and stood in front of the door to the chambers. The guards on either side grabbed the door and opened it. It didn't feel much like chambers because of the bookshelves spread out everywhere. There were only two people in the chambers. I followed the voices when they suddenly appeared in front of me. A person, in richly decorated robes, was picking books from the shelves. The other person was familiar to me. He was a huge ming and a clear warrior in character. I only recognized him when he turned to me.
Jurian, I was hoping I wouldn't see him again. Despite his fearless face, there was surprise on his face.
"What are you doing here?" he said before I could react.
"I brought a letter for the headmaster, it is said to be very urgent." I held out my hand with the letter. The librarian suddenly stopped when he saw the seal.
"Jurian, what you discovered is a miracle, don't spread the information too much or it will fall into the wrong hands," he handed him one of the books.
"There is little in this book that may help you, but now excuse me and leave these chambers." Jurian looked at me, then at the librarian, confused.
"Are you sure?" Jurian asked.
"Yes, I'm sure," he said flatly. We left the chambers and the guards closed the door behind us.
"Didn't you say you were going on the road again?" snapped back Jurian. He was mad at me.
"What if I just didn't want to travel with you," I shot back.
In an instant he crossed the space between us. I didn't have time to react when a fist suddenly appeared against my face. I felt pain in my entire jaw. I spat out blood. It was a warning shot. He didn't want to hurt me.
"Are you afraid to give a full blow?" I encouraged him. Jurian was literally foaming with rage.
"Do you know how that hurt Lasin? I know you don't know her that much, but you were important to her." He tried to ignore me. "When you left, as if she had gone into herself and barely spoke, he said. We were both in a fighting stance. The guards had their hands ready on their weapons.
"What do you know about that," I paused. "Nothing, so don't interfere in my life," I scolded him.
"I don't care what is between you, but no one will harm my friends," he declared.
I laughed. "Friends? You've barely known her for a few days and she's probably on the empire's wanted list."
His gaze was razor sharp. "I don't care what happens to me, but I feel something good about her. In these dark times, I'd rather follow the light than wallow in the darkness."
I couldn't say more. The words stuck in my throat and wouldn't come out. Drowning in the dark? That's what my whole life could be called. The whole time I was just wandering around the world, what was before, I didn't remember anything but the basics.
"Don't get in my eyes." He turned and knocked on the door of the headmaster's chamber.
Nothing was heard.
Jurian thumped again, louder.
No response.
"Are you there?" he exclaimed.
Nothing. He opened the door. The smell of blood carried on the wind. Jurian immediately rushed into the chamber. I followed him inside. We ran around the shelves. The smell of blood grew stronger. We found the body in no time. There were streaks of blood everywhere. I looked down. The librarian's robes were fairly clean, but when I looked at the rest out of my head. It was absolutely disgusting. The front of the skull was so deformed that if I hadn't seen him here a moment ago, I would have thought he was someone else entirely. Jurian dropped to his knees. For a while he simply mourned the dead. He turned to me.
"What did you do?!" he said hatefully. Concentrated magic emanated from his eyes.
That was very dangerous. I have to calm him down.
"It couldn't have been me, we were arguing in the corridor now." It didn't help. His hand was on the hilt of his sword.
"The letter!" he roared.
"Look at that body. Someone must have waited until he was alone."
Jurian gave a slight relent and looked at the Headmaster's body. He's finally coming to his senses, I thought.
"Maybe the killer is still around," I reminded. Jurian nodded.
The windows were already open before, so he could escape through the window as the chambers remained empty. He rose from the ground and together with other guards we ran out to search. We got into a narrow alley and using simple ledges and windows we climbed onto the roofs.
The chances of us finding him were slim, but it was our best bet. We looked around. Nothing anywhere. It all happened a moment ago, so there's still a chance to find him.
We tried to be as quiet as possible. The streets were also relatively quiet. I already had the feeling that he had escaped us, when suddenly there was a loud impact on the ground. We ran out as if lightning had struck us. I peeked over the edge of the roof and saw a person in a dark hood. I climbed down to the nearest ledge. It took us quite a while to get down. I jumped down for the last time and looked around the street. We couldn't catch up with him. Jurian landed next to me. For running with the mings, I kept up the speed with them pretty well.
"Where did he go," cursed one of the guards. I needed to catch my breath. Where could someone hide? At that moment something occurred to me.
"Are there sewers?" I asked. Jurian nodded.
"Follow me," he commanded. "There are little secret stashes underground."
We ran to the nearest entrance. Luckily one was right next door. He pulled up the hatch and started down the ladder. Nothing could be seen through the darkness. From the tiny rays of light, I was barely able to make out the main stream of the canal and the byways. The whole space was filled with such a stench that it was impossible. We turned into another alley. From a distance, a small light began to be seen. We crept up to the entrance.
"Let's toast to another successful staged murder." said one of the voices. Tanks clanked. Jurian slowly drew his sword. I touched his hand to stop him. He looked in my direction and stopped his movement.
"I don't know who hired me, but it was worth the money," said the second voice.
They were pretty confident that no one had followed them here. I pulled my hand away from Jurian. In no time he was gone. Then only frightened screams were heard, followed immediately by painful ones. I didn't dare to peek. The guards around me were afraid to breathe. I repeated the words of the assassin. Staged murder? Well, it was too late already. Screams were replaced by shuffling steps after a while. Jurian came out of the entrance with a keg of beer in his hands.
"You take the barrel," he pointed at the guard. It was barely recognizable in the gloom. We went to the surface again.