[PQ] Lost between the pages of a good book

Remi listened and considered. "I can fly across aft—" He began to say, trying to pull at the threads of his magic to make feathers appear gently in his hair to reinforce his words, until he found that the threads were gone. Right, he reminded himself. He was alone in his body for once. But if his powers were gone... Immediately his eyes shot towards Sam who was currently removing his belt. The alchemist tried not to think of the irony of this given the thoughts flitting through his mind, and simply cleared his throat glancing towards Kalt. Jigs? The alchemist quirked a brow, having not only not thought of Jigano as the type for nicknames, but even if he were, certainly not the type for which Kalt would be the one to give him one. Glancing towards Kalt again, the alchemist thought about his words. Remi knew precisely how slim Sam's waist was. Even if his corded belt was twice the size he'd be shocked if it was six feet across. Nevermind the excess that they'd need to hold either side. And would a corded belt even be enough to hold their weight, even one at a time? "We could." Remi nodded, his non-confrontational nature trying to take second seat to not wanting to plummet into a chasm, even if this was just a book. "Those trees just behind us looked fairly small; easy to cut down with the ax and perhaps my sword, and we could use the belt to thatch it together to create a bridge?" Uncertainly Remi glanced at the group, willing to submit to whatever it was they'd decided. Even so, he'd not be doing much maneuvering with his armor on. Glancing toward Sam, Remi tried to still the rush of excitement and anticipation growing steadily his behind his sternum and up into the back of his throat, bleeding out onto his face in the form of a crooked smile. "Sam, could you help me with this?" The alchemist asked. Other than Jigano, Sam was the only one who had more or less retained his proportions and should easily be able to help Remi out of his armor. That was the official story anyways. Unbuckling and beginning to slide off his pauldron, if the temporarily un-ascended man had decided to come over, the alchemist would try to find any reason to brush his fingers against Sam's. And if that failed, to try and find any other excuse to have his skin contact Sam's. If Remi had lost his racial features while they were consumed by this book, then it was at least possible Sam had as well. And though the timing was spectacularly inappropriate, Remi felt indebted to the copper-haired man in some hard to specify way. REMI How do you steal what you really want When what you really want is free?

Chapter 4
Battle of Wits

Jigano smiled at Samuel kindly as the bookmaker held out the rope. He was doing the best he could – very well, really, he’d even thrown something at the gorgon, even if it had bounced off! But jumping large holes over deep chasms in a single bound was, admittedly, a different kind of bravery. A kind that Isla had in spades, apparently. The sorceress grinned at her diminutive friend and how well the newly-Ascended was taking to their adventure. ”I’m carrying quite enough unfamiliar weight right now,” he dryly rejoined. ”But I doubt even in my regular form I’d be able to carry you across that span. Remi, now…” She turned to raise a brow at the knightly young man, but her attention was distracted by Kalt’s low, sweet voice.

The eyebrow went up, smile falling away. ”’Jigs,’” she repeated flatly. ”What a… puerile nickname.” The staff took on a red glow for a moment as her knuckles tightened on the shaft. Taking a deep breath, her pleasant expression returned as he focused on the content of the dwarven woman words and not simply the moniker proceeding them. ”Though if so many of us weren’t in such unfamiliar bodies, that would probably work.” Blue eyes shifted briefly to Sam, then away again as she smiled apologetically at Kalt once more. ”Even with Isla to help me I’m not sure the two of us could hold our end of the rope with you in that, ah, strong new body of yours.” It would have been nice if the lorekeeper had been given biceps in proportion to her new breasts, but apparently the story had very stupid ideas about what elves should look like, even if they weren’t entirely off from his previous experiences with the race.

Remi’s suggestion was met with another raise of The Brow, but this time in pleasant surprise. ”That’s not a bad idea,” Jigano complimented. ”We’d only need three or four, really, for you two, and it can be simple and rough.” She tapped the foot of her staff on the stones of the bridge thoughtfully and a new glow – blue this time – wreathed its top. Blinking, she looked up, and then at the gap that was giving them such trouble. A grin split her lovely face and she pointed the staff grandly at the hole, gathering her will. ”Bridge!” she commanded—

--and bridge there was, right where it had been, still with a six foot chunk missing from the middle. Frowning, Jigano shook the staff and tried again, aiming down into the chasm this time. ”Light!” he cried out—

--and a shaft of brilliant white shot downwards in a straight line, piercing the mists and briefly illuminating the jagged stone depths.

The grin was back in full force as she turned back to her companions, fading only slightly as she saw Remi trying to strip. ”Remi… what are you doing? If you’re going back to the woods you should probably keep the armor on in case there’s anything waiting for you. In fact…” Jigano looked around, taking note of her friends’ strengths and weaknesses. ”Kalt, you and Remi are the strongest and should make the fastest work of the trees. Isla, you can help keep watch while they work? Sam, let’s put our heads together and think of what we’ve read in other books – try to come up with what command words activate the spells in this staff.” She glanced at the gap in the bridge and the tower beyond, a silently determined promise to return – and soon – in her steely blue gaze. ”Best not try to split up – we don’t know if the book can handle that. It might not let us get too far away… or it might freeze one group while the other acts. I’m all for testing their limits more thoroughly at some point, but for now we should prioritize rescuing the people still trapped.”

And so, despite Remi’s intentions, the group all trekked together back to the trees, which did indeed fall swiftly to the dwarven fighter and the human paladin, while Isla’s Halfling eyes saw none of the forest’s drifting shadows come close enough to threaten. Samuel and Jigano discovered another few words to activate the staff, though after the third the bard had to call a halt to their experiments as a weariness stole over her shapely limbs.

There was no sun in the leaden sky to move, but a lessening of the light indicated that it was approaching evening as they returned to the bridge with their makeshift patch for the gap. It was more than sturdy enough for the lighter members of their party to cross, though as Remi made his way over the wood cracked ominously, the hasty construction coming apart and falling into the abyss even as he stepped onto solid stone once more.

The gates that they then reached had been unguarded, opening to a hefty push once they’d made it across. Jigano had been uneasy about the entire situation – it screamed of a trap to him, but what choice did they have but to press forward? And the entrance hall that greeted them was still, dim light streaming in through the door and a few clerestory windows. There was no sign of guards. The castle might as well have been deserted, but there was also no dust within.

That didn’t mean it was empty, however. There was a small door at the end of the hall, likely leading to some sort of throne room. And between them and it…

Five large metal constructs stood, two on each side of the hall and evenly spaced, and one at the end. On the left, a gryphon gleamed, brass and gold, with eyes of topaz as it sat on guard, standing as tall at the shoulder as Remi. Beside it was a unicorn of similar size, silver and steel, with a horn of gleaming diamond. Across from the gryphon coiled a sinuous wyrm, all verdigrised copper scales and ruby fangs. A manticore crouched, red gold and iron, bat wings folded across its back and lips pulled back from rows of wicked teeth. Last but certainly not least, perched in a large alcove above the small door, was a bright-copper and gold-feathered phoenix.

Peering in, Jigano frowned, her sharp elven eyes picking out something strange on each of them. ”I think there are harnesses or maybe… plaques? On their chests. With writing on them. Do you think…?” Glancing back to her companions she gave a grim shrug and then stepped inside, pausing—

And then continuing forward when nothing happened. The elven woman padded silently between the first four statues, drawn to the phoenix – not least because her last journey in a book had involved a firebird. She hummed softly to herself as she stopped to read the inscription on the plaque that was indeed bound to the construct’s chest. ”It’s… a riddle,” she mused, glancing back to her companions with a curious brow arched. ”They’re all riddles. You don’t suppose…?”

What she supposed was interrupted by the sudden slamming of the doors behind the last one to step inside. Jigano jumped – and the five constructs creaked and groaned, shifting on their pedestals as jeweled eyes blinked open and focused on the intruders. Heat began to emit from the firebird and dragon, while the unicorn pawed the stone beneath its metal hooves and the gryphon and manticore flexed their wings.

The elven woman dodged barely in time as a razor-sharp beak flashed down at where she’d been standing a moment before, a metallic cry echoing throughout the chamber. The unicorn reared, then lowered its horn at Remi, preparing to charge. The inscription on its chest read:
Grey my mantle and white my gown
The old tremble and fall when I come nigh
And I come round to claim my crown
When wise things sleep and weak things die.

The wyrm uncoiled from its perch, sliding to the ground and holding itself low as it approached Isla with a mesmerizing sway of its neck, but its placard was still visible:
My leaves hold tight, never falling
Not in autumn, snow nor spring
Thickly my coat of wood is made
But in time my tracks will fade.
What am I?

The gryphon crouched, tail lashing as topaz eyes focused on Samuel and it prepared to pounce. The riddle on its chest glowed, as all the rest did, and the words outlined in light were:
The wind runs through my fingers,
Yet my hands can grasp no sword;
My toothless mouth yet bites and tears
Girt full round in shafted horde.

The manticore’s grin widened, nearly splitting its face in two as it prowled off its perch, slinking like a hunting cat towards Kalt, eager to rend and tear the dwarven woman. Its placard rested on a collar, but its voice grated out like grinding gears:
Fragile paths betwixt the graves
Elegant in execution
Woven without loom
These are the finest threads
Worn only as a shroud.

”A lantern!” Jigano yelled out – not at her companions, but at the phoenix as it flared its wings above her, glowing red-hot. At the word the construct paused and then shuddered, settling back down to its perch and shrinking collapsing in and itself and twisting—

Leaving behind a glowing staff, more intricate than Jigano’s and radiating power. The sorceress grabbed for it and spun to face her comrades. ”Answer the riddles!” she called desperately, raising the staff and focusing on it with fierce intensity to try and unlock its secrets as her team battled on.

No Posting Order

Remi watched as Jigano...did nothing. At first anyways. His (her) call of bridge sparked a look of anticipation which was quickly dissolved as only light bled from the staff. The light was welcome and warm looking, but certainly did not aid them in crossing. So lost in the prospect of Sam feeling the warmth of his own skin, Remi had lost sight of the goal. If they were not jumping across of course there was no need to lose his armor, and thus no need for the ascended's help. "Mmm." Remi mused with a forced smile and nod, his eyes falling upon Sam in hopes of somehow silently communicating what his intentions had be. And still were. "If only the sword I had made for you had made it with us." The alchemist mused giving Kalt a grin and soft shake of his head. Assuming the (wo)man would take Sam's ax, he and the assassin would begin the hopefully straightforward task of acquiring the materials needed to assemble the bridge. The groan of the wood beneath his feet made Remi's breath catch in his throat as one of his feet found solid ground. Having always had wings since he was a boy, suddenly he felt extremely vulnerable now, and an uncharacteristic flush of anxiety coloured his cheeks as he scrambled to place both feet on the ground. Following, listening, and observing with rapt attention, the alchemist halted as Jigano indicated that there may be more to the grandiose statues in the hall. Flinching as the doors slammed shut, the alchemist turned 'round suddenly, pale eyes fixed to the unicorn. Pawing and prancing, horn lowered, Remi inhaled a sharp and shaky breath as he stared at the no-longer marbled beast before him. Jigano's words floated into his ears and his startled mind; a riddle? Scrambling his eyes tried to read the inscription written on the chest of the formidable beast: Grey and white? Elderly falling? Wise sleeping and weak dying? "Deepfrost!" Remi cried hastily, his feet moving unsteadily beneath him not used to the weight of the armor upon his body. If his answer was correct, he'd hasten towards Sam. If not, he'd try to fend off the advancing horn with his shield. REMI How do you steal what you really want When what you really want is free?

Sams heart quickened as Remi suggested they go off together (of course, he couldn't really be implying anything else, he quickly told himself) but was deftly put to a stop by Jigano sending Remi off with Kalt instead. Briefly, Sam wondered if Remi was going to do to Kalt what he'd done to him, strangely seem into him for just a second then spurn him...probably not. Hopefully not.

Jigano suggested they think of words for the staff together. Sam knew nothing about magic but put forth some suggestions anyway, obvious things like 'bridge' and 'help me get over this gap please' (that one was one of his few new jokes). As it happened, a solution occurred without him having to provide it, something Sam was immensely grateful for.

He stayed at the back of the group while they headed into the castle, quite willing to let everyone else take the charge. To his relief, there were no guards to stop them or angry Kings with boiling pots. Just quiet stone and dust.

The five metal statues were imposing, and Sam felt a nervous shiver run up his back - but when Jigano mentioned riddles, he felt a little better. He had always liked puzzles and words. He began to read his eagerly, hoping to solve it and impress the group--when of course, things went wrong.

He might have been good at puzzles, but he'd never been good at pressure. Stepping back with a stumble from the gryphon he yelled out the half-baked answer he'd been working with from the first couple of sentences: "A...a tree?!"

Well this was new and horrifying exciting, wasn't it? Isla had stood watch vigilantly as the rest of the chaos with the trees and the bridge and the staff had gone on, big eyes bright, expression set into one of grim determination. That was gone now, though. They had crossed the bridge, been swallowed up by a spooky tower and now, now a wyrm was trying to eat her.

Or disembowel her. Maybe just taste her. It was her preference that none of this happened. Distantly she heard Jigano's voice commanding them to answer a riddle or something, and a few blinks later and Isla noticed the placard. She scanned it quickly, little legs pumping to try and put some distance between herself and the creature - it probably looked rather comical, and there was a definitive tone of oh fuck this about her.

"Uh... UH! A... a book!?" She hollered.

A spooky tower with no guards across a deep chasm with a broken bride. If Kalt had any doubts about the adventure aspect of the little quest, that doubt was completely wiped away when they entered the room with the five statues. He was slightly unnerved, as anyone would be, but he didn't outwardly show it, instead masking any unsuredness with peering and suspicious eyes.

The doors behind them slammed shut, and Kalt immediately whirled around, hammer gripped in his hand. Once again, he whirled back around to face the statues as they began to groan to life. What the actual fuck? A snarl was worn on his face, as the manticore began creeping down towards the dwarf.

Answer the riddle? Seriously? Kalt despised riddles. It wasn't that he wasn't good at them, but he definitely wasn't good at them when there was a time limit and a threat of death. Riddles always took him time to figure out, so he wasn't exactly fond of this particular situation.

"Fuck," he muttered, going over the riddle once in his mind and attempting to put the pieces together. "I don't fucking know. Grass!" While the answer would make sense, he didn't think it was correct, so he stood with stout legs braced and his hammer gripped tightly, ready to fight the manticore if he needed to. He might've been in a different body, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to fight.

Chapter 5
Darkest Before…

The Unicorn lunged as Remi cried out, its horn flashing bright white with a light that temporarily obscured its body as it rushed towards the paladin. Its speed seemed to make it grow sleeker, elongating, slimming until, as the light faded, a glittering glaive of silver with a diamond blade tumbled towards him. The blade glowed with a soft light, radiating a gentle warmth that seemed to keep both darkness and fear itself at bay, should Remi choose to pick it up.

The Wyrm uncoiled as it launched itself towards Isla with a roar, flames streaking from its mouth. The blaze streamed along its body, covering it in smoke and fire as it attacked, but what impacted the Halfling woman was only ash, and two curved short swords that had once been fangs – long daggers for a taller person - of a dark red metal with ruby pommel stones that seemed to trail shadows in their wake. Their edges gleamed with translucent sharpness, as efficient and painlessly lethal as a fresh scalpel blade, though stronger by far.

The Gryphon shrieked as it pounced at Samuel, an echoing sound of shearing metal and clashing metal feathers as it landed in front of the leather-clad half-elf and reared up to swat at the little man with its massive claws, its placard flashing brightly and then turning to ash—

Just as the Manticore leapt for Kalt, its iron grin splitting to reveal multiple rows of teeth within. The placard on its chest dissolving as if by acid as he called out his (her?) answer. Its paws were outstretched to pin the dwarf so the fearsome teeth could go to work--

Jigano slammed her staff down with a cry, the metal-shod foot of the weapon cracking out over the sounds of battle. ”Hold!”

A wave of light poured from the staff and swept over the floor at waist-height. When it reached the remaining constructs they paused, movements slowing until they stood frozen, though gears and sparks showed an inner strain against the spell the sorceress had cast. ”Run for it!” she called, panting at the effort it took to maintain the magic, even with the staff’s incredible power supplementing her own. ”To the inner door!”

The outer would be locked; the story wouldn’t let them retreat, she suspected grimly. The only way through was forward, and the only way forward was deeper into the tower. As her team passed her she began to back up as well, sweat streaming down her face.

The Gryphon was the first to break free, shaking off the magic holding it in place with an echoing roar, and rather than fight a losing battle Jigano turned and fled, hitting the door with her slight weight if one of her companions hadn’t opened it already.

She tumbled into the next room – larger, echoingly large, draped in faded banners and eerie shadows – and spun to make sure the door was closed behind them. Because she was focused on that she didn’t see the ebon throne at the end of the dark red aisle, or the man seated up on it who grinned a toothy welcome to her companions.

He was bald, completely hairless, with skin as pale and dry as old paper stretched tight over bones that seemed ready to cut through it if he moved too suddenly. His robes were rich fabrics in sober colors. A golden circlet sat upon his brow, and a bright green pendant that looked unsettlingly like an eye hung from his neck, but his jet black eyes with no differentiation between sclera, iris, or pupil belied his human form. ”Well, well. Welcome, at last. I’ve been waiting for you… but you already knew that, didn’t you?” His chuckle was raspy, a painful sound, though he didn’t seem to mind. If the heroes tried to move they would find themselves caught in place, held no less surely than Jigano had held the constructs in the entry hall. While they watched he stood languidly from his throne and stretched, a casual gesture at first – but he kept stretching, growing up and up and up, body and dark robes twisting and cracking as they grew and reformed until a black dragon crouched upon the dais, ten feet tall at the shoulder, with a face more skull than skin and the patchy, emaciated look of a corpse about it. The only color about him remained the circlet on his brow – and the green jewel – eye? – that had become nestled into the flaking scales of his breast.

”You’re the first to make it this far in, well… ever,” he chuckled again, that dry, rasping sound. But magnified now. ”I admit to some amusement at your progress. Something I have sorely lacked in the past century. So… allow me to offer you something in return. Immortality… to never age, never grow sick, never wither and die. And all I ask in turn… is that you stay by my side. Do we have a deal?” The jewel at his breast gleamed, a faint glow coming from it as he arched his long neck to look down at the gathered mortals—

And his eyes widened a split second before he flinched away as Jigano’s staff flared brightly. As the light washed over the group the magical paralysis was washed away and they found themselves free to move again. The sorceress stumbled, falling to one knee from the exertion of dispelling the binding, but his blue eyes blazed no less fiercely as he glared at the dragon, seeing, for a moment, an overlay on his vision of a different monster, a different place… a team who had very nearly left him for dead in a similar fight. ”The circlet or the jewel—His power is in one or both of them! Break them, and we break him.”

With a roar of anger the dragon reared back. The heroes had a few precious seconds to begin to move and then a gout of black flames erupted from its mouth, scorching stone and setting faded banners ablaze. Pushing through that fiery curtain it aimed a snap at the Remi with jaws that could crush armor as easily as skulls.

Its lashing tail whipped around to try and catch Isla with bone-breaking impact if it struck.

One foreclaw scored the flagstones and flung four of them at Samuel and Kalt, small boulders that would wound and lame if they hit their mark.

The gem in its breast flashed a brilliant, poisonous emerald green, a ray of light striking out snake-quick at the weary priestess. She flung her staff forward with a cry of ”Shield!” but speaking the spell’s name slowed her enough that a flicker of light got past the growing golden sphere of protection that expanded from her staff at the command. Blue eyes had just enough time to widen in surprise before her foot turned grey and leaden. She looked down, horrified, as tendrils of stone seemed to flow up her veins, and had just enough time to raise her staff defensively before the petrification overtook her completely, turning the once-bard to a voiceless statue in skimpy silk-and-silver armor, holding a glowing staff in marble hands—and covered in an impenetrable golden shield of force.

No Posting Order

Sam knew he had gotten the riddle wrong as soon as he gave his answer - rather pathetically his first reaction to the Gryphon rearing up was to stand rooted still and lift up his hands over his face, making a noise not unlike a high pitched whine. When the expected blow did not come, it took him a moment to kick his mind into gear enough to start running.

His run was not dignified or graceful but it sufficed to get him along with the rest of the party deeper into the tower. The sounds of scraping metal and a pursuit behind them made him try to speed up (which mostly just had him tip forward too much and nearly fall).

When finally they seemed to be safe, he spent a moment with his hands on his knees taking a breath - to actually need to breathe would have been a novelty if not for the burning in his lungs or the panic in his mind. He didn't look up into the room until he heard a voice address them, but by then he was already stuck. Of course, it couldn't just be a pleasant conversation; before long there was a dragon before them. As soon as the spell was ended, Sam stepped back to press himself against the wall, as far away as he could get.

Jigano's advice about where to hit the dragon was mostly wasted on him, given that he did not ever intend to fight a dragon, fictional or no. He flinched as the flagstones approached, leaping over to the side to avoid them. When he looked up, there was a statue in the room...no, not a statue. He took in a panicked gasp as he realised Jigano, the competent one, was now stone.

Not knowing what to do, he stumbled up to his feet and fumbled to get his bow and arrows out from behind his back. He was not at all confident in his ability, but at least he could say he tried to help. Hiding behind Jigano (admittedly using her a little as cover, but she was stone now!) he tried to swing out and shoot, aiming towards the green jewel with lightly shaking hands.

Narrowing his eyes to slits and placing a hand outstretched before his face to block the glare, Remi could only half-see the way the body of the beast elongated into a point, before clattering to the ground as a sword. Breathless and awestruck, Remi glanced at the sword in his hand before eyeing the once-unicorn blade on the ground. With an apprehensive swallow he picked up the glowing item (at the expensive of dropping the other sword to keep the shield), feeling at once more confident as if concern had been bled away entirely. Still it would appear there was nothing he could do for Sam as the gryphon made its attack. Luckily though a triumphant cry from Jigano seemed to temporarily stall the battle, and the alchemist did not need to be told twice that they ought to move. Barreling into the chamber, Remi stopped instantly upon seeing the strange bald figure. Exhaling in shaky streams and appearing a little like a startled horse that was being forced to remain still, Remi's pale gaze was widened as the man (was it a man?) began to speak. Remi had never been in a situation even remotely like this, but book-narrative or not, he did not like at all what was being asked here. Indeed as the being rose (and continued to rise) and then asked them to remain in exchange for immortality, the alchemist-paladin bristled and tried to stand straight. No hero was he, but Remi was well aware of Ludo's trickery, and this sounded far too similar for comfort. The lines on his face set in a defiant grimace, Remi shook his head. "Never." he spat through clenched teeth, as the room erupted into light and chaos. Darting to the side, Remi was not able to avoid the blaze that roared towards him. Raising his shield to try and block the majority of the blast, Remi felt heat seeping through the lines of his armor and where it did not, the metal burned against his skin. With a cry of pain, Remi stuttered backwards moved by both the force of the blast as well as his natural instincts to recoil away. Too focused on the glowing gems, Remi did not see the magical effects bind and stone Jigano. Instead the paladin raced towards the dragon, trying to overcome and combat the weight of his armor with his natural grace and dexterity. If he could get near enough by dodging and dashing around the flailing tail and swiping talons, he'd aim to strike the jewel in the creature's breast with the unicorn-become-sword. REMI How do you steal what you really want When what you really want is free?

Isla only stopped running (could it really be called running, given her comical height?) when it became apparent that she wasn't being pursued any longer, and she turned to spot the wyrm-turned daggers clatter to the ground. Unlike Remi she didn't bother to exchange those weapons for her old ones - no, she kept them all. With the ruby-pommelled knives in her hands and Jigano's sudden cries to run ringing in her ears, Isla did not dare disobey.

She slipped into the inner chamber and skidded abruptly to a halt, though it was not through any will of her own. She found herself frozen in place, Isla glaring up at the weird lizard guy on the throne, with his fancy jewel and circlet and his words, only for that to change to blank shock as he became a gods damned dragon. It was going to be one of those sorts of days, apparently.

Immortality she didn't really care for, since she had been recently welcomed into its open arms according to the Voice anyway, so she could only scoff at the dragon (smart idea, yeah) and his offer. [say]"Yeah, what he said."[/say] She nodded at Remi, and as they were abruptly freed from the spell she burst into action.

Like her paladin friend, she was much too focused on their opponent and Jigano's instructions to realise they were his parting instructions, Isla moving as fast as her small body would allow. As the dragon's tail whipped about towards her she would go for daring rather than logical, trying to grab at the scales to climb onto it. The impact would hurt, sure, but if she was successful she'd try to scurry up its back - all the way to where that circlet was perched. She would drive her shiny new knives into it if it killed her. And it might.

Kalt didn’t much care for the manticore creature, but luckily, Jigano was able to get them out of immediate danger with a little magic. Admittedly, Kalt wished his magic still worked, realizing that it didn’t when he couldn’t feel it at the tips of his fingers. If it had been accessible, the assassin would’ve gladly been using it through this entire trip.

However, it seemed the danger in one room was simply replaced by the danger of another. A king - or someone who looked like a storybook king - wore a jewel and a circlet, two items that stayed as the figure grew and changed from a man to a dragon. Because of course there were dragons. What was a good story without a few dragons?

The dwarf woman darted away from the small boulder hurled in her direction, still managing to see that the lorekeeper had turned to stone. Fuck. At least the shield hinted that he was safe.

Remi seemed to go after the jewel, and Isla was going after the circlet, so Kalt decided to cover Isla. Remi had armor and his regular body. It wasn’t that he thought Isla was less capable, but she was definitely less defended. He was ready with his hammer if the dragon tried to snap at the girl. Not exactly the smartest move, but Kalt had never really been the most self preserving person.

Chapter 6
An End and A Beginning

The dragon’s attention focused completely on Remi and the Paladin’s brazen insolence so swift on the heels of the Sorceress’s rebellion. With her taken care of he was able to lash out at the rest of the vermin infesting his tower, but it was the Paladin with his brightly glowing glaive that the dragon seemed determined to destroy. Fire swept down on the warrior, though the shield protected him and the glaive dissipated much of the heat that made it past.  

Samuel dodged the flying debris by centimeters, stone chips like shrapnel cutting shallow lines of red over his hand and cheek. The dragon was too distracted by Remi’s defiance and his glowing weapon to pay further attention to the trembling half-elf, and the Ranger made it to the shelter behind Jigano’s shield without further trouble.

The shadows trailing from Isla ’s new blades seemed to obscure her form, and the dragon’s attack was only glancing. The Halfling took a bruising strike to her ribs but was able to hold on. The great lizard writhed beneath her as it reared back with wings spread wide enough to touch both sides of the tower, bellowing its rage as it started to twist its sinuous neck around to snap her from its spine—

Kalt had dodged his boulders successfully, and was in position to slam her hammer down on its tail, even as Samuel’s arrow struck a glancing blow across its chest, the shaft’s flight wobbling, but the dragon too big target too large to miss. Although Sam didn’t hit the jewel, the dwarf’s hammer blow was painful enough that the great beast whipped his head back around to the front with a roar, falling back on his forelegs with an impact that shook the tower and sent dust sifting down from the rafters.

Remi had not been idle, however, the young warrior sprinting to cover the distance in the distraction provided by Isla, and the armor slowing him down only a little. As the dragon came down, Remi’s weapon struck true, fracturing the glowing gem in a burst of green light that washed over the room – and left stone flaking from Jigano’s skin.

The destruction of the jewel didn’t seem to hurt the beast so much as enrage it, but even as it gouted fresh flame at Remi, Isla made her strike with all the strength in her diminutive body. Between her arm and the preternatural sharpness of the daggers, the golden metal cracked and then parted in two places. As the circlet shattered the dragon screamed, cracks running through its entire body in echo of the breaking metal at its brow. It flung its head back, Isla finding herself airborne as she was shaken free, even as light began to break through the cracks, widening them further.

The Halfling would find herself striking hard into a surprisingly soft target – Jigano’s ample chest – knocking them both back as the Sorceress found her recently-returned breath taken from her once again at the impact. They were still tumbling when the dragon EXPLODED in a pillar of light and swirling updrafts created by the heat of its demise. The light blew the top off the tower, striking the clouds and cutting through them, continuing upwards and then spreading out across the land. The clouds began to dissipate in its wake, stars and bright moonlight shining down like a benediction upon the survivors in the ruins of the crumbling tower.

The paint had been burned from Remi’s shield, bubbling away to reveal a design hidden beneath – a crown in gold set flush against the steel of the scutum. Jigano sat up, groaning, and blinked at the device before breaking into a weak, coughing laugh. ”All hail the king,” she managed, before slumping back against Isla--

The tower itself seemed to waver around them, growing hazy and indistinct at the bard’s words. The light faded and then went out, and for an interminable moment it felt as though they were falling through nothingness, unable to see or hear anything but their own heartbeats—

The book burped on the floor in their midst, giving off an air of satiated satisfaction. They stood (or sat) together around it, in their proper bodies and clothes, without so much as a bruise or burn to show for their adventure. And around them, groaning and blinking in shock and confusion, were the missing villagers, freed at last from the gorgon’s spell with the destruction of his Eye.

Jigano caught his balance quickly, bending down to wrap the broken chains tightly around the now-quiescent book. He grunted as he struggled to lift it – the book was heavy enough on its own, the chains only adding to its weight – but he looked around at his companions – his friends – with a bright gleam of pride in his blue eyes.

”We’ve done good work here today,” he said, nodding to the rescued people who were beginning to pick themselves off the floor. ”Very good work, both individually and together. But we know this isn’t the only living book in here… and we all have our own specialties.” He paused, meeting the eyes of each person in turn.

”Remi, you have a good sense for sorting fact from fiction. Isla, your medical knowledge is both broad and deep. Kalt, you know your myths and lore better than most. Samuel, you have insights into not only the making, but the writing of books, and have the longest experience with the Atheneum. I have seen all of you in here at one point or another, asking questions and seeking answers… often the same questions that others are asking, but so often our searches for answers go off in different directions, separate and not always shared. And there is no easy way to communicate between those who seek knowledge, and those who have already found it.” He glanced to the people gathered around them, many of whom were listening wide-eyed with surprise and clearly near-bursting with questions of their own. They, too, Jigano realized, would need help adjusting to what had happened. Some had gone missing recently and would return home to families and friends with little difficulty, but others… were not so lucky.

He hesitated, taking a deep breath and hugging the large sentient book closer to his chest as he straightened his spine. ”I propose a change to that. A Guild, of sorts. Or perhaps an Order. An organization where people can seek and share knowledge freely, where others can bring questions and we can, I hope, find answers. Some of which may be within the pages of books, but others… may require more dangerous journeys.” Then he bowed his head humbly, his voice turned beseeching. ”But I cannot do it alone. It is too much for one person. Because of our different strengths, and because of how well we worked together within the book, I ask – will you join me? Will you help me build a Loreseeker’s Guild here on Caido?”

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Screaming a cry of pain as heat radiated over him with this second blast, the paladin was forced to his knees, the sword forgotten. It took all of his strength to hold his shield before himself against the fiery onslaught of the creature. Breathless as light poured and radiated from the destroyed dragon, Remi's eyes had only a momentary blink of confusion (he could not see the revealed images on his shield after all). However as the room started to waiver, the thought he'd had so many chapters moments ago blinked brightly in his mind, and quickly his eyes scanned for the earthen-clad ascended. "Sam—!" He called, still desperately wanting to see if the man could feel anything in this place when— —Remi found himself half-kneeling on the floor of the Atheneum. His breath spluttered out from his chest, and under his breath he mumbled something that might have been a curse. Too late he thought, squeezing his eyes shut with disappointment and pinching the bridge of his nose wearily. Not one to normally revel in his bad luck, Remi had hoped that for once perhaps something might go his way. Scraping his fingers against his skull as if he might physically dislodge the self-pity he wanted to collapse into, Remi wearily stood with a sigh. Listening as Jigano spoke, Remi found his brows knitting together. Such an order seemed like a good idea, but of course Remi had no place in one? While he had an affection for the sciences, he was but a merchants son who had taught himself to read and write. Perhaps some of his scribbles had proved useful in how faithfully they represented the world, but to be part of an Order? Commoner though he might not be any longer, still this sounded far too grandiose for him. And so he offered Jigano a boyish smile and remained silent. REMI How do you steal what you really want When what you really want is free?

His shot didn't hit, of course, but it still got to the dragon, so Sam counted it as a partial success. As noise began to rise from all around him, the fight getting more and more intense, Sam shook and covered his face. He willed it all to go away - then suddenly, it did. There was an explosion that knocked him off his feet, he heard Jigano speak then someone yell his name-

Then everything faded around them in a sickeningly familiar way, and he was back in the Atheneum wearing his normal clothes. Sam spent a moment sat on the cold floor just recovering his breath, not looking at anyone: he was certain he had horribly embarrassed himself by being so little use in the final fight.

There were a lot of people around him. Sam slowly stood up, looking to Jigano just as he began to speak. He blushed and looked down when his own name was included in the praises; he didn't deserve it. Not noticing the villagers or anyone else around them, focused just on Jigano, he found himself nodding along.

If this was all he had to do, try his best and be along with Jigano...he could manage it. To have a guild, a family...it was all he had ever wanted. Even if it was going to be scary, there was a growing part of him that felt he could make it.

"I-...I will. I'll join." He said, smiling shyly.