Kingdom of Runes

Chapter 16

As she had promised her grandfather, Margot waited in her room until late at night, when he as well as both of her parents went to bed. She held a lantern in one hand, and the piece of stone and silver key in the other. She peeked her head out, scanning the dark hallways.

As hoped and expected, there wasn't a sound or sight anywhere.

Taking a breath, Margot walked down the hall. Her steps were light, to ensure the floorboards didn't creak beneath her weight. She followed the hallway to a small set of stairs. Her grandfather's old office was probably the closest thing this house had for an attic before he had placed his research in here.

Margot made her way up the stairs and inserted the silver key in the key hole. A soft click sounded after she turned it.

The door opened with a small creak. Aside from the dust, the office was just as she remembered. Bookshelves lined along the walls and a desk sitting on the far end of the room.

'Okay now to get to the bottom of this.'

Margot went over to the desk, brushed the dust off the surface and sat down, placing the lantern and stone down. Sitting on the corner of the desk was a spellbook. One of her grandfather's favorites as well as the one that would likely give her the answer she needed.

Margot began flipping through the book, looking over at all the intricate rune designs on the pages. Ones much more complex in the book that she had carried throughout her journey.

Eventually she found the rune that she was looking for. One for tracing spells back to the source. If someone really had sent those stone creatures after them, then this rune should be able to allow her to see who it was.

Margot took her pen and began drawing the complex rune onto the stone. It was times like this that she was glad that her grandfather had her trace over all different kinds of runes on seperate sheets of paper when she was a child. Otherwise, this would be nearly impossible to do without the practice.

Once the sketch was complete, the rune began to glow silver. A puff of smoke circled around the rock before rising above her head. The smoke soon began to part, revealing an image inside it.

Margot could've sworn she felt a pit drop to her stomach.

The scene above her showed Xero walking over to the stone creatures during the middle of the night in some old ruins on the farthest end of the kingdom. She watched as he painted the rune on several of the stone creatures. One by one, the one immobile statues began to move before flying off into the sky. It was only until the last stone creature took flight that the scene ended.

"Xero was the one to bring those creatures to life?" she pondered aloud. "That... can't be... can it? Maybe it was just another failed experiment of his."

Despite Xero's odd behaviors and approaches when it came to experiments, Margot couldn't see the logic of him intentionally sending those creatures after them. He was the one that found out about the existence of Hyrule in the first place. Why would he intentionally endanger those he advised the king and queen to meet?

Then again, one thing that she couldn't place her finger on was the fact that the bandits in the plains knew they were coming. Also something that she couldn't find the logic in. Someone had to have told them that there was a group escorting royalty for them to be as prepared as they were.

Not to mention the damage done to the ship. There was no way that a human would be able to do something like that overnight. But for a group on inhuman beings such as the creatures that attacked them. Then it was more plausible.

Margot sighed, trying to come up with some kind of reasoning for all this. No doubt that Xero was the one to bring the stone creatures to life. And judging based on the image shown to her, he didn't seem too panicked or frustrated about them flying off with no warning. Something unlike his reactions to failed experiments.

She then glanced down at the necklace given to her right before she was sent on this journey. The rune painted on top of it was designed for protection.

Or at least that's what she was told.

'Might as well test everything while I'm here.'

Margot detached the piece of wood from the string. Now that she was taking a closer look at it, the wood seemed shinier under the lantern light. Certain rocks could shine under light but wood? There was something off about this.

Margot rubbed her thumb over the piece of wood. The side with the painted rune was smoother than the other side. Almost as if she was running her finger over paper rather than wood.

One closer look and Margot noticed the corner of a piece of film at the edge, she pulled it away and the rune separated from the wood. Now in her hand was a clear sheet of paper with the protection rune.

But removing that piece revealed a small carving on the wood. Another complex rune. Margot flipped through her grandfather's spellbook once more and found the design to match the carving.

On the new page it explained how one could use this rune for monitoring and sensing magic around it.

Reading that passage made Margot realize something. That her necklace glowed every time someone was near her using magic.

The fact that Xero gave this to her right before she was transported to Hyrule cemented the growing fear.

Xero had been the one behind all the obstacles along the way.

His obsession with finding a new method of magic. That was the driving factor for all this. All his failed experiments of creating a method himself was the reason why he had all those markings all over his face. If he created scenarios where the mages of Hyrule had to use their magic, then this rune would allow him to see all their capabilities.

As everything began to make sense, a new fear came to Margot. All her new friends that traveled with her. They could all be subjected to Xero's experiments once he finds out who's capable of using magic. And who knows what those experiments would entail.

"I have to warn them."