Necrofairies

Part 8 - The Keeper

Neen woke again to her grumbling stomach. Sliver was still asleep beside her. She got up and started putting on her clothes. Her neck hurt like hell from sleeping on the lumpy makeshift bed of cushions. It was while she was pulling on her boots when she noticed the ancient book sitting on a desk in the alcove. She kicked Sliver gently to wake him and he sat up with a groan.

"Was that book here before?"

"What book?"

"That one," she said as she hovered over to it and carefully opened it. The writing in it was like nothing she had ever seen. It was in the ancient tongue, or a variant of it at least. The only books or scrolls she had ever seen written in language that old were spell books. This was no spell book yet she could sense a magical aura around it. The book has human sized and Neen did not fancy trying to fly with it through the confines of the library.

"I think we better go find Heliodor, he is going to want to see this."

~*~

Heliodor and Neen studied the book intensely while Sliver floated from one side of the alcove to the other impatiently.

"It's definitely ancient that's for sure," commented Heliodor as he gently turned a fragile page. "This has to have come from the vaults."

"How did it get here then?" asked Neen.

"Perhaps the Keeper is not dead after all," replied Heliodor.

"So what does it say?" asked Sliver, unable to contain himself any longer.

"It doesn't say anything, it's a catalogue," replied Neen. "It's just page after page of dates and places followed by tallies and grid references."

"It's not a catalogue it's a record of the genocide of the orcs as perpetrated by the humans in complicity with the elves," replied Heliodor. "The place names are ancient orcish towns and villages that have not existed for two thousand years. The tallies are accounting for the dead and the grid references are the sites of the mass graves. My worst fears are realised, Gravlok was telling the truth."

"That cannot be true," said Neen shaking her head.

"Why do you think all the historic records of the great wars are kept in the vaults? The orcs did not die out naturally after the wars like we have been lead to believe over the centuries. They were systematically exterminated."

"He is not going to stop until he has raised every single orc is he?" asked Neen.

"He's not going to have the chance. We know where he's going so let's go stop him. I want that mother of a hobgoblin dead!" urged Sliver.

"It's not that simple little assassin," replied Heliodor. "The grid references are encrypted in some type of code. Can you decipher it Neen?"

"No," she said shaking her head in frustration.

"I bet the Keeper can. I think perhaps it's time to go and visit our friend Kio again," said Heliodor grabbing the book. To his surprise however it did not move! He tugged at it again, but still it did not budge until finally he was pulling at it with all his strength. "It has to be some magic from the vault," said Heliodor his brow beading with sweat from the exertion.

"Fantastic! Now we have a book we cannot read and cannot move. If I don't get to start shooting somebody soon I am going to start picking off gnomes!" groaned Sliver in frustration.

"Killing my brethren will not help this situation," said Vassal who had appeared unnoticed at the entry to the alcove.

Heliodor walked over to the old gnome and knelt down in front of him in a poor attempt to appear less intimidating.