the Thief of Forbidden Manuscripts

part 10

Sami looks where the avatar pointed and sees a medium-sized dilapidated tin hut, whose entrance has three steps that must be climbed to reach the door, and there is a smudgy cat at the entrance watching firmly and silently, the avatar approaches it and says: "Hello, Pearl, Sami and I have come to meet Mr. Abboud, can we do so?"

In the meantime, that cat turns into a little girl of about seven years old who looks innocent and childlike, with long black hair and an old and patched white dress, looking at Sami with big and wide eyes as if looking for something, the boy takes a step back while the Avatar addresses him reassuringly, "Do not worry and do not move, Sami, she is just checking your kindness and good intentions, the girl is reading your thoughts and probing you."

The cat child said: "Hmmm, a little human without any evil!"

The boy replies, "My name is Sami Amin."

"Come in then, Mr. Sami Amin, you are welcome to come in..."

So said Pearl as the door opened on its own while she transformed into a cat again and took the same position as the first one on guard... When that door opens, the bell rings on its own. They enter cautiously and find a spacious place that can't be imagined from outside the hut... Many shelves on the right side contain bottles and jars with all kinds of herbs and seeds, and on the left side many old and rusty cages containing various wounded, sick and strange-looking animals. In the center there is a large wooden table with some food on it and a lot of papers, vials and some powders, and on the opposite side of the door there is another larger table with what looks like a chemical laboratory for distillation and preparation ...

The boy looks strangely at an oversized glass jar with a very large and strange rat inside. The shape is that of a rat, but it is covered with frog skin in an unfamiliar sight, while the rat looks at the boy and responds to him.

The magician "Abboud", a short and fat old man, whose clothes are shabby and worn, stands not far from one of the cages and grabs a large bat and gives it a potion from a small bottle in his hand and then puts it back in its cage.

He then uses his wand to cast a spell on him and says, "You're getting better fast, my friend, and you'll have all your strength back in no more than three days." He then turns to them, staring at Sami first, then points his wand at the table in the center with an unintelligible mumble and everything on it disappears.

He slowly approaches, pulls out a chair and sits down. "Please be seated, guests," he says, then turns to the Avatar and continues, "I received a letter of recommendation from the elf Hamush, asking me to help you, but he did not explain what you exactly need."

The boy is silent as the Avatar takes the floor, "As you know, Mr. Abboud, someone managed to steal the forbidden scrolls from inside the secret cave and hid them in a pocket stolen from Fantasyland."

Yes, I've heard that story.

Sami believes that the first step in solving this mystery would be to find out what the manuscripts contain, so that we can determine who has an interest in stealing them.

You can't do that, Mr. Amin, because as you know, the author has been imprisoned since the First Testament in the hornet's nest in the deepest and darkest dungeon, hahaha, that idiot has sentenced himself to death.

"Sami interrupts: "We want you to lead us to that prison, Mr. Abboud?"

What? The Hornet's Nest? I'm not going there. That prison is in Devil's Heart, where life ends... Forget it, kid.

"Mr. Abboud, please help us. There is no other way to know the secrets of the manuscripts except to go there and meet Raanun."

Mr. Abboud sits up straight before he nods his head towards the boy and points to his face, "Look at this face well, boy, they make you look like an old wizard, but I am a normal wizard.

I'm in my right mind and I'm not crazy to think of going to that place, I advise you to return to your world and your warm bed, and don't forget to drink a lot of milk and enjoy it, some things are forbidden and that prison was never a place for a picnic."

The Avatar notices this and rushes to take the floor after noticing the change in Mr. Abboud's tone and says: "Mr. Abboud, can you at least show us the shortest way to get there?"

You will never get there... The road there is so winding and unsafe, a mixture of rocks, deserts, sand, monsters, labyrinths, and evil entities, you won't make it.

You didn't help us like this, Mr. Abboud.

I'm keeping you both alive, Mr. Amin, and real help is not throwing you into the worst imaginable fate.

Mr. Abboud, all you have to do is show us the way and tell us about any creatures we might meet, and the rest we'll take care of on our own.

Mr. Abboud is silent and seems to be consulting himself... or trying to decide whether to tell them or not, before he finally sighs and says: "The right way to get there starts from the big gate of the Tower of Deads.

After that tower you will find hundreds of forks in the road, first you have to get permission to cross and second you have to get the Key of Evils, it will be your only compass because it always points where the ultimate evil is, follow that key and it will lead you directly to the Hornet's Nest Prison.

The Avatar asks, "And where do we get the license and the key, Mr. Abboud?"

As for the license, I will get you one, and as for the Key of Evils, I remember that I last saw it in the daily witches' market, there is a popular witches' market inside the public square that is held daily after the afternoon and extends until dusk, in that market everything is sold except the truth, no one sells or buys.

In that market, everything is sold except the truth, no one buys or sells it. If you get there, look for a magician named "Barhut." He has the key, but I don't know how much he will ask for it.