Crowns and Daggers

chapter nine

Ash hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. The combination of the furious storm and the anticipation of the upcoming journey kept his mind cranking. Sometime after midnight, he gave up on attempting to rest and climbed out of bed to pace around his room, going over and over the plan in his head.

Suddenly, his breath caught in his throat as he realized that he didn't even know exactly where the elves were hidden. He cursed his stupidity, then remembered the vast archives of The Castle's library and resolved to sneak down to it and find a map of Quorro. Ash slipped on his shoes and padded to his door, opening it slowly, though it still creaked. With a twinge of guilt, he pushed Ember back into the room as the little dragon tried to follow him.

"Sorry, buddy," he whispered. "I think you'll be a little too loud. Also, last time I checked, you were still banned from the library after you set fire to that shelf of books." Ember huffed out a frustrated cloud of smoke and sulkily flapped back to Ash's bed.

The Castle's corridors were eerily silent and empty as Ash crept through them. He quietly pushed open the library's towering double doors, glancing around the dim room, moonlight-outlined shapes of curling paper and old books in silver visible stacked in precarious piles on shelves.

Ash cautiously slipped into the room and froze as the doors closed with a bang behind him. He wouldn't necessarily be in trouble if he was caught, but there would be plenty of unpleasant questions to answer.

Emerging from behind a tall shelf near the doors, Ash noticed the soft glow of candlelight coming from the librarian's desk.

"Couldn't sleep?" came a gentle voice from the same direction as the light. Ash stopped mid-step and contemplated diving back behind the shelf, until he saw which archivist was sitting at the desk. He relaxed enough to keep walking towards Agatha and cleared his throat.

"No," he said softly. The candle flickered as he came to stand next to the desk with his hands shoved in his pockets. The librarian chuckled.

"Well, this is the place to come for a good story to help you rest. Are you looking for anything in particular?" Ash took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, I actually came searching for a map. One of Quorro, near the mountains." Agatha smiled knowingly.

"I believe I have just the thing for you," she said, and disappeared into the shelves. Impatiently, Ash tapped his fingers on the wooden desk. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when Agatha appeared again carrying a worn, brown book with a gold trim.

"This book is old, in fact, I almost forgot I had it. It's called The Book of Artifacts. It's not the map you're looking for, but it'll lead you to where to find one."

Ash smiled. "Thank you. I cannot express my gratitude enough." He took the book from her hands and tucked it under his arm with a wave to Agatha, then he ventured back out into the hallway, making sure to close the doors softly behind him.

Back at his room, Ash flipped through the crinkled pages of the book until he found a page labeled: The Ruins Of The Castle Of Ohe. The ruins were located in the southern corner of Atthe, and supposedly, a collection of artifacts was kept there, watched over by a great immortal guardian.

Ash resolved to journey there first, then to wherever the map he found said the elves were hidden. He shut the book, but still could not sleep, and he began pacing again, stopping only to rub Ember's head and glance out his window.

Finally, as he was staring out the window intently, the soft rays of early morning sunlight began to fall on his tired eyes and he snatched his satchel from where it lay, hidden under his bed, pulled his cloak on, and quietly slipped into the hushed corridors of The Castle, giving Ember one last guilty scratch between the wings as he closed the door on the dragon.