The Written Read Online Free Page B

along,
musing at the appropriate points, occasionally clearing his throat
and stroking his sharp chin with a frail hand. After a while,
Farden ran out of information and Durnus opened his eyes. ‘I shall
send a full account to the Arkathedral in the morning, but Carn
Breagh can wait for now. Something terrible has happened in
Arfell,’ he said, and his face turned very grave.
    Farden looked confused. ‘The
library?’
    Durnus nodded. ‘The very same.
I received a hawk this morning from Krauslung, relaying some of the
darkest news I have heard in a long time.’ He paused for some sort
of dramatic effect. Farden knew the old vampyre loved mystery and
intrigue, and he waited. After a moment he continued. ‘Two nights
ago, someone broke into the library and murdered five of the
scholars in cold blood. It was late at night, and nobody saw or
heard anything. Two of the scholars were found burnt to a crisp. It
seems that a valuable object, a book of some kind, is the only
thing that’s missing.’ Durnus crossed his legs and drummed his
nails on the arm of the chair.
    Farden let the information sink
in. ‘Well what was it?’ he asked.
    ‘No one knows. A message had
come to the Arkathedral only that day, saying that the scholars in
question had found a book in their collection, a powerful Siren
book that we had taken years ago during the war. The scholars had
only just begun to work at it, but requested that the Arkmages
should travel to Arfell to help with the translations.’ Durnus
leaned forward.
    ‘This book must have been
special to request the presence of the Arkmages,’ mused Farden.
    ‘Exactly. The message came to
the council, and before Åddren or Helyard had a chance to leave,
the scholars were murdered and the book was stolen. And let me tell
you, from what I gathered in the message the Arkathedral is in
uproar. Helyard is blaming everyone under the sky, especially the
Sirens, and the good Lord Vice has ordered a regiment of his guards
up to the mountains to see if the assassin returns,’ said Durnus,
his eyes wide with excitement.
    ‘Well what is this book about?
Why is it so powerful?’
    ‘Again nobody has a clue. The
hawk sent by the library wasn’t exactly full of information. You
know what the old men at Arfell are like, full of secrecy and
intrigue. All the message said was that the book was in good
condition, locked, and of the utmost importance. Apparently it was
small, covered in black dragon scales and was protected by a
powerful golden seal, with a spell that would require one of the
powerful Arkmages to crack. They assumed it was Siren or perhaps
even older, and that it might contain an immense amount of
formidable magick. That was it.’
    ‘Sounds dangerous,’ Farden
said. He got up and revived the dying fire with a few logs and a
spark of flame from his hands. Durnus flicked a tongue around one
of his sharp teeth in thought. ‘Indeed.’
    Farden knew his friend had a
theory, but that he was waiting to be asked, so he relented, and
smiled. ‘What are you thinking?’
    Durnus leaned further out of
his chair and made the frame squeak. ‘One of the explanations I can
muster is that the Sirens have a spy in the council. They were the
ones who we stole it from in the first place, it seems sensible to
assume they would want it back.’
    ‘A fair idea, but we can’t
dismiss that it was someone other than the dragon-riders. It’s been
fifteen years since the war and the ceasefire has never been
broken, so why would they risk breaking it to retrieve one little
book?’ Farden asked.
    ‘That depends on the value
hidden within its pages. But who else then friend? Skölgard has no
interest in magick like we do, nor could their sorcerers even know
of such a book’s existence. We ourselves didn’t even know of it
until a couple of days ago. If this book is as powerful as we think
it might be, then the Siren wizards would most definitely risk a
ceasefire to get it back into their scaly hands.’