If there was one thing that Dranor abhorred more than humans, it was dealing with humans. They were disgusting creatures, foul and loathsome, full of l.u.s.t and greed, envy and hate. They encompa.s.sed every negative aspect of the world and none of the good. Not a single human he"d ever met retained any form of purity. All of them were stained, tainted beyond saving.
Never did these words ring more true to his ears than when he was in the presence of his employer.
His employer was the worst kind of human. Sc.u.m in every sense of the word. He was greedy, self-serving, gave no thought for others, had no sense of compa.s.sion, and was more than willing to condemn anyone who got in his way to death if it meant getting what he wanted.
He was also, most unfortunately, the only man willing to hire a couple of elves that had been cast out of their home after being branded traitors.
Sometimes, Dranor wondered if Alaya was punishing him for some past transgression that he couldn"t remember.
"You failed."
Dranor bit his tongue to keep from verbally lashing out when he heard the accusing tone in his employer"s voice. It wasn"t like he could say much against it anyway. He had failed to a.s.sa.s.sinate Erica Angelo, after all. However...
"You a.s.sured me that she would be alone. Unguarded. That she would be vulnerable."
His employer sneered at him. "And she was alone. In case you haven"t realized it yet, Derek had not been with her."
"And yet, when I had attacked her on that train as per the plan, not only did someone come to her defense, but they were also very skilled with a blade. They teamed up with Erica after taking out the twelve people I had sent into the train before coming outside and aiding her. Had they not been there, I would have killed Erica. As it stands, I was barely able to retreat with my life intact."
His employer"s tiny irises squinted, and a frown marred his gelatinous features. Dranor almost shivered in disgust as the many chins on his employer"s face wobble. Decadance did no justice to describe this slob of a man. He was, without a doubt, the most worthless type of human alive, though that wasn"t saying much.
"You say there was someone helping her? Hm."
The man who paid Dranor"s bills went into his version of "deep thinking," which consisted of him putting a hand under his six chins and staring at something beyond the viewing mirror"s line of sight.
Dranor remained silent, knowing that it was best not interrupt, and not caring enough to interrupt even if he were so inclined.
"I do not think there is anything to worry about," the man said at last. "This warrior you speak of was probably just another mercenary, or maybe a wandering swordsman who just so happened to be on the same train as Erica. I doubt you will see him again."
"If you say so."
Dranor didn"t personally believe these words. Gut instinct told him that he and the young warrior who had fought alongside Erica would be seeing each other again in the near future. He didn"t say this to his employer, though. There was no need to cause an argument between them, and Dranor really needed the money this man provided him with.
"Now that we"ve gotten that out of the way, it is time for you to earn your keep." The gluttonous n.o.ble gave Dranor a smug grin as he leaned back in his posh chair. "Since you failed to kill Erica Angelo on the train, you"ll have to kill her in her home. Your job is to infiltrate Dorehan Tower and a.s.sa.s.sinate her. I"ll leave how you wish to accomplish this task up to you. Just know that if you fail me again, you and your mate will be back on the streets, begging for sc.r.a.ps faster than you can say Stelox Grove."
Dranor gritted his teeth behind his lips. The mission he was being sent on was practically a death sentence. To attack a Sorceress in her own home was tantamount to suicide. And this man, this pathetic, sorry excuse for a sentient being, was the one sending him to his death.
Yes, Dranor decided, he truly hated this man.
But he didn"t say anything. He needed money to survive, and right now, suicide mission or not, this was the only way he could get it.
"It shall be done."
Sometimes, he hated his life.
***
Touring a gigantic tower where the overseer of an industrialized city―who just so happened to be a Sorceress to boot―lived was not something that Caspian imagined would happen in his life. Not at the current point in his life, at least. Maybe a couple years down the road, like, when he was actually a Sorceress"s Knight, but not while he was still a Knight-in-training. How he found himself getting a tour of Dorehan Tower courtesy of Ca.s.sidy was something he still had trouble figuring out.
It"s almost enough to make me wonder if the Spirits of karma are having a laugh at my expense.
Still, Caspian couldn"t find it within himself to complain. Despite how his head still felt like it was spinning, he enjoyed himself as Ca.s.sidy showed him around. The tour was actually kind of fun. Even if Ca.s.sidy was something of a clutz.
"Iyahn!" Ca.s.sidy shrieked as her foot slipped on the next step. The girl teetered backward, her arms windmilling in a misguided attempt at regaining her balance. It was no use, however, and she fell backwards, right into the waiting arms of Caspian, who had fortunately been behind her while she guided him on the tour around the tower.
The young woman"s eyes fluttered rapidly several times before darting around in confusion, as if she was trying to figure out why everything was canted at an angle. They soon panned over to his face, those startled irises, and stayed there as he gave the maid a concerned look.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, um, y-yes!" Ca.s.sidy stuttered as she leapt out of Caspian"s arms. "Thank you for catching me."
"You"re welcome."
They continued their tour and Caspian rescinded on his previous thoughts. Ca.s.sidy wasn"t just something of a clutz, she was a clutz. The girl tripped over everything: her dress, her own two feet, a crack in the floor. One time during their tour, he could have sworn she had tripped on air.
Just how such a thing was possible was beyond him.
Caspian had changed his attire before the tour. The outfit he wore was one that Ca.s.sidy had given to him, and he had to admit it suited him well.
Baggy black pants that were easy to move in rustled as he walked. The crimson short-sleeved shirt he wore allowed for unrestricted maneuvering and was soft to the touch, like silk, while a pure white tabard with black designs covered the center of his chest and back, its ends trailing down to his knees. An off-white sash tied around his waist kept the tabard from moving too much, and his cavalier boots were awfully comfortable as they squeaked along the floor. A shoulder pauldron, ironwrought and gleaming in the artificial light, sat on his left shoulder while the right was laid bear. Ca.s.sidy had found it for him, and while it didn"t really serve a function, he thought it made him look kind of dashing. As per the usual, his sword was strapped across his back and within easy reach of his right hand.
"And this is our library," Ca.s.sidy smiled as she opened a pair of ornate double-doors with golden embroidery embossed on the frame. With nary a creek, the doors moved apart on well-oiled hinges, revealing the vast room beyond.
Caspian stepped into the library, gawking at the sight before him. Ma.s.sive really didn"t do the place justice. This library was colossal! From a single observation, there appeared to be at least ten levels. Spanning the entire length of the cylinder-shaped room were bookshelves, each one embedded into the wall and filled to near bursting with tomes both ancient and modern. Upon walking over to the railing that kept people from falling to what looked like a very painful death, Caspian spotted a couple of round tables surrounded by chairs on the ground floor. Just how many levels down was that? Ten? Twenty?
"This... how big is this place?"
Ca.s.sidy stepped up beside him, only too happy to answer. "Dorehan"s library contains forty-two different levels, has a circ.u.mference of fifty-five meters, and a height of three-hundred meters. There are over eight-hundred thousand books with information pertaining to just about anything you could imagine stored here."
Caspian eyed the maid with a speculative gleam, his bright green irises locked onto her face as she peered at their surroundings.
"Originally, this tower used to belong to a researcher who studied the world and everything in it. He ama.s.sed all this knowledge before his untimely demise during the Elven War. At one point, this tower was also where the Sorceress Council sat." She paused long enough to cast him an amused smile. "I think the only reason Lady de Floresca didn"t take this library with her during the move was because there were far too many books."
"I really didn"t need to know all of the history involved in this place, you know?" he said dryly, "Or the exact measurements. It was a rhetorical question."
"Oh!" Ca.s.sidy blushed. "I"m sorry."
"Nah, it"s fine." Caspian tilted his head to look the ceiling. "It"s not like I didn"t find the small history lesson interesting." Smiling came to him a bit easier this time. "Thank you."
"I see." Ca.s.sidy pursed her lips for a moment, and then she smiled, even as her cheeks became tinged with a light pink. "In that case, you are welcome."
"Hn."
Walking over to the nearest bookshelf, Ca.s.sidy following behind him, Caspian pulled out the first book he saw. Looking at the cover showed that it was an old book detailing some of the earliest spirits to have been discovered. A book of magic, then. Well, this was the residence of a Sorceress, so it made sense that there would be magic books present among this collection.
"Does Erica ever come to the library?" he asked, flipping through the pages, briefly reading skimming over the contents before closing the book.
"Not as far as I know," Ca.s.sidy replied as he put the book back and selected another book, this one bearing the symbols of the sun, the moon, and the sea. "In fact, I don"t think she"s ever stepped foot into this library since her tenor as Ashtown"s overseer. She doesn"t really like reading books from what I"ve seen."
"That does sound like her. She doesn"t strike me as the studious type," Caspian murmured, his eyes scanning the pages as he flipped through them. It was actually an interesting book. It detailed the history of the triage Spirits Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi. Hadn"t Amaterasu been the spirit Erica had summoned to deal with that elf? His memory of that time was a bit hazy because he"d been too busy fighting, and then later because he"d been in incredible pain, but he was sure he remembered her calling out that specific Spirit"s name.
"That"s true." Ca.s.sidy giggled before she realized that she was giggling about someone insulting her Mistress. The poor girl then clammed up quicker than a Headhunter--a headless creature said to prowl dark caverns in search of its missing head--a mild stain of red caressing her cheeks like a mild heatwave.
Caspian didn"t pay much attention to her embarra.s.sment as he said, "you seem to know a lot about Erica as a person. Have you been serving her for a long time?"
"Oh, yes." Ca.s.sidy seemed quite glad for the change in subject. "I"ve served Mistress Erica for several years. In fact, my entire family has served Mistress Erica for two generations now. My grandmother and mother both served as Mistress Erica"s maids, until they were too old to do so and pa.s.sed the responsibility down to me."
"That long, huh?"
That meant Erica was a lot older than she looked. But then again, he should have expected that to have been the case. Sorceresses were blessed with incredible longevity. Sylvia de Floresca was over one-thousand years old, yet he knew that she didn"t look much older than twenty-five.
I wonder how old Erica is.
Putting the book back where he found it, Caspian faced Ca.s.sidy with an expectant look. "Shall we continue the tour?"
"Ah! O-of course!" Ca.s.sidy seemed fl.u.s.tered at having been so caught up in their conversation she appeared to have forgotten that she was supposed to be showing him around. "If you would continue following me, please. The next place I"ll show you is the training hall, where Master Derek spends most of his time. Well," she hurriedly amended her statement, "where he spends most his time when he isn"t with Mistress Erica, that is."
Caspian gave a nod, acknowledging her words, even though he wasn"t paying much attention to them. They reached one of the many staircases and began walking down it.
He peered out of the windows they pa.s.sed by, all which showed an expansive view of the sky and clouds, and of the smog polluting the atmosphere from the many factories. He didn"t know how high up they were, but the view he was granted showed that they were at a higher alt.i.tude than any of the buildings currently in sight.
"Do you ever feel anxious from being up this high?" asked Caspian. At the sound of his question, Ca.s.sidy turned her head to look up at him.
"Oh, no. I"ve lived in Dorehan Tower all my life. Of course I wouldn"t be―wah!"
Ca.s.sidy"s eyes widened as she missed her next step. Her arms flailed as she began to tilt. In an effort to regain her balance, the maid latched onto Caspian"s arm and tried to pull herself back up.
Unfortunately, Caspian was in no way prepared to accommodate for the new weight Ca.s.sidy added. When she grabbed onto him, he was jerked off his feet and ended up tumbling down the stairs with her, with both of them screaming all the while.
Out of instinct, Caspian closed his eyes sometime during the fall. He tried to ignore the sickening feeling of weightlessness, the way his stomach leapt into his throat. He could not, however, ignore the bone-jarring impact as his body crashed against the stairs, rattling his insides. Nor could he ignore it when all of his breath left as he and Ca.s.sidy tumbled down those same stairs like a pair of tumbleweeds.
"Ouch..." Caspian groaned as he ran through a quick a.s.sessment to see what kind of damage he had incurred. He seemed to be thankfully uninjured, except for some sc.r.a.pes along his knees and elbows. That was good. He"d just finished healing after having the skin on his back and arms filleted like a fish on a spit. He really didn"t want to deal with any more bodily damage, no matter how minor the injury was.
He put his hands on the ground to push himself up-
-and then he froze when his left hand landed on something round and soft. It didn"t feel like the floor because it was, well, round and soft. It felt kind of like his hand was resting on a pillow.
Out of reflex, Caspian"s hand twitched, grabbing the offending object and making it squish.
"A-ahn!"
Upon hearing what sounded like a very surprised moan, Caspian snapped his eyes open... only to find himself staring into another pair of eyes. Ca.s.sidy"s. The two looked at each other in surprise. Their eyes then wandered down to where Caspian"s hand was resting on what he now realized was most definitely not the floor.
He and Ca.s.sidy looked back up at each other, and then back down. Back at each other. Before traveling back down again.
Caspian looked back up once more to see Ca.s.sidy"s red face staring at him in shock, her eyes bulging like a pair of flying discusses. He wondered, idly, if his face was the same shade of red as hers.
He tried to find something to say.
"Uh..."
Tears started to form in Ca.s.sidy"s eyes.
"Ah..."
Her body began to tremble.
"Um..."
Caspian"s danger sense started going haywire, warning him of an impending attack.
"Look. Ca.s.sidy. I totally did not mean for this to happen."
His words did not help, as he soon found out less than a second later.
"NOOOOO!"
***
A loud scream followed by a resounding smack rang out near one of several lofts. The two maids who"d been cleaning a bust of Erica stopped what they were doing and c.o.c.ked their heads, listening. Their ears perked up as they waited, wondering what that strange noise could have been. When several moments in which nothing happened pa.s.sed, the two started cleaning again.
It was probably nothing to worry about. Strange things happened in Dorehan Tower all the time.