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“And have you found anything?” Hali asked, her eyes glinting with curiosity.
“Not yet,” Osric said. “But I haven’t given up hope. There are still so many books and tomes and ancient texts out there, just waiting to be discovered. You never know what secrets might be lurking in the pages.”
Hali’s smile was a radiant burst of light. “Well, if anyone can find those secrets, I’m sure it’s you, Osric. You have a real gift for this sort of thing.”
“Thank you, Hali. That means a lot, coming from you.”
But a shadow passed over Osric’s heart as he said it, for he knew the dangers that lurked in the ancient texts he sought. Dangers that he had spent his whole life trying to contain, to keep from falling into the wrong hands. If someone was after the grimoire, then it was a threat he couldn’t ignore.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this,” Osric said. He squeezed Hali’s hand, and the runes on his arms flickered and glowed. “I promise you that.”
Hali gave his hand a final squeeze before letting go. “Thank you, Osric. You’re a true friend.”
The words struck him like a blow, and for a moment, he was at a loss. He’d only just met Hali, and yet there was something in the way she said it, something in the depths of her hazel eyes, that made him want to be more than just a friend.
“I’ll stop by again soon,” he said, before he could overthink it. “To see how your investigation is going. And to keep you safe, if need be.”
Hali stepped back, her hand brushing against his arm. “I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”
They lingered there for a moment, lost in each other’s gaze, the world of books and tomes and ancient mysteries falling away around them. The only thing Osric could see, the only thing he cared to see, was Hali, the way her eyes sparkled in the lamplight, the way her auburn hair fell in loose, unruly curls.
But the shadows were calling to him, a dark and urgent summons. With a heavy heart, he forced himself to turn away. “Until then, Hali.”
She offered him a parting smile, and then he was turning, the shop’s towering shelves of books at his back. The night air was cool against his skin, but it did nothing to quell the heat that was building inside him.
There was a mystery to be unraveled, a threat to be contained. Osric’s instincts were screaming at him, but he didn’t know why. All he knew was that he couldn’t stay away, that he had to protect Hali, no matter the cost.
He set off into the night, the city’s darkened streets stretching out before him. The only sound was the steady rhythm of his heart, and the distant howl of the wind.
But in the shadows, something was watching, something hungry and cold.
And Osric knew, with a sinking certainty, that the danger was only just beginning.
Osric made his way up the winding stone steps that led to the Forge of Vulkan, the distant rumble of the magma chamber below echoing in the vast cavern. It was a sound that usually filled him with a sense of peace and purpose, but tonight, his thoughts were too troubled to find solace in the flames.
He found Agnith in the smithy, a massive warhammer of molten iron and rune-etched obsidian taking shape in the coals. “What is it, child?” Agnith asked, his eye glowing like a hot coal in the dim light.
Osric swallowed down the lump that had been building in his throat, and forced the words out. “I . . . I think there may be a threat. Something dark and ancient, stirring in the city. I don’t yet know the form it will take, but I fear it means to do us harm.”
Agnith set down his tongs, the warhammer’s head still glowing a furious red. “Then we must be ready. Gather the others. I want a full watch set up around the city tonight. If there is a threat lurking in the shadows, we will find it, and we will drive it out, with fire and steel.”
Osric’s heart ached at the thought of what was to come. But he squared his shoulders, and set to work preparing for the long night ahead.
Chapter
Five
Hali and Osric spent the next several days hunched over tomes, their heads bent close together as they pored over ancient histories, arcane treatises, and long-forgotten legends. Osric was a quick study, his keen elven mind picking up on the nuances of the ciphers and obscure references with remarkable speed. But Hali’s encyclopedic knowledge of rare books and boundless imagination were the keys needed to unlock the secrets they sought.
“Hmm.” Osric’s breath tickled against her cheek, and Hali’s heart leapt into a wild gallop as they leaned over the ancient tome. “It’s written in the old dwarven script, but the phrasing is elven. I think. It’s hard to say.”
His face was so close, his golden eyes so intense, and Hali struggled to remember what they were doing. All she could focus on was the heady scent of smoky embers that clung to his skin, the way his long black hair fell in a silky curtain, and the way the words rolled off his tongue with a low, melodic cadence.
“Right. Yes. Elven phrasing,” she stammered. “It’s like the dwarves and the Emberforged were speaking the same language, but not quite. A missed connection, if you will. Like two stars that long to be together, but are forever separated by the vastness of the heavens.”
Osric’s golden eyes met hers, and for a moment, just a moment, Hali thought she saw a spark in them, a glimmer of something more. But then he turned his attention back to the page, and the spell was broken.
“Or it could be a simple mistranslation,” he said, his lips quirking up in a half-smile.
