Forgotten Shelves (Abyss Master, HH, Kishíro D)

"You're an idiot."

Carcaroth's mouth moved on its own. The newcomer stared at him, perhaps as confused as surprised at his sudden outburst.

"But thanks for knocking them out for us, I suppose. That will make everything easier."

"What are you - ?"

Before the sentence was finished, Carca's body was surrounded by a small fire. Slowly he burned his way out of captivity. He stood up slowly and cracked his neck before helping Haze up as well. Then he glanced over at the stranger.

"As you can see, your questions will have to wait," he said casually. Then he looked around him. "Aww damn... we were at the right place, and now we're not. Do you know what this means? Do you?"

Carca's gaze changed. His eyes now became cold, and their color changed from blue to yellow.

"You'll have to compensate."

Before he had even moved, Haze's hand shot out and caught his shoulder. He glanced at her, and she shook her head.

"Don't start anything," she muttered.

"It's time for you to choose, woman," Kerel snarled back. "Either we have to use this guy, or we will have to go back and pray that the bandits are still there."

"What are you talking about?"

"The entrance, the entrance!" Kerel groaned. "It's the entrance to the library!"

Haze's expression changed a little. "Library? Out here?"

"Hidden from view. There's only one way to get to it."

Both of them stared at the guy who had tied them up. He frowned a little, looking from one to the other.

"You'll have to take us back."

Isaac let out a staggered snore, rolling his head over to the side to better see the two through half-lidded eyes shrouded in the shadow of his hood. He lay in the corner of The Iron Lung's common room, crumpled in a filthy and supposedly drunken heap. He had staked out the beer-drenched spot several hours before, the lack of options in Uruk and the profile he had obtained on Haze making it relatively easy to foresee the two travelers arrival. The assassin had put on a very convincing show, rousing the tavern-goers into a boisterous group singing session and appearing to consume quite a large amount of alcohol without actually doing so. Eventually, he had "passed out" in the corner, not too long before Haze and Karal walked in. His dropped eyes followed the two as he ease dropped on their banter. Isaac restrained a smile when the two disappeared up the stairs. And when Haze and Karal descended the creaky steps the following morning, he was already long gone.



<====}=0 - 0={====>



Isaac cursed his luck as the bandits charged on, flashing their weapons at the two travelers. The assassin crouched high above the male and female, all of his concentration going into hiding his presence. With silent ease, the hidden man drew a hand crossbow and set the bow into place. He loaded the weapon with practiced surety and extended his arm, closing one eye and drawing a bead on the lead bandit. He waited until the travelers were knocked out, determined not to reveal himself to them yet. The two safely unconscious, Isaac drew back the bowstring. Noting the erratic gusts that flowed between the trees, the assassin lead the man and gently caressed the trigger. He began to slowly squeeze the polished wood trigger, almost firing the bolt when his target was blindsided by a darkly dressed figure. Isaac immediately drew back his arm, releasing the trigger.



The newcomer danced through the group with confident skill, quickly dispatching the lot. Quickly unloading and holstering the crossbow, Isaac hugged the tree trunk and watched as the dark-clad man secured the highway men. The blond-haired man grinned as the newcomer scooped up the male and female, darting deeper into the woods. Isaac followed, skipping lightly through the branches like a ghost. The man in black stopped after several minutes, gently lowering his burdens by a stream. Easing himself down through the branches, the assassin strained his ears to listen as the travelers awoke to their rescuer. He restrained a grin as the conversation progressed, then slowly pulled himself back higher, making his way back the way they'd come.

OoC: I know it's crap, but I don't want to hear anything because people won't leave me alone to write!

Haze stumbled out of unconsciousness quite abruptly. Her blurry vision quickly cleared to reveal a stranger standing above them, though she could tell he wasn't one of the bandits. She looked down at her leg, the wound from the arrow bandaged and healing. It was obvious that the stranger was the one who tended to her, though the thought of a man touching her leg left her feeling very uncomfortable.

"They're gone, don't worry about them anymore, but I'm here now and I have questions. I want to know about the book and depending on your answers, I 'll decide whether or not to let you go."

The book? How did he know? She glanced down at her bag, which she was smart enough to take from their horses before they were spooked. He must have seen the parchment with the image of the book on it. The thought of why he would know that was what they were after troubled her, but it could have simply been a lucky guess.

“You're an idiot.” Kerel spoke up. So Carcaroth was gone once again. “But thanks for knocking them out for us, I suppose. That will make everything easier.”

Suddenly, Kerel was free. Haze wasn't sure what had happened, but amazingly he had somehow freed himself from his binds. Kerel was about to cut her free, but Haze had already broken her own binds without much trouble, having been filing away at the ropes with her claw-like nails from the moment she'd realized she was bound.

“As you can see, your questions will have to wait.” Kerel looked around; an expression of annoyance fell across his face. “Aww damn... we were at the right place, and now we're not. Do you know what this means? Do you?” he hissed. “You'll have to compensate.”

This wasn't going to end well. Haze grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled his eye around to meet hers. “Don't start anything.” Sometimes she felt like his mother or something.

“It's time for you to choose, woman," Kerel snarled back. "Either we have to use this guy, or we will have to go back and pray that the bandits are still there.”

Haze exchanged glances with the black haired elf and Kerel. “What are you talking about?”

“The entrance, the entrance!” Kerel groaned. “It's the entrance to the library!”

Wait, really, so soon? “The Library? Out here?” If he was serious, it was much closer than she'd first imagined. Thankfully, that would mean her time with the despicable demon was coming to a close.

“Hidden from view. There's only one way to get to it.”

Both Haze and Kerel locked eyes on the newcomer. Suddenly, their roles were reversed. He was now the one who had the odds stacked against him.

“You'll have to take us back.”

The stranger looked between them with an uncertain expression on his face. He didn't have much of a choice. He turned around and began leading them back to where they'd come from. The idea that this man alone had taken out an entire group of highly skilled highway robbers was baffling, but when it came down to one on one combat Haze was nigh unbeatable.

A rustling in the trees had caught Haze's attention, but she didn't draw attention to it. She knew another was watching them. She'd learned to recognize the sound of someone leaping through the trees, as she'd used the same technique as a method of pursuit a number of times. An opponant able to move so nimbly was not one to be underestimated, so she pretended she didn't notice. If he were to leap in at any moment, she would remain the one with the element of surprise. Also, if he were a ranged warrior, she'd be ready to avoid any attack, keeping the source of the sound in her peripheral vision.

They were led back to where they had been overrun by the bandits. No-one were left.

"F***." Kerel was rather annoyed. "That's bullsh**."

"Seems they took off," Haze said. Curiously enough, she was glancing upwards. Kerel did not pay much attention to this, however, as he was too busy being pissed at losing their targets.

Wait - they just took off? That doesn't make any sense, Carcaroth said.

Shut up.

Don't you think it's strange?

I think that you -

Kerel twitched a little as he heard a noise. It seemed that Carcaroth had been more correct than he had realized. As he spun around, he saw an arrow fly through the air. He had only a second to react, so he used it to duck. Nonetheless, the arrow hit him straight in the shoulder, and he groaned in pain as he was sent back a little.

"Again?" Haze shouted as she drew her weapon. "You really are useless!"

"Oh shut up - drop your weapons!" Kerel snarled back. "NOW."

Haze stared at him, half in disbelief - before she was ambushed from behind and subdued. In his mind, Kerel was amused at seeing the bandits have to throw themselves over her to keep her down. That was no way to treat a poor woman.

"Finally got you," the apparent leader said as he walked up to Kerel, who had been shoved up against a tree and kept there by two men holding his arms. Nonetheless, the leader kept his distance.

"Alright, alright, I admit it," Kerel sighed. "I was the one who pissed in your drinking water."

The man smirked, nodding at one of the men. Kerel got a punch across the face.

"Your men hit like a bunch of girls," the demon spat.

"You killed someone," the leader snarled. His sword now rested at Kerel's neck.

"Be a little more specific, I tend to kill people a lot," Kerel hissed back.

Don't take this too far, Carcaroth warned. Kerel licked his lips, smiling. "I dunno about any guy I killed, but I do know what you want."

"Your head," the leader whispered.

"What?" Kerel said in an overly dramatic tone. "No no no, aren't you looking for the treasure?"

This caused the bandits to exchange glances, and the leader was set back a little. "Treasure?"

"Yeah," Kerel said, and Carcaroth couldn't help but admire how well the demon could lie. "A treasure. Right here. I thought you were here to get it before we did."

The leader looked from Kerel to Haze, and finally to the stranger they had met a little while before. "Is this true?"

Haze had no choice but to follow Kerel's lead. She nodded her head. The stranger didn't do anything.

"I see. Well, where is it?"

Kerel smirked. "It needs to be summoned."

"Summoned?" the man repeated suspiciously.

"Yeah, with magic. I can summon it - you can have an arrow pointed at my head at all times to make sure it's not some trap, if you want."

The leader seemed hesitant to release him from his restraints, but the other bandits seemed to be rather intrigued by the supposed treasure.

"Let's do it, boss!"

"Yeah, we'll just kill 'em if they try anything!"

"Treasure, man!"

The leader groaned. "Fine," he said as he made another nod at the two men who held Kerel in place, and he was released. Immediately two of their archers had their arrows pointed straight at him, and the others kept their blades ready.

"Well, get to it then."

Kerel knelt down, letting his fingers stroke over the cold ground. This definitely was the place. It had to be. Otherwise, this would get ugly.

His finger dug into the ground slightly and he dragged it around, leaving marks in the dirt. Every little detail was carried out with as much perfection as possible. Anything inaccurate would make the seal useless.

Remember, you can't use seals, Carcaroth reminded him. Kerel just smiled to himself.

This is something different, kid. Just wait and watch.

It took ten minutes for him to draw up the seal. It was fairly large, spreading across the entire road. As he finished, he wiped his hands with his shirt and stood up.

"Can I at least remove the arrow in my shoulder before I continue?" Kerel said to the leader.

"No, that won't be necessary," was the reply. The demon shrugged. He had grown to ignore the pain anyways.

He walked a little away, motioning for the bandits to get out of the way. As he faced the seal, he put his hands together and muttered the necessary incantations. The markings at the ground began to glow blue.

It was entirely quiet. Everyone held their breaths as the markings glowed brighter. Then, they began rotating. It was as though the ground had started to move.

Wait for it... waaaaait for it...

Kerel stopped speaking. In that moment, his intentions had become clear. The leader of the bandits turned his head as he saw the demon's arms lower, and he seemed to realize that he had been tricked.

"KILL HIM!"

Kerel's hand shot out, catching the closest bandit by the neck. The demon's blade slashed twice through his flesh easily, and he fell to the ground. The other bandits were poised to strike. They were ready to kill Haze and the stranger dude as well.

Suddenly the seal on the ground exploded in a magic flurry. Out of it rose a passage way, almost like a gate of energy. Kerel dashed among the confused bandits, not even having time to kill any more of them. He reached Haze and the stranger, quickly took care of the men guarding them, before dragging both of them with him through the portal.

Haze was caught completely off guard. With her full attention being focused on the trees she had no clue the bandits were nowhere in sight. She should have suspected something when there were no bodies, but it didn't seem like much trouble at the time. Her carelessness had brought the ambush upon them in a start, money hungry bandits putting their grubby little hands all over her.

Haze watched the events that followed closely, their silent stalker in the treetops doing the same. She was surprised when Kerel said they were right on top of the library's entrance. The idea that it was so close to home was still amazing to her.

It finally all made sense when he'd slit the throat of the bandit, opening the sealed entrance below them. The reason he'd allowed them to get caught before was for this very reason; to use the blood of one of the bandits to break a blood seal on the Library's hidden gate. She'd never seen something like it in person, but it was common for many Exsecrorian mages to make such seals.

Amidst the confusion, Haze broke free from the guards that were holding her in place, slitting one of their jugular veins with her razor sharp nails. Before she had a chance to get to the other, Kerel had already run him through. The demon's hand grasped itself around her arm, as well as around the stranger's who'd joined them not long ago. It briefly puzzled her as to why he'd take him with them, but it didn't matter. Her goal was close. As long as this man wouldn't get in her way he would be free to tag along.

The moment they broke through the surface, she snapped her arm free from her guide. He'd placed his hand on her one too many times. Without slowing pace, she descended the long staircase in a hurry, far ahead of the others. The thought that the place may have been booby trapped crossed her mind, but it simply didn't make sense to have such traps in a library that required blood as an entry fee.

It wouldn't take long for the other bandits to try and track them down, as well as that mysterious presence she kept feeling in the trees. She hoped that the library would simply be big enough to scatter their forces. Once they were divided, taking them out one at a time would hardly be a challenge.

The stone stairway came to a sudden stop, the fine craftsmanship of its structure going completely unnoticed by all three of them. They all simply wanted to lose their pursuers it seemed, though some of them were more capable at eliminating large numbers of enemies than others. Haze didn't like the thought of so much killing, but bandits seemed to almost always be an exception to this rule. Most of the time it seemed they always got what was coming to them. Here, the stairs ended, but the library didn't.

At the base of the steps was something that would have taken the breath away from the most devout dungeon delver. An ivory railing lined a long stretch of walkway that bent around the circular chamber the three found themselves in. Haze moved closer to the edge, peering down into the true spectacle. The high ceiling of the building's architecture was only dwarfed by how far down the drop was. Beyond the rail, the walkway cascaded down and around the column of space the library was made up of, descending for what seemed like a mile down into dark depths, depths only lit by sparse luminescent crystals that dotted the countless shelves.

The dark environment was the perfect atmosphere for Haze. This kind of lighting was what she was used to. Her home, after all, was built inside a mountain.

The daunting thought suddenly hit her. How was she supposed to find this book in such a large expanse of a library?

The sound of shouting behind them brought her back to the present. She turned to the two who'd escaped below ground with her. They exchanged glances for a brief moment before Haze suddenly spoke up. “We're going to have to split up. I'm going to try to find what I came here for. If you find anything that tickles your fancy, go ahead and keep it. If you want to stay and fight, be my guest.”

With that, Haze broke away from her group, just barely avoiding the sight of the highwaymen pursuing them. She looked down at the image of the book in hand, completely oblivious as to how she would find one book among the millions inside the library.

If there was one thing not one opponent of Kuro would from him is just how righteous he was. Even if it meant going up against an entire army by himself, he would of gladly fought to his last breath to protect the lives of the innocent.

"You know it's funny..." Crow started, still walking. He felt the demon's energy, talking made the man uneasy.

"Hey no trying anything funny or you're dead," the man snarled.

"Relax, i"m just talking," He responded. "You know... I've been to war before," the two were silent just listening. "I fought on the front lines, first one in, back when I thought that killing was okay as long as it was for the 'greater good'," after that sentence he stopped in his tracks. He turned around and faced the boy and girl. "What I'm trying to get at is this. I'm tired of people getting hurt, people dying. Now, I asked you earlier what this book was, but now I'm telling you. Tell me about the book and depending on your answer, we'll see how things play out," he finished. Both the blond girl and the demon man looked at him bewildered.

EDIT: OoC: Aww guys come on! Okay seriously I'm not okay with this no posting order. I know it takes me a while to post but seriously. I guess this post should take place right after right after Quark's second to last post.

Skilled assassin. You're not supposed to notice him.

Originally Posted by Halcyon Hero

Skilled assassin. You're not supposed to notice him.

Ooc: Well he's using Haze's same techniques. She's also very paranoid. She's going to notice if she's being followed. If you read her profile you'd know that the job of an assassin was very common among her people, a profession she's naturally going to know the traits of and know how to detect.

Besides... jumping from tree to tree isn't exactly the stealthiest maneuver ever.

OoC: Yea see the thing is I started writing my post after said post, but things kept coming up so it took a while to complete it, but by the time I submitted it you guys already posted twice. Yea next time I'll try to reserve it but for my post, I guess I'll just edit it cover what happens the time in between getting there then continue from your last post. I'll delete this post as soon as you guys delete yours.

"See ya later, hun," Kerel muttered as Haze went off. "Hopefully I'll run into you before you do something... stupid."

The demon turned his head, staring at the stranger he had dragged with him. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea why he had brought this guy. Perhaps it had been the spur of the moment.

"So, Bob - do you mind if I call you Bob? Anyway - I'm gonna run that way, and you run the other way. That way we'll give the bloodthirsty, mean bandits more tails to chase."

He spoke rather quickly, not allowing there to be any reply of any kind. The next second, he was gone, and it had become a test of survival. For Haze, it was a matter of finding the book. For Kerel, it was a matter of goofing around and doing basically nothing. For the stranger, it was a matter of... survival, maybe?

Now will you tell me what you're up to? Carcaroth said, sounding irritated.

Well, now's our chance to look around for some info, if you'd like, the demon replied as he sped past shelf after shelf after shelf.

Info? About what?

You tell me. The demon sounded as amused as ever. Carca knew that Kerel was just toying with him, teasing him until he finally said what he was thinking.

No, you tell me, Carca demanded.

Honestly, I have no clue.

The demon stepped to the side. An arrow shot out from nowhere, flying past him and piercing one of the bandits who had followed them. The poor victim fell back with something that sounded like a surprised groan. His companions came to a halt, yelling in confusion and wondering where the arrow had come from.

"Traps," Kerel muttered. "Of course there are traps. There are always traps."

If Haze or the other guy dies, it's gonna be your fault! Carca said scoldingly.

"Cry me a river," Kerel groaned as a sword materialized in his palm. "Or rather, shut up."

The demon did not get his chance to do anything after saying those words. He had been leaning against one of the shelves, and now it wouldn't let him go.

"You've got to be - " Kerel began before cursing profusely. Carcaroth could see his body helplessly sink further and further into the wooden shelf. It was as though his very being was devoured by the old, dusty books in the frames, though he could feel no pain. In fact, it felt warm. Not in an uncomfortable way, but as though he was simply stepping into a warmer room.

His head was now sinking into the shelf. The demon was silently awaiting whatever this peculiar bookshelf had in store for him. As some of his face had sunk through, Carcaroth - and Kerel - could see what was beyond the shelf.

It was a round, dark room, only faintly illuminated by the fire from a small fireplace in the wall opposite to him. In the middle of the room stood a couple of desks and some chairs, and on the desks lay documents and books, along with a lone quill. There was no bottle with ink nearby.

Suddenly, Carca felt as though something pushed him, and the demon fell through. He managed to keep on his feet, staring at the room before him. He stood entirely still for a few seconds, just observing the desks. It was pretty strange.

As he looked back, he saw a door in the wall where he had just come out. Did it lead back to the bookshelf? Kerel was about to go over to the door and open it, but then curiosity took over. He slowly turned his head again, staring at the books.

"Let's check it out," he said lowly, moving over to the desks. Carcaroth did not object. He, too, was curious. The room had not been very easy to find - or so he would imagine, the entrance had been pretty well hidden and subtle.

Kerel flipped the closest book open. It was written in an unknown language that even the demon did not know, so he put it aside. The next book was the same, impossible to understand. Every document and book they checked were written in the same strange language.

"This is lame," the demon complained, putting the fifth book down. "Let's just go."

Wait! Carca exclaimed. To your right - there's a map!

Kerel looked, and sure enough, there was a map. It depicted areas found far away from the forest where the library was located. Kerel recognized one of them as the area where he had first possessed Carcaroth's body.

"Hey, it's home," he said, pointing at a seemingly vacant spot on the map. "Except it doesn't exist yet."

It has to be an old map, if it doesn't show it, Carcaroth commented.

"This library is old," Kerel said, letting his eyes go over the map. "Hm... there, a cross. I wonder what we would find there?"

Who knows?

The demon's eyes moved again. They fell upon something that was scribbled at the edge of the paper.


C A L A I M


"Calaim?" Kerel muttered.

Kerel - look on the wall!

The demon looked up. As though his words had summoned it, a painting had suddenly appeared on the wall. It depticted a sword, with a long, sharp blade. The most peculiar aspect about the painting - and the sword it showed - was that the blade was blood red in color. Below the sword were the same letters that Kerel had just read from the map. Calaim.

"Seems like we've found out what Calaim is," Kerel said with a smirk. "And, if I'm guessing right, that's what we're gonna find at that cross."