Jane, Defender of Decura Chapter 25

Unclear Clues

"Unbelievable..." muttered Jane while staring up at the humongous grey building looming over her. It seemed to stretch all the way up to the cave's roof, which was at least fifteen stories high. Several tall statues of robed dwarves lined the front of the Library, all frozen in deep thought. "This whole thing is a library?" Jane asked.

"Correct miss Jane" answered William. "It's actually much bigger than it appears. Most of it is built into the rocky wall. What we're seeing is about half of it at most."

"We could be here for months and still not read all of its books" mumbled Nate. "Do either of you know what to ask the clerks?"

"Handaaf did mention the grand Conveyance, probably a good place to start" suggested William before heading toward the Library doors. "Let's hurry so we can get back to Handaaf's place."

As the three friends entered the main foyer, they were immediately approached by one of the library's clerks. "Good day to you" he said before bowing. "Welcome to Bhaldural's grand library. Will you be requiring some assistance today?"

"We absolutely do" answered Jane. "Do you have any books about the Grand Conveyance?"

The clerk's eyes lit up and a big smile appeared on his face. "Of course" he said before turning toward a winding stone staircase. "Such a fascinating subject, please follow me."

After ascending five steep flights of steps, the clerk led Jane and her friends into a long hallway, its walls covered in shelves overflowing with books. "The section is just down here" assured the eager clerk while skipping down the hall.

"Just give me... One second..." wheezed Nate while dragging himself up the last step. "How are you all not exhausted...?"

Jane shrugged. "After carrying that boulder for half a day and dragging that carriage around for a week, a few steps are a piece of cake" she answered after helping Nate to his feet.

"I'm very good at hiding my condition" answered William before slapping his legs. "But I will admit, stairs are murder on my old knees."

"How old are you exactly Will?" Jane asked. "Late thirties?"

William let out a chuckle and started to follow the clerk. "I wish" he said, causing Jane and Nate to give each other weird looks.

Although it took another five minutes to walk down the candle-lit hall, Jane and her friends eventually reached the end of the hall. "Now to the left is all the information we have on the Grand Conveyance as written by the scholars and historians of the dwarves" said the clerk, his face full of admiration and pride as he stared at the thousands of novels covering the wall. "I know you humans prefer to read books by your own kind but I can assure you, they're well written."

Jane scratched her head. "I guess humans aren't well liked here either" she thought. "At least they let us into the city without too much issue."

The clerk cleared his throat and pointed to the opposite wall and the its single, unkempt shelf of books. "And too the right... are the books written by the Travelers" he said with an uneasy smile. "I'm sorry the section isn't very large but both a lot of those books are forbidden in Bhaldural. I'm sorry."

"We understand" said William with a smile. "Thank you for showing us where to go. You've been a great help." The clerk smiled and left the three alone with the huge collection of books.

"Alright here's the plan" said Nate after grabbing Jane and William's shoulders. "You two take the thousand books on the left and I'll take the twenty on the right."

Jane rolled her eyes and looked back at the far smaller group of books. Something familiar immediately caught her eye and Jane quickly approached the shelf, despite Nate's protests. "Hold on a minute..." she mumbled while grabbing one of the thickest books. "What is this?"

William walked over and looked at the book's cover. "It looks like the creed of the Travelers" he said while pointing to the title. "The preachers back in Etin city are always carrying one around."

"I see that" said Jane before pointing to the giant orange-haired woman on both the cover and the binding, her sharp toothed grin setting of alarm bells in Jane's head. The woman's long purple robe and the fact that she seemed to be reaching down toward a large crowd of praying people suggested divinity. "I've seen this woman before, twice in fact."

"Really?" asked William while picturing some of the crazy people he'd seen screaming on the streets of Etin that they'd been visited by the same woman. "You've met the Stranger? Forgive me miss Jane but that seems highly unlikely..."

"I'm serious Will" assured Jane before opening the book. "I think her name was Kip. She's the one who brought me to Decura in the first place. She was kind of a creep."

Suddenly, William grabbed Jane's arm. "Don't say that too loudly miss Jane, especially around other humans" he whispered. "A lot of people consider the Stranger a divine figure and demeaning her name is a good way to get attacked."

"Her? Divine?" Jane scoffed while thinking about her and Kip's previous encounter. "More like a cross between annoying and terrifying. Why would anyone worship that thing?"

"The legend goes the Stranger is the being responsible for the Grand Conveyance" explained William after grabbing another book from the tacky shelf. "Apparently, she took pity on a weak kingdom and saved its people mere moments before its destruction. In order to give the people a home, she brought them here to Decura."

"Really?" asked Jane.

"Seems like a load of bull to me" said Nate after sitting on the floor.

William shrugged. "I and a lot of humans agree with you Nate" he said while flicking through the book he was holding. "The Travelers are mostly fanatical lunatics who believe the true reason the Stranger brought humanity to Decura was to conquer it. Which is why they don't have a lot of public churches. A lot of historians completely ignore these books as mere delusion and an excuse to start conflict."

"Well considering what your ancestors did when they first arrived here..." grumbled Nate, causing William to give him a disapproving look. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Travelers are right. You humans are an aggressive bunch."

After letting out a sigh, Jane leaned against the wall. "I'm sure Kip is this woman" she thought while staring at the creed of the Traveler's cover. "She's got that same punch-able smile..."

Thirty minutes later, Jane closed her book and shook her head. "Holy crap that book is repetitive" she grumbled. "I'm barely a quarter through and I'm already bored of it. Line after line telling me how divine Kip is or how generous Kip is... ugh." Jane sat down and groaned. "Not exactly how I'd describe her..." she thought before clenching her fist. "Next time I see her, I don't care how big she makes herself. I'm giving her a piece of my mind... and fist."

"Any luck you two?" Nate asked, having just finished looking through a few old parchments.

While Jane shook her head, William continued to study his book until eventually rubbing his chin. "This passage seems interesting..." he mumbled before pointing at the page. "It reads... The way back remains open but only those chosen by a hierophant of the divine Stranger may find it."

"A hierowhat?" Jane asked while scratching her head.

"Basically a high priest of the Travelers" William answered. "I doubt you'd find any in Bhaldural since they and those that follow them are highly disliked by the other races. Even more so than other humans."

Nate sighed. "A dwarf wanderer came to Leefside once" he said. "He seemed like a really nice man until a pair of starving humans showed up at our village... The second he saw them the dwarf tried to get us to chase them away with pitchforks, just in case they were part of the Travelers."

"Yikes" said Jane with a raised eyebrow.

"Needless to say, Mom immediately kicked that dwarf out of town" chuckled Nate. Seconds later, his laughter began to change to sobbing as tears began to roll down his face.

Seeing the pain in her friend's face, Jane walked over to Nate and sat next to him. "Hey there" she said before giving Nate a gentle hug. "I'm here for you Nate. Feel free to let it all out, I don't mind."

Nate's smiled and returned the hug. "Thanks Jane" he said before looking up at Jane's face. "That means a lot to me." Realizing how close their faces were, both Nate and Jane's cheeks turned bright red. A big smile appeared on William's face as he watched Jane and Nate stare into each others eyes.

Unfortunately, the moment was spoiled when they all heard a familiar voice call out to them from down the hall. "William! William!" the voice shouted.

"Hello miss Patti" said William after sighing as Nate and Jane quickly released each other from their hugs. William's annoyed expression quickly switched to a concerned one when he saw Patti's tear filled eyes.

Before anyone could ask Patti any questions, she ran down the hall and leaped into William's arms before burying her face in his chest. "William! It's uncle Handaaf!" she yelled. "They took him to the mines!"

"Who?" was all William asked.

"The Oathbound" Patti answered, causing Jane and Nate to leap to their feet. "You have to help him! Please!"

"Have a seat Patti and tell me everything" said William while pulling out a chair for her. Patti nodded while wiping the tears from her eyes.

Suddenly, Jane noticed another dwarf standing in the hall. He had dark blue leather armor and a familiar short orange beard. In his left hand was a large sack containing the prize money for winning the arm wrestling contest.

The second the dwarf locked eyes with Jane, he let out a nervous chuckle and waved to her. "Oh... Hello there" Erik muttered while averting his eyes from Jane's angry expression. "Fancy seeing you here."

TO BE CONTINUED....