2. Laurence
An eerie darkness filled the tower, cold essence seemed to seep from its walls like it was alive with something. Moonlight filtered in from the long windows as the old rusty hinges from the shutters squeaked, much like the steps of the tower as Laurence and Cora made their way, step by step up to its Library. "You know what we're looking for, right?" Laurence asked as a prickling sensation came over his skin, with the feeling of unseen eyes watching their every movements. He turned to Cora with a mixture of uncertainty as they came to a landing outside the tower's library.
Cora paused for a moment, her hazel eyes glimmered off the dancing candle light that dimly illuminated them. A hint of apprehension filled her gaze as she searched the door with here eyes. Despite her keen intellect and agility, there were times when her naivety overshadowed her abilities as a hunter. She turned to face him, her slender body amplified by the ghostly glow of the candlelight as her hands traced the door. Small vines sprouted from the knots in the old timber as she searched the room for the essence within. "In here, I think."
Laurence pushed the door open, clicking his fingers together, a flame sparked from his essence, just above his thumb. The flame travelled around the room like an insect, lighting all the candles within his sight before extinguishing into nothing. He watched Cora muse over the large shelf of spell books and alchemy guides.
"Nothing obviously about thebook. You would think it would be just written, wouldn't you?" Her voice tingling with sarcasm but it was clear she was more frustrated. She continued to scan the works that lined the shelves, disturbing the thin layer of dust with her fingers.
Laurence moved to the small stone window and peered out over the city. "Maybe he doesn't actually know."
The elf shook her head, "No, he would know about the forbidden book of the gods. I'm almost certain he's aware even if it's just of its existence."
As her words reverberated through the room, Laurence's attention was diverted back out the window. A small wood moth fluttered around the outside of the tower, then entered the chamber. He paid it little mind, swatting at it with his hand, more of an annoyance. He acknowledged the common occurrence of insects seeking refuge indoors during the night, drawn by the warmth and the light. However, his focus re-shifted to Cora as the expression on her face shifted from frustration to alarm, as her head tracked the insect's path.
She jumped back from the shelf of books, and in a swift, violent motion, her hand shot out and intercepted the moth. Her eyes agaze with urgency and a sharp smack against the wall, she crushed the insect, her palm smeared with its remains. "Laurence, we're sprung!"
That was the thing about wood elves, their essence was in touch with their surroundings, unlike himself. Cora possessed the ability to sense and communicate with creatures and plants via her essence. Immediately understanding the gravity of her words, Laurence grabbed a small bowl resting on the nearby table and reached in his bag for a waterskin and with his other hand, the dagger secured to his hip. He emptied the condense of the water skin into the bowl, then tossed it back in his bag. "Cora, here, your hand."
Cora didn't need to be told twice, almost anticipating Laurence's actions and holding her hand out. He ran the dagger along her palm, slicing her pale yellow skin and allowing her elven blood to mingle with the water. "Find us a way out of here," he instructed, whilst ripping a slither of fabric from his shirt and wrapping her hand.
Laurence grabbed the bowl and began scrying. First the water grew cloudy as the essence from the bowl flooded out into the night sky. A birds eye view city of Allencore filled the mirror like surface of the water. He fed his essence into the bowl, searching the streets for the moth's possessor. With each passing moment the picture grew closer, clearer. Steel chains, and swords shimmered off the moon light, but the vision was still not clear, he knocked the table sending ripples across the water. As it settled and the darkness recaptured the bowl, a young woman emerged. Her green eyes sparkling, shining through the dark like the burning of a candle leaden with copper wax. It was amplified by the strands of red hair swaying in the moonlight, and her serious, angered expression etched upon her face. This was the possessor but there was something more, he reached for a small vial of sage in his bag and dropped a small amount in the water. The haze that surround the image cleared and Laurence found himself staring face to face with the high wizard of Allencore. "Shit!" he exclaimed, knocking the table and the contents of the bowl across its wooden top.
Cora turned and looked back at Laurence, "Who is it?"
"Yaidel, four soldiers, and his apprentice." He quickly emptied what was left of the contents of the scrying bowl out the window, then packed what ever he could find on the table into his bag. "We have about five minutes."
Cora nodded and turned back to the shelf, "What colour is the cover?" she asked as her hands passed back over the books a second time.
"Green, I think." He could tell she knew what they needed to find, now searching for a portal book. The book of the gods would have to wait.
Her nimble fingers moved from row to row scanning the spines and worked quickly with precision as her essence leached in feeling each page. Finally, she stopped pulling one of the green spined books from the shelf, and quickly flicked through the pages. Her fingers traced over the words, then she slammed the book shut and dropped it on the floor. "Too cold," she stated shaking her head.
Laurence moved to the window and fixed his gaze on the streets below. Yadiel's apprentice's essence flooded the tower, growing stronger by the minute. A portal would be their only means of escape without the entire city coming down on top of them. He turned back to Cora, "Anything yet?"
"No, nothing," Cora's frustration was evident as book after book was dropped on the floor searching for a way to escape the looming threat.
Something caught Laurence's ear, a faint calling that was unlike anything he had heard before. He approached the bookshelf, his gaze lifting towards a selection of books still untouched by Cora. Skimming over the spines, he stopped looking at a large book, its purple cover standing out in the sea of reds, blues and yellows. Usually, such books didn't hold the essence of places, at least not in the way that this book did. A faint calling whispered his name, drawing his focus like a beacon in the darkness. It could have been Yaidel or his apprentice, taunting him or maybe it was something more, something special.
He brushed his hand over the cover, wiping the dust from its golden letters, that sparkled in the candlelight. Then the calling came again, stronger this time. It resonated within him like a distant echo. With a sense of certainty, he turned to Cora, "This one," his voice steady and confident.
She stopped and screwed her face up, "I think Yaidel has gotten in your head. Are you sure?"
"Want me to draw the essence of the walls in this place and turn you into a stone garden ornament again? I really don't what to be put in a position to do that and have to find some way to get back in here to get you back like last time!"
Cora's brow furrowed as she snatched the book from his hands. "Two weeks and I was naked! Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was? I got knocked over and thought I was going to break in two, not to mention all the grubby fingers that touched me. No Laurence, we're not doing that again!"
Laurence pushed the pile of green books on the floor to the side with his foot making way for Cora to work her essence with what ever the purple book offered. "What, you expected me to conjure up something in essence that would have worked on your clothes too? I didn't have the time... Also, you looked good like that."
Cora swatted at him, before rolling her eyes and finishing with a disapproving glare. Shouts from the outside of the tower reverberated up the wall causing Cora to immediately focus on the pages.
A rush of air burst into the tower accompanied by the slamming of the wooden door at its base against the stone walls. A powerful essence entered followed by Yaidel's voice. "Laurence!" the old wizard called as his voice echoed around the stone walls of the tower and into the library.
Cora's gaze shot up from the pages toward the door, "How in the forest did he know it was you?"
"How would I know? Don't worry about him, work on the book, we have to get out of here!"
"You're right. Here, take this and start reading!" She said, then turned toward the wooden door and called upon her essence. Small shoots of green twisted their way out of the knots in the planks, and bonded themselves into the cracks of the stone walls. It wouldn't hold long, a sword would make short work of it. "That should buy us some time."
Laurence flicked through the pages, feeling the books power grow stronger the deeper he turned into the heart of the book. The calling grew louder in his mind until finally he heard someone say "Stop!" He looked over his shoulder at Cora, as she barricaded the door with more and more vines, there was no one else in the room with them. He quickly refocused on the page and brushed the fine layer of dust away revealing a portal spell. "We can use this." He quickly skimmed the spell but stopped short unable to read all of it. "Cora," he pointed to the spot on the page.
"It's the gods language," she said quickly inspecting the text. "Wow, I haven't seen this in about fifty years. This is only uttered by the dark elves in the north."
