"She went to see a magician named Ornejirhs," explained Almandar, as they stood outside the Wizards' College, "he's a visitor to the city, not somebody I've heard of before."
"I have," said Tarissa, unexpectedly, "he's a demon hunter. They mentioned him at the Pardror temple. I was going to suggest we pay him a visit anyway."
"And after seeing him, Calleslyn disappears? I'm not sure I like this, especially since we don't know anything about him. We don't even know where he's from."
"I was told that he was from the south," replied the paladin, "although I suspect they may have got confused on that point – it's not a name from any southern culture I'm familiar with." Tarissa, of course, was from the southern lands, herself, as her blonde hair and blue eyes made apparent. "Although I was told that he does have a companion called Imrilda, who certainly is southern, from the description. She belongs to an order called the Shield Daughters, who have some rather strange ideas about dress, but are essentially honourable. From everything I was told, this Ornejirhs sounds a trustable person."
"Then why hasn't Calleslyn returned?" Almandar reminded her, "she went to see him yesterday afternoon."
"Perhaps she spent the night," suggested Tarissa, "it's not as if you haven't done the same more than once."
That caught him a little of guard. It was, of course, perfectly true, and it was something that he suspected the paladin felt a little uncomfortable even mentioning. If Tarissa herself had a sex life, he knew nothing about it, and her moral code was certainly opposed to casual encounters of the sort that he had so often. She was, perhaps, being generous in usually glossing over his activity. And it was at least possible that she was right, although with Calleslyn's elven heritage, it was likely she would be as interested in Imrilda as Ornejirhs himself.
"Well," he said, "at least we know where to go."
"Actually, I'd like you to stay here," she said, "there might be something useful in the restricted section of your library. I'm sure Vardala and I can find this demon hunter." Dolrim was still guarding the villa, although the chances of a return visit by the intruder seemed unlikely. "I doubt the Wizards' College knows more about fighting demons than my church, but you never know. At the least, it might be interesting to know who has been poking around with those sorts of books. Even if it is all down to this Lady Amloth that Vardala found out about, she will probably need allies to conduct a major ritual, or this dark influence beneath the city could have infected the College – which would really be something we'd need to know about."
"All right, all right," Almandar held his hands up, "I suppose we don't want magicians working against us. But I'll try to be quick, and I might follow you to this Ornejirhs' house after I finish."
As the two women left, Almandar headed back into the college, and towards the library. He hoped that Tarissa was right, and that Calleslyn's failure to return to the villa that morning was not the result of something sinister. But, since he had been asked to view the restricted section, that was probably what he should do. First, of course, he would need permission, and, since the Master of the College was likely to be busy, that meant talking to the librarian.
──◊──
"The restricted section!" squeaked Nariti, her eyes widening, "whatever for?"
"I want to know who might have summoned this demon who attacked us, and that means I need at least some idea how they might have done it."
"Oh, yes... you said." The small woman still looked rather nervous, "are you really sure?"
"I won't be long. Look, you can come with me, if you want."
"I don't know... perhaps I should ask the Master. I think he might be free this evening..."
"I know that access to that part of the library is limited," conceded Almandar, "but we do have it for a reason. Why keep books if nobody reads them? And I think I have a pretty good reason. I really need your help on this – you know more about magic books than anyone."
"Uh... yes... well, I suppose so," she nodded her head up and down, her hands fluttering nervously over the scroll on her desk, "if you really need my help. Yes, I will give you permission, then. I haven't been in there for a while myself, so I should probably check on it. Make sure that everything is back where it should be. Cataloguing is important, you know."
She seemed to be trying to convince herself as much as him, so he did not interrupt, and allowed her to lead the way. He couldn't help but notice how her confidence had increased once she had begun to think about cataloguing; that was obviously something she found easier to deal with than people.
They descended a narrow flight of steps at the rear of the main section of the library, until they came to a small metal door, painted black. There was no lock or handle, just a red rune where one might otherwise be found. Nariti pulled a wand from the satchel at her side, and muttered an incantation under her breath as she tapped the rune. It glowed for a second, and then the door swung soundlessly open.
The room within was gloomy, windowless, but with a permanent light spell cast onto a fitting against one wall, perhaps as much a protection against fire as a convenience. There was a small desk, and a single leather-padded chair, but otherwise the room was free of furniture, except for the numerous bookshelves stacked tightly against the walls.
The shelves were packed with a number of books and scrolls of all shapes and sizes. A great many of the books had black covers or sinister designs on them; evidently the people who produced such things couldn't resist adding a suitably dramatic flair.
The door shut behind them, locking out the rest of the college. Almandar looked up at the shelves, wondering where to start. "So what have we got on summoning spells?" he asked, "it might be useful to see what things are required."
"Uh... well..." Nariti looked nervous again, her hands fidgeting now that she had put the wand away, "I suppose that the... uh... the Umbrosus Pacta would be the best place to start." She stood there for a moment, apparently not realising that he had no idea where to look, and then suddenly gave a little jerk, "oh, yes, of course. It should be over here, on the third shelf, just along from the..." she frowned suddenly, and stepped across to the place she had indicated. "Oh, really! People should put books back where they find them. How else am I supposed to catalogue anything? But wizards will do whatever they please, sometimes. Its as if they don't understand the importance of an efficient manuscript retrieval system!"
It was about as passionate and confident as he'd ever heard her be. Clearly he'd found a topic of conversation she actually thought was important. She scurried around the room, sifting through the shelves, and casting her eye over all of them, small hands darting over the scrolls, sometimes raising small puffs of dust.
"Oh my goodness me!" she stepped back, into the middle of the room, hand rushing up to her mouth, a look of near panic on her face. "It's not here! It's not here!"
"But nobody can take things out from here," pointed out Almandar, "are you saying it's been stolen?"
"Steal a book? From a library! Oh my gosh... that's... that's quite outrageous!" Her voice had reached a high pitched squeak of indignation, and a slight flush of red rose to her pale cheeks.
"More to the point, why?" mused the other magician. "You said you hadn't been in here recently, so who has been in here since you last checked it?"
"Only Valmor. Oh, he wouldn't... surely not. Besides, it's a big book, how would he get it out?"
"Shrunk it, perhaps? Or concealed it in a magic bag? Of course," he added, worried that she might rush off and confront the man, which would be a very bad idea if he really was in league with demon summoners, "it might not have been him. Perhaps somebody found a way of by-passing the magic lock – it's not impossible, and if they shrunk the book and carried it out, well, you'd never know, would you?"
"No, I suppose not. You're right. It was probably some irresponsible student who got hold of a wand they shouldn't have done. Or something like that. I shall report it to the Master of the College – we simply can't have this sort of thing happening!"
"Oh!" she gasped suddenly, "but what if others have been taken? I must check them. My library, stolen from!"
The little magician seemed almost close to tears, and Almandar felt quite sorry for her. None of this had been her fault after all; it had not even been she who gave Valmor permission to enter the place, and to do so without supervision. He reached out an arm and gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Surprised by the gesture, she turned to look at him, giving him a small smile of gratitude, and then darted back towards the shelves, checking them more thoroughly.
There was nothing Almandar could do but watch her, wondering about the strange little woman with the mousy hair. She seemed so isolated from the outside world, only happy when in her element. He felt sure he had never seen her outside the building, realising she must use the accommodation here, like some of the students. Her library was the only thing that really mattered to her, and it was a small affront that the demonic forces beneath the city had hurt her like this.
As he did so, he noticed one book that seemed to stand out from the others. It was slim, and bound in red leather, but what most caught his attention was the sigil on the spine. It was the holy symbol of Sarlene, the same shape as the one he wore about his neck. As the librarian continued to search, he slid it out, and opened it, noting that it appeared to be a book of spells.
"No, nothing else gone," she said, after a surprisingly short yet thorough search, "oh, thank goodness." She leaned back against the shelves, waving a hand to cool herself, and brushing a strand of mousy hair back from her forehead.
"I see you've found the... uh... yes..." she said flustered again, as she saw the book in his hands.
"Oh, yes..." he was the one to be embarrassed this time, "I didn't realise this sort of thing counted as restricted. Or that we had books like this at all. Some rather unusual spells in it, I see." He put the book back, making sure it was in the exact position that he had found it.
