Chapter 105: Truffle Subcontracting

I left the alchemist in the tower while trying to figure out how to get his truffles. With leaves changing, it meant winter was coming. How much longer would I be able to harvest for the alchemist? There was still some daylight to burn, so I paused in the library. If no one was here, I could perhaps do some research.

The large doors creaked loudly, and I was bewildered to find the Duchess and Scholar Favian inside. "Legionnaire Eryk," the Duchess spotted me before I could duck out. "Are you looking for me?" She sounded almost hopeful. Having ridden next to Favian for a few days, I knew he talked forever and never seemed to tire.

I made an excuse, "No, I was just looking for Lareen. I don't know how to draw a hot bath."

"Ah, most of the servants are in the city. Lareen is as well and won't be back till sunset," the Duchess informed me. "But you can help Scholar Favian until she returns." She turned to face the scholar, "This legionnaire can help you with bringing the books up and down the stairs." The Duchess escaped past me, nodding to me in thanks for the relief.

The scholar smiled, "I do not really need help. The Duchess was just getting tired of listening to me expound on the variations of the elven script over the centuries. Her collection here is quite remarkable, and she does, as promised, have a number of books from the city of Caelora."

I looked at the number of books spread out on tables on the first floor. The script was nothing even remotely familiar to me. "Let me take off some of my armor, and I will help you, scholar."

"Thank you. These stacks here can go back to the third floor. There are two stacks that need to be brought down," he indicated to the third floor.

I made quick work of exchanging the books. "Have you found anything useful?" I inquired of the scholar while sitting in a padded reading chair.

"Not yet. But there are fascinating histories that are thousands of years old. The books were never cataloged and sorted. My guess is they never had an expert on the language. I am doing my best. The script has a lot of flourishes to it, making it difficult to read, but I am slowly becoming accustomed to it." He pointed to an open book, "That one so far is the best lead I have found on what the Duchess is looking for."

"What is she looking for?" I asked, looking at the book. There were some amazing sketches of elves in everyday life. Mostly craftsman.

"The Duchess wants to know if there is anything of value in the region surrounding Caelora. If she reopens the trade road, then the Emperor will expand her duchy to include those lands. Your mage commander will not commit to the effort unless she knows there is actually something valuable in the lands," the scholar informed me. I had already heard them discussing this before.

"And what is so interesting about this book? It looks like mostly crafters." I said, still paging through.

"It is an index of master crafters of Caelora from the 4th King's reign, Ninleyn Eldaerenth. It details the crafter, their profession, and what they were famous for." He walked over to me and turned the page to an artificer blacksmith. "This is Nabaera Kinvaen. A famous blacksmith thousands of years ago, but I am interested in this passage here," he pointed excitedly.

I looked at the unfamiliar scrawl. "What does it say?"

"It describes one of her mithril bowls. It could convert water into milk. But that is not the interesting passage. Where the materials for the bowl came from is! A dungeon the elves called The Shimmering Labyrinth." The scholar smiled excitedly.

I frowned. If I had my choice, I would never go in one again. What I knew about dungeons was that they appeared over deep ley lines in the earth that 'fed' them, according to Castile. Second, a dungeon could be destroyed, according to Delmar. And finally, they were full of horrific monsters.

"How do you know the dungeon is still active and near Caelora?" I asked with skepticism.

Favian smiled, "Because I have found two more passages referring to the dungeon! But you are right that the dungeon could have been destroyed over the centuries. I do not think it is one of the seven dungeons in the Empire. No dungeon in the Empire produces mithril."

"How would a dungeon remain hidden for so long? I am sure the Empire has already searched the area around Caelora," I noted.

"But no one has searched in the city extensively. Do you know how the city was conquered?" Favian asked, going into his teacher's voice I often heard during the ride. Well, I could now, at least, recognize people speaking elvish and say a few phrases. One of the phrases I memorized was, Don't kill me, I surrender.

"I do not know about the history other than the place is full of specters and wraiths," I replied.

The scholar smiled, "About fifteen hundred years ago, the Legion surrounded the city and flooded it with poison gas. They killed thousands of elves. What the Legion did not count on was their horrific act generated the specters from the dead. They stand eternal guard against the intruders. The Empire has lost a number of expeditions over the centuries; that is why I was excited when I heard there was a collection of books recovered from Caelora in Sobral."

"So the dungeon is in the haunted city? Castile will never have us search the city," I responded, half-confident.

"You are smart, Eryk. Think about it. Most cities grow up around dungeons for their resources. The number of specters in the city has not diminished in centuries, so it makes sense that there is a ley line underneath the city regenerating them after they are slain," Favian said clinically.

"So that means the city can never be never be retaken. The specters will always come back; if the dungeon is there, it is inaccessible," I rationalized.

The old scholar smiled, "Oh, there are ways. The kettle of souls, banishment circles, and giving the remains a final rest spell are just a few ways to permanently end a specter's existence. And before you ask, the Emperor never had reason to invest in cleansing the city."

I was thinking about the nightmare wraith the entire time I helped the old scholar ferry books up and down the stairs as he searched for more clues. He continued to help me practice the Elven language as we worked. I never thought I would have a chance to talk with an elf, but it was something to do to keep my mind off the possibility of entering a city full of specters.

I eventually left Scholar Favian deep into the night. I carried my armor to my room and found Lareen asleep in the bed. She looked exhausted, and I tried not to wake her. I took a cold bath and then joined her in the bed. She didn't stir, so I rolled over and sighed, quickly falling asleep.

In the morning, Lareen woke me with a kiss. I definitely needed that peppermint wash. After a prolonged kiss, she said, "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You looked exhausted. What did you do in the city yesterday," I asked, showing interest.

"Meal distribution for the women and children. More and more are showing up every day. One of the children said he saw dragon riders in the sky," she said in disbelief.

"It is true. Flavius said the Dragon Legion was sent to the eastern front," I replied.

She looked concerned and confused, "That is not possible. They do not fight in the wars." She sat up in the bed suddenly on alert.

"They are scouting for an excavation being done by the Scholarium," I informed her. "I do not think they will be going into direct combat, but I can not say for sure."

Some relief came over her face, and I could figure out why she had been concerned. I asked her, "You know one of the riders?" Her face flushed from the gray light of the morning.

She nodded. I didn't think she would say more, but she did, "We are the same age and had classes together in the Emperor's Palace. He had enough potential to be a Dragon Rider and was training his drake when I came here with Duchess Veronica."

I didn't need to ask if there was something between them. I relaxed on my side, "Have you heard from him since you arrived in Sobral?" Maybe their relationship was platonic.

"Two letters," Lareen said with some excitement. She completely missed the fact that I was maybe jealous. She smiled while telling me, "He had passed the flight trials with his drake, in the first letter. In the second letter, he told me what it was like to fly on a drake. He hoped that I could one day see him fly during an Emperor's celebration."

Great, I was competing against a Dragon Rider. I rolled out of bed and started dressing, and Lareen didn't take a hint. She asked, "Are you going riding north again?"

"Yeah, just a few miles from the wall. I am supplying the alchemist with material," I replied as I started to put on my old armor again today.

"Why don't you wear your new armor?" Lareen asked, smiling. "I was excited to see you in it—and then removing it."

"I am saving it for a special occasion. If I connect with Maveith, I will probably stay at his residence tonight. I need to range further to keep up my harvest quotas," I said neutrally. I geared up with my weapons and carried my spear to the stables.

Ginger was excited to see me. As I was saddling her, Maveith walked into the stables. "Want company today?"

"I do, Maveith. Do you know where I can find truffles?" I asked as I worked on Ginger.

"Black or white? I have a bunch of the white stored for winter. The black tastes too much like dirt to me," his deep voice sounded like he was imparting wisdom to me.

"Either. The alchemist did not specify but said they grew near white flowers," I replied.

"The white then," he answered and nodded. "We can discuss compensation for them."

"Certainly," I said, relieved. "I wouldn't mind purchasing you weasel pelts in your guest room as well." I finished with Ginger and asked, "How do you find your truffles?"

Mavieth shrugged, "The wild boars usually dig up the ground when they find them. They don't get them all, and I get a few."

"Pigs! I knew it!" I said.

"No, boar," Maveith corrected me. I didn't bother to explain they were the same thing.

We walked out of the gates. I was slightly annoyed that even though I was mounted, I was barely taller than the goliath. We walked in silence before I asked, "How are the company men doing with digging holes?"

Maveith laughed, "Good. They had some choice words that you had not participated in the shovel excavation work yet. Brutus said you were too important to come out there yourself and get your hands dirty digging holes. I don't think he believed me when I told him you killed an adult manticore."

I tried to say it as openly as I could, "Can you not tell people I killed the female?"

Maveith was at eye level with me and considered my request. There was a long pause, and he made contact with me, "I understand, Eryk. I will not tell anyone else. Many people don't trust people who use poison. I know Flavius was very interested in your kill as well. I told him you used poison to kill the creature. He asked to see the corpse, but it was already two days dead when Konstantin and Flavius arrived."

"Thank you, Maveith. Just take credit for the kill," I said.

"I couldn't do that. I will just not tell them you used poison," he said firmly, closing the matter. A minute later, he asked, "What type of poison did you use anyway? None of the scavengers that fed on the corpse were killed by it."

I didn't want to get caught in a lie. "It doesn't matter. But targets the heart, stops it from beating." Maveith nodded like it made perfect sense to him.

We spent the trip to his cabin looking for harvesting ingredients for the alchemist. It was dusk when we finally got to his residence. He had manticore hides stretched outside on racks, and the odor was terrible. "Do you want to learn how to prepare hides?" Maveith asked, moving to check on his projects.

"No, I am going to clean up at the stream and see if I can get the dirt out from under my nails before sleeping. In the morning, we can discuss compensation for the pelts and truffles." I said, dropping my pack and starting to unsaddle Ginger.

After rubbing down Ginger and cleaning my hands, I went inside the house, and she tried to follow. Maveith immediately said, "I don't know about stabeling her inside, Eryk."

I realized it might not be safe outside for Ginger alone. I tried to joke with Maveith, "It is okay. She is housebroken."

"House-broken..." he puzzled out the phrase. "Then it is okay," he nodded his permission.

I whispered to Ginger, "You better not soil Maveith's floor. I do not want to be cleaning up in the morning." I walked her until she did her business and then brought her inside. I would be crossing my fingers all night.

I left Ginger in the common room and slid into the silky weasel pelts. I was definitely going to purchase these from Maveith tomorrow. I took out my amulet and channeled aether into it...