Page 40 of Crown of Flame
And now that I’ve felt it, I’m not sure I can take it back.
“And do one more thing for me,” she proposes as I glide away from her.
“What?”
After the sudden rift she’s created, I’m a lot more reluctant to help her.
“When you find the book, liberate the tower for me. And make sure everybody we saved is safe.”
I nod. As long as their magic doesn’t connect with me, there’s not much the dark elves can do to stop me. So this feels like little more than an inconvenience.
And if it returns to me the Serena I knew, who helped me discover this realm, then it’s worth it.
I start a small fire in the hovel for Serena so that she can keep warm, and then I venture out into the wilderness.
“I hope this is worth it,” I say aloud. “Two days ago, I didn’t even know what a human was. Now I’m risking my life for them. And for what?”
In the distance, the towers beckon me. I hesitate, knowing that the dark elves hold the secrets to unmaking me should they choose to use them.
But I won’t give them that chance.
I first confirm that the humans in the tower we liberated are okay. They’ve found portions of food left over from the elves and are using that to sustain themselves. They’re still very weak and it’s only a temporary solution, but for now, they’re equipped to survive.
The moment I enter another tower, I’m greeted with immediate opposition. The layout appears identical, meaning bookshelves outfit the first floor.
I just need to stop myself from burning them.
“It’s here,” one of the dark elves says to another immediately as I enter the room. “Tell the boss.”
I lift the elf in the air, choking him. The other dark elf flees for his life, running up the stairs.
Easily enough, I’m able to dispatch the elves on the first floor, killing them without destroying any books. Curiously, they don’t seem to put up much of a fight.
“Now to get this book for Serena.”
I levitate the piece of scrap in front of me, using it for comparison as one by one, I look at the covers and spines of these books.
It takes longer than I’d like, but I manage to find it and set it on the table before I move up. If I carry it with me, I only risk damaging or burning it.
“No potion tables,” I note upon reaching the second floor. “Just lots of cells.”
The humans are huddled together in cells, connected to the strange device. They all look at me, pleading for their lives.
“I’ll come back for you,” I say into their minds. “I need to clear the tower first.”
This tower has several floors of cells, gathering nearly four times as many humans. But I can’t do anything about that yet.
The top floor appears similar to the one where I was summoned. I find a large group of dark elves, huddled together while muttering an incantation. Blue light emerges from all of them, streaming together into the room’s center ceiling.
I fear they might have readied a spell to deal with me, but as I watch from the stairwell and the light dissipates, seemingly nothing happens.
“It’s done,” one of the elves says to the group. “He knows everything now.”
I step out from the shadows.
“Hello.”
I kill them individually, ensuring the humans’ safety.