The Keeper's Codex: Ashen Memories

by A. D. Wills

  “Have you been to one before, Snill?” Caden asked.

  “In Avara, we have some select pockets where they exist, and they can be quite therapeutic even.”

  “I wouldn't mind taking a dip too,” Sappo added in, almost feeling a little guilty to indulge.

  Zasha conceded in her silence, and they all proceeded up the set of spiraling stairs up to the narrow hall with rooms on either side until they spotted theirs. Zasha stuck the key in, and they all saw their dingy room upon opening.

  Two beds, barely big enough for two people, let alone someone as big as Sappo. Not to mention, the roof was short, causing Sappo to hunch over with every step, since half of the room was on a slant for some reason. All they had in there aside from the beds, was a small dusty window, and a couple of stubby worn candles, whose wicks were all but gone now.

  “A little more cramped than I might have expected,” Snillrik noted.

  “It's not so bad, you all can just take the beds. I'll grab a pillow and I'm good with the floor. Besides, it's pretty warm too,” Caden grabbed a hay-filled pillow, and a blanket to throw on the floor.

  While everyone settled in for a moment, Achi wiggled over to the window looking out into the city, squeaking away, and pointing its tiny flippers.

  “Is something the matter, Achi?” Snillrik asked.

  Snillrik approached, and peered out the window to see a massive quarry out behind the city past all the homes and buildings on the outskirts. It was massive too, spanning the entire width of the enormous crater, but they couldn't see much else, so Snillrik popped open the window, and stuck their stretched out monocle.

  “See anything cool, Snill?” Caden noticed Snillrik.

  “Possibly.” Snillrik scanned all over, spotting about a hundred workers, barely clothed, mining and digging at the mounds of rock, and sharp terrain that appeared at least another fifty feet deep or so.

  Zasha, and Sappo joined them to see what the curiosity was all about.

  “Wow, it's huge! I wonder if there's even a dungeon in a place like that, it looks big enough for sure, right? And if there's a dungeon, there's definitely some awesome stuff inside,” Caden drifted off in imagining all kinds of endless possibilities.

  “It appears they're mining for resources, but at the same time, they don't appear to be accomplishing anything at first glance," said Snillrik.

  “Do you think it has anything to do with... the contract?” Sappo paused, and looked around before whispering.

  “I wouldn't be surprised, but we need information before doing anything else, and we're not getting that until we find out from the source," Zasha surmised.

  “Which is why we should probably head down to eat, then wait for them in the hot springs!” Caden suggested.

  “For once, you're actually right,” Zasha shuddered at uttering those words.

  “Then we can check out that dungeon."

  “We have no idea if there's a dungeon or not,” Zasha swiped her face in annoyance, watching Caden sprint down the steps to get in on that free meal that was promised.

  Sappo, Snillrik, and Zasha paced behind Caden. They didn't bother catching up with him. At this point, they were almost all but sapped of their energy from their long travels, whereas Caden seemed to be recharged upon arriving in a new place.

  “Over here, I've got us a table!” Caden shouted over to Zasha, Snillrik, and Sappo—attracting the attention of everyone else in the room.

  The three of them slouched over in embarrassment to join Caden, sitting all too pleased despite not even knowing what the meal might be.

  Shortly after they all sat down together, someone from the kitchen came out with three steaming hot plates on a squeaky wheeled cart, and placed each one in front of Sappo, Snillrik and Caden. They all had the same plump lemon chicken, salted roast potatoes, and carrots—simple with smaller helpings, but they weren't going to deny anything because of that.

  They all dug in, inhaling their food without any manners at all, clearly enjoying themselves. Even Sappo approved, noting how perfectly cooked everything was. Despite Caden's wishes for some kind of dessert, there wouldn't be any. One meal, albeit a filling one, and that was it.

  "Alright, let's hit the hot springs!" Caden leaped out of his chair, and bolted out of the dining area on an unsettled stomach.

  Before anyone could stop him, Caden already seeing the swirling steam leaking out from the approaching hot springs down the hall. Once he reached the thin sliding door, Caden whipped it open to see the quaint changing room with sets of fresh towels stacked atop a tall wooden shelf against the wall. No one else was in there though, and it didn't appear anyone had been in a while. Everything seemed untouched, and abandoned more than anything, but Caden didn't care. He tore his clothes off, throwing them all over the floor while he scrambled his way out to the hot spring. Caden tried leaping into the air, but slipped—stumbling around in an effort to regain his balance in sliding toward the edge of the hot spring, before falling into the water face first.

  Sappo, and Snillrik both entered moments later, having heard the aggressive splash, and panicked efforts.

  “You could have just waited...” Sappo let out a breath that grew into a smile.

  Caden popped up, unfazed. “Oh man, these hot springs are way better than that oasis. I mean, the water doesn't taste as good, but hey, this place probably won't try getting up and leaving on us, right?" Caden let out a hearty laugh, encouraging his friends to hop in.

  Snillrik, and Sappo obliged, dipping their toes into the scorching hot, yet soothing water that boiled their stresses and worries away upon submerging.

  “So, where's Zasha?” Caden looked around.

  “In the other section behind you,” Zasha's voice clearly poked through the wooden divider of hot springs.

  “Then I suppose all we have to do is...wait?” Snillrik leaned back, still a little unsure about all of this.

  “Unless we want to poke around without any information, and risk getting caught before ever getting started,” Zasha reminded.

  The four of them enjoyed their time in the hot springs, though, some more than others. Caden splashed around, doing flips around underwater, and throwing handfuls of water over the wooden divider to bother Zasha any chance he could.

  They carried on like this until night fell, and the dusting of stars lit up the sky, but without anyone else ever arriving.

  “Maybe this isn't the most open area to attract attention?” Sappo wondered.

  “We were sitting in the dining hall long enough to get noticed, not to mention we were obvious about making our arrival...” Zasha drifted off in hinting at Caden's rambunctiousness.

  Interrupting, Caden, Snillrik, and Sappo heard the opening, and closing of a door on the other side.

  “Hey Zasha, is someone coming in?” Caden asked.

  Zasha cringed in ignoring him, and instead, observed the short, brown haired, brown eyed girl who sat down just off to the side of Zasha, but far enough to where it appeared they didn't know one another.

  “Hey come on! If it's the one who sent the contract, we should know, right?” Caden spoke up, surely loud enough for anyone who might be in the changing room to hear.

  “So, you're them?” She asked with an unsure gaze.

  “Myself, and three others over there,” Zasha replied.

  The girl shuffled over a little closer. “Meet me at a house marked with a white streak on it, and I'll tell you everything.”

  “Wait, why not tell us now?” Caden heard through the divider.

  She ignored Caden, walking right back out of the hot spring, without saying another word. Just like that, she got up and left.

  “So, should we go now?” Caden asked.

  “No you idiot, we're not going to trail her, that's too obvious. We wait a little bit, then go,” said Zasha.

  “Perhaps a little bit redundant meeting us here,” Snillrik seemed a little confused.

  “How do we know it's not just a way to lure u
s out of sight? Maybe staying inside is for the best until someone mentions the contract," Sappo wasn't entirely sold, or at least his paranoia wasn't.

  “They're the only ones who've tried to even talk to us, so we should listen, right? It's gotta be the one who sent the contract out,” Caden reasoned.

  “We have to be careful then, and be on our guard,” Snillrik said. “We still must remember that we aren't sure exactly what their motives in contacting us are just yet.”

  Sappo sighed. He wasn't sure at all, but wasn't about to be left behind on his own here either. “We should get moving though, it's already dark out.”

  “Alright, let's get going!” Caden shot up from the hot spring, splashing in both Sappo and Snillrik's faces.

  Snillrik, Sappo, and Zasha weren't left with much choice if they didn't want Caden to blow their cover so they followed behind to head back up to their room. When they entered, they saw Caden already tying some sheets together in shoddy knots.

  “What are you doing?” Zasha asked with a long face.

  “I figure we should probably sneak out right? It'd be pretty easy to spot us just walking out the front door."

  “Making ourselves as scarce as possible would be to our benefit,” Snillrik agreed. “And it appears this is our best chance.” Snillrik noted the clear back street behind the Inn they overlooked.

  “And besides, this way we get to repel out of a building like a couple of spies or something,” Caden's eyes glowed like stars, tying the sheets up.

  “Out the window?” Sappo's eyes twitched, and his legs turned to jelly at the mere mention. Heights was on the very long list of his fears after all. “Do you even have any experience doing this though, like securing those sheets?”

  “Nope,” Caden mentioned nonchalantly, as he pulled the bed over, and tied the sheets to a bedpost. “That should do it. There's no way the bed's going to fly out the window now...probably. You can even go first Sappo, less risk it'll snap on the first go."

  “You're not helping even a little...” Sappo shook, peering out the window. It might have only been two stories, but suddenly felt twice that to a cowering Sappo.

  Sappo crept his way out the window, wiggling his big paws around in shaking one inch at a time until he touched down onto the roof outside.

  “Just don't look down and you'll be fine Sappo, trust me,” Caden encouraged.

  “Shh, I'm fine, just be quiet so no one hears...” Sappo whispered, and descended down the side of the Inn with his eyes scrunched shut. Before he knew it, he landed with a short stumbling hop. “I did it!” Sappo shouted in triumph, and quickly covered his mouth so as to not alert anyone.

  “Alright Snill, your turn,” Caden smacked Snillrik on the back, and Snillrik made their way down with ease, while Achi squirmed in Snillrik's clothes to hide.

  Zasha took her turn, wasting no time in swiftly climbing on down to the others.

  Caden eagerly hopped out the window next, but instead of inching his way down, he nearly slid the entire way, until his hands began to burn so much that he let go—crashing down onto the ground.

  “Whew, hot, hot, hot!” Caden blew on his hands in a frenzy.

  “Idiot...” Zasha shook her head. “Come on, let's find her house before someone finds us. Between your squeal, and his fall, I wouldn't be surprised if we've been seen.”

  “It...it wasn't a squeal...” Sappo muttered.

  The four of them made their way through the streets as inconspicuous as possible, with Zasha making sure Caden didn't get out of line, or do anything at all as she's become so accustomed to already. Thankfully, no guards were out and about, at least not around the inner city, making it easy for them to take their time looking for that one white mark she tipped them off to.

  “I looks like this is it.” Sappo pointed out the white marking described to them, standing in front of a little stone house nearing the outskirts of town.

  Caden banged on the door without warning.

  “Do you need to be so loud about everything?” Zasha cut in a sharp hiss of a whisper, slapping Caden's hand down.

  “What? Oh, yeah, sorry...gotta be quiet,” Caden grinned off.

  The door swung open, and the girl pulled all of them inside in a hurried panic to close the door behind them all in one go.

  A quaint looking home, without much to it. A little kitchen, some drawers with crooked cupboards hanging overhead, and a small space for any gatherings with a wooden chair, a bench, and table in between them sitting atop a worn out red rug.

  “Well, perhaps a little aggressive,” Snillrik brushed their clothes back after their stumbling entrance.

  “I said make sure you aren't followed, but then you bang on the door like that,” she scolded, scanning over them, before her eyes landed on a clearly guilty Caden.

  “Yeah, sorry about that, but we weren't followed, so we're good!”

  She paused in suspicion looking them all over.

  “So, you have the information we want?” Zasha cut in.

  “You're sure you're adventurers?” She asked.

  “Yeah, why wouldn't we be?” Caden shrugged.

  “It's just...I was picturing you being more...heroic?”

  “Huh? Who cares about being heroes? They're boring anyway.”

  “Then why're you here? Didn't you take that contract to help?”

  “Yeah, but being heroic, and helping out aren't the same thing. Heroes don't get to do what they want. They've gotta follow all the rules. I can do whatever I want, and help whoever I want, however I want.”

  “You're the first ones to bother showing up, so it's not like I have much choice either way,” she conceded, and went to take a seat in a small wooden chair across a bench, with a tiny table between them that held a dingy tea set. “I'm Chryssa, by the way.”

  The four of them sat down, squeezing in shoulder-to-shoulder with Zasha somehow having ended up in the middle, unpleasantly squished in between.

  “Caden, Sappo, Snillrik, and Zasha here,” Caden rattled off introductions, with everyone giving a friendly wave, and Zasha a not-so-welcoming nod.

  “So...” Sappo awkwardly shifted around. “Can you tell us what you need help with here, and who...'they' are?” He gulped, clinging to the slim hope it wasn't a Divine.

  “The short of it, Workal, a Divine Warden, has taken over the city to use it as his personal playground,” Chryssa began.

  “Oh, good...perfectly fine...” Sappo muttered off in a worrisome fit.

  “He showed up out of nowhere a few months ago with his personal guard, Angren, and a group of soldiers to take over everything. We didn't stand a chance. Anyone who bothered fighting back, or even just asking what gave them the right, they were executed in front of everyone to be made an example of.”

  “That's horrific...” Snillrik, trailed off.

  “Do you know what he's after?” Zasha coldly cut through the weighing tension that sucked the air out of the room. She was more than accustomed to the Divines’ horrors by now.

  “He never gave us a reason, none at all. It happened so fast, claiming under Lord Divine Judocus they'll be taking control until further notice. But I know it's something to do with the quarry.”

  “And what might draw you to that conclusion?” Snillrik inquired.

  “We've always had the quarry here, but we never really bothered with it, until Workal got here. Right away, he and his guards rounded up anyone they thought might be a problem, and threw them in the mine to work until they dropped. I don't know what it is, but something has to be in there.”

  Despite the brooding mood, Caden couldn't help but wander off in thought, dreaming up what mysteries could possibly be down there with a big dumb smile on his face.

  Sappo nudged Caden so as to not seem rude. “Sorry about him...”

  “So, I guess you want us to kick this Workal guy out of here?” Caden smashed his fist against his opposing palm with a confident gaze.

  “...Yeah, but it's not that easy or else we
wouldn't have a problem at all,” Chryssa cleared up. “If you do this, you're going to be going against the Divines themselves.”

  “Even better. I'm already getting tired of hearing about them,” Caden leaned in, unwavering in his determination. “No one should get to tell someone else how to live their life. Leave it to us."

  “Thank you...” Chryssa choked up a bit at the sight of the four of them sitting there, allies she wasn't hoping to see, but allies nonetheless. For the first time in months, finally, there was a glimmer of hope, no matter how faint it might be.

  “Oh, uh, sorry. Did I say something wrong?” Caden turned to ask everyone.

  “No it's fine, it's just...I didn't think anyone would ever answer. Every contract I sent, no one ever answered it. I thought that no one cared about us—about my parents being down there in those mines,” Chryssa sucked in her lip, and her tear-filled eyes were dried away by her fiery gaze. “So I want to help you, whatever it is, to take my city back.”

  “We don't need extra baggage,” Zasha turned down without any thought.

  “Hey wait, we can definitely use someone who knows all about this place, right?” Caden pitched.

  “Do you have anything else to share? Any information?” Zasha asked.

  Chryssa paused, stammering in surprise, but ultimately shook her head before lowering it in defeat.

  “I thought so. We have everything we need. The rest relies on getting more information from those around Workal now, and how to get to him,” Zasha confirmed.

  “She can definitely help us, the more numbers on our side, the better,” Caden reasoned.

  “Fine, but I won't be bailing anyone out who holds us back,” Zasha stared Chryssa's way.

  “Don't worry, she's pretty awful with everyone,” Caden beamed a bright joking smile.

  “Caden's right, we're going to need the help of everyone we can, which brings me to ask; is there anyone still as willing as you are? I can't help but point out it didn't seem many others were all too displeased,” Snillrik tried to be as delicate as they could. They knew how these things went, especially with how Tirli had a stranglehold on Avara, but still, they had to ask.