by Victor Kloss
Ben couldn’t believe how many different types of dwarves there were – living in mountains, forests, and even on boats in the ocean. Some of them got on with each other; others were mortal enemies. The sky dwarves sounded extremely cool, living up on giant airships, and he lost twenty minutes reading about them.
“Here’s something,” Natalie said.
Ben looked up, feeling a little guilty that he wasn’t actively helping. Natalie was holding a battered, leather-bound book, whose pages looked ready to crumble.
“Listen to this,” she said. "’ The arcane dwarves were forced to retreat into the dense forests of Jimba after being overrun by the horse people. Several expeditions were made by Institute Scholars in the next decades, but no recorded sightings were ever witnessed.’"
“Is that it?” Ben asked, when Natalie stopped.
Natalie scanned the rest of the page. “Yeah, there’s nothing else.”
Charlie was smiling, a gleam in his eyes. “That’s good! Something to work on. We have a location – Jimba Forest – and also a group who were close to them: the horse people. More things to research. Keep going.”
It was another hour before anyone found anything and, to Ben’s great surprise, it was he who made the discovery. Buried behind several large books, he fished out a small, tattered diary by a man with the initials of A.B.R. Many of the pages were missing, but Ben was intrigued by the faint blood stains on the cover, and he always enjoyed diaries. He flicked through the remaining pages, and his stomach gave an immediate lurch.
“I think I have something,” he said.
Charlie stopped trying to grab a book that was clearly out of reach. Natalie looked at him expectantly.
“There’s no name on the diary except for the initials A.B.R. Looks like he’s on some crazy mission. The first entry I can find is from 3rd November 1614.
"’Arrived at the edge of Jimba Forest – it is both beautiful and at the same time a terrifying jungle. I hope the rumours aren’t true, or else I may not last long. Fortunately, food and drink should not present a problem as there appears to be plenty of both. M.G., you would love the colours here – they make our forests at home look positively dull.’"
Ben stopped, though he continued to stare at the page.
“Is that it?” Natalie asked.
Ben nodded. He flicked through the next few pages, until he found one that was legible.
"’14th November 1614. Saw the sun for the first time in some duration. The trees are so dense, they do not permit much daylight. My knee still feels weak from the fight with the growl. They make tigers look like pussy cats. My spell supply is starting to run low, and I must hope I do not run into too many more enemies before my search is complete.’"
Ben cursed. “That’s it for that one. Next one is a week later.
"’22nd November 1614. Good news, M.G., I believe I have found my first sign of the arcane dwarves. It is not much, a faint footstep and a scrap of fabric, but, as we know, there are no other sentient beings here, so I must conclude it is them. I am hopeful that within the next few days I shall see more. I certainly hope so, as I am starting to get weary eating berries and insects.’"
Ben looked up to see Charlie’s and Natalie’s frustrated faces. “Sorry, page is ripped. Hold on.”
Unfortunately, the next several entries were blurred and illegible, and he had to turn a few pages before he could find something more to read.
"’30th November 1614. They are watching me, I am sure of it. I can feel eyes upon me, though they are extremely good at hiding, better even than the wood elves of Lithlorn. I fear they do not take well to strangers, but as I am just one old man, and clearly present no threat, I believe they are still deciding what to do. I have a plan, but it will require some diplomatic work, so I am hopeful that I get a chance to talk and explain myself. I will know soon.’"
Ben looked up. He didn’t know why, but his whole body felt cold, and his breathing was laboured.
“Can you stop staring into space, and find the next entry?” Charlie asked impatiently.
“Sorry. Let’s see here.
"’10th December 1614. As prisons go, this one isn’t too bad. It may be small, but at least it doesn’t smell, and I cannot see any faeces on the grass. I hope that means they will let me relieve myself elsewhere. The construction is some kind of wood I’ve never seen before, but it is incredibly strong. I have pleaded my case to their under-chief. He did listen, but I could not read his face, so I am in the dark. I know I ask a lot, but these arcane dwarves are, to my mind, the best hope we have. If we can just gain their cooperation, I will rest easy. If not, I fear you may have to come and rescue me, old friend.’"
“Please tell me that’s not the end of the entry,” Charlie said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Afraid so,” Ben replied. He skipped ahead, his heart sinking. “And that’s it – there’s nothing else to read.”
“How maddening!” Natalie said with feeling.
Charlie slid down his ladder, and immediately started pacing the small, circular room. His eyes were alight, and his hands were placed behind his back in his typical thinking position.
“Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating,” Charlie said. He muttered several more words to this end, until Natalie could take no more.
“What is fascinating?” she asked.
“Everything,” Charlie said, thrusting a finger out, before the hand retreated behind his back again. “This fellow, A.B.R., is on a mission to find these arcane dwarves, in the hope of getting their help with something. Did you note the date?”
Ben flicked open the diary again. “Yeah, early seventeenth century.”
“Right. The formative years of the Institute, not long after Queen Elizabeth would have passed away, leaving the original directors each with the task of guarding a piece of her armour.”
“Interesting, but how is that relevant?”
“M.G.,” Charlie said, pronouncing each letter with such emphasis his lips looked almost comical.
“You what?”
“In the diary, A.B.R. was talking to a person called M.G. Now, we know the timing fits – what if M.G. stands for Michael Greenwood – your great ancestor, first Spellsword Director, and Guardian of Elizabeth’s Sword?”
Ben was speechless. Partly because of the revelation and partly because he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of that. He felt his lungs expand with sudden hope.
“That would be incredible,” Natalie said. Ben couldn’t help noticing her own excitement seemed in check, as if she wanted to believe, but wasn’t quite ready. “But M.G. are common initials. It could be anyone; why do you think it’s Michael Greenwood?”
Ben expected a backlash, but Charlie seemed to enjoy the challenge; his face was now positively glowing with energy.
“Good question. You’re absolutely right: those are common initials, and I could be way off the mark. But as I said, the timing is right. Also, consider what was going on. A.B.R. was travelling to who knows where, hoping to find these arcane dwarves to help him with something. It sounds like a suicidal mission, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does,” Natalie said, clearly unsure where Charlie was heading.
“We know that the original directors were under orders to hide each piece of armour as best they could. That obscure forest sounds like as good a place as any – especially if he could get the arcane dwarves to help him guard it.”
To this, Natalie had no response. Ben’s heart was positively drumming now, and he felt like joining Charlie in his pacing. He thought of the helm, and how it was buried in a deep underground cavern, guarded by the forreck. Suddenly, Charlie’s theory didn’t seem so outrageous.
“I admit, it’s a long shot,” Charlie said, “but it gives us plenty to research. This A.B.R. bloke, for one. I’m sure we can find out if he was an original director easily enough.”
“Let’s say he is,” Ben mused. “Then what? Do we go off to find these arcane dwarves, assuming they might still be protecting the piece of armour?”
“No,” Charlie said, shaking his head vigorously. “For one, we don’t even know if the arcane dwarves still exist. And if they do, they sound dangerous and would probably kill us as soon as help us. No, I think we need more information.”
“About what?” Natalie asked.
Charlie pulled out the now crumpled drawing of the dwarf symbol. “We know this has something to do with the arcane dwarves, but we still don’t know what. The dark elves were also interested in this symbol, and were probably trying to get the dwarf mage to tell them what it was.”
Ben’s head was starting to spin. “So the dark elves were interested – what does that mean?”
“Possibly nothing, potentially everything,” Charlie said. “The dark elves are still after Elizabeth’s Armour, remember? What if they were looking for the next piece, and this symbol was the clue they were following?”
Natalie put both her hands on her head. “I think I need a drink of water. This is starting to make my head hurt.”
Ben felt exactly the same, but he clung on to Charlie’s theory. It sort of made sense, but there were a lot of assumptions. If A.B.R. was an original director trying to hide his piece of the armour with the arcane dwarves, then it was possible the dark elves were also trying to find those same dwarves, with the intention of retrieving said piece of armour. The only question was: what did that dwarf symbol represent? It was the missing piece of the puzzle.
“Let’s take a break,” Ben suggested. “I need some air, and my head is about to explode.”
— Chapter Seventeen —
Director of Diplomacy
It felt good to be outside after being in the hot, claustrophobic library for so long. After a sandwich and a cup of tea at a nearby café, they felt fully refreshed. They headed back into the library and dived in to continue their research.
It took Charlie less than five minutes to discover what they needed about A.B.R.
“Angus Bernhard Reed. He was the original Director of Diplomacy,” Charlie said, stabbing an open page, with a huge grin. “I knew it!”
They were seated in a more comfortable, but little known reading area, full of squishy chairs and huge coffee table books. It looked a bit like a rustic version of the common room, minus the tea and coffee.
“So, where does that leave us?” Natalie asked. “We can still only assume that Angus was on his way to the dwarves to hide his piece of armour – we don’t know it for a fact.”
“And even if we did, we don’t know if the arcane dwarves are even still alive.”
“All true,” Charlie said. “Like I said, I think we need to research this symbol more, and see if it reveals anything.”
There was a moment’s silence, which generally indicated agreement. But for Ben, a germ of an idea had started forming in his mind – one that he knew would get ripped to shreds the moment he voiced it. Yet the more he thought about his idea, the more convinced he became of its merit. It was dangerous – well, to be fair, it was far worse than dangerous; he wasn’t even sure it was possible – but it had the potential to get them some real answers.
“Ben?”
Ben turned, unaware that both Charlie and Natalie had been looking at him.
“Are you okay?” Natalie asked. “You went all distant.”
“I’m fine,” Ben said, giving them both a hasty smile, and ignoring the suspicious glance Charlie threw his way.
“Let’s split up,” Charlie said. “I’ll tackle the dwarf symbol. Ben, why don’t you find out what you can about the Jimba Forest? Natalie, anything else you can discover about Angus would be great.”
Charlie gave them directions to where they might find what they were looking for, and they set off. Charlie remained, whizzing back up a ladder to delve into a bookshelf.
Initially, Ben and Natalie’s route kept them together, but Ben was too lost in his thoughts to talk. His mind drifted back to the idea that had formed in his head just minutes earlier. Yes, why not? After he was done with researching the Jimba Forest, he could do his own research. If he did break the idea to Charlie and Natalie, he’d need to be prepared.
“I’m this way,” Natalie said, pointing at a sign. “Important Historical Figures of the Institute.”
“Oh, right.” Ben hadn’t realised it, but he had been following Natalie. She had been talking to him, but he couldn’t recall a word she had said.
“Are you okay?” Natalie said, her green eyes narrowing. “You look distracted.”
For a minute, Ben thought about revealing his idea – it would certainly be easier to do so without Charlie’s laser-sharp reasoning and pessimism in the way.
“I’m fine,” Ben said. “It’s just a lot to take in. I feel like I need to sketch it all out.”
Natalie smiled. “I think that’s a really good idea. Well, I’ll see you soon.”
With the help of Charlie’s directions, it took Ben less than five minutes to find the Unseen Geography section. There were hundreds of maps, packed tightly on shelves, as well as textbooks describing the geography of what must have been every possible land in the Unseen Kingdoms, from tiny islands to kingdoms as big as France.
Ben started running his finger along the shelf. Thankfully everything was alphabetised, making life easier, but due to the sheer number of books, it still took him a little while to find the right one.
“Gotcha!” Ben said, picking out a small fold-out map from a shelf that looked like it was about to collapse. There were no tables around, so Ben sat down where he was, and spread the map on the floor.
Jimba Forest, it turned out, was located on Jimba, a small island approximately the size of the United Kingdom, located off the east coast of Africa. Despite its remote location, Jimba was a lucrative source of silver, and had been conquered by the English during the height of the British Empire. The island used to be one huge forest, but, due to mining, it had been partially decimated. There was even a Dragonway station there, though Ben had no idea if it still worked. The island was hot, tropical, and sounded rather unpleasant. The population was split between humans and desert elves, with no mention of dwarves at all. Ben read the entire map, back and front, before slipping it into his pocket.
Assuming there was a functioning Dragonway, that would at least give them access to Jimba. Otherwise they would have to commandeer a winged animal. The thought of flying all the way to Africa on a pegasus did not appeal. The real question was – were there any arcane dwarves left in that forest? The fact that there had been no mention of them wasn’t surprising, as they seemed a remarkably secretive race. But it would be useful if they could find out one way or the other before they travelled there.
Ben felt satisfied that he had done all he could with relation to Jimba. According to his watch, he still had thirty minutes left before they were due to meet up.
Perfect. That gave him just enough time to investigate his project. Thanks to his endless hours with Charlie in the library, Ben had some idea of where to start. After a few wrong turns and getting lost once or twice, he entered an older section of the library. The shelves creaked if he so much as looked at them, and some looked ready to disintegrate. The lighting here was dimmer too; not sinister, but secretive, as if the library knew you shouldn’t be here and was helping you hide. The signs said things like “Undead”, “Cosmology”, “Superstition”, and “The Underworld”.
For the next twenty minutes, Ben lost himself in the books, with a diligence he rarely showed during his studies. Time flew by, and it was with some surprise that he realised he had less than five minutes to get back to the main library to meet up with Charlie and Natalie. He would have liked to stay, but knew his absence might worry them.
Ben reluctantly closed the book he was reading and headed back. As he returned to t
he main section, the library opened up and became once again a peaceful, harmonious space. Charlie and Natalie had already made it back, and had snagged a small table by themselves.
“I never thought you’d be in a library longer than me,” Charlie commented, as Ben sat down.
The comment was innocent, but Ben felt his cheeks burn, and he coughed to distract them. “The library is growing on me. So, what have we got?”
“Nothing that exciting,” Natalie said. “It wasn’t hard to find out about Angus, given that he was an original director, but he certainly seemed to be the least interesting. He was a pacifist, a great orator, and single-handedly stopped over a dozen wars by peaceful means. He was also a big fan of eggs and bacon.”
“How is that relevant?”
Natalie shrugged, a strand of hair falling over her eyes. “It’s not, but it’s probably the most interesting thing I could find.”
“That’s not true,” Charlie said. “Tell him about London.”
“That’s true; there is London. When Queen Elizabeth I passed away, the new commander of the Institute was her son, Prince Henry – a madman by all accounts. He was obsessed with his mother’s armour, and immediately tried to retrieve it. Most of the original directors left or went into hiding. Angus was the last to leave. He was liked by everyone, and not even the prince could just dismiss him out of hand. But eventually Angus disappeared, and was charged with treason by the prince.”
“Where did he go?” Ben asked.
“Well, that’s the interesting part. This happened just weeks before the diary you found took place. It could be that he realised the danger the armour was in and went to hide his piece.”
Ben gave a low whistle. “That is interesting if it’s true.”
“We can’t confirm it, but it does seem likely,” Charlie said. “Anyway, it’s a lot more than I found.”
“What did you find?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Charlie said. Ben wasn’t sure if he was frustrated or delighted by the challenge. “Arcane dwarves are hard enough to find in the library, let alone a peculiar symbol from one of them. But I’m confident I’ll find something; I just need time. What about you, Ben?”