*Chapter 13: Wait. What?
Chapter 13: Wait. What?
“It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to.” J.D. Salinger
Drake and Spike stood there stunned, the letter ignored, as the Minotaur continued speaking. “Each of the four wings is dedicated to publications relating to one of Forum’s four colleges. The college entrances can be found across the plaza from their wing. The main hall you entered through is the Arcane Wing, opposite it is the Mundane Wing, to your left in the Individual Wing, and to your right is the Social Wing. If you desire access to the restricted texts, please present signed approval from one of the four deans….”
Tuning out the Minotaur, but being careful to not be heard, Drake leaned down to Spike and asked, “Does something about this guy seem a little off to you?”
“Let’s see. The fact he was sleeping in here with all those death machines made of living stone and metal, he is still alive despite it looking like there is nothing to eat or drink, he acts as if the city was booming and filled with people and this was just another day, or the fact that he looks old enough to be Celestia’s grandfather. Which one seems a little off to you,” Spike deadpanned in reply.
“Seriously Spike, look at his eyes. They’re dead to the world. It’s like his body is going through the motions, but his mind is locked away or gone.” Spike took a closer look and saw what Drake was saying to be true. The Custodian’s eyes where dead; no gleam of life or emotion in them. He looked down at the bell hammer in his hand.
“Hey Drake, what if he’s still asleep or something?” Spike asked, a plan beginning to form.
“What like sleepwalking? Maybe-” That was good enough for Spike, he started slamming the hammer into the bell as quickly as he could. The Custodian stopped speaking and fell back into his chair, where he began to shake violently. Spike dropped the hammer, shocked by the Custodian’s reaction. Drake moved behind the desk, doing his best to keep the Custodian from hurting himself.
“Hey! Wake up! Snap outta it!” Drake continued trying to wake the Custodian but, as everything he tried did nothing, he rapidly approached his wits end. Spike finally snapped out of his stupor and ran towards the exit. When Spike passed to the outside, he saw that the constructs were still where they had been when he and Drake entered the building but where acting different as well. No longer were they teeming at the edge of the plaza as if stopped by a barrier, but rather they were just standing with some moving away to other parts of the city. Rather than ponder on them Spike focused on why he came outside, the rain. Looking around Spike saw a slight flaw in his plan.
‘Bucket, pail, cup, jug, anything,’ Spike thought as he looked around. When he failed to find anything to carry the water in, he cupped his hands, catching as much water as they could hold. He then rushed back to Drake, being careful to spill as little as possible. When he reached them, he threw the water onto the Custodian.
The Custodian stopped all movement. Drake looked back at Spike, eyes wide. Spike looked at Drake, “Did I kill him?”
Before Drake could answer, the Custodian awoke, much different than before.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” The Minotaur snapped as he shakily stood up. “Is the war finally over? did we finally beat that foul demon? Wait.” The Minotaur smelled the air, breathing it in deeply. “I can smell his taint in you. Has he sent you here to torment me more? Was binding me to this building not enough, now he sends dragons to burn it down around me?"
"So be it. I challenge you to try! I am Epistaties, Lord High Enchanter of Forum and Caretaker of the Imperial Library! Discord may have sealed me here, but none shall destroy this knowledge!” Epistaties thundered, drawing himself up to his full height and taking a battle stance. With legs bent, and arms raised as the air around him began to crackle. Epistaties waited for Drake and Spike’s next move, fully expecting the worst.
Drake and Spike took one second to process Epistaties’ statement before throwing their hands up and trying to talk him down.
“Whoa man, I don’t even know what war you’re talking about,” Drake said as he backed away, hoping to seem less threatening.
“We don’t serve Discord. That jerk is sealed in stone at Canterlot Castle; just like he has been for the past several thousand years.” Spike said, careful to omit that he’d recently gotten free before being resealed.
“There is no such place. Do not attempt to lie to me!” Epistaties yelled at Spike. “And don’t you dare say you don’t know of the war--the war destroying the empire and all it stands for. The war which is twisting everyone into foul reflections of themselves,” Epistaties said, turning his anger to Drake.
“But Canterlot is a real place. It is where Princess Celestia lives, you have to know about her, right? She raises the sun and, until the recent return of Princess Luna, moon every day and night. She’s ruled Equestria ever since she and Princess Luna used the Elements of Harmony to seal Discord away,” Spike said, finding it hard to believe there was someone who had never heard of them.
“LIES! Lies by chaos to trick me that you may avoid my wrath!” Epistaties cried, fear being to creep into his mind that what they said was true. Fear that someone had defeated Discord, but his beloved empire had been destroyed before it happened.
“Calm down, do you even know how long you have been asleep? Do you know you greeted us as the Custodian and began telling us all about this place?” Drake asked, recovering from the shock of Epistaties threats and preparing himself should things go sour.
“Do not tell me to calm down! I did no such thing!” Epistaties yelled back, but even as he did so his shoulders drooped down almost imperceptibly.
“You did. If you would calm down and tell us your story, we’ll tell you ours. We can go from there. Okay,” Drake said, hoping he might have an opening to defuse the situation.
“Yeah, we really aren’t here to cause trouble. For Celestia’s sake, I grew up in a library. I’ve had a deep respect for knowledge pounded into me hard enough to know better to burn one down,” Spike said, sensing Epistaties was coming around.
Epistaties was silent for a moment, carefully weighing what had been said against what he remembered. How Discord appeared in the sky above the city, his magic twisting things at random. How he had pulled on the power beneath the city, the very confluence it had been built to study, to undo the chaos. How the golems had fought Discord’s army preventing it from breaching the city. He remembered Discord landing in the city, sweeping soldiers and golems away as he had advanced towards Epistaties. How he had thrown up a barrier to prevent Discord from harming the library. He remember how Discord had hammered at it for days, the confluence being used to fuel it long after Epistaties should have failed. How Discord had cursed him even through the barrier. Then the blackness that had followed until he awoke to these two dragons. Perhaps he might listen to what they had to say.
“Perhaps, you are telling the truth,” Epistaties said, relaxing from his battle stance but keeping his guard up. “Tell me your own stories, and if I believe you to be telling the truth, I will share my own.”
“Excellent, Epistaties was it, then allow me to introduce myself. I am Drake, and with me is Spike. I will tell my story since it is the shorter of the two believe it or not, and then Spike will share his. Provided of course that suits you well enough.”
“That will be fine, begin when you are ready,”
“Very well, my life in this world started…”
Drake shared his story being careful to leave out any details about his life before becoming a dragon. He fielded and deflected a fair number of question thrown his way, treading a careful line to keep Epistaties believing in his story without coming to think he was completely crazy. When he finished, the story-telling duties shifted to Spike, who fielded far more questions as he told of his time in Canterlot and with the Elements of Harmony.
When Spike finished his story the library fell silent aside from the breathing of its three occupants. Had any listened hard enough they could have heard the soft patter of the rain outside. Drake and Spike waited to see if Epistaties would believe their stories, or if he still thought they were agents of Discord.
Epistaties slowly sat down in the chair they’d found him in. He looked both of them in the eyes for a long moment before speaking. “While I do not trust either of you, I believe your stories. As promised I will share with you my own, but first I believe you have some friends waiting outside the city.”
“Yeah, the McFarweathers along with the Cider Twins,” Spike said, releasing a sigh of relief.
“Then I think we should include them in the telling of my story. It will have much to do with their own pasts, which seem forgotten.”
“Okay sure; just one issue,” Drake said, motioning down the hallway he’d come in. “There’s an army of marauding stone and metal constructs out there that the two of us barely survived--I doubt we can get the entire McFarweather Family and the Cider Twins here before they killed them.
“Yes, the golems do present a problem. Their programs seem to have degraded,” Epistaties said as he scratched his chin. “I may be able to solve that problem if I can have about a pint of dragon’s blood.”
“Whoa now, just how are these golems, as you called them, programed, and why do you need dragon’s blood?” Drake asked defensively. Giving his blood to a Minotaur that was ready to kill him but a moment ago seemed like a really bad idea.
“No way am I giving you my blood. What the hay do you even mean about those things having ‘programs,’” Spike chimed, very much on the same page as Drake about this.
“When the empire was at its height, every city was enchanted with runes all tied to the blood of the current ruler. These enchantments provided for all sorts of needs and services. In time, we made allies that allowed us to bind a living soul statues and suits of armor. With our enchantments and their soul forging the golems were born. I do not know who soul forging works, it was a jealously guarded secret, but I can tell you of enchanting.
Enchanting is based on the use of runes. To enchant something one needs but the write words in the proper order using dragon’s blood for ink. There are more permanent methods, but they can be discussed at another time. Dragon’s blood has incredible arcane properties, giving the runes the power they need to work,” Epistaties explained, seeing that this knowledge had been lost to the world.
“If one of you would be kind enough to donate some blood, I can attempt to restore the golem’s programs by writing a control patch on a sheet of parchment and attach it to one of them. That should restore them to proper working order at least for a little while.”
Drake thought it over for a moment while Spike waited to see what he would say. ‘If what Epistaties is saying is true, this empire was far more advanced than I would have guessed. Even if he isn’t, it would be nice to get everyone in here and together to hear his story. I have a feeling it will be much more informative to us than ours were to him.’
“Alright here’s the deal: you can have a pint of my blood, but you have to explain each step you take in great detail, understood?”
“An acceptable and agreeable bargain, let us begin.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
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Rising from the grave, are we?
Moar please.
Ah ha. So if the ruler was a dragon, then all the better, yes? At least this solves the riddle of how Drake will gain a new home (for however long the enchantment's last on a pint of his blood) where he can be safe with friends. And a new personal army of golems is icing on the cake.
This is unacceptable. This error is about as bad as it gets. It's like saying "pownies" or "hoomans".
2095149 Hey man thanks for the catch, should be fixed now.
this story is totally awesome!!!!! will there be a war? will there be derpy? and most important, will there be ERROR, stupid....
2100118 Yes, probably, and ....
2100135
if I type her name then it just ERRORs.
ERROR! sorry this is what I mean
2095188
You're going to force me to go find my Boy Scout's handbook, aren't you?
2100159
Then yes there will be more
2184733 Ask my roommate he can give you a litany of my issues. That said I consider that event more self preservation than murder, that and just dragons being dragons.
Do you have an estimation of when the next chapter is coming out?
2404012 The chapter has gone through it first draft, but editing is taking some time. Both me and the person doing my edits are in college and have been insanely busy for the past couple of months. Hopefully I can have it out by the end of the month.
2408514 cool
Nice name bro