Lies & Labyrinths

Lilith awoke with the sunrise that morning high above the clouds, sitting and stretching as the smell of breakfast wafted beneath the door. She climbed from her bed, shivering as she crossed her room towards the wardrobe, changing into a uniform with a fresh long sleeved coat. She glanced at her hand as she did, nearly panicking at the sight of a long silver bracelet curled ’round her wrist where once had been the silver dagger. She lifted it up, looking at the object in wonderment, moving her arm back to front, then front to back once more to examine.

“Well hello there. How did this happen?” In a flash of memory, Lilith recalled the day before and the events directly after the explosion.

She had thought how easy it would have been to wear a bracelet while palming the blade.

“Did you do this?” She thought to the bracelet.

The tip of it curled, nodding.

Lilith’s eyes widened. “Did you just nod at me?”

The bracelet nodded again.

“Okay. Okay I’m going crazy. That’s fine. I’ll just find Emil, he’ll know what to do about this.”

Lilith dressed in a huff, opening her door-

and went sailing across the hall to the stone wall across the way in a loud shriek as her foot stepped into a platter of breakfast foods left in front of each student’s door. She crashed into the wall, falling back on her bum while a perfectly good plate of eggs, biscuits and gravy were brandished with a heavy heel mark and then launched down the hall to clang between a few suits of armor like a medieval plinko game.

Lilith cursed a slough of curses under her breath that she had picked up from her father over the years, brushing herself off and running down the hall after it. Most of the food was lost, save for a biscuit that had survived the battle of the boot relatively unlaced. A soft wail slipped her lips at the tragedy of losing yet another full serving, as if some terrible curse had set to seizing a third of all meals Lilith consumed at the school. She took a sad bite, scooted the ruined food back on to her platter, and promptly dumped it in the nearest trash receptacle before returning to her run to the Glowing Gardens.

She ran as quietly as she could out to the annex that connected the great hall to the garden, unsure how much time she would have until classes, unsure even when that was and if she were still within the confines of curfew. On the last bend to the garden she heard familiar voices, voices that grew louder and grouchier the longer and closer they went on.

“We had express demands, Arleigh. That portal was to remain open. You created us a permit for that teleporter and that one only.”

“Yes, well I know that, but-”

“But what?”

Lilith ducked behind a topiary, peeking out and watching the shape of Arleigh go by, flanked with two rather burly looking men with weapons that could easily be the size of her classmates. The taller of the two wore a bear’s head atop his own, a long cloak of fur made from it, with a heavy greatsword that was as long as Arleigh. The other was shorter, with a battleaxe that easily could have been the size of a full grown dwarf. The man had a bulbous nose with a distinctive mole at the very tip, which gave his nose the appearance that it too had a nose.

“But, there was a case of sabotage the other night.”

“The Knave, no doubt.”

“Have they hit you as well?”

“Tried to take the Lord’s Map.”

“Gave ’em what-for.” The shorter one said, pounding his fist into his palm for good show.

“They fled after they were caught.”

“Yeah, because they were so scared of us givin’ ’em what-for.” The shorter one pounded his fist into his palm once more for good show.

“Right, well, They attacked us too. And took some rather valuable artifacts in the process. Are you sure they didn’t take anything of yours?”

“Not that we’ve seen. But we don’t take kindly to intruders into our sacred lands. And the only reason we’ve even allowed you to continue your excavations there is because you promised us you would keep our nephew safe.”

“And it don’t seem no safer here in yer fancy flying wizard school ’n up here.” The shorter figure with the bulbous nose said.

“I can assure you, gentlemen, that Emil is in the safest of all locations.”

“Then bring him here.”

“Why, yes, of course! In fact, he’s usually hanging from a tree ’round these parts. Emil!” Arleigh called out in the garden.

There was no response. Arleigh laughed hesitantly. “Probably fetching breakfast or trying to put a nest back in a tree. “I said, Emil!” Arleigh called again.

Silence continued to greet the professor.

Emil’s uncles shared a look between them.

“Right. We ain’t leaving til we speak with him. And our men are under strict orders to not let your excavation team leave til we return. So until you bring us our nephew, you’ve got half a hundred hostages to worry about. Not to mention a lack of gold.”

The adults stormed off, Arleigh close behind. When she was certain that she wouldn’t be noticed, Lilith called aloud.

"Emil!"

Silence greeted her in kind. Had the adults been right? Was Emil gone? She set to search the grounds, looking in places that adults wouldn't think to learn, finding nothing. It worried her, the lack of the wobbly teen with legs like a shaking newborn deer were one of the few things that Lilith had reason to look forward to. In fact, she was all but banking on their interactions keeping her alive through Klymviner. Who else could she tell about what had happened last night? She'd explode if she didn't spill the beans!

But Emil was gone, and morning was starting to creep up. At the sight of students making their way to the gardens for a morning stroll, she finally accepted defeat and went wandering off towards first period, accepting her inevitable fate at the hands of Klymviner.