The Loremaster and the Omen Angel

Kodai was sitting in his favorite bar in Rose Garden, sipping on some whiskey-on-the-rocks while reading a very large book. The book was ancient in appearance, with a black leather cover embossed with symbols in gold leaf, while the pages were made of pressed bark and covered in runes that not even the most scholarly professor could comprehend, also in gold leaf. This book was more ancient than civilization itself, and the oldest tome in existence. Kodai had found this tome in a secret, underground library that contained hundreds upon hundreds of similar tomes. But this one was special. This was the most ancient of them all. This was the Tome of Eschaton, and the spells it contained would bring about the end of the world if ever used. It was highly interesting to Kodai.He huddled further into his cloak as someone opened the door to the bar, allowing a wave of frigid air to sweep through the area.

Alyia was back in Rose Garden. The last time that she was there was when she was on the job with Venir. That for her had been an experience of a life time. Well maybe for two life times. But here she was again back in Rose Garden. Her hair swished around her ankles as she walked down the street. It was a slightly chilly day, but not yet cold enough for her cloak. She let a breath out and looked up. The sun was still high in the sky and yet clouds surrounded it. The picture reminded her of her first meeting with a guild mate. He was the first person who had ever treated her like a human being not as some soft if witch. But her friend had disappeared a while back. He had gone and traveled to another continent. Alyia let her head fall back down so that she looked at the road. A small shiver ran up her spine at the cool wind that blew at her back. The short angel looked around. A hot drink and a warm place to sit would be nice.

Alyia walked a little further before finally spotting a bar. They were usually warm right? And they had something to drink. She made her way over to the bar and pushed open the doors. The warm air from inside of the building rushed out and greeted her. She took a step in and let the doors close behind her. She made her way to the bar and sat down. She did not look around at anyone, but that did not mean that she could not feel the stares on the back of her neck. She looked right at the bartender, "May I have a hard warm cider please?" Alyia had had some alcohol for the first time in her life a couple months ago. The hangover that she had the next day told her that she should probably start to work on her tolerance. Alyia did not look back at any of the people who were looking at her but that did not stop her from noticing the book that the man next to her was holding. She glanced at it and curiosity struck her. But she fell lucky again as her drink came to her to her all ready, distracting her from the book.

"May I have a hard warm cider please?" came the words to Kodai's ear. He had hardly looked up when the newcomer entered, preferring to continue reading his tome. But when he heard the voice, surprise caused him to look up. The voice was feminine, soft and surprisingly youthful. Certainly not a voice he expected to hear in a bar. When he looked up, he caught a glance of a young woman with long blonde hair. She was strikingly beautiful, which was a pleasant surprise to Kodai, who was used to dusty old tomes in ancient libraries. Not to mention the dusty old women in said ancient libraries. He caught her looking at the Tome of Eschaton, which he quickly shut. There were more important things in life to pay attention to than ancient runes in an equally ancient book. With a small flash of light and a faint pop, Kodai returned the book to the Library. He then leaned forward and rapped on the bartop. The bartender, after handing the woman her drink, took the Loremaster's empty glass and refilled it with whisky, then returned it to the Rune Knight. Kodai took a large swig, drinking half the glass in one gulp. He then put it on the bar with unnecessary force, so that a few ice cubes jumped out. With reflexes born of long years spent hunting in dark forests, Kodai flicked out a hand and caught all the ice cubes, then tipped them back in the glass, which was not damaged in the slightest. All the ordinary person would see is the ice in the air, then a blur, then all the ice safely in the glass. They wouldn't even see his hand move. A theatrical party trick, one that had perfected and used many times in the Rune Knight headquarters, but it may have been enough to catch the woman's attention. With that now done, he summoned the Tome of the Arcane straight from the Library with the same flash of light and small pop that was displayed when he returned the Tome of Eschaton. In his hands now was a massive book, even larger than the last, that was bound in purple leather, cracked with age and use, with golden glyphs on the cover and spine. He opened the book to a random page and began to pretend to read, occasionally shooting a covert glance at the woman. If the ice trick didn't catch her attention, the sudden appearance of such a large, old book, and the indecipherable runes contained within, may.

A blush spread across the angel’s cheeks, she had been caught looking at the book. She quickly looked away and was pleasantly surprised when she saw that her hard cider was ready. Taking the warm cup in her hands the blonde smiled and took a sip, some of it splashing out as she jumped when the man that had owned the book had slammed his fist onto the table. Her eyes shifted back over to the man looking at him as he had placed the ice back into his glass. She was sure that it would have been very impressive if she had been normal and not an angel, but that was not how it was. Raising a single eyebrow at the man she shook her head and looked back at her drink. Lifting it up to her lips she took another sip. Feeling the hot liquid against the back of her throat the blonde made a humming sound, closing her eyes she took another sip and disregarded the other man until she heard a small pop noise and a flash of light appeared in the darkness of her eyelids. Opening her eyes she looked out of the corner of her eyes at the man. Seeing another book in his hands that was bigger than the last one the angel’s eyes slightly glimmered. But as she saw the man looking at her the blonde quickly averted her eyes. Only a couple minutes later she looked back over to see if the man was looking at her. But this time he was looking down at his book, reading. Opening her mouth Alyia wanted to ask him what the book was about, but she decided otherwise. Looking back at the drink in her hands she had downed almost half of it. Her body was feeling slightly warmer than usual.

The cup on the counter made a soft as it was put down. Alyia knew that if she was going to have anymore than she had already drunk she herself was going to be more intoxicated than the would like. She was going to have to work on her tolerance to alcohol though. She did not want to be seen drunk in front of a person that she didn’t know just after a single drink. Letting out a soft sigh Alyia turned her head to look at the man that was holding the book. In the few minutes she had gathered up the courage to ask him about the about the book. “So what is the book you are holding about?” She tilted her head slightly awaiting an answer.

Kodai grinned inwardly as the woman asked about his book. He knew that it would get her attention. With a snap, he shut the Tome of the Arcane and set it gently on the counter before looking over at the blonde. "The Tome of the Arcane is not really about anything. It is not a book for pleasure reading. It is an ancient and powerful book, packed full of strange and unusual spells, hence the name Arcane." he said, then took another swig of whiskey his eyes still on the girl. After he had set the glass down on the counter next to the Tome, he spoke again. "Within this book are spells that can reverse gravity, reverse time, open holes in the fabric of space. Some are so complex and confusing, even I cannot make heads nor tails of them. Some of them seem to be sans logic in their entirety." he spoke with a quiet, measured voice, his diction that of an ancient scholar. Though he looked no older than twenty, his manner of speaking portrayed him as a dusty, wrinkled old man surrounded by books in a small library.

Alyia looked at the man with curiosity. The book that he was describing was powerful and yet if it were to get into the hands of a person that would use it to hurt other people the book would be dangerous. Her eyes flickered from the book to the man that was sitting in front of her and she smiled slightly. There was something about the man who was sitting in front of her that drew her in slightly, maybe it was the way that he talked, how his voice seemed so knowledgeable or maybe it was just the way that he knew so much about books. She pulled up a seat and carefully sat herself down. Her head no longer feeling as dizzy the blonde took another sip of her warm apple cider before placing down on the counter and looking up at the man. “That’s cool. But wouldn’t it be dangerous for the book, if it were to fall into the wrong hands? If it holds all the spells that you claim it holds, it if were to fall into hands that would use the book for wrong, would it not be dangerous? I also understand with the book being as old as it is, it comes in an ancient language, meaning that they person who had taken it would most likely be unable to use it, but suppose that they did know how to use it. Would that not be dangerous to many people?” Alyia tilted her head at the man. Was what she saying not correct? She was soon going to find out.

At her question about the safety of other people in regards to the book, Kodai chuckled.
"Fear not. I alone know the secret to commanding the Ancient Tomes. In addition, none of the tomes may be used without my knowledge. And my dominion over the Tomes allows me to instantly summon the book in question back to my hand. There is no danger." he said lightly.
"If you wish to test this claim, feel free to." said Kodai, placing the Tome on the counter, where she may reach and take hold of it.

Giving the man a look she hesitantly reached out to the olden book. Feeling the rough and worn edges under her fingers. A small smile appeared on her face and she sat up so that she leaned over the book. Her eyes were full of curiosity as her hand moved across the book to the edge of the front cover. Carefully gripping it she opened the front cover of the book and several pages lifted up with the cover. The ruffling sound of the paper sheet falling back down was music to her ears. With a sparkle in her eye she turned the first sheet of crisp paper. The wear of the paper evident in its touch. To have such a book at ones disposal would be amazing. It was so old, so educational. All Alyia wanted to do right then and there was to sit down and read through all of the spells in the book. No, she was not power hungry. Just merely curious and wanted to know what the spells could do. Though the man had said that the scripture was that of an ancient language she was almost positive that her angelic lineage would be very much helpful in deciphering it. Her hand reached for the next page, she would see the ancient script of it and her heart began to speed up in her chest.

As the woman took hold of the book, Kodai turned around in his chair, facing away from her. He smiled as he felt her open the Tome of the Arcane and turned the pages. He felt her wonder as she beheld the pages made of pressed bark. He felt her excitement as she ran her fingers over the smooth, well-worn pages. This, Kodai understood. He had experienced the same emotions when he first opened the book.
"The Library, when it accepted me as its guardian, forged a link, a connection, between itself and I. And through it, the Tomes. I know when and where each is opened, and to what page. And I also know the feelings the person who opened the Tome is experiencing. Currently, you are on page 42, the page that contains spells of minor binding." Kodai said in his quiet voice. If the woman were to look at the upper right corner of the page, she would see a marking that resembled the number 42, embossed with gold leaf.

Alyia looked up in the corner of the page and there indeed was the little numbers of four and two. With wide eyes the blonde turned her head away from the book to look at the man who had just informed her of the exact page that she had been on. It was true that she had not been looking at the page numbers as she skimmed over the information on the pages. It was also true that she was reading about spell that had information on minor binding spells, though it had just started to inform her of what the spells would do and how they would affect the person that was being affected by the spell. Her head lifted from the pages of the book and she looked at the man who had told her where things had been. It was amazing. She had never seen anything like it before. But then again she hadn’t seen very much of magic in general. She knew almost all that there was to know about nature and how to survive. But of course she did. She had to. It was the only way that she would be able to live in the woods that she had inhabited for so many years of her life. She quickly glanced back down at the book and flipped over a random number or pages. She wanted to see that the magic that he had shown her was not just a miff. But as she glanced back down at the page number, something had caught her eye. The word angel scripted on the page.