I’m not a hero. Heroes don’t get this frightened of people who can’t hurt them. Heroes don’t let their companions get taken by someone who should never have been a threat to them. Heroes save the day before anyone else knows that it needs to be saved. I didn’t stop her, even though I knew the spell was coming, and because of that, I now have to save my friends.
If they were in the Citadel somewhere, it would be easy to save them. We can’t afford new books for the library, let alone fancy prison cells. Sadly, the Enchantress is aware of that fact and probably has them in one of the Citadel’s dimensional rooms, built by our founders to keep ruffians in check. No one but the head of the Citadel or one of their chosen favorites is supposed to get in, but the way we check involves measuring somebody’s resistances, so maybe I can get in.
The spell is complicated, though not as complicated as some of the ones I remember from the capital. One more way we’re way behind everyone else I suppose. It’s still more complicated than what I’m used to. I’m about to give up on finding an entrance when I notice the part of the spell that’s supposed to detect intruders isn’t catching on me at all. I don’t know if that’s because I don’t have any resistance, but it seems like someone should have checked for that at some point.
I come into a hallway that looks just like the rest of the Citadel, the same way my room still looks like my room in dreams. I keep seeing bits where it’s clear whoever made this knew something had to go there but didn’t remember what should go there. I can hear the Enchantress talking, presumably the others are nearby. I continue walking down the hall, before I notice that everything seems a bit, off. I poke the wall, and I notice there’s no resistance. This isn’t real, it’s an illusion.
The Enchantress can’t do much magic. She can do more than most, but that’s only because magic users are exceedingly rare these days. What she can do is create illusions good enough to fool almost everyone who gets trapped in them. I can sometimes see through them, because the illusion spell she likes to use doesn’t always notice that I’m there.
I open the Big Book of Enchantments to find a way to dispel the illusion, but then remember my father telling me that the dimensional rooms have no true form. It could be the illusion is the only thing keeping me here. I move down the hall until I notice the book at the end. I look at it, and I notice the seal on the front. No doubt about it, this is the Book of Knowledge, the only thing stopping the Enchantress from being totally powerless.
I could try and take it, but from what I’ve heard it’s one of those artifacts that hurts you if you aren’t it’s chosen wielder. I don’t know how that works, but I’m not going to test it. I do have to wonder how it got here though; I don’t think the Enchantress would let it out of her sight.
Suddenly I get an idea. This book is old, older than the Citadel is. Or at least that’s what they say in the history of artifacts class I had to take. If it breaks apart, it could destabilize the illusion spell and allow everyone to break free. I open the Big Book of enchantments, find a spell, and cast it.
The book breaks apart instantly. At first nothing happens, then the spell starts to loosen up. I see Johnathon poke his head out.
“Jessica, what are you doing here?” He asks
“Rescuing you, of course.”
I see the others looking confused and yell, “Follow me. You don’t want to be here when the spell fails.”
I run back the way I came. Finding one’s way out of an illusion is difficult, but in this case the spell is failing so quickly that all I have to do is follow the backbone of it to get out. In the distance I hear the Enchantress cry out. I think she just discovered she’s now powerless.
We make it out just as the spell fails. I look around at everyone and say, “Sorry, I didn’t get the shield up in time, are you alright?”
Everyone nods. I look back and notice we’re back in the middle of the field.
“I think it’s over. She can’t do anything without the Book of Knowledge.” I say.
“What happened to it?” Zac asks.
“I found it in the illusion and destroyed it.”
Zac nods. “So, what now?” He asks
I don’t know. I had no plans. “I guess we just go about our lives.” I say.
I mean it to. This adventure is over. Or at least, over until the next time we meet up.
The End?
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