The Swordmage Trilogy: Volume 02 - The Darkest Hour by Martin Hengst

table and retrieving the tray. He excused himself and disappeared down the hall. Belatedly, Tiadaria realized that she had her saddlebags. “Nightwind!” she gasped.
    “He’s fine,” the guard assured her, nodding. “We gave him a good rub down , a bag of oats, and put him in the guard livery. He’ll be fine there until you move him to the livery here, or wherever.”
    “How can I repay you? I don’t even know your name!”
    The guard smiled. “My name is Thomas, Lady Tiadaria. You paid me in full when you sent those mangy dogs back into their hole.” He paused just a moment as he turned to leave. “My brother, Cabot, says to tell you hello.” With a grin and a little wave, he closed the door.
    Tiadaria glanced around the room, almost unable to believe her good fortune. She flipped open her saddlebags. The contents were still fairly waterlogged, but her traveling clothes were dry, and that was a start. She dressed quickly, delighting in the warm cloth against her skin. Even her boots were mostly dry. She looked out the window and realized that the sun was shining. Things were definitely looking up.
    Locking her room behind her, Tia made her way to the common room. It was much less crowded than the night before and seemed much more welcoming. Though she strongly suspected that was mostly due to her no longer being soaking wet and dripping on the floor.
    She approached the innkeeper who was leaning on his counter. It seemed to be his customary spot.
    “I never got your name, sir.”
    “No, Miss Tiadaria, you didn’t. You can call me Harold. You’ve already met my boys.”
    “Your boys?” For a moment, she thought he meant the porter from last night, but he had said boys, plural.
    “Cabot and Thomas, Miss.”
    “Cabot is your son? And the guard, Thomas?”
    “Aye, and fine boys they are...but you’re not standing here looking to climb my family tree. What can I do for you?”
    Tiadaria fingered her collar before answering. “I’m looking for someone, an apprentice of Master Faxon Indra’s. I suspect I can find him in the library, if you can point me in the right direction.”
    Harold’s brow furrowed. “That might present a problem, Miss.”
    Tia’s heart dropped. If she had come all this way and Faxon’s apprentice wasn’t here, she didn’t know what she was going to do. “A problem? Why?”
    “Well,” Harold began, running a hand over his wrinkled scalp. “There are eleven libraries in Ethergate.”

Chapter Four
     
                  “How much further?” Xenir growled. “I’m about to roast alive.”
                  Zarfensis could appreciate the Warleader’s sentiment. The heat was stifling and as they descended deep into the tunnels under the Warrens, it had grown exponentially more cumbersome. His metal leg was now too hot to comfortably touch and their thick fur was suffocating them slowly.
                  “Not much further,” Zarfensis grunted. “Relish the heat, brother. Soon enough you’ll long for it.”
                  The Warleader grunted something non-committal and followed the High Priest deeper into the twisting tunnel. Zarfensis kept quiet. It was better if the Warleader stayed ignorant of the true nature of their destination until he had to experience it for himself.
                  Zarfensis was well aware of what awaited them below. He remembered, in vivid detail, the long hours that he had spent descending through the twists and turns at the heel of his grand-sire. The elder High Priest had ensured that his kin knew where to find the Deep Oracle. It was the duty of the High Priest to maintain the rituals that kept the thing bound to its ancient prison.
                  It had also been his grand-sire who had taught him of the thing’s craving for runedust and the information that could be gleaned from the Oracle by making the merest offering of the magically-imbued powder. He had watched on in