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Music added for dramatic effect, play it if required

The night was cold. Very cold in fact. But Aerona was warm as she sat close next to Fíriel. His tall, bulky frame towered over her small one.

She felt comfort aganist him, her eyes feeling immensely heavy.

The sound of the hooves, a melancholic lullaby of the seven winds.

She hummed slowly, without even knowing. But no one except Fíriel heard it. He touched her shoulder and he felt her swaying sleepily. He sighed silently, stretched her wings slowly to her side, he pulled her to his chest.

Aerona did not want to argue as she was tired. So she slowly leaned to his broad shoulder. Tiny snores vibrated against his armor.

Fíriel felt his lip tug on the corners.

'She snores when she sleeps, don't mind that. But I consider it really charming to her nature' Fraskier said as he leaned towards him. Their horses bumping slightly.

'She looked really tired' Fíriel murmured, so as not to wake the Almeris.

'She's always tired. I doubt she ever journeyed this far' Tyrill said while pulling his horse's reins and guiding it towards a small path. 'When we first met, she was in quite a delimma'.

'What delimma?' Fraskier raised his eyebrows and Fíriel looked at him, curiosity etched clearly on their features.

'I rescued Aerona from the hands of the men of Rudark' Tyrill began when Fíriel gasped 'Rudark? The mad village?'. 'The very same. I do believe she had killed at least a few but she did not know her defences so got caught'.

Tyrill looked up the sky and sighed 'Her family got killed by the ruthless men. So she had no place to stay or anyone to protect. I decided to take to her to an old village, so she could work and make a living', Tyrill chuckled, 'But an old man wanted her as his wife, almost getting forced to marry someone, she doesn't love'.

After saying that Tyrill turned his face, unable to face them.

Fíriel's face grew more confused. He rubbed his stubbled chin in contemplation.

'I see you have quite an incident yourself' Fraskier put forward.

Tyrill nodded but said nothing.

'So it means she has no quest' Fraskier said while tapping his boots aganist the saddle.

'How did she and her family of Almeris live alive for so long in that horrid village?' Fíriel asked surprise evidently glowed in his eyes.

'Oh her family were not Almeris. She had told me, that the family who got killed, were the people who adopted her' Tyrill said.

Fíriel looked at the Almeris. A new emotion shone in his cold heart. Sympathy.

And no one spoke after that. Sound of the hooves, crickets and the Aerona's calm snores accompanied them. A new faith rose in them.

'So is this the grand library of Elleóin?' asked Aerona while she placed her hands on her hips and looked up at the colosseum of a building made of bricks and wood. Gold emblazed 'E' shone from the door.

'Yes. I hope the library keeps it's door open for the midnight' Fraskier mumbled.

'Do you not know that? I thought you lived here your whole life bard' Tyrill interjected angrily. His eyebrows furrowed.

'I live miles away from the library elf. Besides I don't read books, eventhough I am a literate poet' Fraskier snapped.

Aerona rolled her eyes and made way to the large wooden door. Ran her thin fingers at the symbol and pushed. And pushed. But the door refused to budge. She expired the air out loudly. And gave another mighty push but giving up eventually.

'You pull the door, foolish wreck' said a low raspy voice and all of them turned behind to see a hunchback of a man wobbling towards them.

'Pull?' Aerona asked while holding the locker and giving the door a mighty pull. The door creaked open and the candelabras shone a bright yellow glow on their awed faces.

The old man, who seemed to be the librarian, wobbled past them and yelled 'Don't stand gawking right at the front door. Your blocking way for more people'.

Though unlikely for anyone to come here at night, they rushed inside the library.

The warmth of the library, sent a sudden rush of flush to their cold, raw cheeks. Aerona felt her blood flow more in an outstanding rhythm. She was able to feel her toes, that were numb from the cold.

'We have come here-' Tyrill began when the library raised a frail hand and said 'I know what thee seek'. 'Thee seek the La Baque Almeriase. A magic gremoire of Almeria'.

'And how do you know?' asked Fíriel cautiously.

The man pointed his long finger at Aerona and said 'A woman, more correctly, an Almeris, here at a library at midnight. It would be a surprise if thee would seek a cooking book'.

'Do thee, sir, know where the gremoire is kept' Aerona asked politely.

Offended, the man roared 'What an ignorant lass. I have been the worker, the creator, the sole keeper of the books of this grand library. So yes. I most certainly know where a book is kept'.

'We need it' Fraskier said taking a step towards the man.

The man looked up at him. And after a wide smirk, he extended his hand.

'I'll give thee my book but everything come with a price' he said while he exposed his rotting teeth.

'It isn't thy book old man. The Gremoire of Almeria was written by the Dead heirs of Almeria. It is theirs to keep' Tyrill spat coldly.

The term 'Dead heirs', sent sparks down Aerona's long scapular. She bit down the uncomfortable feeling and listened to them argue. Deep down, her stabbing heart, full of suppressed guilt and aimlessness, she felt something amiss.

She looked up to see Fíriel look at her thoughtfully.

'Who are you?' he asked as silently as possible. And her bewildered expression was all an answer he needed, 'What do you mean Lord Fíriel?' she said indifferently.

He scowled at her attitude of sass. But tired enough not to argue back, he rubbed his eyes and asked the old man 'I have gold'.

'Nay. I do not require mere coins Lord' the man said.

'I have jewels' Tyrill said and pulled out a small satchel. He rummaged inside and pulled out a blue jewel.

'My word! A Mardork mined jewel!' the man exclaimed when Aerona pulled Tyrill and said 'We can give the man something else'.

'My lady. This would suffice. The book is off immense value, more than this lowly jewel' he said and handed the oddly glowing jewel to the man.

Grinning broadly, the man hobbled to the darker passage, pulled a torch from the wall and scrutinized an old shelf. The shelf, so old, seemed to crumble at any moment prior to a touch.

But gentle as he could be, the man mumbled something, like a father to a child.

And after a few examining, he pulled, rather a thickly spined, dusty book from the shelf. He based the book to Fraskier's extended palms. 'Look after him for me' the man said and hobbled back to the dark.

'Him?' Fraskier called at him.

'The book was part of my family. I treasured it and protected it, all those years' the man said and disappeared into the dark.

'Then why is this so dusty' Aerona asked, more to herself, and swiped her hand over the dull label, now shone "La Baque Almeriase".

Her hand went for the curled, raised writting on the name. A sudden painful spark caused her to withdraw her hand immediately with an audible wince.

'What happened?' asked Fraskier.

'I do not know' Aerona winced through gritted teeth.

Tyrill took the book and tapped on the spine, 'We have found our book. But 'tis unwise to stay here for long, enemies lurk everywhere and we have to be on constant guard'.

Fíriel nodded and walked to the front door, 'Indeed Lord Tyrill. But 'tis also unwise to teach Lady Aerona any spells in the night, as she clealry lack the energy. I say we take our well earned rest'.

'Sounds good to me' Aerona proclaimed and marched to the door and right back into the piercing darkness of the dusk. 'Tis not right to leave a lady outside either'.

Fraskier rushed to her.

'Why do you need to teach her Almeris spells?' Fíriel whispered to Tyrill as they joined Fraskier and the Aerona under a fairly large tree.

'We came upon an incident in Dorkfume. I saw Aerona's magic, it's weak due to untrained energy, yet powerful and intimidating due to something I still do not understand' Tyrill replied with an immense sigh.

Fíriel watched Aerona as she made herself comfortable under a large root. His eyebrows raising in contemplation.

'So are thee going forth to thy kingdom Tyrill?' he asked.

'Indeed. It would be an honour to show thy presence to my family' Tyrill beamed and received an equally glowing smile.

Fíriel chose to sleep close to the horse Aerona and he rode as the horse had taken quite an interest in him. He snuggled close to its warm fur and it leaned it's snout to his face.

'Fraskier do you think the librarian loved the book?' he heard Aerona ask.

Fraskier scoffed 'I most certainly do not think so Lady Aerona. He kept the hook dirty under rotting shelf and gave it away when he was offered a jewel of lesser value than the book'.

Fíriel felt quite confused at the librarian's manner. He turned to look over at Tyrill who gave a nod of same confusion.