Arcane Journey

Chapter 121 Shadowguard Assassin
Green poisonous fire rose from the copper basin, flickering, tormenting the souls of the three elf mages.

Hajhorner, Hand of the High King, stalked them like a feral cat looking for food in the secret chamber at the top of his tower.

This tower is located in the Scimitar Peak Mountains in the Ennook Desert, among the dark and steep peaks in the far south, on the floating city of Sultanza.

"Have mercy, Arcanist, we do not know the answers you seek!" groaned one of the souls.

"Please," pleaded the other, "don't torture us any more."

"Very good," hissed Haj Horner.

He had just returned from the trial halls of Shade, so he was still wearing his office clothes: a starched, pleated, floor-length gown, and a long-sleeved black shirt with a pair of scales embroidered in gold thread on the left breast.

Around the waist was a gold sash from which hung a mask—a smooth, round piece of ivory with openings for the eyes and nostrils and a slit for the mouth.

Its color matched Haj Horner's gray hair that faded to either side of his high forehead.

The mask's expression was as poised as his own, and his beardless cheeks were still smooth—not plagued by fine lines of age or trouble.

"Because of your incompetence, this is your reward." Hajhorner threw a small amount of black powder into the brazier.

Sparks shone, red as jewels, and instantly crackled around the pale shadows, making them scream in agony.

The magical flames then rushed to the ceiling, and then extinguished, turning into a pungent plume of smoke.

For a split second a cruel smile spread across Hajhorner's face, but it was fleeting.

There is still no solution to the mystery in his heart.

He took two small items from a golden box on the table.

They are jewels, shaped like teardrops, crystal clear as winter ice.

Such gemstones are called: Tears of Kings.

According to legend, they are the teardrops of ancient kings who were magically turned into stone statues.

Another legend says that if you look closely at the center of the King's Tears, you will see the image of the ancient king's favorite things in his life.

And the legend is undoubtedly true.

For now, he could see images gleaming among the gems: thin gold pages written in strange silvery magic script, and golden scrolls bound in gem-studded covers.

In a trance, he discovered that this complete set of golden scrolls had transformed into the form of golden beech wood.

What he glimpsed was the library of Vlad Visionary, castellan of Myth Drannor, the elven realm.

When the Ennook desert was still a rich forest and plain, the territory ruled by the Elven King included Cormanthor, the Vale, Sambia and Cormyr, a dense and rich forest.

But centuries before the Cormyrs crossed the Sunset Mountains and entered this region, his kingdom was reduced to dust and ruins.

And the former created a series of shining cities along the river: Myth Drannor shone like jewels in a necklace.

Although Hajhorner stared at the two gems for a long time, he still didn't find what he was looking for, which was the set of scrolls that Ben Vlad loved the most: Nether Scrolls.

In the once great Netheril Empire, 100 golden scrolls were found in the ruins of Arivanda. There are two sets of Netherese scrolls, each containing fifty scrolls.

One of the complete sets of golden scrolls was stolen by the elves of Cormanthor.

And he inadvertently discovered traces of this Nether Scroll in the two King's Tears.

"Ryze!" cried the Arcanist of Netheril. "Ryze!"

The sound of claws scraping the stone floor came from behind him.

"Master?" A hoarse voice timidly said.

Hajhorna turned to see a small, misshapen creature limping into the chamber on its gnarled, crooked legs.

It blinked its red bulbous eyes and sniffed at its warty canine nose.

"Come here, Ryze." Hajhorner said in his icy voice: "Divide for me. If you dare to lie to me, I promise you will lose more than just a tail this time."

He handed the King's Tears to the kobold, "See clearly, here is a set of golden scrolls, I need its whereabouts."

"Of order, master." The kobold approached the table flatteringly, with a contrite expression on its face, and a pair of light bulb eyes staring at the ground.

When it was walking, it gave off a bad smell, and its scaly body was wearing a dirty and tattered brown linen clothes, which looked like a short robe, and it seemed that it would fall off due to decay at any time.

This creature was once a human being, or rather a seer, whose skill was so great that he served only the emperor.

But Haj Horna wanted him to serve only himself, so he had him murdered.

Then, through dark magic, he stuffed his soul into this new, loathsome form, bound by magic to do its bidding.

"Please forgive me, honorable master." The kobold looked at it carefully for a long time, and stammered:

"I can do divination for you, but the problem is that if the item is too precious, it will affect the result of the star divination, or even completely prevent the divination from proceeding. Well, I can try it if the item is protected by magic, but."

"Long story short, Master," said Hajhorner coldly.

"I need time. I also need to prepare the materials needed to cast the spell. If the alignment of the stars is ideal enough, then uh, uh. Honorable master, what you proposed is a difficult task. I need time."

"Master." Hajhorner said in a gentle tone with unexpected politeness: "Everything you need is at your disposal, including time, as long as you have a good reason."

"I'll do what I can," the kobold declared, "but I'm afraid I can only give an approximate bearing. I mean area or extent."

"Sorry, what did you say?" Hajhorner smiled.

The "Astrology" kobold broke out in a cold sweat. He stammered, "In the long-distance situation, astrology can only roughly locate a very rough location, and the error error will be quite large. I really don't know if I can do it." .”

"You can do it, Master."

The Arcanist of Netheril said slowly, his black eyes flashing fiercely, "I am very confident in your ability, since when it comes to errors, the smaller your errors, the more tolerant I will be to you."

The kobold shivered.

"I must know the whereabouts of the golden scrolls." Hajhorna murmured, "If the preparation for the divination takes too long, you can help me predict my future with this set of scrolls."

"This is simple, respected master."

The kobold nodded quickly, then clumsily opened an ivory locket, took out a deck of exquisite playing cards wrapped in black silk, and began to shuffle the cards.

"You must draw three cards," it suggested in its deep voice to the Arcanist of Netheril, and Hajhorna followed suit immediately.

Ryze turned over the first card with his mutilated hand.

"A Golden Scroll"

"It bodes well for your quest to the heart of your quest, and it signifies great wealth, some of which is lost."

"Needless to say," Hajhorner snorted, his deep black eyes gleaming with understanding.

The kobold obeyed and turned over the second card.

"A giant dragon, upside down"

"It bodes well for your allies."

Ryze said as he moved his hand to the last card: "And this portends the enemies who will oppose you in your quest.

After speaking, he turned over the cards.

"An arcanist is also head-to-head"

"What do they mean?" asked Hajhorner eagerly.

Ryze's pointy ears twitched in confusion, "I'm not sure, master. Somehow, a dragon that isn't a dragon will help you get that set of golden scrolls. But there's an arcanist who isn't an arcanist will get in the way."

"An arcanist who isn't an arcanist?" Hajhorner said sarcastically. "That is to say, he is a half-hearted arcanist? Sounds like nothing to worry about."

"But, master."

The kobold insisted, twitching its nose anxiously, "These cards portend powerful forces that will have an effect on the outcome. You must"

"To shut up!"

Hajhorner snapped, and slapped the kobold to the ground.

The latter screamed in pain, but he ignored it.

"What I have to do now is to find the hiding place of the golden scroll." The Arcanist of Netheril added softly, beaming, "Then, I will rule the Shade Empire in the future."

"If you need anything, I will send it to you right away." Hajhorner narrowed his eyes and looked at the kobold, "I won't keep you, master, start studying astrology immediately."

"Oh oh oh may the great shadow be forever" the kobold praised excitedly.

"I know, I know, get out of here." Hajhorner waved his hand impatiently.

The kobold shrank back, then bowed deeply, and ran out scrambling.

"Arcanist who is not an Arcanist?"

As the kobolds left, Hajhorner looked at the image of King's Tears again, and repeated thoughtfully.

I do not know how long it has been.

He suddenly sensed that someone was already standing in front of his tower, waiting for a long time.

He immediately put away the King's Tears, waved his hand, the portal was opened, and a silent black shadow, like a ghost, floated out.

"Miss Krisanna, I'm very sorry." Hajhorner looked at the shadow and said in a sad tone, "Your sister, Miss Natasha, died at the wedding banquet in Mokou Town just last night. "

"I see. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave, Hand of the High King, Your Excellency Hajhorna." The voice of the black shadow called Crysania was so calm that there was no fluctuation.

"Aren't you curious at all?" Hajhorner was startled and said doubtfully.

"At least my curiosity is not being used by others." Krisanna said coldly, "Everyone is mortal. I had expected her death, but it was just advanced."

"It's a sad story indeed." Hajhorner sighed softly.

"In that case, then I'll cut to the chase." He thought for a moment, and called Krissanna who was about to leave, "I need your father, Prince Dessoud, to help me take down the Kingdom of Cormyr."

After speaking, he looked at the woman shrouded in shadow.

"Go on, what can we get?" Krisanna replied blankly.

"As long as Prince De Sud helps me win the Kingdom of Cormyr and the ownership of the city of Sacrosse, I will vote for your father." Hajhorner replied with a smile.

Sacross City, like Sultanza City, belongs to the floating city of Netheril Empire.

But the former had sunk into the Sea of ​​Falling Stars during the destruction of the empire.

Fortunately, when they discovered the floating city, they knew that the overall architecture of the sunken city of Sacross was quite intact.

Today, the High King has sent a group of spellcasters to salvage and repair it.

And the Miser energy core used to drive the floating city is almost completed.

As for the ownership of this floating city, the real owner has not been determined from the beginning to the end.

"I will tell my father." Krisanna was silent for a moment, as if she had already made a decision, she looked up at Haj Horner, "Tell me your next plan."

"People from Mokou Town wiped out one of our elite troops."

Hajhorna straightened his expression and said coldly, "I am closely watched by the Duchess of Arabe City and the Sanlinta Council. You can only go there yourself and teach them a lesson. Let Mokou Town people who know who is the true ruler of the Ennook desert."

"The list," said Crysania curtly.

"This is the list you need to clean up. Let's start with this half-elf wizard named Brian."

Hajhorner handed Krissanna a sheepskin scroll and said with a smile, "I look forward to your good news, Shadowguard Assassin of the Tanshul family."

In fact, he got this list from the Sanlinta Society.

In order to confirm the authenticity of the incident, he went to the shadow plane in person and learned the details from Feiyi Yeying, who participated in the battle.

So, he thought, it was necessary to start with the half-elf wizard who disrupted their plans.

"The lingering wind is the cry of the shadow blade!"

Krisanna turned into a shadow and disappeared without a trace.

(End of this chapter)