With the contracts signed, Arlie led them deep into the library to where the diaries and journals were kept. “Start looking through these. I’m going to go find the books on the Red Temple,” said Arlie.

“Hey, Arlie. How big is this library? It feels huge,” asked Rose.

“I don’t know the exact size, but those stairs we took to enter the basement are enchanted with spatial magic. While they feel like going down one story, we in fact descended three. As for the Library, it has five floors that I know of and as you can see without magic, it could easily take a day to cross to the other side of the library,” said Arlie.

“How many books are in here?” asked Lily, amazed by the massive underground library.

“Thousands. My family has stored our collective knowledge here for generations, but as impressive as this library is, it pales in comparison to the Great Mage’s Archive. There is also a library far more impressive in Arcs, built by the collective knowledge of three different mage lines,” said Arlie before disappearing behind a shelf.

Neither quite knew what to think and went looking through the titles. The shelves were literally filled with hundreds of diaries and journals. Some of them with worn ancient-looking bindings and others were quite new. Rose reached up on the shelf and picked up one of the older looking ones at random. Taking it to a nearby reading table, she opened it carefully to the first page. The title was written in an old-style, but it was legible. 

 

The Third Volume of the Diaries of Archmage Hiroku of Clan Contrey

The Thirty-Seventh Year of the Third Century of the Second Great Age of Dragons 

To the Forty-Second Year of the Third Century of the Second Great Age of Dragons

“Well, she seems to be rather wordy if her title is anything to go by,” said Rose. Lily looked over her shoulder, another book in her hands.

“Might be the style of the day. Still, might as well skim through it. Never know, it might be illuminating,” said Lily and then she noticed the name,” Herku? Sounds rather foreign,”

“It's pronounced Hiroku. It is a foreign name. It comes from an island culture to the east. Their culture dominates the Kyoka and Tokaya Isles,” said Arlie who came around the corner with a pair of books in her hands. 

“You came back faster than I thought,” said Rose.

“The library is enchanted to guide people to the books they need. You just need to let it,” said Arlie.

“I just picked a book at random and thanks for the pronunciation help,” said Lily.

“That’s fine and you're welcome. I’m going to start reading these. Go ahead and start reading,” said Arlie. Rose looked to the open book and moved to turn the page. Suddenly, the pages flipped open by themselves stopping somewhere in the middle of the book.

This Thirteenth day of the Third Moons of the Thirty-Ninth year of the Third Century of the Second Great Age of Dragons.

Today the Great Dragon came to visit me. It has been many years since I last saw her, but her power still terrifies me. It boggles the mind to think there is a being so powerful that even an Archmage is but a child before it. I have given another prophecy thanks to her. As darkness falls upon the land the drums of war eternal will echo across the realms. The masters of the sky beyond the stars shall return and a new age shall dawn. As the great powers wage war eternal, the world shall shatter lest the Last First Lord returns to defend his tomb amongst the stars.

I have pondered this prophecy and have been unable to decipher it. I have concluded that it speaks of a war between gods of such magnitude that it will destroy the world. It also seems to say that someone called the Last First Lord has the power to stop this. Still, I wonder at the use of the word tomb. For that seems to imply he is dead and none can truly return from the dead. So maybe it actually means something else. I can’t be sure since this is just a translation of the prophecy. I don’t know why, but I gave it in the ancient tongue of the gods. The actual word used, ‘Erukinsa’, has several meanings. So I fear I may have mistranslated. However, the other seven meanings don’t seem to fit. I think it might have a meaning I don’t know, but I don’t feel like using that particular family gift to find out.

“I guess this is what you meant about enchanted to guide people to what they need,” said Rose. Arlie paused where she was at and looked at the page. “Yes, this does seem interesting,” said Arlie. Then her eyes began to glow, and she said, “In this context, Erukinsa means ‘place of great rest’, but tomb is a decent enough translation.”

“How did you know that when your ancestor didn’t?” asked Rose. Arlie, her eyes still glowing blue replied, “She did, but didn’t. Some knowledge surfaces only when we truly need it or want it. The time of this prophecy is as near as my last. I would like to tell you more, but reaching beyond takes much power and our time is almost up.”

“What does that mean?” asked Rose.

Arlie’s eyes stopped glowing and then she started panting. “I hate it when that happens,” muttered Arlie.

“What exactly just happened?” asked Rose.

“One of the gifts of my bloodline, Ancestral Knowledge. Like all my gifts, it takes a great deal of mana. Apparently it is linked with my gift of prophecy because I suddenly knew that both this prophecy and the one I just gave are very close. Anyway, what Ancestral Knowledge does is that it allows me to access the knowledge of my ancestors. One of them apparently knew the god’s tongue better than Hiroku,” said Arlie.

“I guess that also answers my first question, doesn’t it. How much mana did you just use for that brief access of knowledge?” asked Rose.

“Most of my pool. My mother told me not to use that particular gift until I’m at least an Archmage, but it does sometimes activate on its own,” said Arlie. Lily who had been silently reading a passage in another book interjected, “If it uses that much magic, I can see why.”

“Sounds like a very useful gift. Too bad it uses so much magic,” said Rose.

“It's useful, yes. Some animals have a lesser version that doesn’t require magic. Anyway, my gifts aren’t important,” said Arlie as she sat down and picked her book back up before resuming the passage she was reading.

“Aren’t we going to talk about the other prophecy? You just said it is close to yours and that one seemed awfully apocalyptic,” said Lily. Arlie without looking up from the passage she was reading responded, “I think they are related prophecies. Both mentioned apocalyptic imagery. Which happens first, I don’t know. The fact they both mention the Last First Lord is also likely not a coincidence. We clearly need to learn more about the Last First Lord before we can make any further conclusions.”

“What about this mention of a sky beyond the stars? How can there be a sky beyond the stars?” asked Lily. Again Arlie answered without looking up.

“That's easy. The phrase is an old one used to refer to the celestial plane. A mythical place said to be home to the gods. This second prophecy foretells the return of the gods. Specifically, the Elder Gods that left when the age of gods ended,” said Arlie.

“How did you come to that conclusion?” asked Lily. Arlie didn’t answer, but Rose did, “It’s in the entry following the one about the prophecy. Hiroku wrote her conclusions down in that entry. She paints a rather clear picture of the link and references several holy works, including the story of creation. I hope you don’t need me to tell you that one. DO you?”

“No, I’m good, I remember the priestess retelling the story just last week,” said Lily. She had heard the story often enough. Long story short, the gods shaped the world eons ago during the age of gods and when their work was done most of them left to realms unknown. Those that remained became known as the High Gods, while those that left are known as the Elder Gods.

“Best not to worry too much about the gods,” said Arlie as she focused on her book. Her tone saying that she was starting to get annoyed. Lily, taking the unspoken hint, decided to focus on the book in her hands.

---

Aurora settled back on her favorite spot in her nest. She watched her human servants leave through a side passage. Whom she kept in their natural state. She didn’t really understand where the human sense of modesty came from. Their creators didn’t have it. The Sky Lords often wore far less than the humans that worshiped them. As for her servants, most of them had been young girls sacrificed to her by the Dragon Clans to the south of her nest. Her nest was a vast cavern that had been molded with draconic magic and was located behind the Great Mages’ Archive. A structure she was protecting from the Dragon Clans.

She found the Dragon Clans to be an interesting people. Their civilization was built of loosely aligned nomadic tribes. A few of the larger tribes had settled down though and built large cities. All of the clans were united by a worship of dragons such as herself. They also had a strong distrust of magic to the point that they conducted witch hunts whenever a magic-user surfaced in their territory. The only magic they trusted was that used by the priests and priestesses of the Draconic Priesthood. The Dragon Priests as they called didn’t use the magic the other kinds of magic users did, but instead channeled draconic magic. Their human bodies can only handle the lesser magics and they need a contract with a dragon for greater magic. In a way the were similar to the old priests of the High Gods. Few mage families remained that could channel Sky Magics. The Contrey family was the nearest of the mage families that could, but her family was unique in that members of her family could use both Sky Lord magic and Draconic Magic. A gift that her family kept secret for obvious reasons, but the biggest secret of her family revolved around its relationship with the High God of Creation and Destruction. They kept the secret of that relationship so well, that they didn’t even remember the true relation themselves.

Thinking of Contrey, her recent visit had been satisfactory. That prophecy was an indicator that it would soon be time for the greatest Sky Lord and one of her most trusted friends to awaken from his long slumber. Although maybe it would be better to call him a she now. She was going to have to increase her involvement with young Arlie. The girl had some work to do after all. As a descendant of the Contrey line, it was her task to awaken the great lord. It was why she had mentioned the Red Temple. There she would face the first of the five trials set by the first of her line. Passing the five trials and collecting the proofs would awaken the great lord. Then a pulse of magic would flash outward from this world into the cosmos. Heralding the return of the Last First Lord, also known as the High God of Creation and Destruction, the Founder of the Eternal Empire, Bane of the Fallen, Keeper of the Ancient Lore, and many more titles.

She used her power and checked on Arlie. She found her in her library with that pair of twins she liked. She didn’t know why they weren’t already mated. In Dragon society, they would be. Their mother in Dragon Society would have forcibly bonded them if they hadn’t done it themselves at this point. Perhaps she should get the ball moving in that department as well. The lack of a man wasn’t really a problem, there was magic for that. Looking at what Arlie was doing, she found that she was reading up on the Red Temple. The twins were reading her family diaries. Clearly, they were checking up on her past relationship with the Contrey family. She decided to give them a day and if they weren’t leaving for Arcs by the morning after tomorrow, she was going to show up at the village. Then she noticed one of the twins, she believed she was the one named Lily, had found a rather interesting diary entry. She began to pay more attention as she felt their reactions to it might be very interesting.

---

Lily dropped the book she was reading and said, “Arlie, you need to be very careful with that dragon.”

“That’s kind of obvious, but where is this coming from?” said Arlie looking up from her page. Lily said nothing, picked up the book she had been reading, made sure it was on the right page, and handed it to Arlie.

Day twelve of the third month of the year three hundred twelve, Third Era of Man.

I can’t believe it, that dragon interfered with my life, again! I didn’t even have a prophecy this time. She just showed up without warning, while I was out in the forest with my apprentice collecting ingredients. I let it slip, the last time she controlled me and took me out into the woods that I was annoyed that she interrupted my courting of my apprentice. She decided to make up for it by forcibly ‘bonding us together’ as she put it. Tomorrow morning is going to be so awkward after what happened. I don’t know what I’m going to say to her. Especially given the fact the dragon said she blessed us. So I have no doubt that both of us are pregnant. My Mom warned me to be careful of what I say around that dragon and to pay extra attention so I know when she is watching. Now I kind of wish I had listened to her.

Arlie looked up from the page, her face blushed a little. “Okay so if I see her again, don’t mention my love life, got it,” said Arlie.

“What about watching? She said to be extra careful when the dragon is watching as well,” asked Lily.

“I think I would know if a large dragon was spying on me...Unless. Oh crap, scrying! I have a few wards for that around the village, but I doubt they mean anything to a dragon,” said Arlie then she began to chant. The moment she finished that chant her expression changed, then she whispered, “She’s watching us right now.”

The twins looked at each other and asked, “Uh, you wouldn’t happen to know how long she has been watching us?”

“I can’t say,” said Arlie. In very worried tones, the twins asked, “Are you saying she could have been watching us all day? Without us knowing?”

In a small voice, Arlie replied, “Yes.”

All three of the girls had reason to worry now. They all secretly knew how they felt about each other. What Aurora had apparently done to one of Arlie’s ancestors was something they were all worried would happen to them. Arlie knew she liked the twins and was attracted to them, but the idea of being forcibly bonded to them didn’t sit well with her. The Twins both liked Arlie, but they weren’t sure if they were sexually attracted to her. All of them would rather explore their relationship at their own pace.

The silence and worried looks were finally broken by Arlie, “We can worry about this later. The Red Temple is actually quite interesting. To sum things up, my ancestors built it as a gateway between mortals and gods. This journal describes a guardian that offers a trial that may be taken with a party of up to five people. If those taking it pass the trial, they will be allowed to speak with the gods. The gods will then answer a single question and grant something called the Mark of the High God. Apparently, the Red Temple is not the only one that offers such a trial, its counterparts offer similar trials. Apparently there's some kind of reward for passing all five trials, but the pages on it are missing. Someone removed them, ripped them right out of the journal.”

“So when she said the Red Temple would shed light on who the Last First Lord is, she meant it literally,” commented Rose.

“I think we will need to visit the temple,” said Arlie.

“I’m getting that feeling as well. These Prophecies seem to imply that something big is about to happen and I really want to know what that something is,” said Lily.

“I don’t think we will have much of a choice. Hiroku was a good reference on Aurora. If she thinks we need to visit the temple, she will make it happen,” said Rose.

“Wait! What do you mean by ‘make it happen’?” asked Arlie and Lily in perfect sync.

“Hiroku has several entries here that detail the dragon forcing her to participate in one of the wars with the Dragon Clans. She had wanted nothing more than to stay here in Voros to continue her studies in the magical arts, but instead, Aurora forced her to leave the safety of the village. She ended up helping build the border wall that put an end to the wars between the Kingdom and the Dragon Clans. I have heard about that war before, but this account is far more interesting than those stories I have heard in the past,” said Rose.

“So, Aurora likes to interfere with mortals in order to get things she wants done. I guess we better get started and get ready for a journey. Hopefully before she decides to force us,” said Arlie.

“Well, who are we going to take with us then?” asked Lily. Arlie gave a confused look and Lily elaborated, “Between the three of us, we have a mage and two archers. This setup is great for a hunting trip, but for an adventuring party it is rather unbalanced. Sure Rose and I have some experience with daggers, but we are no substitute for a proper melee fighter. We need someone to protect us rear liners. Especially if we are going to be exploring a temple.”

Arlie seemed to think for a minute and said, “as much as I hate to say it, I think we will have to take Thron and Horon.”

“I’m okay with Thron, he is strong if a bit of an idiot. Horon though is a big no. I don’t think any of us can relax with that pervert around,” said Lily.

“I concur, Horon is a no go,” said Rose.

“I know he is a perverted idiot who can’t make a decent decision when around pretty girls, but he is a talented blacksmith and quite reliable in a fight. You were right about us needing a good melee fighter, but we will also need someone to maintain our armor and weapons. That doesn’t leave us with a lot of choices and as for his perversions, I have a solution in case those get out of hand. However, I don’t think they will, given my recent curse. And most importantly, he isn’t busy at the moment,” said Arlie.

“If you put it like that, then Horon is the obvious choice. Out of curiosity, why did you pick Thron,” asked Lily.

“Well, his single-minded pursuit of me is a problem, but he is the best swordsman in the village. We won’t find a better fighter in the village and like Horon he doesn’t have any other obligations at the moment,” said Arlie.

“Yeah, Thron would make a good choice for the role, but I really don’t want Horon,” said Rose.

“Well who would you propose as an alternative?” asked Arlie. Rose was silent for a minute or two, then she said, “maybe try the Tavern and hire an adventurer?”

“Not many adventurers come through here. We might find someone in Arcs, but there is no guarantee we will find someone with the right skill set. Not only that, but it will cost more than just taking Horon. Besides, we know what to expect with Horon. We will know nothing about whoever we hire,” said Arlie.

“I guess you have a point there. Horon it is then,” said Rose.

“What about supplies?” asked Lily.

“We can use my cart to carry most of them. I’ll pack some potions, spare clothing, and get my horse from the stable. You two can purchase some traveling food and other supplies from the market,” said Arlie.

“I’ll take care of the market purchases, but don’t forget to pack some marks. We may need the coins to purchase more supplies later,” said Rose.

“I’ll talk to Horon and Thron then, but I think we should talk to Mom together,” said Lily.

“Oh, crap. That is not a conversation I’m looking forward to,” said Arlie.

“We can’t just leave without talking to her though,” said Lily.

“I know, let’s do that first thing in the morning,” said Arlie. The conversation pretty much died after that. They spent another turn or two in the library before they packed up to leave. Once out of the basement, they went their separate ways, going about the tasks that needed to be done before leaving the village.