Jedra cursed again as he surveyed the damage done to his books. Blood had covered one to make the first several pages unreadable, and another one had nearly half the cover burned off, and hardly any of the pages were legible. All of the books he had brought in with him had at least one page missing.
It was only when Jedra was putting his fingers in his mouth, ready to whistle for Page to go, did Jedra realize what he was missing. The Ebonarm. He almost went on without it. But it was his pride, and a very expensive book, that kept him back.
But the inside of the castle was a battle ground... when Jedra released the King and his family, he was given a healthy amount of gold and left. The King, Queen, and Princess left, too, and all with a royal gaurd. They were safe now, somewhere that Jedra had yet to find out. But he DID see the knights the King had no doubt sent inside, and the battle mages and spell swords... several warriros who had come in, but not yet come out. How could Jedra win where THEY failed?
Well, for one, he would need his staff. Jedra took his comfortable staff and held it in front of him. Ok, that was done. Now what?
Finally, Jedra decided he was doing things wrong. No plans. With plans, you stick to a certain schedule. If something goes wrong, it throws you off. And on a battle field, something ALWAYS goes wrong! So his plan would be to improvise.
Checking his lock, Jedra decided he was wasting enough time, and with a deep breath, made his way into the castle.
The front room was silent. There were still bodies; which Jedra had braced himself for. But even though he was ready, nothing was prevented. The smell and the sight made him feel sick. He doubled over, stomach once again heaving.
The quiet of the room scared him. Then a large blue light flashed, and Jedra heard a sound like a hammer hitting flesh, and a man was thrown several feet in the air. He slammed against the far wall and sagged down, a large burn mark in his chest. Jedra shuddered, then slowly, carefully, made his way over to the door where the dead knight was... thrown.
As if to counteract the quiet and peacefullness of the main room, the next room was filled with fighting. Kendar and Shalam were in the center of the room. There were literally several dozen knights and mages crowding around, but their strength in numbers seemed to do nothing more than crowd themselves. The two usurpers were superb fighters, easily killing what came to them.
Finally, in only a few seconds, only a few soldiers remained to fight the two. Jedra saw Kendar go down-and was a bit happy, too, anyone who destroyed books should be punished. But Shalam made up for Kendar's death by fighting with twice the ferocity.
In only moments, the room was filled with dead bodies, with only Jedra and Shalam standing. Jedra tried to take a deep breath, but gagged on the stench of the dead. He knew he would never forget this scene. It would haunt him in his dreams, haunt him and obsess him.
"Ah, yes, the book keeper," panted Shalam. Jedra realized that Shalam was tired, and wounded. This would no doubt be very easy. Perhaps no fighting was needed at all. "I figured you might come back. Your reputation precedes, you, Jedra, everyone knows you treat your books like children."
Jedra gripped his staff so hard that his knuckles cracked. "Return it to me, and I'll leave. There is no reason to fight."
Shalam laughed. He was leaning heavily on his staff, now. "Oh, but there is, Jedra, don't you see? Even if you get your book back, look at me! I am a Nord, and I fight with the staff. Who is the better, you or I? Would you not like to find out?"
"I want my book," growled Jedra. "Give it back!"
Shalam cut his laughing short. "Despite how you may not want to fight, I will most gladly combat you. Tell you what. You can have your book... if you defeat me!"
Shalam gave Jedra no time to respond. With a wordless shout, he threw himself at Jedra. Jedra barely had time to raise his staff to block.
The two held themselves in this position, glaring at each other, trying to over come the other with pure strength. Then Jedra spun around and swung his staff. Shalam cracked his own against it, and the two staves clicked and clacked as they hit each other, both men trying to hit the next, neither one scoring a blow.
By Arkay! thought Jedra. A moment ago he could hardly stand! Where did he get this power?
Finally, Shalam's staff crushed into Jedra's stomach, then clipped the Nord's feet from under itself. Jedra fell hard, the staff almost falling from his hands. Shalam swung down in a crush blow, but Jedra brought his staff up in the very last instant. A loud clack echoed when the two struck. Jedra kicked out and knocked down Shalam. He took the opportunity to stand.
"You are good..." said Shalam contempuously. His eyes shone with hatred directed to Jedra. Jedra was quite taken aback by this.
"Why do you hate me?"
"You ruined me! Both Sistyk'yl and Kendar are dead-because of you! If you never freed the King, and never attacked my friend, neither would have been killed! And all for a damned book!"
"I fought for self defense!" Jedra yelled back.
"You will fight one last time before you die, book keeper!" spat Shalam, before he threw himself into another attack.
Jedra stepped back as he met all of Shalam's attacks in a flurry of motions, hit staff a blur. When he took another step back, he realized that he was purely defensive, he couldn't get a hit in. And he was tiring. At this rate, he would lose!
It was fate that decided that battle. A wound suffered to Shalam caused a knee to buckle, and he fell to one knee. Jedra spun around, and brought his staff up in a sweeping blow that caught Shalam along the jaw. Blood and teeth came crashing out as Shalam's jaw was broken. Not checking to see whether or not Shalam was dead, Jedra bent down to search his clothing. Finally, he picked up The Ebonarm, and made his way out of the room, glad to be rid of the sight and smell of the dead.
* * *
"Congratulations, Jedra!"
Jedra bit back a curse. He knew that he should not have wasted the past hour and a half counting and recounting his books. He should have known that no one would steal from him, no one ever has! And now, he would have to speak with the King.
The King, surrounded by five knights, made his way over to Jedra and shook his hand heartily. "Thank you, Sir Knight!"
Jedra shrugged. "I am no knight, My Lord. Merely a man who wished to retrieve a book."
The King was not so easily daunted. "But, you bravely killed all three of the men who attacked me and nerely took off Castle Wayrest!"
"On the contrary, Me Leige," said Jedra, a bit exasperated. "I killed the Argonian from the back. Hardly a fair fight. The Dark Elf was killed by your knights, not myself. And Shalam... the Nord was wounded and weakened when I fought him, and I still nearly lost."
"Oh..." said the King, but instantly brightened up. "But here you are! The hero of the day! Come, Jedra, a celebration is in order!"
"A... celebration?"
"Yes! Jedra Kayan, the Librarian, hero of the day! Knight of Wayrest! You will be given food, entertainment, and whatever you may wish!"
"Tonight?"
"Yes!" said the King excitedly. "On the maze behind the castle. You will get a reward, too. Something I believe will interest you."
Jedra leaned forward, truly interested. "Oh? And what would this be?"
"Several things, Jedra, several things! I shall give you a building, the larget building in the marketplace, for you to run your library! No, I am not done. I shall give you 10,000 gold as a prize, for you to buy books with or do as you wish. And finally, the best part..." the King held his breath in anticipation, and Jedra refrained from snapping at him to get on with it. "...you may write your own book, and it will be published!"
This truly did amaze Jedra. "A library... and my own book?"
The King smiled. "Yes, your own book. I will give you as long as you would like. My scribes will help you, and reproduce the book for you. Tell me when it is done, I would love to be the first to read it!"
Jedra bowed his head. "Thank you, My Lord."
The King laughed. "No, Jedra, thank YOU!"
Jedra joined in on the King's laughter. "My King, do you still need those books?"