Converging Destinies: Part 2

Chapter 221

       Thanks to the spell that Brie had cast, Ella was navigated downwards across many flights of steps. She went all the way down to the fourth level of the tower, and there she found Brie, holding a tome with a blue leather binding.

       "I found a mention of something related to what we've been doing. In this passage, it mentions a demiplane formed during the war between Norda and Sathun. I'm sure you've heard of it, there are people today who still remember it. It says here that it was detected, but any attempts to travel or look into it with divination magic proved unsuccessful." Brie read. The passages were loaded with words filled with strange runes. It was dense, and it was a miracle Brie could find something.

       "In that case, we should do some research on events that happened during the war." Ella replied.

       "We just need to sift through a lot of useless pro-Sathun propaganda, then we might be able to find something." Brie said.

"Do you know anyone who remembers it?" Ella asked.

       "I do, my grandparents lived during the war. The Theirin Desert became a giant battlefield and so many crops were stolen. From what I can recall, Norda had gone through a patch of time where their farming villages were being attacked, and they don't have as many as Sathun does. They asked us for some of ours, but our government said no, so they waged war. I'm sure their perspective might be a bit different, but that's what my grandfather told me." Brie said.

       "A lot of the dwarves in Nakash Doer remember it, but they didn't care much about it." Ella said.

       "Honestly, they benefited from it, both sides went to them for weapons and armor and other tools, they didn't care who won. Then again, no one did win really, and now there's a lot of destroyed, empty hamlets scattered across Norda." Brie said.

       "Then wait, who attacked the villages?" Ella asked. Brie shrugs.

       "No one really knows. Anyway, the demiplane this thing mentioned, it matches our pretty well, but we can't be entirely sure, we'll have to do some more research into the war." Brie said.

       "You'll be doing more research. I don't know how to do any of it." Ella said.

       "In that case, I should recast the spell, it's getting somewhat close to running out." Brie said. She ran through her spellbook and whispered an incantation beneath her breath quietly. Then, after around ten minutes of waiting had passed, she drew the glyph and the spell was recast.

       "Okay, I'll go research the war. Again, do what you want as long as you don't get us kicked out." Brie said.

       "Gotcha!" Ella said, before going back to enjoy the view from the near top of the tower.

       Brie also went a few floors up, and soon she found the massive section of the library dedicated to the war between Norda and Sathun that had happened prior. As predicted, a lot of the tomes were filled with pro-Sathun propaganda. It was Norda's fault they couldn't protect their villages, they didn't have enough reason to wage war, they had no obligation to share any of their crops. It got boring very quickly.

       However, among all of the useless texts, there was a particularly interesting one. It was a direct recording of a first hand source, a copied version of a Sathun soldier's diary. Brie read it as quickly as she could.

       "I've heard rumors of what happened on the other side. The burnt villages and corpses, the withered fields. It was all across Southern Norda. How could it have been us, there's magic but I don't think anyone has this kind of power. How could it have been Sathun, surely there must be something else." Brie read quietly.

       Ella, I think I need your help down here.

       My help?! Uh, okay, a minute or two.

       Brie waited by the flight of stairs that descended down to her. Soon, Ella came down as quickly as she could.

       "What is it?" Ella asked.

       "Come here, I need your help." Brie said, directing Ella towards a table with two chairs. Ella sat down in hers, but Brie was so small she had to stand on her chair. With the help of a spectral hand she created, Brie lifted the tome onto the table and opened the page.

       "There's a passage in this tome that says something about villages being burnt to the ground with no trace as to why. According to Ara' Carus, she had been trapped within that plane for one hundred fifty years, which aligns almost perfectly with this war. She was lured and trapped on another plane, which means she's probably a big threat. Do you think she might have something to do with why the war started?"