FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘦-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘺. 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘈 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳.
Xanthiene Vivenca's life drones on in a cycle of finding her next meal, ensuring...
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Xanthy traipsed around the temple, looking for a semblance of an armory. If she could steal a bow or a dagger, that should be enough to keep her alive. Or not.
The night wore on. Priestesses dressed in dark robes that looked like a washed-down version of the High Priestess's own whizzed past Xanthy in all directions possible. Some carried bunches of candles, some with buckets half-filled with bubbling water.
All of them had their hoods pulled over their faces that made them look like poachers more than priests and priestesses. No one gave Xanthy as much as a sideways glance as she tackled numerous corridors that led her deeper into the Temple.
Xanthy rounded a corner and spotted a priestess passing by. She carried a fresh pile of linens in her short arms. The priestess bowed her head in greeting and didn't raise it again.
"Could you direct me to the armory?" Xanthy shifted her weight to another foot as she blinked at the bowing priestess. How in the world was she supposed to communicate like this? It's silly.
If possible, the girl's head bowed deeper. "The Temple has no place for a tool of destruction, my lady."
Oh, Queen's breeches. Xanthy scratched the side of her face. "Uh, could you direct me to a...supply room? Do you have that?"
The priestess pursed her lips. Xanthy stared at the priestess. She didn't look to be older than Marin. Why would a child work in the Temple?
"That would be the stockroom, my lady," the priestess's head snapped up. Then, she flinched and soon, the head was ducked. "Straight ahead and turn left at the nearest corner. Second door to the right."
Xanthy gazed at the direction the priestess pointed before turning back to the girl. "Thank you," she said. The girl nodded before dashing off to the opposite direction.
Xanthy clenched her jaw as she traversed the path the priestess showed her. The corridors offered little to no light with the candles in this area either unreplenished or natural light from the moons simply couldn't shine inside this place.
As she went deeper, the walls closed in as if the temple was eating itself from the inside. It made her chest heavy and her throat constrict. Her boots slapped against the stone floor with the sounds echoing across the walls even though she was stepping as lightly as she could.
Left at the nearest corner. Second door to the right. Ah. Here it was.
A bare, wooden door greeted her. She squinted at it. Why wasn't there a knob on this thing? How were people supposed to enter? Looking around her to make sure there was no one around, she pushed against the door. Nothing happened.
She rammed her foot into it. Pain shot up her leg as she recoiled and hissed. Okay, not that way.
Xanthy spent a good deal of her time studying the door. Then, she noticed a slot at the spot where the knob should have been. Was that?
