The Hollow Grove: The Companions [Book 2]

[14] The Mysterious Cave

The five adventurers entered the room and hanging silver chandeliers flared to life by an unknown magic.  Standing candelabras followed suit and firelight brightened the room to a comfortable level.  A fireplace with no wood burned in the corner with a small iron pot hanging over the flames.  Posited close to it was a comfortable, yet elaborate red velvet lounge chair paired with a matching footstool.

Nearby, a headless skeleton garbed in a dark blue robe lay slumped on the floor from a death throw lifetimes ago.  Bony yellow hands twisted out from the sleeves.  A withering tome lay jilted on the floor before it.  A white granular substance encircled the scene.

Wesley pointed.  "There."

To the far right of the room near an adjoining door lay the damaged skull—its jawbone missing.

Kayla approached the body.  She pressed the white substance forming the circle to her finger, then sniffed and tasted it.  "Salt."  She rolled the body over to get a look at the front of the robe, but it bore no insignia.  She then turned to the heavy grey tome that lie open on the floor and brought it to the slate table in the middle of the wide-open hearth room.

"What's it say?" asked Haygen.

Kayla read the magic runes on the cover scribed in heavy-handed runes embedded with silver.  "Malifax of the Grey.  It's his personal grimoire."  And this one's unlocked, she thought.  Normally a Wizard would lock their spellbook safely away with their own binding spell.  It could take months, even years to unlock another Wizard's grimoire.  But since he appeared to be killed during a ritual, his was not sealed. 

"What means 'The Grey,' Spellsinger?" asked Anyu.

"Well, Grey indicates this Wizard was neither that of the light, nor of the dark.  He belonged to no Tower, Coven, or other organization leaning to better the world, nor to ruin it.  They delve into both the spells of light and the spells of darkness.  Pulling from white and black to make Grey, you see."

Otis asked, "What did he believe in then?"

The Wizard answered, "They studied magic for magic's sake."  She swung a forlorn gaze to the long dead Malifax.  "For the sake of knowledge itself."  She thumbed through the pages.

"Sounds boring," Wess said.  "What is it that killed him then?"

Kayla clearly made out the scene from the start.  "I imagine he was performing a summoning ritual."  She drew her finger in a circle following the salt.  "He brought forth something far too powerful for him."  She shrugged.  "And Malifax was killed by his own Demon, or monster" 

"Demons?" asked Wess.

"Demons haven't been in our world for hundreds of years," said Otis.  "Must be a very old book indeed."

"Black magic," the Tushkar woman warned with a shake of his head.

Kayla nodded.  "Black magic is forbidden in the Order of Fire and the Towers of Ulmaka.  Though the grimoire of a Grey is a valuable find for research purposes alone.  Not much is known of their ways."  She gave her friends a reassuring nod.  "Forbidden..."  She closed the grimoire.

"Could I read it then?" Wesley asked.

The group knew that Wess could read magic because of his Fae heritage and the answer was a resounding No! in chorus from the room.

Wess leaned his head back with wide eyes.  "Had to ask."

"Wesley, promise me you won't read this book," said Kayla.  Her look was stern.  A promise from a Faeling is a sacred oath.