The blasts from above did not stop. We assumed that Anthony must be dealing with the Pirons at the moment. Here we had no idea, which path to choose. At first Jade thought that he might be able to figure something out using magic but than Brandon told us that the walls of the maze consisted of werestones. Werestones absorb the mana and nullify spells no matter how strong. It meant that Anthony could not use magic either. But he could use his minions and make each of them choose seperate paths They could fetch the book for him.
There was no hint, no sign that could tell us which path should we choose, or so we thought. As I was looking at the paths, Jade pointed something.
"Case, what is that light illuminating from your cloak?" Jade asked.
I looked inside my pocket. It was the Talisman that Cassandra gave me. It was illuminating light. I was standing just outside one of the pathways that led to the maze. I moved to see if the Talisman responded in the same way, when I stood in front of the other entrances. However as I moved away, the Talisman stopped shinning. I returned to the path I chose before and the Talisman started shinning again.
"So is this the path?" Jade said.
"Only one way to find out."I said.
As I was about to go inside, Brandon stopped me.
"If this is the path that leads to the Greystone, than don't stay in the maze longer than ten minutes. Otherwise the Fieries will come for you. Just grab the book and come back immediately."
I looked at Jade and he nodded at me. I than took a breath and entered. I followed the path. It was narrow just like before. I moved at a fast pace, keeping in mind Brandon's warning but I remained vigilant. I held my crossbow tight in my left arm, ready for any traps or sneak attacks. I walked for a couple of minutes until I reached the end. The path led to an empty space. In a corner, there was a chest. I broke the lock using the back of my sword and opened it. Inside lay a book covered in a piece of cloth. I removed the cloth and suddenly, I felt a heavy surge of dark energy. My body felt really heavy and I went down to one knee. I immediately wrapped the book in the piece of cloth again. The surge of energy was gone.
I held the book tight and ran for the exit. I had been in the maze for almost seven minutes. I needed to leave it before the Fieres came. I just did not halt and kept running. Finally I was out. But in front of me lay another problem.
"Ah. Thank you my good man. You brought me my book."
In front of me stood a hoodied man. He was young, had blue eyes and blonde hair. It was Anthony. He was wearing a locket in his neck that looked quite familiar to me. Beside him were Chulahans. Half men, half wolf. They had pinned Jade to the ground. Jade was panting and could not move a muscle. On the other hand, Brandon was standing beside Anthony.
"What's the matter? You look troubled. Oh you must be wondering what is happening right now right?" Anthony asked with a nasty grin on his face.
"You see I came to the temple a week ago. Long before you got here. But unfortunately, I could not retrieve the book. I did not know which path to choose. That old bag of bones told me nothing. All I could extract from that priest's feeble mind was the whereabouts of the Greystone. After that he broke and died. But I managed to find out that he had a friend in these mountains too.
Brandon here showed me the way. However, than there was this maze. No matter how many of my minions I sent inside, they all got destroyed by the Fieres. Than I heard, that Cassandra was alive. And that he has sent a hunter to deal with me. I knew you would try to retrive the book first, preventing me from getting my hands on it. So all I had to do was wait."
I was stunned. I was so disappointed in myself. I just let myself get into a trap so easily.
"I did what you asked me." Brandon said.
"Now please, release my daughter. You promised."
Brandon was sobbing and begging Anthony.
"Ah yes the promise. You wish to see your daughter right?" Anthony said.
Brandon nodded.
"Okay. Than I shall send you where your daughter is."
Anthony grabbed Brandon's skull. Brandon screamed in agony. I just stood there, I could not do anything. Anthony than let Brandon go. Brandon fell to the ground with a thud. His body was reduced to a bony mass of flesh.
"Hmm. How dissappointing. I could not drink enough mana from that worthless soul of his." Anthony said.
"Now. Handover the book hunter. Or I will do the same to your friend here."
"Don't do it Case." Jade said. "If you have to choose between me and the lives of hundreds of innocent people, than it ain't difficult."
"The book. Give it to me. And I just might spare your lives." Anthony said.
I knew if I gave him the book, not only will he kill us, but all those innicent people aswell. Nobody will be able to stop him if he succeeds. I had to get out of this situation. I didn't have much time. Than suddenly I remembered something. Jade always used to carry this red magical orb with him. The one that could teleport him back to his house, no matter where he was in the world. I had to somehow distract Anthony, to create an opening for us to escape.
"You are testing my patience boy." Anthony said.
Anthony walked towards be and brought his hand forward, gesturing at me to handover the book. I could only think of one thing in this situation, hoping that it might work. I went forward, holding the book in my right. As soon as Anthony grabbed the book, I pulled it and immediately took out my crossbow. I fired it and the arrow pierced Anthony's left eye. He screamed in pain. The Chulahan who was holding Jade got confused. Jade used his magic and threw him across the space.
"Jade! The orb!" I cried.
Jade took out the orb and ran towards me. The other Chulahans rushed to stop us. Anthony got up too. He was furious. Anthony used his magic to fire an energy ball at us. But before it hit, Jade teleported us back to his house. We both fell on the floor. Jade was panting and laughing at the same time.
"Good job. For a moment I really thought you were going to give him the book." Jade said.
"Don't appreciate me. A man died because of my
misapprehension. If only I had not rushed it, I would have looked through all of this." I complained.
"Wasn't your fault kid." Jade said. "We did not know that Anthony would use Brandon against us. Don't blame yourself. Remember your master's words?
"Peril comes uninvited. So you must choose whether to welcome it or to deal with it."
"And if you ask me, you dealt with it pretty well."
"That locket he was wearing." I said. "Looked familiar."
"Yeah. That was the very locket that the soul devourer wore. Keiran Garginoff. It is a dark relic. But I thought it was destroyed along with Keiran Garginoff?" Jade asked.
"It was. Master told me." I said.
Jade sat up.
"Than how the hell is it still there? And how did Anthony find it?" Jade asked.
"We can look into that later." I said. "Right now I must go back to Carseville. Cassandra and Jeffrey are in danger. Anthony must be headed there."
"Ah! We need horses." Jade stood up.
"You stay here and find whatever you can about that locket and Keiran Garginoff. I am leaving the Greystone with you. Meanwhile I shall go to Carseville and take Cassandra and Jeffrey to someplace safe." I said.
"Take this with you." Jade gave me a blue orb. "You can use this to contact me and teleport yourself here. Hold it and just think of my house."
"Thanks." I said.
I went outside Jade's house. I whistled and a moment later, Schneider appeared.
"It's a Piron." Jade said. "I never knew. When did you make a contract?"
"Long story. Someother time. I will be back." I said.
I mounted Schneider and rode to Carseville.