"Now… He, he, he! Now you get ready for your first mission: to retrieve the Shadow Ashwood Recurve."
L turned back, approached the desk and sat in the chair behind the desk.
"So, what exactly is this Shadow Ashwood Recurve?" Leah asked.
"It's a weapon. It's a recurve is a type of arc," Eva explained.
Everybody looked at Eva.
"What?" Eva shrugged her shoulders. "I read books"
"She is right, but this one is very special," Darius said. "It's rumored to be Seigward's favorite weapon."
"He was an elf seeker who fought Osthroth, King of the Orcs, many times during the First Purge," Lucien explained to the sisters.
"First Purge?" Leah asked.
L and Darius exchanged glances.
"Hm. The First Great War was followed by a period of peace where every magical creature was safe. Cities and populations that once were decimated, now were rebuilt and everyone was happy. Until strange things began to happen," L began to explain.
"What kind of strange things?" Eva asked curiously.
"Mostly disappearances. At first, they were isolated cases, but within a few weeks, large groups of people began to disappear. They were naked and had been drained of blood. Hundreds of magical animals also disappeared. Same procedure."
Hearing this, Leah trembled. She was quite empathic, so it was very easy, and sometimes a bit of trouble, to put herself in that situation. She imagined being one of the relatives of the missing. 'And those poor people... what a terrible ending... what they had to suffer', she thought to herself, trying not to cry.
"The Seekers investigated what happened. Apparently, they were used to perform dark curses and that kind of rituals, because they had the Dark Clan's mark. So, the Seekers, led by Seidward, decided to confront them, but when they arrived at the locations where they were supposed to be, they found the missing, but they acted strangely," Darius continued.
"In what way?" Eva asked.
"They were possessed. Until this day on, we still don't how. And, before you ask, although the Book of Prixia gathers everything that happens, the book's duty is to preserve the knowledge. So, even I, the Librarian, cannot read anything if the book does not think that we are ready to know it. It's kind of complicated," L explained.
"So, back to the story. We call that fight, the Seekers versus the possessed, the First Purge because the Seekers tried to purge the wickedness from their bodies, to purify them. Some were saved, and others not. It's rumored that among the weapons, the Shadow Ashwood Recurve was the one who purified everyone who was touched by its arrows," Darius finished the story.
"Okay, we got it. So, where do we find this artifact?" Eva said.
L nodded to Darius, and the latter walked to a bookshelf where he took out a book and handed it to Leah. She took it, looked at it and showed it to her sister with a confused look.
"Isn't this—" Leah began to ask but was interrupted by L.
"No, this is a pocket version of the Book of Prixia issued for Seekers. Instead of telling you what is happening, it will tell you anything you need to know when you find yourself in a dead-end. And this...," Darius said as he approached the desk and grabbed a tiny object, then showed it to Eva. "This is a Lokedall compass. It will guide you wherever you need to go. Please, take care of this. There are only four in the world, and this is the only one which the Seekers own."
Then, he placed the compass in Eva's hand.
"Lucien will go with you two. He's been a Seeker for a while, so he can teach how the Seekers work," L said.
Eva got stiff when she heard this, even more, when she felt Lucien's eyes on her. She looked at him only to find that he was not only looking at her but also smiling, wickedly.
"Now that you know what you have to do, get ready to part."
***
At Drakos' family house...
"Okay, first of all, I would like to point out that I did not agree that you have to come with us," Eva remarked to Lucien.
"Noted," he said, smiling.
"Second, where do we start?"
Leah took out the book that Darius gave her and, when she opened the book, the pages began to shine. Magically, words were appearing little by little. When the glow began to fade, she read aloud.
"To find the first artifact, you must go to the Unarmed Willow Inn in Dhismiar; but be aware, great dangers await you in the Arena."
"Dhismiar? As in the underground city of Dhismiar?" Eva asked.
"It seems so."
Eva sighed. She looked at Lucien.
"To go to Dhismiar you need a pass. Luckily, I got one and I also know how to go there," he said.
"Good. Now lead the way, furball," Eva said.
He went near Eva and whispered, "Be careful, sweet Ev, because if you play with fire, you can get burned."
"Okay guys, there will be plenty of time for you to get all lovey-dovey, but we need to move," Leah interrupted them.
"Hey!" Eva yelled to her sister.
"Fine. To Dhismiar," Lucien said while he grabbed Eva's bag and head to the door.