“WAIT!” Screamed the dwarf, unable to hold his silence any longer… it was too late. Time slowed as he watched wide-eyed as the vial from the mage’s apothecary station tumbled end over end towards the compacted dirt floor. Unfortunately the dwarf’s human companion was not deft in his movements and had barely shifted his gaze towards the vial when..CRASH! It struck the ground hard, shattering from the impact. A small explosion followed, vaporizing every glass projectile as the resulting fiery plume expanded even more rapidly, filling the empty space of the cabin.

“Whoa,” Stynn huffed, quickly checking to see what injuries he sustained in his fumble, “that was lucky.” Apart from some charring on his left greave and a slight tenderness in the exposed flesh of his face, everything seemed to be in good order. 

“Call me a fool if that isn’t the last we see of this vile witchcraft,” Gribb coughed out, choking slightly as the remaining smoke cleared the air. “You say lucky, I say trickery! We have no way of knowing what sorcery went into creating the contents of that vial, which we are now breathing in I might add!”

“Come now, Gribb,” Stynn said with a slight smile, knowing his response would elicit a fury of a response from the dwarf, “not all mages hold secrets of the dark. It’s quite the opposite, actually. Most do not give into the allure of dark magic and what you call trickery.” 

“Bah!” Gribb retorted, “All magic is suspicious if you ask me, unless you are imbuing weapons and armor the dwarven way! No tricks, just dedication and a heavy, hammer-wielding hand.”  

“More like stubbornness and unyielding in your convictions,” Stynn said more loudly now, seeming to forget they had more pressing matters at hand.

“Would you keep your voice down now?” Gribb whispered forcefully, remembering where they were. He checked out the front door quickly. “She might have heard that explosion. And be quick! We don’t know how much longer we have.”

Stynn scoffed and continued rummaging about the cabin; his pace visibly quickened. He thumbed through several books in what appeared to be a make-shift library as the shelves contained not only books, but random relics as well. In his haste, one of these relics teetered on the edge of its shelf after being knocked to the side by one of the searched books. 

“Be careful!” the dwarf shouted in a hushed whisper.

“How do you want me to be careful and quick at the same time?” Stynn fired back. “You’re making me anxious with your constant ridicule. Besides, shouldn’t you be keeping watch outside instead of watching me in here?”

“We don’t want to tip off our mark” Gribb grumbled, tired of this cyclical feud.

“Are we even sure this is the right place, and don’t we want the mage to find us?” Stynn asked casually, ignoring the frustration in his friend’s voice. He continued his search of the cabin as Gribb attempted to quell any temptation of going over and kicking Stynn squarely in the shin. 

Gribb surveyed the woods directly outside the cabin door and the pond just an axe’s throw away from where they stood. The teardrop shaped pond glistened in the afternoon sun, a perfect mirror for the sky above. “This is the place. There is no mistaking it. Yes, we need to face her eventually, but I would rather do it having learned a little more about her…which is why we need to find something of value in here quickly! There is no telling what she could conjure if we tried to make our move now.”

“We just haven’t seen the mage yet…By Xymdria!” Stynn exclaimed. “We haven’t seen anyone yet.”

Just then, Gribb spotted movement in the corner of his eye from within the cabin. On instinct he grabbed a throwing axe from his belt and hurled it across the room, severing a rope holding up a tapestry of what looked to be a well-studied scholar along the back wall. 

“Now who needs to relax and stay quiet?” Stynn questioned rhetorically, 

“The eyes moved,” Gribb said cautiously, rushing over to the tapestry to ensure it lay face down on the floor. “We were being watched this entire time.” He spat on the back of it as if for good measure.

“We must hurry now,” he stated resolutely, Gribb’s distrust of magic surging back into him. “The mage already knew we were coming. She must have a second place to watch the cabin from in case of intruders. All of her stuff is still lying around; she can’t be too far. We just need to find out where.”

“Well, what’s that on the back of the tapestry?” Stynn inquired nonchalantly. “It looks like someone scribbled onto the back of it.”

Gribb, who had been walking back to the front door to resume his watch, turned back towards the tapestry to inspect what Stynn found. 

“The Second from the Left,” he said.

“Is that it?” Stynn asked, now peering over Gribb’s shoulder.

“You’re reading it just the same as me!”

“Alright, alright,” Stynn conceded, remembering the dwarf’s quick temper could flare at any moment. “But that could mean anything.” He thought for a moment longer, quickly passing over ridiculous ideas of the phrase pertaining to the second tree to the left of the house and a secret door that lay behind its bark; or the second stone to the left of the fireplace, which acted as the doorway to a secret room underneath the cabin. All possible explanations, but the manner in which The Second from the Left was written caused him to second guess those possibilities.

“It could take us an eternity checking everything in this place that is second from the left,” Gribb said angrily, desperately searching the rest of the tapestry for a second clue. Just underneath the scribble was another marking. It was hard to make out as the ink spread wide, soaking more of the tapestry fibers. “Whoever made this mark had a heavy hand.”

“It could be a signature,” Stynn commented. “Perhaps of the woman on the front of the tapestry.”

“That does seem likely,” Gribb agreed, “but what of the clue?”
Stynn’s mind was afire now, piecing together everything they knew about the mage and what they had observed so far in their search.

“Wait a moment,” he said in a whispered voice indicating he was onto something. “It’s not a clue.”

“Not a clue?” Gribb scoffed, “Mages are notorious for leaving clues behind. I’ll never smith again if this isn’t a clue!”

“Be careful what you commit yourself to, my friend,” Stynn responded slyly. “It is possible this is a clue, but perhaps towards something beyond our need. This right here is a book title.”

Gribb’s face remained stoic for a few seconds, then his eyes narrowed in confusion. “What do you mean by a book title? How does that help us?”

“As I said, I am not sure that it pertains to us…it’s not like the mage left us these clues on purpose to aid in her capture. To her, it probably isn’t even a clue! It is only a clue to those who desire to seek more information about the context in which the perceived clue is written…to find what it is they desire to find.”

“But…” Gribb attempted to interject, but Stynn kept with his musings.

“But, it could certainly help us all the same. Hmmm, The Second from the Left,” Stynn repeated. “I wonder…” he walked back towards the bookshelf strewn with relics. “Yes, here it is. I thought the phrase sounded familiar.”

From one of the shelves Stynn pulled a small book, silver letters on the front cover reading The Second from the Left. 

“My beard!” exclaimed Gribb. “It actually exists!” 

“It does,” Stynn confirmed. “Now, whether its contents help us find the mage and reveal some of her weaknesses is yet to be determined.”

“Well,” Gribb said curiously, “what are you waiting for? Open it up!”

Stynn’s expression grew cautious. He looked from Gribb, to the book, and back to Gribb. “Aren’t you worried that the book may have a curse on it? That anyone other than the mage could read it without penalty?” As he posed these questions, he moved the book closer to the dwarf in an ominous manner. 

“Oi!” Gribb shouted, jumping back a step. “Stop fooling around, would ya? Just open it and see what it says.”

Stynn gave a soft chuckle and did as the dwarf asked. The book held no introduction, no author’s notes, no table of contents. However, the first page contained three blocks of text which Stynn read aloud.

A four ship taking flight,
Target spotted,
Bank right, dive low
Follow my approach.

The lead splashes down,
The three others keep watch
Deep breath, now dive deep.
Biting into the flesh.

A struggle for life,
Now a lifeless sanctity,
Natural or cruel?

Infinite and relentless
But serene to the passing eye.
A unique symmetry created by the Mother’s sigh
Lapping, lapping, lapping
In this moment, a gentle caress.
In a thousand years, a receded shore.

Green sandwiched by blue,
A breeze painting the landscape
Life’s motion picture

Charging nothing but your time.

“What in Xymdria’s name is all of that rubbish?!” Gribb exploded, clearly not amused by this any longer. He itched to get into the action and be done with this sleuthing business.

“I am not sure, it looks handwritten though; almost as if it were…” Stynn broke off; snapping of branches outside caught his attention. It must have caught Gribb’s attention too as he immediately crouched into a battle stance with his long axe at the ready… 

TO BE CONTINUED