Slay the Dragon

CHAPTER 3 - MAVE

All dragon hunters would have to head on to Ashfa Forest for their early dawn training—but not Mave Snowford. She’d never go where people would go. Instead, she headed back to Ravareth to continue her search in Librad.

Formidable curtain walls surrounded the whole fortress with gigantic bolt throwers behind the crenellations on top. In all corners of the walls—fat, round towers stood high that one could even see all of them from the inside. Ravareth was the house of all dragon hunters, the Heroes of Drava, as the title given by the Emperor after their victorious war. The fortress composed of training grounds for melees, archery, and garrions, with several structural buildings for all hunters in training.

Mave sneaked past through the patrolling guards, hiding and moving behind each circular pillar beside the Acadrim building. Then she made her way silently towards Librad, hoping it was already empty of hunters.

The Librad seemed like a two-story building from the outside—but getting in, one could only find the ground floor. The fact that it rose into a tall structure was because of the towering bookshelves inside.

A warmer air carrying the smoky, earthy scent of old books greeted Mave as she entered through the double doors. The inside revealed no life … only dust floating on the rays of sunlight through the open windows. Other than that, old-looking leather bounds and series of dark oak shelves reaching up to the high ceiling only surrounded the dusty tables and chairs at the center.

Mave found the front desk empty, which meant that the old hag hadn’t arrived yet. Last night, she stayed here so late that Harlin had to call the guards to force Mave out. She had been looking for books and records about the dragons, slain ten years ago during the attack in her village, but she never found any. And in the previous months, she only found books about the dragon islands, their livelihood, and culture—but who in the world would care about what those beasts do with their lives? For sure, they all had been doing the same thing—burning villages and killing innocent people … because that’s the only thing they’re capable of. They had no heart. No soul.

Despite Mave’s growing doubt of ever finding any information about her village, there was only one more place where she had yet to search—the Ardrad. It could be found behind the red door at the front desk, but only the highest ranking hunters could enter the Ardrad. She didn’t even know what kinds of books were stored there. However, she had a strong feeling that the clue or information she had been looking for was behind that red door.

The Librad was still empty. An idea suddenly struck her head. She could try to open the door while Harlin was still out. That old hag would definitely be furious, but Mave didn’t care. Her ears had already grown used to Harlin’s rants.

Mave glanced at the entrance to confirm if no one was coming. No sense of life had been found. So she slowly sneaked around the front desk, holding the hilt of her rapier at the side of her belt. She felt so stupid about committing such a punishable act, but she needed the answers. And this was the perfect opportunity when no people were still around.

Mave took a deep breath before taking one more step before the door. She held the doorknob. When she twisted it, she frowned.

It’s locked.

She turned around and searched for any keys at the front desk, drawers, and cabinets. Her heart pounded in fear as she peeked inside the cabinets. If she would get caught, she might get banned from entering Librad forever. This would be her last chance to find clues to the truth she wanted … so she needed to be careful.

A few seconds after, the second drawer revealed a thick book. She opened the book and found a bronze key in the middle pages. She took it and turned around.

Mave was about to insert the key in the doorknob when she heard footsteps behind the red door. Her eyes widened as she immediately dug the key into her pockets.

Just before the door opened, she jumped over the front desk and tried to pretend she was waiting for someone.

An old man in his sixties came out—his tired, pale eyes hinted no sleep since last night. He carried a leather-bound book along with a few scrolls. After locking the door, his face fell into a frown as he saw Mave.

“What are you doing here so early, young lady?” he said, putting the book and scrolls on the desk.

“Uh…” Mave placed her hand over her pocket where the bronze key was. “I’m looking for Harlin.” She couldn’t think of anything else other than using that old hag’s name for an excuse.

“Harlin’s shift is not until an hour,” the old man said, raising one brow. “And shouldn’t you be with the hunters in Ashfa Forest by now?”

Mave didn’t know there was another keeper of Librad aside from Harlin. “I skipped,” she said with a shrug.

“You should be aware of the consequences. Punishments for young hunters like you are not that decent.” The old man coughed, covering his mouth with his wrinkled fist.

“That is … only if I get caught,” Mave said. “Besides, I never even belonged here in the first place.”

The old guy studied her with his pale eyes. “And why is that?” he asked while opening the leather bound in front of him.

A short silence filled the Librad as Mave tried to think of how to say it. There were a lot of reasons she didn’t belong here. But it would be too hard and inappropriate if she would state it all. So Mave just lifted her shoulders. “Simply, I could never do what people do here.”

“Such as?”

“Slay a dragon, of course. What else do all hunters here live up for?” Mave said with a sigh. It was the motto here in Ravareth … ‘Slay the dragon!’—the words which all dragon hunters use many times every single day. And it pissed her off. “I just … I just can’t do it.”

“Do you even know what ‘Slay the dragon’ means, young lady?” The old man shook his head as he started reading the scrolls.

Of course she knew. That’s what the hunters here had all been training for. Everyone dreamed of slaying a dragon, collecting the dragonites to raise their ranks. But that’s not what Mave wanted. She didn’t want to slay ‘any’ dragon. She wanted to slay ‘the’ dragon who burned her village and her parents alive. But she knew she could never do it, knowing her fear and trauma all ready to consume her.

“Can you tell me …“ Mave placed her elbows on the front desk. “What kind of books are there in Ardrad?”

The old man shifted his gaze from the scrolls up to her. “Why would I tell it to someone like you?”

“I’m only asking out of curiosity,” she said. “I’m interested to—“

“Well, your interests are out of my concern.”

Mave took a deep breath before saying, “I need to find some information … it’s extremely important … and I think it’s right there.”

“What kind?”

“I … I can’t tell you,” she looked down. If she would tell him she came from the country of Glacia, he would probably report it to the top ranks. They would send her back to Sunvar City, where the Dravalon Army had been searching for her. She needed to stay away in that city as much as possible—or else she might end up in prison, or getting executed in public for that crime she had committed before.

“Young lady, I have no time for your concerns. Just tell Harlin when she arrives,” the old guy said—his eyes on the scrolls.

“Look, I have searched the entire sections here in Librad for months and found nothing.”

“And you think what you’re looking for is behind this red door?” the keeper said in disbelief. “Even if it is here, only the Archon Hunters are allowed to enter the Aldrad. So come back here and ask me that when you’re already in that rank.”

Mave dug her nails into the wooden desk. This old man’s crazy. Did he just think it was that easy for her to collect over fifty dragonites by slaying fifty dragons to reach the Archon Rank? She couldn’t even slay a dragon.

Mave slammed her both hands against the desk and said, “Please, I really need to kno—“

“Mave Snowford!”

The sharp voice of Harlin thundered across the empty Librad. Mave grimaced, slowly turning to where the voice came from, only to find the forty-three-year-old, thin woman eyeing her sharply.

“Hello, Harlin.” Mave smiled nervously.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she said, stepping through the double door entrance with hands on her hips.

“And now my shift ends.”

Mave turned to the old man who was fixing the scrolls and books on the desk. He stood up, picked up his bag, and walked towards Harlin. “You take care of that stubborn young lady,” he told her before making his way to the doors. “Have a nice day, Harlin.”

Harlin didn’t take her sharp eyes away from Mave. “You’re skipping again? Have you lost your mind, young woman? Or you only want to get expelled? Is that what you want? … And what is that?” She pointed at Mave’s rapier on her belt. “How many times do I have to tell you not to bring any weapons inside the Librad?”

Mave gave her a tired look. There had not been time where Harlin did not scold her when she comes into the library every afternoon. Clearly, Harlin must’ve hated her. She hated the woman, too. But Mave chose to get used to the rants of this old hag. If she wanted the clue from this place, she had to stay for a bit longer.

“Oh, don’t give me that kind of look, young woman.” Harlin quickly shook her head. “Just wait until I report this to the Grand Hunters—“

The ring of the fort bell interrupted Harlin from speaking. She groaned in agony.

“I have classes. See you around, Harlin,” Mave said, walking past the old woman towards the doors.

“Don’t you think you’ll get away with this!”

“Old hag,” Mave muttered to herself. The situation became much harder for her. But one thing she knew for sure … no one could ever stop her from getting what she wanted. After dismissal of today’s sessions, that would be the time for her to get into the Ardrad.

Mave touched her pocket where the bronze key was. If they wouldn’t allow her in, then she would have to go in herself.