The town centre looked particularly warm and inviting this time of year. The soft glow of hundreds of multi-coloured lanterns shimmered between the lampposts. The locals always seemed to be in good spirits, and the food was extra tasty.
Flora excitedly bounced between every little shop and goods stand they passed, admiring all the trinkets and assorted food items with the youthful joy of a child on their birthday. Khi’nai however, was less enthused by the festivities. Her mind mulled over how crowded and cold it was as she constantly peered into every alleyway, making sure that Din wasn’t lying in wait for her.
“Hey! Happy holidays!”, Flora chirped at the old gryphoness running the hot drinks stand[BK1] .
“Well, if it isn’t my two favourite customers, happy holidays! The usual?”, the gryphoness asked warmly. Her holiday-themed apron was embroidered with snowflakes and multi-coloured stars.
Flora nodded happily before turning to Khi’nai, who was still staring into the dark alleyway where she had last seen the kobold and his master. Flora frowned and nudged her. “No conspiracies today. It’s winter holiday – time for zesty winter mint and hot chocolate[BK2] ”.
Khi’nai snorted, making Flora raise a brow. “Don’t you answer me with that tone of snort”.
Khi’nai couldn’t help but utter a weak chuckle at Flora’s rebuttal, she sighed sharply. “Fine, I’m sorry, I’ll do my best to cheer up okay?”
Flora chuckled as she pointed the gryphon waitress towards a table. “That’s what I like to hear.”
The two sat down at the table. The two sat down. The gryphon waitress soon returned, placing their drinks before them with a smile. “Here you go, ladies. Enjoy!”
Zesty wintermint latte with the works for Flora. A normal hot chocolate with the works for Khi’nai[BK3] .
Flora eagerly took a sip from her drink, which left a moustache of cream on her muzzle. The scent of mint and wintergreen filled the air.
“So”, she sighed, “got any holiday plans?”
Khi’nai took a sip from her hot chocolate. “I’m hoping to go home, spend some time with my family… finally get some sleep, maybe?”
Flora sighed dramaticall. “Lucky! My parents decided that it was ‘best for my future endeavours’ that I stay here over the holidays. You know, the usual; Heaven forbid they let their daughter come home for the holidays”.
“I see, well, I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind if you wanted to join us this year”
Flora’s eyes lit up, “For real? I’d get to spend the holidays with my bestie?!”
Khi’nai sipped her drink calmly, “I’m sure they’ll be fine with it. We always end up making too much food anyway. As long as you promise to let me sleep in for a change”.
Flora clapped her paws together and squealed, “I promise, I promise. Of course, I’d have to give up on all the drakes for the holidays”.
Khi’nai snorted, “mmhmm, terrible I know.”
Flora winked, “Oh, I’m sure I’ll survive.” She —a high-pitched, squeaky sound like a mouse.
But as Khi’nai peered at her friend, she caught a glimpse of movement entering the alleyway behind Flora.
She looked past her squinting.
Flora stopped, watching Khi’nai glancing over her shoulder at the alleyway, then back at Khi’nai, “Khi’naaaaiiii, not this again, there’s nothing in the alleyway”.
Khi’nai suddenly jumped up from the table and bolted toward the alley, Flora groaning as she chased after her.
“Hey! Can’t we at least finish our drinks first?”
Khi’nai claws tapped on the cobblestones as she trotted up the alleyway. A faint light glowed from the window of a familiar rustic store, its door slightly ajar.
“Khi’nai, would you listen to me, there’s nothing in the…” Flora trailed off as she took in the abandoned storefront. “…creepy old potion store?”
“This is where they met last time,” Khi’nai muttered, pushing open the door. It creaked, long and protracted, as she stepped inside.
Flora hesitated, then sighed loudly before following.
Inside, the dim light of old wax candles cast flickering shadows on heavy wooden shelves lined with long-expired potions and ingredients. Everything was thick with dust—everything except for a torn page on the table beside a small, leather-bound tome.
Khi’nai slowly approached the table, “It’s the page that he tore from the library book that day… the one about ancient groves.”
“…And ‘he’ is the kobold?” Flora furrowed her brow.
Khi’nai picked up the tome, running her paw over its cover. The leather felt strange. Almost like—
“…Dragon scales,” she murmured.
Flora shuddered. “You mean that book is covered in skin? Like, dragon skin?” She made a face. “That’s gross.”
Khi’nai didn’t respond. She recognized these scales—black, pearlescent, soft to the touch. They were his scales. This was his book.
She had known the Order members had dark rituals, but this? This was a whole new level of twisted.
“You probably shouldn’t be messing with that,” Flora hesitated. “Especially considering—”
“I need to know what’s in here. And why he left it.”
Flora groaned. “Khi’nai, can’t we just enjoy ourselves? It’s winter holiday—”
“I have to know.” Khi’nai stowed the tome in her bag and bolted out the door.
Flora huffed. “What about our chocolate?”
“Just bring it along.”
Khi’nai ran up the cobblestone path toward the school. Flora spun around as a noise behind her caught her attention.
A candle holder had fallen over, setting the antiquated wood alight.
Flora ran out of the alleyway, shouting for help. Guards hurried to tame the blaze. As they worked, she searched for Khi’nai in the direction of the school—
But Khi’nai was already gone.
—-
Khi’nai slammed the tome down the heavy library table, the noise startling the powder-blue custodian kobold who was sweeping the floor.
“Oh my, is there anything amiss deary?”
“Oh, sorry, just a bit excited,” Khi’nai replied, sounding anxious and out of breath.
“Did you need anything deary?”
“Nothing, Shi’na, just need to focus. Studying. Big test.” Khi’nai cracked a nervous smile.
“Test? This time of the year?” The custodian titled her head in confusion.
“It’s for extra credit. Gotta get my grades up”
“Oh, alright, deary. You tell me if you need anything”
Finally, some peace. Khi’nai nervously flipped open the cover of the book. She didn’t want to knock over the candlestick, but despite how much she cared for Flora, she needed her out of her mane—if only for a little while.
The book looked even older than it was, its pages weathered and stained. The handwriting was neat and structured—clearly, the writer valued good penmanship.
The first page read:
“Din’Yah’Miin first born son of Vuljiin[BK4] , apprentice caster of the school of the Dark Sacrament.”
It’s definitely his diary. Khi’nai flipped the pages, her claw following the sections of the text.
“Having suffered a rather unfortunate end trying to defend a floating kingdom like a lovestruck twat, my father was always one for the theatrical. Who would’ve thought that touching a thirty-ton charged Aether crystal would melt your flesh like candle wax.”
“I’ve heard that his end was not as fatal or final as I had initially assumed. He ‘ended’ his life by absorbing the power of the aetheric crystal in an attempt to gain more power, destroying himself and the kingdom in the process. What an awfully shameful way to go.”
Khi’nai rubbed her chin. “So he was doomed to repeat history,” she muttered before continuing to read.
“Father’s death triggered more than just shameful news and the destruction of a kingdom. I was forced to seek refuge with these cultists – a cheerful bunch of misfits who have a penchant for raising the dead and chanting in the unholy hours of the morning.”
She filled a few pages ahead.
“These cultists expect things of me that I’m utterly incapable of. The inductions are becoming more and more, painful. Violent even. The guise is that it is to bring out some latent capability that I surely must possess. Surely. Perhaps death isn’t such as bad option for me. Though, if I did that, I’d be giving them the satisfaction of having their way. What’s the fun in that? Just as my father, I live to spit them.”
Khi’nai snorted as she continued flipping through the pages. What followed was a daily record of his initiation—detailing intense torture and abuse, all in the name of awakening his power. Among these entries were notes on procedures for necromancy.
“The scars are healing. Pity—it was an easy way to get fresh blood for the tinctures. Today I was assigned an assistant. A pitiful brown kobold with a stutter. Honestly, can’t imagine how a creature like this came to join the Order, barely able to string two words together without bumbling like a fool. Though, his theoretical knowledge of the craft has proven useful. With his assistance today I was able to revive a rodent I had found strangled by a noose trap. The procedure is really rather simply—“
“I’lain.” Khi’nai’s voice was barely above a whisper. “He was the brains of the two.” Her claw traced the instructions on the page. “All of this seems so easy… almost too easy.”
Had I’lain performed necromancy before? Who taught him? Her mother clearly knew him and had assigned him to protect her, but instead, he joined a cult? None of it was adding up.
She flipped through more entries—lessons with I’lain, notes, corrections. Page after page of their studies together. Khi’nai grabbed her head and slammed the book shut.
A familiar green face peered into the library from the slightly open door.
“So, this where you went-”
Khi’nai snorted, “I told you where I was going.“
Flora strutted up to the table, placing a now ice-cold drink in front of Khi’nai. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t. But that’s okay. I brought your drink like you asked.” She tilted her head, studying Khi’nai’s expression. “Judging from your frown, I assume the book wasn’t exactly a blockbuster.”
Khi’nai groaned. “No, it wasn’t. It poses more questions than answers”
Flora sat down next to her. “All the bad novels are like that. Can’t imagine anyone who wraps their book in skin is much of an author.”
Khi’nai sighed. “It’s not that. It’s more that one of the characters in the story isn’t who you thought they were.”
Flora nodded in understanding. “The worst kind of betrayal.” She put a wing around Khi’nai’s shoulders. “So, how about we go see a play or something? Get your mind off that nasty novel of yours.”
Khi’nai sighed again. “Sure. I should probably get out more.”
Flora chirped and clapped her paws together. “Great! Let’s go!”
She wasn’t really in the mood for a play, but maybe it would give her time to think about all of this.
Last referenced in Book 1: Chapter γ
[BK2]Last referenced in Book 1: Chapter γ, Flora called Khi’nai’s “adventure” a conspiracy.
[BK3]The gryphoness knows that Flora and Khi’nai’s “usual” is a boring hot chocolate for Khi’nai and whatever is the most expensive seasonal drink at the time.
[BK4]A name nobody knows if this is all you’ve read 😛