Page 96 of Sun Elves of Ardani

So when Eliyr told her that he’d found something that might help them defeat it, she followed him into the depths of the ruins at once. Roshan and Neiryn accompanied them in case of trouble. But without the fear that the magic-eater might find them at any moment, crossing through the ruins was surprisingly peaceful.

Kadaki had decided that she and Roshan needed to talk. More than a few people had asked her whether she was still married to him. She didn’t know how to answer anymore.

“You have to admit that it looks strange from the outside, Roshan. Maybe we should say something.”

“Like a public announcement?By the way, everyone, I know you’re all occupied with the loss of your homes and livelihoods, but I must tell you that my wife is actually my platonic life partner! Let me introduce you all to my Ysuran lover!”

“Maybe not quite like that,” Kadaki said. “Perhaps… Perhaps we should tell people we’re divorcing.”

He paused, turning to her. “You want a divorce?”

She hesitated, suddenly afraid of hurting him. “It’s not that I don’t want to be married to you. You know that nothing has changed between us. I still care for you.”

He smiled, putting an arm around her. “I suppose there’s no reason not to, is there? It’s too late to hide now. Maybe we’ve outgrown this facade.”

“Thank the Goddess,” Neiryn muttered. “If I have to hear one more person call me a ‘pointy-eared home-wrecker’ under their breath, I’m going to set someone on fire.” He and Eliyr were exchanging a sly look. Kadaki got the impression they’d both been awaiting this decision somewhat impatiently.

“Are you going to leave the house, then?” Roshan asked.

Kadaki hesitated. She had nowhere else to go. And leaving the house meant she’d be farther away from Neiryn. “I don’t know.”

“I will file a request for divorce with the records office in Valtos on the condition that you agree to stay, for now. If you leave, I’ll be the only human in the house.”

“Does that make you nervous?” Eliyr asked, giving him a predatory smile.

“Of course it does, Eliyr. You’re all far too dangerous for your own good.”

Kadaki gave Roshan a knowing look, understanding that he was making the stipulation entirely for her benefit. It would grant her leeway in figuring out what she would do next.

The near future held change for all of them. Kadaki had not fully realized it until that moment, but the quiet life she’d shared with Roshan was ending. And although she knew the changes would be for the better, the realization felt bittersweet.

“You’re assuming you’ll ever get to return to that house,” Neiryn said, his voice cracking a little. “At this rate, it’s not looking promising. You may have to transplant everyone in town somewhere else.”

“That’s not an option,” Kadaki said. “I’m going to fix this if it kills me.”

“Hopefully you won’t have to go that far,” Eliyr said. He ducked through an archway into a tunnel to the next cavern. “It’s just through here.”

Kadaki’s mage light bobbed through the tunnel and came out on the other side, illuminating a tall, cylindrical room. Shelves lined the curved walls, and a spiraling staircase wound along the wall, allowing access to higher shelves. Her jaw dropped when she realized what the room was for.

“It’s a library,” she said.

“Yes,” Eliyr replied, looking quite smug. As he should. Kadaki knew of no other discoveries of intact Auren-Li libraries.

But as she looked closer, she realized most of the books on the shelves had been reduced to dust over the millennia. She carefully picked one up, and its spine cracked in half when she opened it. The pages were glued together, blackened with mold, and whatever writing had been on the paper was faded to nothing.

“This is an incredible find, but I don’t know if it will help us with our immediate problem,” she said.

“Probably not. But I wonder if this might,” he said, pointing to the only wall in the room that was not covered by shelving. An intricate mural decorated it. Kadaki brought her light closer to see the details. It contained several panels with different scenes filled with people and cities, gods, spellcasters, and animals. It had clearly once been stunningly detailed artwork, but time had cracked and faded the paint to the point that it was hard to make out.

“That’s an obelisk,” Kadaki said, recognizing the distinctive shape at the center of the mural.

“There’s a magic-eater, too,” Neiryn said, pointing to a fierce-looking four-legged creature with a deer skull for a head.

Roshan chuckled. “It appears the Auren-Li had trouble with magic-eaters too, even thousands of years ago.”

Eliyr nodded. “I suspected that the Auren-Li must have known some way of dealing with them. They built their civilization atop axes. They must have encountered magic-eaters before.”

Kadaki stared at the mural. A mage was standing before the obelisk, drawing power from it in a beam of white paint. And in the next panel, a mage appeared to be ejecting another beam of magic at the magic-eater.

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