The Offer

The statement hung in the air. Shai was simultaneously astounded and baffled. "Meaning what, exactly?"

Zale shook his head. "I can't say."

"So, what is it you ask of me? It seems you've a great deal of knowledge beyond even I," Shai asked as the appetizers arrived.

Zale ate for a quiet period of time before his shoulders relaxed. "I want the same thing you want. Knowledge. And maybe resources. What do you know about the library?"

Shai couldn't stop his eyes from widening slightly while his jaw hung. "So you HAVE been to the Temple of the Holy Ones."

"Is that what it's called?"

Shai checked himself and gave a light shrug. "I know not of its true name. That has been lost to us for many centuries. We simply call it a temple now, but indeed, it is a library—one of immeasurable size. The books there are, as well, innumerable. I, myself, have only been twice."

"What can you tell me about it?"

"Not much, friend. I went once at the age of eighteen when my father passed. This was his dying will, that I seek out the temple in his place. I ventured again when I ascended the throne," he nearly spat, "As is ritual, I sought out the temple. However, each venture requires immense resources, which my country now lacks. As well, the time spent is mere days at best, hours at worst."

He sighed. Zale let the story sink in. The time he'd spent was nearly a month on the dot. He knew, now, how valuable that time had been. Another course came out, and they ate quietly for a long time. Zale couldn't believe the taste or anything else of that evening. His senses were overwhelmed with the smell of delicious fish, wine, and the story Shai told.

"When I entered the...uh, library, it was a freak accident. I was apparently in a coma for a month. That's how long I spent in the library. Sadly, I wasted two weeks just searching for a way out. I didn't even bother trying the books until after."

Shai was appalled but stopped it from showing. ��Zale mopped up the last of the sauce with the food on his fork. "I didn't know anything. When I finally tried, it was almost all books I couldn't read, or even open."

Shai cleared his throat of accusations. "Well, while it is a shame to have squandered that time, at least we know our experiences in the temple have been similar. I, too, am unable to access the vast majority of the knowledge. My predecessors, much the same. It has been the cause of delay for my lineage for millennia," Shai explained.

"Do you have any books with you?"

"I do not deal with them lightly, of course. I would not dare to bring such sacred texts into foreign territory. However, I do have one, and only one, in my home country. It is customary to return that which you have borrowed from a library, is it not?" Shai pointed out with a charming smile.

"So, we both want to become sorcerers then?"

Shai's eyes darted this way and that before he nodded. "It is the knowledge we've searched for in the library. However, we've none. Our records on that are...sparse, to put it lightly."

Zale weighed his options. Ally with Shai and give up his information, or continue to struggle alone. The decision was not a hard one, but he had to get everything from Shai that he could. "If you agree to offer every ounce of support you can, I'll tell you everything I know from this book and the way to become a sorcerer. Of course, I'll make the same agreement towards you."