Finding Draphior Runescar

Chapter 14: Finding Draphior Runescar

[Mythiopia]

The ancient coin lay quietly on the king's desk, emanating an unyielding aura.

Lawrence and Dexter sat back in their chairs, exhaustion etched on their faces. They had studied the coin relentlessly since returning from the White Tower, but to no avail.

Coins created by ordinary mages lacked the magical strength to resist Lawrence's power, yet this one was different—far too powerful.

Even with Dexter's help—an elf with strong power to absorb magic—they had made no progress.

Each time they delved into the coin's magic, they were met with a vast, empty void. It seemed to absorb their power, only to spit them out with force.

How powerful was this Draphior Runescar exactly?

"Your Majesty, the magic in the coin is too stable," Dexter observed, his tone grave. "We can't disrupt it in its current state."

Lawrence nodded grimly. The coin's power seemed to activate only when Isabella was in mortal danger. That might be his only chance to send his magic through, but it was just a hypothesis—one he prayed he would never have to test.

"We can't afford to wait for Isabella to be in danger," Lawrence muttered, frustration lacing his voice.

"Alternatively," Dexter offered cautiously, "you could put yourself in danger. That might trigger the coin to signal her."

Lawrence let out a hollow laugh. "Me? In danger? I doubt anyone in this realm has the power to pose a threat to me." His confidence wasn't arrogance—it was simply the truth.

The room fell silent until Lawrence broke it with a new thought. "Are there any other artifacts created by the Gatekeeper? Only his magic might be able to counter this."

"The gatekeeper's existence is long lost in time. Even if his creations are still there, it won't be easy to find them."

It was true. A powerful mage can usually locate pieces with similar magical vibrations with a decent accuracy.

But the Gatekeeper's magic was an enigma. They barely understood it.

Both men sat in silence. They have brainstormed many ideas in the past few days but nothing worked.

"Dexter" Lawrence called, his brows frowning as he remembered something.

"Yes? Your Majesty." came a quick response from Dexter.

"Back then when you saved Aliza, did she not have this artifact on her?" Lawrence asked.

He and Aliza weren't yet married, but he had already given her the heirloom when he proposed her to be his queen.

"I remember the queen carried the coin with her all the time, your majesty. It was there with her that time too." Dexter said, but he too caught onto the point.

Aliza was in mortal danger, but the coin didn't send any signal to Lawrence. Thinking about it, it was simply passed from generation to generation with just casually stating the purpose.

"It's indeed weird. The coin seemed to have suddenly got it's power. How is that possible?" Dexter pondered.

Lawrence recollected once studying about how some powerful wizards can activate and deactivate their magic on their artifacts however they wanted.

"But.. but the gatekeeper is dead."

Lawrence nodded. "It means two things. Either the gatekeeper never died, or the gatekeeper is reborn."

Dexter was slightly taken aback hearing the reborn part.

"We would have definitely known if such a power was born. This kind of power is difficult to hide."

Lawrence agreed. So they both decided on the first possibility -- The gatekeeper was never dead.

"Dexter. Delegate all your duties to our subordinates and focus on finding similar artifacts. I will try to find the gatekeeper"

Lawrence ordered. Dexter obeyed and immediately left to fulfill his duties.

The king closed his tired eyes and leaned back in his chair. What is the use of being a king with all this power and influence if he couldn't protect his own daughter? He felt useless, and exhausted.

"Uhmm.. cough .. cough"

Lawrence opened his bright green eyes and looked at the door. His eyes lit up like a teenage boy spotting his crush when he saw his wife standing there with a plate in her hands.

"Al. My queen. Why are you standing there? Come in." Lawrence said with a bright smile and immediately pulled a chair beside him for her to sit.

Aliza looked at the king behaving all nervous with a complicated expression. Lawrence looked very tired.

She walked in and put the dinner plate in front of the king.

"You didn't come for dinner. Dexter said you are busy." The queen didn't explain much, but Lawrence understood that Dexter said more than just that.

"Did you eat?"

"Hmm. I ate with Stella."

Lawrence looked at his dinner. Aliza brought all his favorites. He smiled and started eating. He was indeed hungry.

Neither of them spoke for a while before Aliza finally broke the silence.

"Don't ignore your health. How can you find Isabella if you fall ill?" Aliza said without looking at her husband.

She felt bad seeing him working so hard. She knew he was pulling all-nighters in the library these days.

Lawrence smiled. "Hmm. I will listen to my queen."

The couple went quite again. Lawrence finished everything on the plate and the servants cleaned the table before giving the couple some privacy.

All of them were aware about the friction between their king and the queen, but they also knew that Lawrence only and only loved Aliza. This is also why the harem was completely empty.

The husband and wife sat in the peaceful silence of night. None of them spoke. Lawrence got up from his seat and knelt before Aliza before placing his head in her lap and closed his eyes.

Aliza hands instinctively went to her husband's hair, just like when they were young.

"Lawrence.. Get up. The floor is cold."

"Just a few more minutes Al." The king's voice sounded sleepy. The queen sighed.

"I am not going anywhere. Just go to bed and sleep."

"Then you should sleep here." Lawrence requested. He hadn't changed a thing in this room since Aliza moved out of his room. He really wanted to go back to those days.

"O-Okay" Aliza relented.

Lawrence smiled silly and obediently went to bed. Aliza removed her jewellery before joining him.

The king pulled her close to him as soon as she lay down. He was no saint.

"L-Lawrence"

"Let me tell you what I got to know recently"

And the king told everything he did in the past few days. Aliza listened to everything intently.

"You think someone or something protected Isabella?"

Lawrence nodded. The coin signaled him twice. Which meant Isabella was indeed in danger. But then the vibration went away as fast as they came. Someone or something is watching over her.

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[Snowblood mountains]

"Urghh..." Calhoun woke with a groan, his body aching. Opening his eyes, he found himself under the cool shade of dense evergreens.

The ground was soft with grass, dotted with blooming flowers. Birds chirped in the distance—a stark contrast to the barren desert he'd been traversing.

He lay back, trying to recall what had happened. His last memory was of suffocating in that pond. How had he ended up here?

Looking around, he spotted the white wolf sleeping peacefully nearby. He was about to get up when his hand brushed against something cool.

A coin.

Calhoun picked it up, turning it over in his hands. His eyes narrowed as he studied it. The symbols and markings were unmistakable—it was the iron gate from the pond, now shrunken into a coin.

A sound of rushing water reached his ears. Following it, he found a waterfall nearby. Realization dawned: he had come through the tunnel, and the wolf had dragged him to safety.

The wolf stirred, opening one eye to look at him before resting again. Calhoun felt glad that it wasn't a loss to spend money on this wolf. The wolf indeed knew it's way.

Calhoun tucked the coin securely into his tunic. He didn't fully understand its purpose, but he guessed he might need it to go back home.