Moonlight crept across the rug in a thin silver blade. Alex lay perfectly still, one eye cracked open. The palace had gone quiet except for the faint clack of gears in the enchanted clocks. Even Thistle had rolled onto his back, paws twitching in some rabbit dream.
Then the system chimed softly in his mind:
New Quest Unlocked: "Scout the Palace." Objective: Discover hidden routes to the Library Tower before dawn. Reward: +2 Perception, Map Fragment. Failure: Palace security level increases. Accept? Y/NAlex almost laughed. The timing was perfect. Yes, he thought, and the words pulsed green. A translucent map appeared in his inner vision, blank except for a pulsing dot where he lay. He had until dawn to fill it.
He rose silently. His hooves barely clicked against the rug. A quick glance at Elara: the princess slept curled on her side, hair spilling over her pillow like spilled sunlight. One arm hung over the edge of the bed, fingers twitching as if chasing some dream of her own. She looked younger like that, less a royal and more a lonely girl.
Alex padded to the window lattice and pressed his nose to the glass. The city below sprawled like a constellation, thousands of lanterns flickering along its streets. Far beyond, black hills rolled against the horizon where the elves roamed. But his objective was closer — the Library Tower, marked by a spire of blue light in the distance. Knowledge first, revenge later.
He needed a way out.
The tapestry at the far wall stirred slightly though no breeze reached it. Alex crept over and nosed it aside. A narrow servants' door hid there, exactly where he'd expected. Its handle was a simple brass lever, but three tiny runes glowed above it. Wards.
He pulled back and listened. Thistle still snored. Elara murmured in her sleep. Good.
He concentrated, letting the system scan the door:
Arcane Lock (Apprentice Level). Weak point: lower rune. Silent Disarm possible.He focused on the rune, picturing it unravelling like a knot. A faint spark shivered down his horns — a new instinct since the ruins — and the glow dimmed. The handle turned silently. He eased the door open and slipped into a narrow passage smelling of stone and laundry soap.
Darkness swallowed him. Only a thin seam of moonlight from a high vent marked the way. His inner map flickered and extended a few paces ahead. Good, he thought. This is the servants' artery. Every palace has them.
He crept along, hooves muffled by old rugs. The passage wound downward, then split. One way smelled of bread and smoke — kitchens. The other rose toward cooler air and faint magic — the tower. He took the latter.
As he climbed, he began noticing small details: scratch marks on the stone where furniture had been dragged; hidden peepholes cut through paintings to watch the main halls; faint threads of spider-silk glimmering with enchantment. Someone else had used these paths recently.
Halfway up, a shadow moved ahead. Alex froze, muscles coiled. A pair of yellow eyes blinked back at him from the dark.
Then a whisper: "You're not a lamb."
Alex blinked. The eyes belonged to a boy about Elara's age, thin as a reed, dressed in a page's livery but barefoot. His hair stuck up in unruly black tufts. He balanced on the stair like a cat.
"I've seen you," the boy said, voice low. "In the princess's arms. You're…different."
Alex said nothing. He could bleat and pretend to be a normal animal, but the boy's eyes held too much knowing. The system offered no prompt.
"I'm Tomlin," the boy said. "Runner for the kitchens. I know all the hidden ways." He cocked his head. "And you're not supposed to be here."
Alex tilted his head, giving the smallest nod he dared. The boy grinned. "Didn't think so. Well, come on then. If you're after the tower, I can show you a shortcut."
He turned and padded off up the stair, silent as smoke. Alex hesitated. Trap or chance? But the quest timer in his vision ticked: 4:37 until dawn.
He followed.
They moved through a warren of passages that smelled of cedar and old paper. Tomlin's bare feet found every creakless board. At one landing he paused to press a loose stone; a panel swung open to reveal a crawlspace. "Through here," he whispered. "Avoids the night guards."
Alex squeezed after him, his small body an advantage for once. The crawlspace opened behind a row of shelves in a dim antechamber full of rolled charts and moth-eaten banners. Blue light spilled under the next door.
Tomlin crouched. "That's the scriptorium. No one there this late. The stairs up go straight to the library balcony." He studied Alex with frank curiosity. "You're with the princess, aren't you? She's the only one who'd dare smuggle something like you past the chamberlain."
Alex gave a tiny, deliberate nod. The boy's eyes widened but he said nothing more, just gestured toward the door and melted back into the crawlspace. Gone.
Alex pushed the door with his nose and stepped into the scriptorium. Rows of desks sat under globes of soft blue fire. Quills floated above inkpots, writing by themselves, copying some endless list. The air smelled of wax, parchment, and dust.
He padded silently to the far stairs and climbed. At the top a small iron gate barred the way, etched with runes that shimmered like frost. He scanned it:
Warding Gate (Journeyman Level). Bypass: use secondary key rune within scriptorium.He flicked an ear. Of course. Nothing's free. Time ticked: 3:02.
He trotted back down and nosed among the desks until he found a loose sheet glowing faintly — the key rune hidden as a calligraphy sample. He touched it with his horn; it dissolved into sparks and reformed as a sigil on his wool. The gate above clicked.
Back up the stairs, the iron swung open without a sound. He stepped onto the balcony of the Library Tower.
The space beyond stole his breath. Shelves rose like cliffs into darkness, ladders drifting along them of their own accord. Stained-glass windows spilled moonlight across endless tomes bound in dragonhide, silver, and stranger materials. In the centre a spiral stair plunged down into deeper levels. Magic pulsed through the air like a heartbeat.
The system chimed again:
Objective Complete. Map Fragment Acquired. Perception +2. Optional Subquest: "Identify the Source of the Elven Horn."Alex's inner map filled with new corridors and rooms. He allowed himself a small, satisfied snort. First foothold achieved.
But even as he turned to leave, a faint sound reached him — not the scribble of quills or the sigh of turning pages, but a low note from beyond the stained glass. The same horn he'd heard from Elara's window, closer now, echoing off the palace walls. The elves moving at night.
His quest log flickered:
Urgent Notice: The palace perimeter wards weakened. Unknown entity approaching.Alex glanced back at the dark stair winding down. Knowledge was here, but so was danger. Dawn felt a long way off.