'What great thing have you uncovered?' she asked, only half believing.
When he turned once again to stare into her eyes, any doubt Saura had about the validity of this particular fool's errand was suddenly erased by the look of victory firmly planted on his tattooed face.
'You seek the robes,' he said, ignoring her question.
'Of course,' she answered, trying to keep her voice steady.
'I have but one final task to ask of you,' he said in hushed tones, as though someone might hear his secret, even there, deep within his own house. He reached out again and touched her cheek, tracing his hand, nails teasing at her flesh, over the intricate tattoo that wound down her sensitive throat to plunge into her neckline. When his hand reached her throat, he dug his sharpened nails into her flesh. 'I am sure that it will be easier to stomach than some tasks I have asked of you.'
Saura couldn't doubt that. Her years of service in the wizard's bed were a steep price to pay for this apprenticeship.
'What could it be then?' she purred, teasing, trying to ignore the growing pain in her throat.
'If you are able to pull this one off, my dear, I shall grant you your greatest desire.' He let the promise hang in the air for a bloated moment then added, 'But Samas Kul must know nothing.'
Nusair's hand lingered for another moment at the small of Saura's throat and he stepped past her to stare out the great, arching windows. Saura breathed a sigh of relief as he released her neck. Or was it the relief promised by what he had just offered? She would finally get the red robes that she had craved for so long-but was withholding information from the dangerous guildmaster a wise thing to do?
Saura thought about it for a moment then nodded and asked, 'What must I do?' For the robes, and an end to her infernal apprenticeship, she would do most anything.
'I have found The Scalamagdrion' he said.
Saura gasped, unable to suppress her surprise. Nusair had sought the ancient tome ever since she had known him. She had begun to believe the thing was only a fairy tale, a myth.
The book was an artifact right out of Toril's dark past. Some said it was crafted in Imaskar, long before the destruction of the ancient nation. Others thought it originated in fallen Netheril. No one knew for sure. The book was said to hold the secret to summoning strange, magic-resistant dragons from a secret place beyond reach in any other way. In the hands of the right conjurer, the book meant power… and gold.
Her master smiled at her like an ancient red wyrm about to devour its prey. 'I have tracked the book from where it was raided from a crypt in Myth Drannor to where it now rests, in the City of Shadows,' he said, referring to the Mulhorandi capital. 'From Skuld, you will recover my treasure.'
One last time, Saura looked up at the door that marked her destination. To the west, the twin towers of Horus-Re poked into the sky from behind the rounded turrets of the Palace of the Pharaoh like two massive fangs. She had spent two days trying to locate the obscure shop deep within the market district of Skuld and she was growing impatient with her search. Nearly invisible in the quickly approaching darkness and rising fog, she waited for the opportunity to seize her prize.
When darkness was near complete, and the moon hung mostly hidden behind bloated rain clouds, Saura stepped from her hiding place in a narrow alleyway opposite the building. She pulled her hood lower over her eyes and skulked to the protective cover of the stone pillars to which the door was hinged.
Saura was out long after the city's curfew. With the army away in Unther, no one was allowed to prowl the streets, save the city watch and people on the pharaoh's business, neither of which she qualified for. Mulhorrand didn't take too kindly to Red Wizards stepping foot within its borders. In the event she was caught, she would be imprisoned for sure. Likely she'd never be heard from again. She pushed that fear to the back of her mind and reached out to the locked door.
Saura whispered an incantation into the night and the lock slid open, the door swinging mysteriously inward. Carefully, she stepped into the shop. Once inside, she ensured all the shades were drawn and blinds were closed on the two street facing windows. Then, crumbling a piece of phosphorescent moss to invoke the Art, she cast a simple light spell on the serrated blade of her curved dirk. The room was cast in an eerie yellow light, revealing thousands of ancient tomes, manuals, scrolls, and books stacked in a haphazard fashion around a room nearly twenty paces square. A small wooden table, empty except for a well-worn ledger, stood in the center of the cluttered room. Just opposite the door, another opening leading out of the room was covered with a hanging tapestry. She figured that the passageway led to the proprietor's living quarters, and she turned away from it, ignoring the possibility that her prize might lie in that direction. She'd deal with the proprietor later. It wouldn't do to go leaving potential witnesses about.
Saura whispered the arcane words and traced the intricate designs of a spell that would illuminate all items within the shop that possessed magic. Nearly one-in-four books showed some sort of magical aura, surprising her. Deciding to search for the strongest aura of magic, she stepped into the mass of tomes and began to sort through those items she identified with her spell, looking for the book whose aura told of ancient power, and matched Nusair's cryptic description: black dragon's hide, edged in beaten copper.
Soon after starting, Saura stopped her search when a voice called out from behind the hanging tapestry, startling her from the task at hand.
'Who's there?' The voice was shaky and unsure.
For a moment, Saura considered avoiding confrontation, but the promise other Red Robes drove her onward. She slid her dagger into its sheath, effectively plunging the room into blackness.
As quickly as it disappeared, light once again streamed into the room. The glow was faint, though, and coming from behind the tapestry that hid the room's exit. Saura quickly hid behind a large stack of leather bound books. From there, she watched as an old man carrying a low-burning candle in one hand and waving a wand before him in the other, stepped tentatively into the room. From her two days of surveillance, she knew the man as Mephnit Nandem, the owner of the establishment.
Mephnit was dark of skin and hair. He would have been tall, if he hadn't been bent over with age. He looked afraid. He wasn't much of a threat, as far as Saura could tell. That thought brought a tentative smile across the wizard's face. The old man was no warrior, nor was he a wizard to be feared.
Saura stood and said, 'I am a collector… of fine books and ancient writings.'
'More likely a thief,' the old man said, startled. He backed away, waving the wand before him. 'Why do you come here, breaking and entering and wielding magic in my home?'
Ignoring the man's question, Saura stated the obvious: 'I'm looking for a book, old man. It's an ancient tome, if truth be told, with a black and copper cover.'
Mephnit's eyes darted to her left and returned nervously to settle on Saura.
'Come back in the morning,' said the old man. 'I don't do business in the witching hours.'
'There's a reason I'm here now,' Saura hissed. She threw back her hood revealing the tell-tale tattoos of a Thayan spellcaster.
The man stepped backward once more. 'I have wards up. The watch will come. You should go, wizard. Your kind is not wanted in Skuld,' he continued to clutch the magical device in sweating hands. 'If you're caught, you'll be killed.'
Saura's patience wore thin with the old man. She doubted the old sage knew much of the Art at all-certainly not enough to ward the place against any sort of magic that Saura could wield. But she had no idea if he had somehow sent out warning to the watch. Time was slipping away. She decided to play on his greed, and took a bag from the folds of her cloak, emptying its contents on the small table. Ten beautiful rubies spilled out and rolled about the tabletop. The man's eyes widened in exasperation.
'My offer is high,' she said with a smiled.
Mephnit hesitated for just a second. He was obviously interested in the offer. But Saura was disappointed at his response. 'I am sure it is not high enough,' he coughed out. 'If I am caught dealing with Thayans, I too will be put to the sword.'
'I grow tired of this talk.' She put on her crudest look, and shot out her hand to snatch at his shoulder, pulling him closer so that his face was only inches from hers. 'That is the price,' she rasped at him. 'The next offer will be much higher!' she finished the last comment by raising her eyebrow and sneering wickedly. It was no threat, only a promise.
The frightened man's eyes darted once again to the corner, then back to hers. 'H-how can I trust the word of a… of a Thayan wizard?' he asked, stuttering.
