A harvest moon hung low in the astral sky by the time Cade arrived at the monastery veiled within a thin mist. He gripped his deadly ninjato in his fist and carefully approached the tall open gate.

  With keen eyes, trained by all of the other Dead of Winter members, he inspected the grainy redwood for any signs of Sable presence. He brushed his hand down the sanded surface before stopping at the center of the gate. His skin raised with the sensation of a laden dim magic.

  Chaos Magic.

  Sable only taught Cade the rudimentary basics of rune reading, such as how to spot them, decipher the type of Magi used to write them, but not how to break or write them. No, he only knew enough to read a book, but not how to write one.

  He closed his eyes and whispered an arcane incantation. “Leigmae!”

  When he opened his eyes, a set of symbols scrawled on the door radiated with a rose colored light. Cade nodded in understanding. The Magi he sensed was, indeed, Chaos in nature, for the runes were written for a demon to pass onto these hallowed grounds unhindered.

  Of course. How else could Calsoon enter a monastery without the aid of a runewriter?

  Cade crept stealthy down the halls and through the chambers of the large abbey. He followed the blood smeared walls and trail of corpses that Calsoon left in his wake to a grand library. Books stuffed towering shelves and scrolls littered study tables. The musty scent of ancient paper filled Cade’s nostrils. He scanned the sanctum for any signs of the Calsoon or Sable,but they were not here. Not a droplet of blood, nor an overturned book gave a clue to where they went.

  Cade growled and slumped in a nearby chair. Surely they did not just vanish? There must be a secret trigger or hidden passage in this library.

  Had he still been a part of Wraslyn’s connection to the Shadowverse, he could sense a secret hallway, but when he left Dead of Winter he became cut off from such power. Much akin to a landlord changing their locks. Cade would need to be cunning like a Black Rabbit to solve this puzzle.

  If Calsoon and Sable learned of a passage to the Diamond Key, then there might be a record of it in the monastery’s construction. Blueprints! He needed to find the monastery’s blueprints! Monks were known to archive everything from the history of a nation’s war to the abbot’s bowel movements! Of course this library would have building plans stashed somewhere here.

  Cade walked to the librarian’s desk and pulled out a large tome entitled, ‘Koda Mi Leigmara’. Which in Arcana read ‘Codex of the Library’. Despite the dull lessons and tiresome amount of lectures, Cade smirked at how well he picked up Arcana from Strife and Sable.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Using the codex was only a matter matching the symbols written in the book with the symbols placed on the shelf that contained the scroll he searched for.

  Cade snatched the blueprints and flattened it across a table. He moved his finger along the route that he took to get to the library. His eyes directed to a corridor scribbled beyond a southern wall. He turned to the southern wall and spotted a bookshelf. Cade read the various titles and shook his head with a stifled chuckle. One of the books read “Baeloche Folaithe”. Which in Arcana translated to ‘Hidden Passage’. He tugged at the book and with a click the shelf opened inward revealing the Baeloche Folaithe.

  ***

  With urgency threaded into each step, Cade dashed down the corridor. His hand frosted over with icy magic and in his other hand he clutched his ninjato. Finally the hall spilled into an octagonal shaped room. Runes scrawled on each smooth, granite wall. They pulsed with the same chaos magic that Cade read on the main gate. At the far wall, parallel to Cade, stood Sable and Calsoon.

  Cade dispelled his hand and crouched in the shadows, unsure if the two noticed him yet. Cade silently crept along the walls while maintaining his attention on his former guild mates.

  His training delved into what made a Black Rabbit so deadly. Not just mastering combat and learning to walk unnoticed, but also how to predict thoughts through reading body language. From the most sweeping gestures to the smallest ticks, Cade could read what a simple flinch translated both on a psychological scale, but on a physical one as well. A Black Rabbit could use the art of body language to counter a thrown punch or decipher a lie. However, Ryjin wore the first Black Rabbit emblem and the Dead of Winter trained Ryjin. To think that Cade could use Rabbit tactics on Calsoon, such a silly thought.

  Cade stepped from the shadows and walked to the center of the room.

  “So you have returned, afterall?” Sable removed her finger from the finished enchantment and turned to Cade.

  Calsoon leaned against the and kept his eyes lowered to the floor.

  “No. I still side with Arrelion over Wraslyn.”

  “Shame.” Sable pressed her hand on the wall and closed her eyes. With a small voice she chanted an Arane word too low for Cade to make out. The wall rumbled and slid down with an ear-piercing grind. Gears shifted and cranked as another wall came forward. A strikingly beautiful key carved of pristine white diamond rested on in a hovel of the new wall.

  “Wait, Sable,” Cade pleaded. “You don’t need to follow him. Wraslyn—he’s insane!”

  She let out a long sigh and glanced at Calsoon. “Handle him.”

  The Black Rabbit curled a ragged snarl across his. “I won't let you leave with that key!”

  Calsoon rolled up his sleeves and unsheathed a set of daggers. “I am sorry, my friend. But your story ends here.

  Cade narrowed his eyes. “No, I think not.”