Chapter 10: Into the Vault
"Okay, I don't know where to begin," squeaked Emi. "There's a vault in the guild? An actual vault?"
"It's underground," said Calythé. "Under Embrea's bed."
"But that's where she's sleeping," said Saffa dreamily.
"Snap out of it, lovebird. You're too young for that," Calythé chuckled, jostling his shoulder. "We'll move her."
They each picked up a corner of the girl's bed and gently moved her over, revealing a trapdoor, gray with age and dust. Thunder lifted the latch and opened the door. His eye watered as dust swirled up and around him but he did not make a sound. Then he descended into the vault and lit the lamp on the wall. Emi, Saffa, Topaz and Calythé watched as he picked up a golden harp and plucked a single string. A sharp, discordant TWANG rent the air, the string snapped in two, and a single malformed black note wriggled out, flopped onto the floor and dissolved.
"Ouch," growled Calythé, grimacing in pain. Suddenly the harp wiggled in Thunder's hands and slowly rose out of his arms. He frowned and jumped, trying to catch it, but it levitated out of his reach and flew towards Calythé instead. It nestled into her arms, and as she held it, the string melded together. She slowly drew her hand across the strings, and a stream of blue notes issued from the strings and almost hit Topaz.
"Hey! Watch where you're throwing those notes, lady!" he yelled.
"Sorry. This harp…" Calythé looked down at the harp. She stared at it for a long time.
"Okay. Next item of business… EMBREA HAS KIDS?!" Emi screeched.
Calythé sighed heavily. "It's a long story… if you want it in detail, I'll have to cast you a special spell." They walked off to Emi's quarters, where Emi got into her bed. Calythé pressed her forehead to Emi's, black bangs intermingling with green. She spoke a spell: "Empathize through another's eyes."
Emi instantly fell asleep.
And as she slept, she dreamed…