Meeting up with Aarde as he leaves the dojo Umbrae speaks up, "You've got to teach me thaumaturgy."
"I was planning on studying it a little more today," comments Aarde, "Might as well pass on the knowledge. First stop, the library."
After a brief walk they enter a high roofed multi floored room packed with bookshelves the center of which is a veritable forest of large stone platforms topped with cushions and tables suspended high over the bookshelves by large chains.
"I've never seen a library with the tables above the books."
"You mustn't have seen very many libraries."
"I came from far across the western ocean. Things are quite different over there."
"I see. Well it opens up floor space for more books and since most dragons can fly it works perfectly. Go ahead and pick a table I'll be right there," comments Aarde as he heads deeper into the maze of bookshelves.
Taking flight he lands at the nearest platform which despite its appearance doesn't sway in the slightest. Seconds later Aarde drops a gilded leather book labeled Thaumonomicon before disappearing again.
Moments later he places a hexagonal golden rimmed lens with a gem at each corner and a clay box full of colored gems on the table.
"Thaumaturgy is a rather scientific form of magic even more ancient than the gifting of the elements to ancient dragonkind. The basis of the entire discipline is the six primal elements, Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Order, and Decay. These six can be combined to make crystals that can be used to perform miracles. For example," he picks up a faint yellow gem and a fiery orange gem before drawing a circle with two smaller circles inside the edges before placing each crystal in a circle causing them to dissolve and intermingle until a brightly glowing yellow crystal is left, "Air and Fire make light. If you don't have primal crystals with you, you can create them from the aura that permeates everything, however such a thing isn't consistent. All across the world there are areas much richer in the primal aspects than others," he picks up the lens, "This Thaumometer is an ancient artifact that can read the aura in an area by simply looking through it. Go ahead and give it a whirl."
Umbrae picks up the Thaumometer and is greeted by a hexagon with certain corners more exaggerated appearing on the glass, "That's a very wonky hexagon."
"The more exaggerated corners dictate what aspects are more prevalent," teaches Aarde, "Here in the mountains Earth and Air are far more prevalent, but due to this monastery being here it has actually caused order to be more prevalent then it would otherwise be. Now go ahead and tap the glass," after tapping it changes to the words Terra, Draconis, and Fabrico with numbers beneath them, "This is the scanning mode, it tells you what aspects and how much of them an item is made from so you may extract it. Though I haven't figured out how to do that."
Looking at Aarde through the lense the words Draconis and Terra appear, before Aarde continues, "The best way to learn what the aspects do is to mix and match them and see what happens."
He experiments, with the help of Aarde, until nightfall. Upon returning to his room he dons the outfit, including the crown, Cynder gifted him and sneaks away to the cult catacombs. As he is scouting around for the entrance he sees a faint blue shape slip from shadow to shadow.
Sinking into the shadows he approaches the shape. Once he is close enough he sees the shape is in fact a pale, teal aqua-green ice dragoness with white wings and stomach scales. Dotted through her blue scales are veins of white, like snow in an iceberg.
'I wonder,' thinks Umbrae as he eyes her shadow before moving into her shadow causing her to react as if a chill just ran down her spine, 'I guess I can enter another dragon's shadow. I mean what'd I expect, a shadow is a shadow.'
Exiting the shadow he decides to reveal himself, though she seems to be more interested in whatever she was looking at until Umbrae speaks softly, "You don't look like a cultist."
With a jump from the mysterious dragoness the ground beneath Umbrae abruptly freezes over before ice encases him mid-slip, "Who are you?"
"Umbrae," answers Umbrae, "And you?"
"Glacious," spits the dragoness
"Hello Glacious, why are you sneaking around here?" asks Umbrae.
"Why should you know?" growls Glacious.
"Okay," nods Umbrae, or at least he tries to, considering everything but his head is frozen, "I'll go first then. I'm here to investigate the cult. I assume that since you aren't trying to hide from anyone flying over you're interested in the cult too."
"How do I know you're not lying?" Asks Glacious.
"Take a good look at me, notice anything about my outfit?"
"It looks expensive," states Glacious, "I know many wealthy dragons that can't be trusted. What about it?"
Umbrae sighs, "I am talking about the crown. It means I'm under the protection of Cynder and she barely tolerates the cultists, why do you think they have to hide underground? Not to mention this ice is very cold."
"You're allied with her! Why would a dragon turn against his own kind," growls the dragoness.
"I'm not an ally. I just spoke with her once. She was so surprised at my lack of fear that she gave me this. Don't believe me? Ask her yourself."
She releases the ice and Umbrae falls as she asks, "What have you found out?"
"That their Master Inquisitor is three hundred years old and has had the journal I stole since she was six. Also she used to have former Head Guardian Wächterin's guardian medallion. You?"
"You stole her journal!" calls Glacious before lowering her voice, "How'd you get in?"
"I also stole a gold medallion and a pretty, black crystal that was cut like an emerald," he spreads his wings, "Follow me."
Landing at the tunnel that Aarde made, "When I first discovered the cult I had an earth dragon and he made this tunnel. It leads straight to some sort of treasure hall."
"I've seen plenty of earth dragons enter and exit the catacombs. Even if it was made yesterday it's probably been sealed up."
"I'm sure it hasn't," Answers Umbrae.
"Fine," sighs Glacious as she removes an oil lantern from the leather harness around her midsection and wings, that apparently serves as a utility belt, and lights it with a fire starter before returning it to her side, "Go right ahead and prove yourself wrong."
Once they arrive at the end of the tunnel Glacious sighs, "Told you."
"Watch this," comments Umbrae as he sticks a hand through the illusion, "You can just go through. But the Master Inquisitors study is nearby so we need to be careful. Let me check for cultists."
"Better idea," She pulls a roll of paper from her harness and unrolls it revealing a mao, "I stole this from a recruit," she points to a square opposite the entrance labeled administration and wardrobe, "I've found out that the cultists wear uniforms and you're a shadow dragon. If you can just steal a pair of robes we can blind right in," she points to an area labeled as restricted just down the hall from Administration, "From where we are relative to the entrance I gather that this is where we are right now."
"Good plan," nods Umbrae, "Stay hidden and I'll grab the robes, speaking of which, what's your size?"
"Large," she answers curtly.
Merging with his shadow he makes his way to the room currently occupied by a single sleepy fire dragon. As he is searching for the racks of robes he finds a book listing all of the cultists, figuring that it's akin to an attendance roster he mimics the handwriting and puts his and Glacious' names into it and checks the passed initiation box.
'Lets see what else I can find.'
Looking around he finds a list labeled, 'membership cards to make' next to the sleeping dragon. With practiced silence he also adds his and Glacious' name to it before leaving with a pair of large sized cloaks.
Returning to the hidden alcove he leaves his shadow as he hands a purple and white robe to Glacious. As he puts his on Umbrae speaks, "While I was there I put our names in their attendance book and checked off the passed initiation box. As far as they know we are cultists that just haven't got our membership cards."
"We should try the entrance. It'd be quite suspicious if we just appeared," orders Glacious.
"Who put you in charge?" mumbles Umbrae as he follows her to the entrance and past very bored guards.
"What now?" asks Umbrae.
"We investigate," answers Glacious.