The group heard shouting coming from a room branching off of the hallway. As they approached the room, what was being said became clear.
"Faithful servants of the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit's hand you are blessed. Your hands will not be sullied with the demonic magic of this evil place while you destroy its horrid artifacts. Your souls are protected by the love of the Holy Spirit. Go forth and do good in His name." It sounded as if someone was giving a speech to start a holy crusade.
"They want to destroy the Great Library and its artifacts! We have to stop them, they might destroy the Key," Gwen said to her friends.
Maximus rushed ahead to confront the would-be destroyers visibly angry. The others rushed to follow him, hands on their weapons.
Upon arriving at the door, Gwen saw a priest dressed in a black priest's robe with a book in his hands. Located between the friends and the priest was a squadron of twenty-five armored knights.
"Ah, welcome adventurers, you are just in time. You may join us in the destruction of this monument to the demonic beings." The priest smiled at the group, seemingly pleased at their arrival.
"You cannot destroy the Great Library! It is the greatest accumulation of knowledge in this world," Maximus argued.
"Do you not understand?! We must cleanse the world of the magics of the false gods in order for the world to be ready for the return of the Holy Spirit!" the crazed priest shouted.
"I won't let you do that. There are thousands of years of knowledge and literature in this library," Maximus said, his hand on his sword.
"Does this young man speak for all of you?" the priest questioned, eyeing the rest of the party.
The brothers took a defensive stance, their hands ready to draw their weapons.
"No, No, NO! You are all heretics. Heretics must be purged from this world. Execute them in the name of the Holy Spirit!" the priest spat. "May your souls be cleansed so that you may join the Holy Spirit in Heaven."
"There is no reasoning with these zealots, Max. We will have to fight," Marigold said, readying herself for battle.
All three of the boys drew their weapons as all but three of the armored knights walked forward to execute the priest's command.
Maximus raised his right hand and spoke something in Draconic. The entire room became frigid. A wall of ice grew from the ground, enclosing the doorway. The religious zealots were trapped inside the room behind the ice.
"This won't hold them for long," Maximus stated. "Our first priority is to get the DRAG Key and get the girls home. This isn't their fight; they shouldn't be involved. After that Tristan and Gabriel, you two can escape, this battle does not concern you either."
The group ran down the hallway and turned into another room. Once they were all in the room, Maximus spoke something in Draconic and a door closed behind them. There was a large machine in this room. There was a pedestal next to the machine with a clear locked box on it. In the locked transparent box was a large round ball. The ball shimmered like a pearl with energy running underneath the surface.
"That is the Dragon Key?" Gwen asked gesturing to the orb.
"Yes, now just let me put in the password to this lock and then we can go about setting the dimensional coordinates for your home world," Maximus stated, already working on the lock.
Maximus opened the box and placed the sphere into the machine.
Suddenly a loud shattering sound echoed through the library.
"You had best hurry," Gabriel stated.
As Maximus had Gwen and Nyah put their hands on the machine, his face showed a sudden surprised expression.
"It appears that you and Nyah are actually from different worlds," Maximus explained. "Also, there are only two charges left of this Key."
At that moment, the Spiritist knights appeared outside the door and started banging on it.
"Send Nyah first," Gwen stated resolutely.
Maximus did as the girl asked and set the destination to Nyah's home dimension using a strand of her hair.
"Thank you." Nyah smiled at the group as she walked through a portal that connected to what appeared to be a side street in a city.
"Gwen you're next," Maximus said his eyes locked on the floor.
"What is wrong, Max, you look like you are hiding something from me," Gwen questioned.
Marigold was the one who spoke up. "Our chances of defeating those knights without casualties are under ten percent."
"Mari."
"No Max, she deserves to know," she continued. "Max and I could use the energy in the DRAG Key to use an extra powerful attack and defeat all the knights, but you would not be able to go."
"Gwen, you use the Dragon's Key and go back to your world. Don't worry about us," Tristan calmly told the girl, a fake smile on his face.
Gwen was taken aback. Thoughts raced through her mind. She really wanted to simply go home, but if she did, the people who helped her all this time would get hurt. If she stayed and helped her friends, she may never find another chance to go home.
The door broke open and the knights charged into the room.
"Use it!" Gwen shouted.
"Hold them for ten seconds," Maximus told the brothers.
The brothers used their weapons and shields to hold back the knights trying to enter the room.
Heeding Gwen's wish, Marigold and Maximus both put their hands onto the orb. They began chanting in unison. The orb began to emit a bright light.
"Step back," Maximus commanded the brothers.
There was then a large flash and everything went white.
When Gwen's vision returned, all that remained of the fierce knights were twenty-two rusted weapons and sets of armor filled with dust lying on the floor.
The Dragon Key lay in the machine broken in half and now a dull grey color.
Marigold lay unconscious in Maximus's cupped hands. Maximus himself was leaning against the machine, obviously tired.
"Are you two all right?" Gwen asked.
"We shall be fine. Mari just needs to rest for a bit. I shall be fine in a few minutes," Maximus replied. "Unfortunately, I have a crazed lunatic cultist to stop, so I shall be postponing my rest for a bit."
"How are you feeling, Gwen? You lost your chance to go home," Gabriel turned around and asked.
"I'll be fine. There must be some other way for me to get home. I will just have to search for it," Gwen reasoned.
"Since you saved our lives, I feel that it is only fair that we accompany you on your quest," Tristan asserted.
"I agree," Gabriel seconded.
"We can finish this discussion later. For now, I must go stop the rats before they damage the solid data storage," Maximus stated. "Gwen, would you mind taking care of Mari until she wakes up?"
Maximus gently laid the unconscious fairy onto Gwen's outstretched hands. He then drew his saber and headed out of the room. The brothers followed behind him ready to help him deal with the remaining enemies.
Gwen was left alone in the room with the unconscious fairy. With the tension of the situation relieved, the gravity of what she had just given up dawned upon Gwen. She really may never see her family and friends again. She may have to figure out a way to live in this world.
No. I will find a way to get home. No matter what it takes, I am going to see my family again. Even if I have to fight to do it. Gwen thought.
Gwen made the vow to herself. She would not falter.
Gwen was shaken out of her thoughts by movement in her hands. Marigold was waking up.
"What happened? Where is Max?!"
"Relax, we won. You and Maximus defeated the knights. Max just went to stop the remaining enemies from destroying anything," Gwen reassured the panicking fairy. "They should be back soon."
"So, you really gave up your chance to go home just to save us? Max was right, you weren't just stringing everyone along on your selfish quest," the fairy told Gwen. Her earlier view of Gwen had not been a favorable one.
After a few minutes of waiting, the three boys returned with a tied-up priest dragging behind them.
"You cannot do this to me! I am Millard, a bishop of the Church of the Holy Spirit!" the priest shouted. "You interfered with the will of the Holy Spirit! You will burn in Hell for this!"
"Can someone silence this lunatic?" Tristan asked. "He was unarmed, so it wasn't right to kill him."
Marigold flew up from Gwen's hands and landed on the priest's head. She said something in Draconic and the man fell limp.
"What did you do?! He was restrained and not a threat?" Gwen asked in shock.
"He was a threat of causing a headache; besides I simply messed with his brain chemistry to put him to sleep. He will be fine when he wakes up." The fairy replied. "Speaking of, what exactly are we supposed to do with him?"
"We plan to turn him in at the Draconic Temple. They have placed a bounty on his head for destruction of sacred relics," Gabriel responded. "It should earn us a bit of money."
"Well that partially settles the issue of making money," Tristan replied.
"Oh, thank you two for helping me deal with those zealots. I won't make you work for free. Here turn this in at the Draconic Temple as well," the magician handed Gabriel a book. "It's a English to Draconic dictionary. Those priests will probably pay you handsomely for it."
"Speaking of next steps, what do you and Marigold plan to do now that we have been to the Great Library?" Gwen asked, hopeful that the two of them would continue to accompany them.
"Well, we might as well continue traveling with the three of you, we do not have anything better to do and we will be searching for old dragon age ruins and artifacts, that might be fun. What do you think, Mari?" Maximus looked to the fairy for her opinion.
"I guess we do owe the girl a debt for giving up her way home for our safety. They also aren't horrible people, so I guess continuing to travel with them is fine," The fairy replied.
"I guess we will be continuing our journey together for a while longer," Gwen stated.
Everyone nodded their affirmation.
Fin
To be Continued