Free The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde by Brian S. Pratt

and produced a rather aged looking tome and handed it over to him. “This should do it,” he said.
    Riyan took the tome and glanced at it. The cover was leather and cracked with age.
    He opened it and very carefully flipped through the pages but couldn’t understand the writing. “What is it?” he asked.
    “Something Allar had in that library under Kevik’s workshop,” replied Bart. He called the third floor of Kevik’s tower his workshop seeing as how he spends so much time there ‘working’ on his staff. “Kevik said it detailed the history of some clan or other and didn’t mind parting with it. Especially after I explained to him what I needed it for.”
    “Okay, I’ll give it a try,” Riyan said. “Tomorrow during the noon meal.” They usually were given an hour break after they ate so they wouldn’t get a cramp or pull anything while their bodies digested their food.
    “I’ll come back in two days to see if it went alright,” he told them.
    “What are you planning on doing in the meantime?” Chad asked.
    He moved his head closer to Riyan and Chad. Lowering his voice, he said, “Just south of here in Kemmet is where the buyer of the coins lives. I’m going to try and find him.”
    “Good luck,” Riyan said.
    “You too,” Bart said. Then he stood up. “Better get cleaned up.” Riyan grinned. “Planned on it,” he replied. “See you in two days.”
    “In two days,” Bart said. With a quick nod, he turned and headed for the door. Riyan and Chad left for their barrack even before he had left the building.
    “Think this is going to work?” Chad asked, referring to the book Riyan was carrying.
    “I hope so,” he replied. “Not sure what else we could do.” When they returned to their barrack, Riyan put the book in the chest at the foot of his bed and they each gathered a change of clothes. Then after a short stint in the communal baths that the Guild has, they went to the mess for a quick meal. Another hour was spent talking with their fellows after they finished eating, then it was to bed.
     
    The next day just after finishing his noon meal, Riyan hurried to his barrack and retrieved the tome he received from Bart the day before. Carrying it with him, he went up to the third floor of the Guild where the Archives was located.
    He had been thinking about this moment ever since Bart gave him the aged tome.
    How was he to start the conversation? How could he ask to look through the tomes and manuscripts located within? He still hadn’t come up with a good strategy by the time he reached the third floor and came to the door behind which lay the Guild Archives.
    Riyan took a deep breath to settle himself then went up to the door and knocked. He stood in front of the door in silence for several minutes and began thinking that maybe Stryntner wasn’t within. He reached up his hand and was about to knock again when the door opened.
    “Yes?” Stryntner asked when he pulled open the door and saw Riyan standing there.
    Riyan was speechless with nervousness. His tongue dried up and he forgot what he was going to say.
    “You got something to say boy?” the old man asked him. Then he noticed the tome in his hand and his mood subtly changed. “What do you have there?” He looked in curiosity at the tome.
    “I…ahem.” He cleared his throat then said, “I understand you have an interest in the history of things.”
    Stryntner just stood there. His gaze had moved from the book and was looking Riyan over.
    “I wanted to offer this to you,” he said. Raising the hand holding the tome, he held it out.
    “Just like that?” Stryntner asked. “You are going to simply hand it to me?” His eyes narrowed as he grew suspicious.
    Riyan nodded. “I too have an interest in such things,” he told him. “I was wondering if perhaps you needed someone to help you out? Organizing, moving things, that sort of things.”
    “Can you read?” Stryntner asked.
    Riyan began to relax as it seemed the man