The Illyrian Series: The Oracle Of Rosedale

We arrive at Keller lake two afternoons later. Going around it will take days and we don't have that kind of time.

Malin points at a thin, middle-aged fisherman fixing his boat. "Wait here, I'll go talk to him." He gets off his horse.

"I can handle a negotiation." Violet jumps off her horse and walks ahead of him. I get off mine but stay behind. I look ahead and see them talking to the man. After a few minutes, I hear raised voices and weapons are drawn. The fisherman yells something and more men emerge from their boats.

Malin takes Violet by her hand and drags her away. "What happened?" I ask as soon as they get back.

"That idiot doesn't want to take us across," Violet says angrily.

"That's not what he said." Malin disagrees. "He doesn't want the usual payment, he wants us to do something for him instead."

"A Niphin." Violet bursts. "He wants us to negotiate with a Niphin."

I look towards Malin for an explanation. "He doesn't want any money. He wants us to retrieve a book from a Niphin. He said we can kill it if we have to."

"So he doesn't want money, just this book. Okay, what about the other boats? Can't one of the owners take us?"

"No, they're all interested in getting the book back." Malin explains. "Also, Violet threatened the fisherman and the rest agreed that none of them will take us. Apparently, these people have red lists. If you're on it, the others won't do business with you."

Violet is pacing up and down. "Ridiculous, those people don't seem to understand how business works."

"Let's just agree to his deal, it's better than wasting days going around the lake." I offer.

They both look at me like I have two heads. "You want to negotiate with a Niphin?" Malin asks. "Addy, you've heard the stories. These are people you don't ever want to meet."

"We don't have another choice. I know they're bad, but we're all smart. We'll be fine."

"That is a very bad idea." Violet stops pacing. "They're very deceptive."

Many years ago, Niphins were cursed by a mage. Or was it a sorcerer? I can't remember. But they were cursed to never lie after a group of them deceived the magician. Because instead of punishing just the culprits, why not punish their whole species?

"I say we do it, it can't hurt to try." I stand by my decision.

"Again, Niphins. These people have tricked Kings out of their land. Even Daes are wary of them, and Daes are the scariest creatures alive." Violet says and Malin nods in agreement.

"We don't have a better plan. Going around the lake isn't a choice, we don't have that kind of time." I argue.

"Niphins hate my kind. Which isn't fair, mages didn't curse them. Sorcerers did." She pauses. "At least I think so, the gender of the magician was never confirmed. To be safe, they decided to hate all of us."

"Why don't we go back to the fisherman and renegotiate with him?" Malin suggests. We don't object. "Good then, hopefully, he'll change his mind." Violet comes forward but Malin shakes his head. "No offense, but not you. They don't like you very much."

"I didn't even fight them, we'll see how much they like me after that."

"We'll be back soon." Malin says and he and I leave her behind.

Malin and I are walking side by side and I ask a question once we're out of earshot. "Do you like Violet?"

"Is this a trap?" He laughs. It's nice to see him laughing. "Yes, I like her."

"She scares me." I confess and he smiles. We eventually reach the shore and the man they talked to a few minutes ago comes up to us.

"Are you ready to take my offer?" He asks, his hands are shoved in his pocket.

"We're here to negotiate," I say.

He disregards me completely and turns to Malin. "I'm not interested in negotiating, either take my offer or start walking."

"We have some interesting pieces that are worth..." I start.

"When you're ready to go, come meet me," he nods to Malin then walks off.

I scoff. "Well I can see why Violet was so angry. I want to punch his throat."

Malin squeezes my shoulder. "I'm sorry, so so sorry. But can you please wait here?" He asks.

"Are you joking?"

"I'm sorry, but he's not going to talk to you. I'll go in, negotiate, and hopefully, we can avoid the Niphin. Okay?" He gives my shoulder another squeeze then walks up to the man.

I turn to Violet. She sees Malin talking to the fisherman alone and rolls her eyes. I offer her a smile, she looks away.

My eyes drift back to Malin, he seems tense. He chats with the fisherman for five minutes before coming back to me.

His expression tells me everything I need to know about the renegotiation. We get back to Violet and she has a disappointed look on her face. "Why am I not surprised?"

"The Niphin lives in a cottage not too far from the fisherman's village. It's a twenty-minute ride. Hopefully, we'll be on the boat in an hour." Malin reports.

"Hopefully." Violet repeats. "We're facing a Niphin with hope."

"You don't have to come, they don't even like magicians." He points out.

"And leave you to handle it like you handled the negotiations with the fisherman? I'm coming." She climbs her horse and we follow swiftly.

We soon arrive at the village. I ask a little girl running down the street for directions to the Niphin's cottage. She grins and points towards a pretty forest.

I follow her directions and soon see a small, brown and green building. I ride slowly towards it. The area looks empty, I still clutch my dagger in my right hand.

"I don't think anyone's here." I say to Malin and Violet. She gets off her horse and walks around the front.

"Someone's here," she says. "There's a cup of tea behind this log, steam is coming off it. He couldn't have gone far."

"Be careful, there could be traps," I warn. "I'll go check the back, come on Apple." He snorts and takes me to the back garden. The space is divided into four sections, in each patch of soil is a different vegetable. I walk down the aisles to the edge of the garden.

I don't find the Niphin.

I'm about to turn back when Apple whinnies loudly and stands straight on his hind legs. I'm sent to the floor and the back of my head hits the ground. Through the searing pain, I reach inside my dress to check on the necklace. Fortunately, it's still intact.

Apple whinnies again and rides off. I close my eyes and take deep breathes.

The migraine slowly resides and I'm soon able to open my eyes. Malin's voice comes out distorted.

"...you okay, how do you feel?" He's crouched in front of me.

"I'm fine, or at least I will be." I grimace. "Where's Violet?"

"She went after Apple, she'll be back soon. Let's get you up." He offers me his hand and I use it prop myself up. "Better?"

I shake my head. "It still hurts." I place my head on his shoulder and he supports me with an arm around my waist. "Do you think it was the Niphin?" I groan.

"Probably, I think Apple sensed him," he says. "Are you sure you're alright?" Before I can answer, I hear Apple's familiar neighing. Violet leads him towards us.

Malin helps me up and I stumble towards Apple. I stroke his nose and check for scratches. "Why did you run off like that? Did you see something?"

Violet's eyes scan the nearby woods. "It's close, I think we should wait for it to come back. Let's go to the front door." Violet hangs back and let's Malin and I go first.

We wait for half an hour and still see no sign of the creature.

"It will be easy, he said. We'll be on the boat in an hour, he said." Violet mocks.

"You weren't coming up with better ideas." Malin retorts.

Violet groans softly. "I say we search the thing's house and take all the books there," she suggests. "Any objections?" No one objects.

"I'll stay here on watch. You two can search for the book." Malin offers.

"Be sure to scream if you need any help." Violet derides before walking past us to the house.

"Sorry." I mouth to Malin and follow Violet in. The cottage is surprisingly bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. There's a makeshift bedroom in the far corner, three bookshelves opposite it, and a living room not far from the door. "Do you know what book we should be looking for?"

"Anything that looks magical or valuable, I don't know. I'll go ask Malin if the fisherman described it." She raises her voice. "Malin, what book are we supposed to be looking for?" There's no answer. "Malin?"

"Malin." I call. "I should go check on him."

"I'll do it. You stay here, we don't know what's out there." She goes to the threshold and surveys the area. "Malin," she yells. "I don't..." Something invisible yanks her out the door and slams it shut.

"Violet, Violet." I drop the books in my hands and rush to the door. I pull as hard as I can but it doesn't budge.

"It's no use." A calm voice says from the corner of the room. "It's not going to open."

I whimper softly, I'm too scared to look at who's talking. “Please let me go." I beg.

"I will, I have no intention of keeping you here. Believe it or not, I'm not a fan of visitors." His laugh is as unsettlingly soft as his voice. "But you'll have to do a few things for me first."

I take a deep breath. Calm down, you can do this.

I turn back and see the Niphin lounging on a brown wicker chair by the bed. I've never seen a Niphin before, only ever heard or read about them. The one in front of me fits the description perfectly. His skin looks white and frosty like snow, his sclera is yellow while his pupil and iris are different shades of green. He's dressed in a simple white shirt that covers his knees and nothing on his legs. I leave my position at the door and sit on the worn-down blue sofa closest to him.

"Where are my friends?"

He wags his tall, slender index finger back and forth. "That's not how this works, I will be asking the questions."

"Are they safe?" I ask again. "If they're not, then I see no reason why I should take any more of this."

He laughs again. "Your friends are safe."

"I don't believe you."

"Niphins can't lie, we haven't been able to for four centuries."

"So, you've spent the past four hundred years learning how to mislead and deceive people?"

He stands up and walks to his bookshelf. Another thing about Niphins, they are very tall. This one is at least 7 feet. He runs his fingers along the books before settling on one. "Here it is." He drops the book on my lap.

"What is this?"

"Translating the title from the Old Dae language, it says 'The Secrets of the Dupont Sea'." He snorts. "I stole it from the fishermen a few weeks ago. I didn't think they'd be stupid enough to come for it." He takes me in. "They sent you instead."

I feel uncomfortable. "Why are you giving it to me? This feels too easy for something so valuable."

He goes back to his seat and releases a long sigh. "I am prepared to give you the book and let your friends go if you deliver something for me."

"I don't understand."

"Thirty miles past the lake is a village, I need you to deliver a letter to a woman who lives there."

"You want me to give a woman a letter, who is she to you?"

His eyes flash golden for a second. "That's none of your business. All you need to know is her name and where to find her."

"And what if I don't give her the letter? What if I just toss it in the lake, you've already given me what I need."

"You won't do that." He insists. "I've been watching you and your friends since you got here. You're most likely to honor our agreement."

"Is that why you frightened my horse and caused my headache?"

"You invaded my home, I'm not apologizing." He reaches under his pillow and pulls out an envelope. "As soon as you open the door, you'll see your friends."

I don't move. "I was told Niphins are crafty and evil, there has to be a downside. You're returning a valuable book you stole and letting my friends go, for what? Because you think I'll deliver a letter to a mystery woman?"

"Some things are more valuable than they appear." He stretches the hand with the letter, I lean forward to take it. On the back, I see the name 'Nora' written in pretty cursive. "Tell her it's from Hazel."

I stare at his iris. "Like the leaf?"

He smiles sadly and says in a barely audible voice, "yes."

I place the envelope on top of the book and nod. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you."

He doesn't respond, he just stares into space. I head towards the door. I wonder who Nora is, she clearly means a lot to him.

Or maybe this is just part of his plan to swindle us. I really hope it's the first one.