Jewel
So, technically this is finished. The finished-and-edited version is on the computer at school, though, so here's the spell-checked-but-not-looked-over version. There's also no ending. :P I'm gonna rewrite it eventually, but that day is not today. Also I know there's a spot where spell checker put a word in that dpesn't make sense, but iI can't find it. Brownie points if you manage. FOUND IT.
Title: Jewel
Author: purplevks
Story: main Jewel!verse story.
Summary: Deserts and theives and palaces oh my.
Once, long ago, there were three brothers, renowned for their skills as thieves.
Asad, the youngest, was fierce, a large and scarred man, one who preferred to fight his way through whatever guards might have received the unfortunate task of stopping him instead of sneaking in. Despite his appearance, and how he handed his burglaries, he was a kind man and made sure those who followed him were well looked after and the people they left in their wake always had what they needed to survive.
The middle brother was known as Akil, and was as unlike his younger brother as possible. Akil was slim, though of a decent height, and pale with a tendency to fade into the background. Some -most-- found him hard to deal with, for he was disconcertingly quiet, and eerily intelligent. He had only a few trusted men, but all of them were near-masters in their own right, and the legends of those few men’s exploits are still told.
The eldest, called Adham, was charismatic, cunning if not genius, able to keep himself alive even if he wasn’t the most proficient with a weapon. The common people loved him, and his gang rivalled some countries armies. Boys saw him as a hero, and while before they had dreamed of joining the nations fighting force, now the young boasted of how they would go steal for the king of thieves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The brothers, for their part, never went out together. They shared a base, one that the king had spent many hours and men looking for and was rumored to be made untraceable by magic. There had been times when they had shared a target, but separate attempts were all made. It was unusual, then, for Asad to approach his brothers about the king's latest treasure.
"Brothers," He started, "The king’s men have brought back many wonders before, all of them grand, but there are rumors of something more splendid than ever before. What say you to combining our strengths against our weaknesses and relieving the new Captain of the Guard of his duty to protect it?"
His siblings were shocked, not having made such a suggestion in many years, not since they were first beginning their legend.
"Surely the new Guard is no match for your numbers," Akil replied, his voice slightly hoarse from lack of use. He abandoned his corner of books, the biggest collection outside the place - indeed, many of them had once been part of the castle, and bore the kings stamp - to inspect the youngest, as if Asad was wounded and he only had to look hard enough to spot it. "They have improved since the Old Man’s death, but they are still no match for any single one us."
Asad frowned, troubled. "My agents report new weapons, capable of flinging blades far and fast; as well as traps unlike anything we have ever seen. They claim that the new captain has changed the standards his guard must meet, and now certain guards can see as an eagle can, hear as well as an owl. I am worried, and I will not risk men in a venture I am not sure will succeed."
"Even if this man has made improvements, he hasn’t been in place long enough for his changes to matter," Akil countered. He turned toward Adham. "Eldest? What are your thoughts?"
The light flickered, reflecting off of Adham’s knife as it moved up and down in the air. "Tell me about this treasure," He finally declared. "Then I wish for a detailed report of what the new one has done. My decision will be made then."
The middle brother bowed his head, acknowledging Adham’s authority, while the younger brother slowly started to speak.
"It is said to be a mermaid’s tear, a jewel many shades of blue set into a combination of the most precious metals worked into beautiful and haunting shapes. I do not, at this time, have a detail report."
"Sundown tomorrow," Adham declared, a second blade joining the first. "The report shall be in my hands by then, and by the time the sun rejoins us I will have made my choice,"
Looking relieved, Asad stood to leave. "As you say," he murmured, already sorting his agents into categories based on how reliable they were.
~~~
Adham flipped through the pages held in his calloused hands one last time before he looked the other two in the eye. "Attempt it. If there is so much as a hint that things might deteriorate, get out of there. I will not lose a brother for a trinket."
Asad nodded jerkily, filled with unnamed dread.
~~~
"What did he say?" Asad's second asked, hovering anxiously.
"BEN," Asad sighed. "We are to make a try, with orders to back out if things do not go well."
"We are going through with it? This is madness!"
"Akil believes we are not at as much as a disadvantage as we think and eldest is not worried enough to remove it from possibility."
"Asad..."
"Come now, Ben. We have dealt with worse before, yes?"
"Yes..."
~~~
The moon was gone from the night sky, the night of Asad's attempt, and any light that might have shone down from the stars was obscured by heavy cloud cover, unusual for this time of year. They broke in, removing a loose stone in an unpopular wing of the building. Asad's men may have preferred to fight than to sneak, but that didn't mean they couldn't; they made it half-way there before any of the guards spotted them just inside the treasure wing. It came as a shock, the plan being that they fight their way out not in. The youngest brother hoped it wasn't a sign.
~~~
It had been a sign. The inside of treasure wing was completely different, remodeled with a trace of the old layout. It was like a rabbit warren, and as Asad lost more and more people, to either weapons or deadly separation, he vowed to find out why none of this was in the report. He took the lives in his care seriously, and for all his agents to have not said something...
"This way!" One of the men on the edge of the group hissed, seeing the stars, and with it, freedom.
"Wait!" another cried out, but the first was already dangling from the sill. He hung there for a fraction of a second, then fell, the stones holding his weight coming loose under his hands.
Asad moved swiftly, leaning out to peer down. He couldn't see the body in the gloom, but he could see the tops of a gathering of spikes, placed perfectly to tear anyone the fall didn't kill to pieces. Closer inspection uncovered a set of cunningly hid footholds, probably meant for the men who replaced the stones. One massive foot rose in the air, then swung forward and kicked the last of the treacherous dark stone out.
"Come," He said simply, leading the way out.
~~~
Akil hovered. He was not the most socially adapt man at the best of times, and it bothered him, the thought that his brothers might join the rest in world in thinking him cold.
"Brother," Asad rumbled, sitting still so Adham could clean then sew a few of the deeper cuts shut, "You need not struggle so with words. I - We know you regret not taking the new Capitan seriously. No one here will hold it against you. You are what you are, and we wouldn't change you if we had a choice."
"Listen to the wisdom of the young," Adham commanded, speaking through his teeth as he held excess thread in them. "I, too, did not expect the extent of the changes, and I was the one who read the report." He tightened the last stitch and spat out the extra length. "We know better now, and can learn from the mistakes of the past." A damp cloth was applied to the dried blood on Asad's skin, and Akil went to help him, retrieving a second rag.
"How many men did you lose?" Akil asked blankly, softly.
"I took fifty with me. I came back with seventeen." Anticipating it, Asad caught both Akil and his dropped rag when he jerked guiltily. "Many more have returned since then, and many were taken prisoner." His face darkened. "There is something you need to know, about the reports. Information was missing, information that my people had to know. The entire treasure wing is different, is now a maze more than anything else."
Frowning, Akil thought out loud. "A project that large should have taken many months, and there is no way we could have missed it."
Whatever answer Adham might have given was interrupted by a solid knock on the door.
Akil answered it, after waiting for a permissive nodded from the eldest brother.
"Ben," he acknowledged, moving aside to let the other man in.
"Akil," His answer was accompanied by a respectful nod before he turned to Asad. "Some of the men are claiming they saw magic being worked, and others are saying they saw someone dressed like a mage from the old stories."
Adham frowned, and Akil looked doubtful. Only Asad looked like he might believe it.
"Are they positive?"
"I've had twelve different men, who all came back apart from each other and saw me desperate to tell me so."
"Akil," Adham said softly.
"I will see what I can find," Akil told them, already studying the spines of the books available to him.
Later, Akil slipped into the bedroom Adham used. He'd waited, patiently, for a few hours until that night's companion had left, not in a hurry to share what he'd learned.
"It's not good, is it?" Despite the way Adham phrased it, it wasn't a question, and Akil nodded mutely in response. Adham sighed, tightening his robe and running a hand through dishevelled hair. "Let's go find Asad."
"Ben has gone to retrieve him."
Amusement flashed in Adham's eyes. "And how long ago was that?"
Shrugging, Akil told him. "A while, although not too long."
"So they should be here soon," Adham concluded. "Do you want to have Hamid here?"
"Hamid is with his family," Akil said, excusing his own second. "He's there rare enough that they deserve some time together."
Adham studied him intently, and then shook his head. "Follow. We should meet in the library," He said as he left the room, Akil trailing after.
~~~
"There's not much we can do against magic." Akil told them. "It's been so long since our people have used it, no one knows how to counter it. Despite what people think," He added, "I haven't made this place impossible to find through mystical means." He paused. "I'm sure it's magic." He finally admitted, as if it was a painful thing to say. "It would explain why so many were separated from the group, and how the entire wing could have changed with no one knowing, and..." He made a displeased face. "I found a ... spell that's supposed to tell if there has been a major magical working recently, and it was positive.
"Not much, you said." Asad's eyes were hard. "What can we do?"
"Protective amulets. They're basic, and weak at first but the longer they're in their owners possession the stronger they will become. A spell designed to create an invisible wall. A spell to see clearly, past any magic-made illusions."
"Anything offensive?"
Akil flipped through the slim book he held, not meeting Asad's gaze. "A fire spell."
Adham made a questioning noise, causing his two brothers and Ben to look at him. "Are you sure these will work?"
Akil, for some reason, blushed. "Yes. I tested them. The fire spell is iffy - I had to translate is - and the spell for seeing clearly isn't guaranteed, but yes, they will work." He mumbled something.
What was that?" Ben asked.
"Nothing!" Akil squeaked.
~~~
"We don't have to do this," Hamid breathed into Akil's ear, two nights after Asad's disastrous attempt, one night after his time researching magic.
"We do." Akil told him, braiding and undoing his long, dark hair, a nervous habit he'd never been able to break himself of. "We may not have to do this now, but we will eventually." He tied off the braid and ran a hand through his pouch, checking his supplies, while behind him the two that would accompany him chatted quietly.
"I don't like it." Hamid said, echoing Akil's thoughts. "We have no experience with magic. Our men have no experience with magic, and we have no idea what to expect."
Akil closed his eye, took a deep breath, and smiled. "What's life without a little risk? Let's go." He called to the other two, and one by one, they slipped over the wall that would let them into the palace.
~~~
"Fuck," Hamid hissed when he got a good look at the new inside of the treasure wing. "This is serious."
Akil's look said 'No, really?'
"I want to try something," He said breathlessly instead, and pulled out a phial filled with a clear liquid. "I think that this might be an illusion, not real."
Hamid raised an eyebrow and gestured for the other to wait. There was a tense moment while they waited for the potion to take effect. They knew it worked when Akil drew in a sharp breath and cursed.
"Good news," he said, "is that some of it is an illusion. The bad news is that it is actually different." He cocked his head to the side. "This way."
~~~
They reached the vault the gem was said to be in without incident, which made Hamid twitchier than anything else about the whole fucked-up job. They should've had at least one close encounter of the guardsmen kind, and Akil was doing this 'stare blankly at people and then focus on things that aren't there' thing, which wasn't worrying at all.
It went from tick-inducing to panic-causing when Akil jerked back as if slapped and then, with a minimum of fuss, fainted.
"Fuckfuckfuckfuck," Hamid chanted, grabbed Akil, and got the hell out of there, the others close behind
~~~
Akil was still and silent the whole way back and it wasn't until someone thought to fetch Adham that he even twitched.
"What happened?" He questioned, deceptively mild.
"He was using that stuff, the potion that lets you see through fake stuff? We used it to get through the treasure wing, and then he jus-just collapsed." Hamid knew that he wasn't keeping it together, babbling and stuttering, but he rather thought he was entitled to at least a small freak out.
He collapsed." Asad repeated. "Just like that?"
One of the two men that'd gone with them shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Just before...he looked like he might have seen something. His eyes were wide, and he seemed shocked."
"Outside of the vault?" Adham said, looking for clarification.
All three of them agreed.
"Hmm."
Asad did not like the way Adham said that; it usually meant trouble for someone.
"We will make one last try."
"Brother--"
"Hear me out. I believe I know what has caused this, for while you and Akil were both trying, I was gathering information."
~~~
"You can't let him do this!" Ben shouted, pointing wildly at Asad. "Every time we've gone near that place something has gone horribly wrong. He could end up dead!"
Asad looked on, impassive.
Ben turned to Hamid. "You agree with me, don't you? After what happened to Akil?"
"What happened to Akil...?" Hamid's voice was scratchy. "...He's not going to wake up. Not without help, and I can't help if don't know what caused it."
Ben deflated. "This isn't going to go well," he warned.
"I know," Hamid assured him. "I'm going to anyway."
~~~
They waited another day. It seemed like the right thing to do, as if a pattern had been set.
~~~
Adham had used the potion this time, the last of it. Akil hadn't told anyone how to do it, and if he never woke up...
They reached the vault, again without incident. Both Ben and Hamid half-expected him to collapse as Akil had done, but he merely smiled and popped the lock in front of him. As he did, a charm swung free from his neck, one none of them had seen before.
Title: Jewel
Author: purplevks
Story: main Jewel!verse story.
Summary: Deserts and theives and palaces oh my.
Once, long ago, there were three brothers, renowned for their skills as thieves.
Asad, the youngest, was fierce, a large and scarred man, one who preferred to fight his way through whatever guards might have received the unfortunate task of stopping him instead of sneaking in. Despite his appearance, and how he handed his burglaries, he was a kind man and made sure those who followed him were well looked after and the people they left in their wake always had what they needed to survive.
The middle brother was known as Akil, and was as unlike his younger brother as possible. Akil was slim, though of a decent height, and pale with a tendency to fade into the background. Some -most-- found him hard to deal with, for he was disconcertingly quiet, and eerily intelligent. He had only a few trusted men, but all of them were near-masters in their own right, and the legends of those few men’s exploits are still told.
The eldest, called Adham, was charismatic, cunning if not genius, able to keep himself alive even if he wasn’t the most proficient with a weapon. The common people loved him, and his gang rivalled some countries armies. Boys saw him as a hero, and while before they had dreamed of joining the nations fighting force, now the young boasted of how they would go steal for the king of thieves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The brothers, for their part, never went out together. They shared a base, one that the king had spent many hours and men looking for and was rumored to be made untraceable by magic. There had been times when they had shared a target, but separate attempts were all made. It was unusual, then, for Asad to approach his brothers about the king's latest treasure.
"Brothers," He started, "The king’s men have brought back many wonders before, all of them grand, but there are rumors of something more splendid than ever before. What say you to combining our strengths against our weaknesses and relieving the new Captain of the Guard of his duty to protect it?"
His siblings were shocked, not having made such a suggestion in many years, not since they were first beginning their legend.
"Surely the new Guard is no match for your numbers," Akil replied, his voice slightly hoarse from lack of use. He abandoned his corner of books, the biggest collection outside the place - indeed, many of them had once been part of the castle, and bore the kings stamp - to inspect the youngest, as if Asad was wounded and he only had to look hard enough to spot it. "They have improved since the Old Man’s death, but they are still no match for any single one us."
Asad frowned, troubled. "My agents report new weapons, capable of flinging blades far and fast; as well as traps unlike anything we have ever seen. They claim that the new captain has changed the standards his guard must meet, and now certain guards can see as an eagle can, hear as well as an owl. I am worried, and I will not risk men in a venture I am not sure will succeed."
"Even if this man has made improvements, he hasn’t been in place long enough for his changes to matter," Akil countered. He turned toward Adham. "Eldest? What are your thoughts?"
The light flickered, reflecting off of Adham’s knife as it moved up and down in the air. "Tell me about this treasure," He finally declared. "Then I wish for a detailed report of what the new one has done. My decision will be made then."
The middle brother bowed his head, acknowledging Adham’s authority, while the younger brother slowly started to speak.
"It is said to be a mermaid’s tear, a jewel many shades of blue set into a combination of the most precious metals worked into beautiful and haunting shapes. I do not, at this time, have a detail report."
"Sundown tomorrow," Adham declared, a second blade joining the first. "The report shall be in my hands by then, and by the time the sun rejoins us I will have made my choice,"
Looking relieved, Asad stood to leave. "As you say," he murmured, already sorting his agents into categories based on how reliable they were.
~~~
Adham flipped through the pages held in his calloused hands one last time before he looked the other two in the eye. "Attempt it. If there is so much as a hint that things might deteriorate, get out of there. I will not lose a brother for a trinket."
Asad nodded jerkily, filled with unnamed dread.
~~~
"What did he say?" Asad's second asked, hovering anxiously.
"BEN," Asad sighed. "We are to make a try, with orders to back out if things do not go well."
"We are going through with it? This is madness!"
"Akil believes we are not at as much as a disadvantage as we think and eldest is not worried enough to remove it from possibility."
"Asad..."
"Come now, Ben. We have dealt with worse before, yes?"
"Yes..."
~~~
The moon was gone from the night sky, the night of Asad's attempt, and any light that might have shone down from the stars was obscured by heavy cloud cover, unusual for this time of year. They broke in, removing a loose stone in an unpopular wing of the building. Asad's men may have preferred to fight than to sneak, but that didn't mean they couldn't; they made it half-way there before any of the guards spotted them just inside the treasure wing. It came as a shock, the plan being that they fight their way out not in. The youngest brother hoped it wasn't a sign.
~~~
It had been a sign. The inside of treasure wing was completely different, remodeled with a trace of the old layout. It was like a rabbit warren, and as Asad lost more and more people, to either weapons or deadly separation, he vowed to find out why none of this was in the report. He took the lives in his care seriously, and for all his agents to have not said something...
"This way!" One of the men on the edge of the group hissed, seeing the stars, and with it, freedom.
"Wait!" another cried out, but the first was already dangling from the sill. He hung there for a fraction of a second, then fell, the stones holding his weight coming loose under his hands.
Asad moved swiftly, leaning out to peer down. He couldn't see the body in the gloom, but he could see the tops of a gathering of spikes, placed perfectly to tear anyone the fall didn't kill to pieces. Closer inspection uncovered a set of cunningly hid footholds, probably meant for the men who replaced the stones. One massive foot rose in the air, then swung forward and kicked the last of the treacherous dark stone out.
"Come," He said simply, leading the way out.
~~~
Akil hovered. He was not the most socially adapt man at the best of times, and it bothered him, the thought that his brothers might join the rest in world in thinking him cold.
"Brother," Asad rumbled, sitting still so Adham could clean then sew a few of the deeper cuts shut, "You need not struggle so with words. I - We know you regret not taking the new Capitan seriously. No one here will hold it against you. You are what you are, and we wouldn't change you if we had a choice."
"Listen to the wisdom of the young," Adham commanded, speaking through his teeth as he held excess thread in them. "I, too, did not expect the extent of the changes, and I was the one who read the report." He tightened the last stitch and spat out the extra length. "We know better now, and can learn from the mistakes of the past." A damp cloth was applied to the dried blood on Asad's skin, and Akil went to help him, retrieving a second rag.
"How many men did you lose?" Akil asked blankly, softly.
"I took fifty with me. I came back with seventeen." Anticipating it, Asad caught both Akil and his dropped rag when he jerked guiltily. "Many more have returned since then, and many were taken prisoner." His face darkened. "There is something you need to know, about the reports. Information was missing, information that my people had to know. The entire treasure wing is different, is now a maze more than anything else."
Frowning, Akil thought out loud. "A project that large should have taken many months, and there is no way we could have missed it."
Whatever answer Adham might have given was interrupted by a solid knock on the door.
Akil answered it, after waiting for a permissive nodded from the eldest brother.
"Ben," he acknowledged, moving aside to let the other man in.
"Akil," His answer was accompanied by a respectful nod before he turned to Asad. "Some of the men are claiming they saw magic being worked, and others are saying they saw someone dressed like a mage from the old stories."
Adham frowned, and Akil looked doubtful. Only Asad looked like he might believe it.
"Are they positive?"
"I've had twelve different men, who all came back apart from each other and saw me desperate to tell me so."
"Akil," Adham said softly.
"I will see what I can find," Akil told them, already studying the spines of the books available to him.
Later, Akil slipped into the bedroom Adham used. He'd waited, patiently, for a few hours until that night's companion had left, not in a hurry to share what he'd learned.
"It's not good, is it?" Despite the way Adham phrased it, it wasn't a question, and Akil nodded mutely in response. Adham sighed, tightening his robe and running a hand through dishevelled hair. "Let's go find Asad."
"Ben has gone to retrieve him."
Amusement flashed in Adham's eyes. "And how long ago was that?"
Shrugging, Akil told him. "A while, although not too long."
"So they should be here soon," Adham concluded. "Do you want to have Hamid here?"
"Hamid is with his family," Akil said, excusing his own second. "He's there rare enough that they deserve some time together."
Adham studied him intently, and then shook his head. "Follow. We should meet in the library," He said as he left the room, Akil trailing after.
~~~
"There's not much we can do against magic." Akil told them. "It's been so long since our people have used it, no one knows how to counter it. Despite what people think," He added, "I haven't made this place impossible to find through mystical means." He paused. "I'm sure it's magic." He finally admitted, as if it was a painful thing to say. "It would explain why so many were separated from the group, and how the entire wing could have changed with no one knowing, and..." He made a displeased face. "I found a ... spell that's supposed to tell if there has been a major magical working recently, and it was positive.
"Not much, you said." Asad's eyes were hard. "What can we do?"
"Protective amulets. They're basic, and weak at first but the longer they're in their owners possession the stronger they will become. A spell designed to create an invisible wall. A spell to see clearly, past any magic-made illusions."
"Anything offensive?"
Akil flipped through the slim book he held, not meeting Asad's gaze. "A fire spell."
Adham made a questioning noise, causing his two brothers and Ben to look at him. "Are you sure these will work?"
Akil, for some reason, blushed. "Yes. I tested them. The fire spell is iffy - I had to translate is - and the spell for seeing clearly isn't guaranteed, but yes, they will work." He mumbled something.
What was that?" Ben asked.
"Nothing!" Akil squeaked.
~~~
"We don't have to do this," Hamid breathed into Akil's ear, two nights after Asad's disastrous attempt, one night after his time researching magic.
"We do." Akil told him, braiding and undoing his long, dark hair, a nervous habit he'd never been able to break himself of. "We may not have to do this now, but we will eventually." He tied off the braid and ran a hand through his pouch, checking his supplies, while behind him the two that would accompany him chatted quietly.
"I don't like it." Hamid said, echoing Akil's thoughts. "We have no experience with magic. Our men have no experience with magic, and we have no idea what to expect."
Akil closed his eye, took a deep breath, and smiled. "What's life without a little risk? Let's go." He called to the other two, and one by one, they slipped over the wall that would let them into the palace.
~~~
"Fuck," Hamid hissed when he got a good look at the new inside of the treasure wing. "This is serious."
Akil's look said 'No, really?'
"I want to try something," He said breathlessly instead, and pulled out a phial filled with a clear liquid. "I think that this might be an illusion, not real."
Hamid raised an eyebrow and gestured for the other to wait. There was a tense moment while they waited for the potion to take effect. They knew it worked when Akil drew in a sharp breath and cursed.
"Good news," he said, "is that some of it is an illusion. The bad news is that it is actually different." He cocked his head to the side. "This way."
~~~
They reached the vault the gem was said to be in without incident, which made Hamid twitchier than anything else about the whole fucked-up job. They should've had at least one close encounter of the guardsmen kind, and Akil was doing this 'stare blankly at people and then focus on things that aren't there' thing, which wasn't worrying at all.
It went from tick-inducing to panic-causing when Akil jerked back as if slapped and then, with a minimum of fuss, fainted.
"Fuckfuckfuckfuck," Hamid chanted, grabbed Akil, and got the hell out of there, the others close behind
~~~
Akil was still and silent the whole way back and it wasn't until someone thought to fetch Adham that he even twitched.
"What happened?" He questioned, deceptively mild.
"He was using that stuff, the potion that lets you see through fake stuff? We used it to get through the treasure wing, and then he jus-just collapsed." Hamid knew that he wasn't keeping it together, babbling and stuttering, but he rather thought he was entitled to at least a small freak out.
He collapsed." Asad repeated. "Just like that?"
One of the two men that'd gone with them shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Just before...he looked like he might have seen something. His eyes were wide, and he seemed shocked."
"Outside of the vault?" Adham said, looking for clarification.
All three of them agreed.
"Hmm."
Asad did not like the way Adham said that; it usually meant trouble for someone.
"We will make one last try."
"Brother--"
"Hear me out. I believe I know what has caused this, for while you and Akil were both trying, I was gathering information."
~~~
"You can't let him do this!" Ben shouted, pointing wildly at Asad. "Every time we've gone near that place something has gone horribly wrong. He could end up dead!"
Asad looked on, impassive.
Ben turned to Hamid. "You agree with me, don't you? After what happened to Akil?"
"What happened to Akil...?" Hamid's voice was scratchy. "...He's not going to wake up. Not without help, and I can't help if don't know what caused it."
Ben deflated. "This isn't going to go well," he warned.
"I know," Hamid assured him. "I'm going to anyway."
~~~
They waited another day. It seemed like the right thing to do, as if a pattern had been set.
~~~
Adham had used the potion this time, the last of it. Akil hadn't told anyone how to do it, and if he never woke up...
They reached the vault, again without incident. Both Ben and Hamid half-expected him to collapse as Akil had done, but he merely smiled and popped the lock in front of him. As he did, a charm swung free from his neck, one none of them had seen before.