Following the priestess, Bleist paid little attention to his surroundings. Anyway, the entire library looked the same, with endless shelves covered with countless books and scrolls. They quickly found themselves in front of another reading room. Rooms of this type were marked out by bookshelves leaning against each other, separated from the walkway by solid doors.
Reverend Triven knocked on the door and, without waiting for a response, entered. Darius had little choice but to follow her. The room looked a little different from the one he worked in. First of all, the decor was richer and definitely more comfortable. Surprisingly, there was a fireplace here, and although there was no fire burning in it, a sphere imitating magical flames, emanating warmth and soft light, floated in the middle. In front of the hearth was a comfortable armchair with a writing desk, and next to it a small table with something to drink and a snack. In addition, there was a round table with three chairs and several magical lamps.
In front of the fireplace, with his back to the entrance, stood a very tall, slender man with disproportionately long limbs. He had a braid reaching almost to the ground, braided in the middle of his head, and the rest of his skull was shaved. He wore a grey robe with silver decorations. He turned when the priestess approached him. Flat ears fused to his skull, ash-grey complexion, elongated lilac eyes starting at the nose like a human's but ending at the side of the head, thin lips and sharp features immediately revealed that Count Veson was an Aesir. In addition, he must have been of advanced age, because Aesirans were born with very light, often colourless hair that darkened over time, and his braid was raven black.
-Hello again, Reverend.- The Aesir straightened up, placing his hand on his chest.- I see I'm not the only one who couldn't wait to meet you.- He added, looking at Darius.
-I could not keep the honourable count waiting. Allow me to introduce myself. Colonel of the Azure Guard, Darius Bleist, Earl of Ed'heer.- He bowed according to etiquette.
-Count Borr Veson, researcher, historian, advisor and senior curator of the Azgard Library of Three Spires.- The man placed both hands on his chest this time.
-I will leave you alone.- The priestess turned towards the door.- Excuse me, gentlemen.- She said before closing the door on the other side.
-Please take a seat, Colonel.- The Earl pointed to a table and chairs. Darius merely nodded his thanks and moved in the indicated direction. -I must admit, I did not expect someone of your reputation to be interested in work focusing on rare diseases.- The smell of fresh coffee filled the air as Aesir poured the brew into cups at a smaller table.
-I'm curious about what reputation you, count, are referring to.- Bleist didn't care what opinions circulated about him, because he didn't expect any. He did his job conscientiously and mainly quietly, so there wasn't much to say about him, especially in salons outside Atlantis.
-Please don't be so modest.- Aesir placed the cup in front of the mage and sat down on the chair next to him.- You are really famous. Bards sing ballads about your romances.- Darius was sure that if he had been drinking, he would have choked.- Especially those connecting you with Her Royal Highness Gizel laVerture. Not to mention that you yourself provided the theme for further songs with your... let's call it a performance at a recent party.- Aesir chuckled lightly.- Considering that this story has even reached a bookworm like me, believe me, it is currently the main topic of gossip.
Bleist felt himself blushing. He was curious about what people thought of him and expected to hear something related to his service in intelligence, his wealth, or his father, but not this. He was aware that his romance with Gizel had not escaped the attention of the upper classes, but ballads? And in Azgard? He pressed his lips together, thinking that the charming elf surely knew all about it and, knowing life, had paid for some of those songs to be written herself.
-Don't be too hard on yourself, Colonel. Youth has its rights.- The smile on the count's face was sincere and full of kindness.- However, I have the impression that this is not what you wanted to talk to me about.
-Yes... It's...- Darius was embarrassed. The man had very skilfully robbed him of his hard-earned composure. -Talk... - He muttered. - Nikos of Itea... Yes, that's what I wanted to talk about. - He finally stammered. Madame Nasua, Gizel, the Grand Master, and now Count Veson, who else will be able to throw me off balance? He wondered, not very cheerfully.
-Nikos of Itei. - Aesir took a sip of coffee before continuing. - A very interesting character. I admit that I became interested in him because of his early works. He intensively researched the wars of the mages, starting with the Hundred Days of Darkness, then the Second War of the Mages, and ending with the First Northern War.
-It seems that he was interested in the conflicts between Azgard and Mortis, and later in the independence of the vampire clans.- Darius also reached for his coffee, feeling that the change of subject helped him get rid of his embarrassment.
-At least until the death of his wife and daughter.- The count sighed heavily. - A tragedy that pushed him in a completely different direction. Based on writings and descriptions of practices, he began to study rare diseases and ways to treat them. I hope I don't have to say that he started with vampire shimmering and other racial diseases. Later, he expanded his research to other races. - Another sigh. - He saved many lives with this.
-I haven't studied his biography in such detail. I'm more interested in the book describing lycanthropes' diseases.- Darius felt that Aesir could spin many tales about the life of the former historian, so he preferred to steer the conversation in a direction that was important to him.
-Yes, the reverend mentioned it. Unfortunately, I must disappoint you.- Count Veson spread his hands helplessly.- I know that such a book was written, but I have not had the opportunity to read it.
-What about the one about dragons?- The mage tried his luck elsewhere. If he couldn't find a direct answer, he would at least explore a similar one.
-I have indeed had the opportunity to read it.- Aesir rubbed his hands with satisfaction.- However, before I continue, I would like to know why you are interested in it. This knowledge is not very useful in your profession.
-It's about one of my soldiers.- There was no point in hiding it. Kei had had a problem for a long time, and rumours must have spread beyond the walls of Ed'heer long ago. - He is a lycanthrope, an animorph to be precise. However, he has a problem with his transformation, which I am trying to help him with. My apprentice, Draco, who grew up in Dagos, said he read about something similar in the book Rare Diseases and How to Treat Them: Dragons by...
-... Nikos of Itea.
-Exactly. Hence my interest.
-You are very open about the reason, Colonel.- Aesir paused to think.
-There's no point in hiding it. I'm looking for help for one of my men, I don't have to be ashamed of that.- Darius shrugged.
-Of course. However, when I think about the book on dragons... In relation to lycanthropes... - The count rubbed his chin. His face was turned slightly away, but the lilac eye on the side of his head was staring at Darius. - Yes, that must be it. - He said after a moment. - It's about the Dorientann syndrome, isn't it?
-You are correct, count.- Bleist was glad that the conversation was going smoothly and that Aesir seemed to know about the problem Kei was facing.
-I dare not ask what family your student comes from, but access to the full version of the volume devoted to dragons... is a rarity.- Veson turned to Darius with his whole body.- To my knowledge, such volumes can only be found in the library of the Royal Castle, the dragon academy, and the private collections of the most influential dragons. At least officially.- He leaned towards Bleist. - Unofficially, they can also be found in the Vatican Archives, the Second Library of Alexandria, the Forbidden City, Himeji Castle and El Dorado.
-In that case, they are difficult to access.- Darius shook his head. - Dagos is out of the question, and the problems only get worse from there: the papal ministry guarding the secret collections, the paranoid sheheds guarding their enclaves, Emperor Kangxi not particularly fond of magicians from outside the empire, Japan is also closed off, and the green orcs and forest elves are not even worth mentioning. - He listed.
-Truly, the southerners resent you for your alliance with Asati.- The count nodded. Darius did not know whether to laugh or curse. Ever since the elves had recovered from their last conflict with the vampires, King Veletoun had turned his eyes to South America with its resource-rich and fertile enclaves. The only problem was the native inhabitants, who refused to recognise Asati's authority, which led to war. An additional surprise for the ruler was the unification of various indigenous clans and races and the establishment of a common capital, Taluvien. It turned out that forest elves, green orcs, halflings, dryads, centaurs, druids and many other races could coexist peacefully in a common state. Old disputes and bad blood were forgotten because they had a common enemy. The elves of Asati managed to gain some territory, but they paid for it with heavy losses, and their conquests still had to remain under the control of a large army. At the same time, due to the situation in Europe, Atlantis had long maintained close, allied relations with Asati, which meant that it was not very well regarded by the inhabitants of Taluvien. This caused some problems, but it was more important to maintain the status quo beyond the eastern border, which was undoubtedly helped by the fact that the elves kept a close eye on the vampires. Occupying territories from the western coast of France to the Vistula River, the elven kingdom unwittingly served as a buffer for the vampires living further east and the tsar, who was susceptible to their influence. - Fortunately, I did not have these problems. The libraries of the south may not be as vast as those in the Old World or the imperial ones, but they contain unique works. It was in one of these libraries that I came across Nikos of Itea's book on dragons. A very interesting work, by the way, described in detail and seemingly verified by dragon medics. The author devoted a great deal of space to the Dorientann syndrome, which may be puzzling. He had no particular reason to focus on this condition. At least not apparently.- The count rose from his seat and began to pace, keeping at least one eye on Darius the entire time. - While researching Nikos of Itea's biography more thoroughly, I came across manuscripts of several of his works: two dissertations on the First Northern War and the original text on dwarf diseases and fragments concerning orcs. Something strange caught my eye... -Bleist sincerely wanted to get to the point, but he felt that Veson's argument was leading somewhere.- Everywhere, the word persis appears in reference to a certain person. In the sense that he told something, advised something, and so on.- The man waved his hand. - Everyone assumed that these were distorted terms from Persian originating from Greek. I didn't like that explanation. - He stopped and turned abruptly towards Darius. - You see, colonel, everything was written in the vampire dialect, only this one word was supposed to come from Greek. Of course, the author came from Itea in central Greece, he could have collaborated with, or even learned from, a Persian sage, but something still didn't sit right with me. I began to dig deeper.- He waved his hand around. - My linguistic research led me to an interesting conclusion. Namely, persis, or rather persi, comes from a language discovered in the ruins of a vampire city in a northern Siberian enclave. It means "elder", but in texts from the local temple it appeared in the context of titans. It is widely known that documented appearances of these immortal beings were very rare.- The count returned to the table and leaned heavily on the tabletop. In his eyes, Bleist saw a spark of madness, of losing himself in the phenomenon he was studying. A study that had clearly gone in the wrong direction. - If this is not about a Persian, let alone a titan, then who is this elder? It took me a long time to figure this out. - Darius watched Aesir, trying not to lose track of the thread. - I have two very plausible theories. First, the older man is a druid from the Allenvien Circle. Given the breadth of his knowledge, this would make perfect sense, especially since these druids were able to directly transfer knowledge and memories to each other. It is possible that he was the last representative of this Circle, although it was officially dissolved in the 13th century.- The count rose from the table and briskly approached the desk by the armchair, leaned over and took out some notes. - My second theory is that Persis is a minor local deity powerful enough to manifest itself in the mortal world. It could have accumulated knowledge over the centuries and later shared it with a willing listener or even a follower. Such cases have happened before. Unfortunately, this is the more likely theory.- The man shook his head sadly.
-And what do druids and lesser idols have to do with the Dorientann syndrome?- Darius decided to steer the conversation in the direction he wanted, as Aesir was getting more and more carried away with his deliberations.
-According to records from Arras, animorphs often belonged to the Allenvien Circle, so in this case the reason would be obvious by analogy with dragons. If we assume that the idol theory is true, we must take into account the location of Itea, which lies within the dragon's sphere of influence. It is possible that it was in that area... that therapy was provided for those suffering from this syndrome.- Veson blinked several times and slowly returned to the table. He sat down calmly in his seat, putting his notes aside.- Indeed, that is what you wanted to talk about. I'm sorry, I got a little carried away.
-It's all right.- Bleist forced a smile. -It was an instructive lesson. But let's get back to the treatment...
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Darius took his time returning to his reading room. Unfortunately, Count Veson too often strayed from the topic of conversation, delving into discussions about his research and discoveries. They were very interesting, but tedious for Bleist. Nevertheless, he managed to extract the information he wanted from Aesir. The historian confirmed Draco's words, enriching them with a much broader and more drastic context than what the young dragon had said. It was comforting that the method proposed by the student to help Kei should indeed work. Somewhat calmed down, he could devote himself to his work.