The morning sun was bright and the town was bustling with activity as Giselle strolled back to the library. It had taken her a little while to decide if she was going to follow through with her meeting with Lara. Lara knew she was a warlock and didn't have any qualms with that. She also had access to any information the cult she belonged to might have on the spear. Even if they had very little, which was most likely, it couldn't hurt to at least take a look at that information.

Plus, what's the harm in having someone help her out? The sooner she got ahold of this Spear, the sooner she could decide what she was going to do with it. Giving it to Amarth still seemed the easiest route. She signed the contract and would have her soul back. She could try keeping it from her or giving it to someone that could use it to kill the Demon Lord, but that risked Amarth finding out and taking her soul for ever. Then she would have to wait on a rescue again, or end up dead in the Other Realm.

Plus, there was the question of whether she could even trust Lara about this whole thing. Lara knew why Giselle needed the spear and there was the distinct possibility she would not let Giselle hand it over, or try to take it for herself, getting herself killed in the process and giving the spear to Amarth anyways, who would then try to get out of the contract and take Giselle forever anyways.

There was no use deciding now, as dwelling on it and worrying would only waste time and stress her out. She was committed to this and would have Lara help her find this Spear. She had to take big risks to get big rewards. Gild had always preached caution, preferring to take his time and measure what would be best, but she liked to just go for it. Things usually worked out for her in the end. Usually.

As she thought and daydreamed, Giselle bumbled into an incredibly large, dark skinned man with a massive axe strapped to his back. He turned down to her with an amused expression on his face.

“Excuse me,” she mumbled, taking several steps to get around him. As she did she noticed the group he was with. A Star Elf stood to his side, which was strange. How often did they get out of their homelands? And weren't they all enslaved too? How had she managed to escape? In front of the elf and man was a down on his luck looking gnome with a fairly tattered robe, who looked kind of familiar…

GILD!

Panic coursed through her and she came to a halt. The large man said something to her but she didn't hear it. All she could hear was a strange buzzing and her heart pounding in her ears. She wanted so bad to rush over to him, grab him, and pull him into a hug. But, Amarth’s words hung around her about talking with him and how she would lose her soul to the Demon Lord forever.

The man was still looking at her, his expression now bemused and a little concerned. He had paused and the elf and Gild had noticed. The elf turned back towards him and Gild was starting to. Giselle took off like a dart, running blindly through the crowds of people, bouncing off waists and legs. Curses and shouts followed her, but she kept running, putting as much distance between herself and her husband as she could.

She kept running without looking where she was going, ducking down the first alleyway she could find. She took a left down another alleyway, then a right, then lost track of where she was going. The scenery alternated between open avenues and dingy back alleys before she finally stopped at the edge of one all, catching her breath in great heaves, her heart pounding in her chest and ears.

As her heart rate slowed and the pounding lessened, she glanced around to see where she’d brought herself. In a second stroke of luck, the first being the fact Gild hadn't seen her, she found herself just a block away from the library. Leaving the alley, she smoothed her tunic and pants, trying to appear as if she hadn't just sprinted for her life. Wiping a strand of sweat soaked hair from her forehead, she ascended the steps of the surprisingly large library and went inside.

Just inside, Lara stood, looking around anxiously. When she saw Giselle, she gave a little start and a nervous smile.

“I was worried you wouldn't show up,” Lara said, lugging a giant pack on her back as she waved to Giselle. “Come on, I got a table reserved for us.”

She turned to a hallway on their right and went through.

“Why didn't you think I would come?” Giselle asked as they walked down the brightly lit hall. Slits of windows in the front of the building let sunshine streak in, illuminating the light stone. Gas lamps were on every wall, their flames low since they were not entirely needed.

Lara glanced down at the gnome. “I wasn't sure you would take me seriously. You left the meeting in a pretty big hurry, not at all impressed with anything they had done.”

“I can't argue that point,” Giselle said. “You didn't want to bring anyone else from the cult here?”

“I don't trust anyone else there.”

“But you trust me?”

Lara opened her mouth and paused before answering. “No, I don't. But you are at least honest and upfront with me about your goals and what you are doing. I can respect that and work with you. Who knows? Maybe the trust will develop along the way.”

“Maybe it will,” Giselle murmured. They had arrived in a large room full of tables and desks of various sizes. Lara led them to one at the far end, near another hallway.

“That goes back to the main library in case we need to go get more material,” she said, nodding to the doorway. The desk was a medium size, enough for a group of four people to share one or two books comfortably. Giselle took a seat, raising an eyebrow at the size.

Lara heaved the pack onto the table, letting it spill over as it settled. She grabbed the bottom and gave a tug, spilling the contents. Books, scrolls, parchments, maps, sheets, scrolls, and more tumbled out of the pack, quickly filling the table. Giselle caught a scroll as it threatened to roll off onto the floor.

“Is this all from your little cult?”

Lara nodded, panting from the effort. “Yeah, and this isn't even all of it. I just grabbed what I thought would be most important. A couple of these I haven't read, I managed to nick them from the Elder’s chambers.”

“Very impressive Lara,” Giselle said appreciatively. “I suppose we better get started going through all this.”

Lara dug around at the bottom of the bag and produced two more books. She tossed one to Giselle. “For note taking. We can reference what book, where, and what we found, then compare everything from there.”

Giselle smiled at the young woman. “I like the way you think.” She glanced around at the mountain of items. “Any suggestions on where to start?”

“At the top I suppose. I don't really know which are the ones I haven't read, it all got kind of jumbled together.”

“Well, anything will help us,” Giselle said as she took a small journal-like book from the top of the pile. She cracked it open and set to work.