Chapter 4

"She didn't make it, Hope." Lightning said as the body was being prepared for transport to the medical examiners table. Seeker sat at one of the many tables the library kept available for students to study.

"I know. Have the coroner do a thorough exam on her head for me, will you?" Seeker said. Upon making eye contact with Lightning he saw utter confusion painted across her face. "It was the same spell that was used yesterday, but I think it was targeting her brain this time, not her heart."

"What kind of pony are we dealing with?" Lightning asked, more to herself than to Seeker.

"I think it might be a teacher here. Post Script was telling me about an altercation Studied Tome had with one of the professor’s right before this happened. She wasn’t able to give me a name though." Seeker said as he stood up. He wasn't full of energy by any means, but he couldn't seem to sit till either. Not while ponies were dropping dead around town. He walked over to the check in desk where he first saw Post Script and leaned his forelegs along its surface. He couldn't help but to stare at the mare's reading glasses upon the desk, his mind still trying to make sense of the last few hours. “Whoever we are dealing with is testing their power.”

“What makes you say that, Hope?” Lightning asked. She walked over to his side, wanting to place a hoof on his shoulder but she knew better. Seeker was not fond of being touched, especially while he was trying to think.

“Why else would he attack a different killing blow when the first one worked so well?” Seeker asked. “They can already kill somepony with ease, why go through the trouble of making it fancy?”

“Maybe they enjoy it?” Lightning offered. “I don’t know much about magic, but it sounds like a wasted when you already have the ultimate tool for your dirty work.”

Seeker pulled his gaze from the glasses to the book that she had been reading only a couple hours ago. He needed to focus on something other than the picture of the mare standing dead in the hallway that still lingered vividly in his mind. It was not a novel or textbook, it was the library registry. The book held information regarding books that had been checked out and to whom. He stared at it in an absent-minded state till something about the entries on the page clicked in his head. The book recorded the times that items were removed from the shelves to be taken by the students or returned, but there were no entries for today. Not even for the time she was called away from the office by that bell.

That would explain why she was already on her way back to the office when she was attacked. You can't help somepony at the desk if there is no pony there to help. Did the bell malfunction somehow, or was it a distraction? Seeker continued to look at the book registry, flipping pages. It was currently summer, but there were still a few students taking classes. The few pages from the current semester were few enough to skim through quickly. A note caught his eye, written in red ink amongst the normal blacks and blues that littered the page.

“Symbols: A Guide to Ancient Runes and Rituals by Stoic Circle, Restricted Wing.” Seeker read aloud. “Status: Missing?” Considering the level of accuracy the records were adhered to, it seemed unlikely that one of the books would simply disappear, especially from the restricted section of the library. The date in the registry suggested the book had been missing for almost a month, and that was just at the point its absence was discovered.

Seeker flipped through the other pages of the registry looking closer at the titles and authors. No other books from that particular author or, from what he could assume from the titles, were on the same subject as the one that was missing were checked out to anyone. This was unfortunately not the full listing of the libraries records. It only contained the activity logged since the beginning of the summer semester. If Seeker wanted to look at the older records he would have had to talk to the head librarian, and that was not an option.

“Lightning, Do we know if there are any other librarians that work here?” Seeker asked. His voice almost catching in his throat as a flood of adrenaline hit him, forced by the thoughts that surfaced from the back of his mind. Lightning pointed to a display on the wall behind the desk. A few pictures were pinned to a bulletin board with their names written beneath who they were. The first two pictures were of ponies he recognized: Studied Tome and Post Script. The last photo however was of an older, light blue Unicorn he had not seen before, the name “Rough Draft” was printed around her smiling face.

“Just a hunch, but I think there is at least one more.” Lightning said in a snide tone before her face went stone cold. “Wait. You don’t think he’s targeting all the library staff, do you?” she asked. Her wings fluttered in anticipation of his answer.

“I think we might want to get to her before he does.” Seeker said as he buried a hoof into his pocket and began pulling a few items out and placing them on the desk. Lightning Shield leaped to a courtesy phone near the front door, using her wings to hasten her progress, and began dialing in a number with the rotary dial.

“Last Watch, It’s Lightning. I need you to pull some records for me on a Unicorn by the name of Rough Draft.” Lightning said in the commanding tone that came from being an officer.

“How is he going to find where she lives from the police station?” Seeker asked as he began working with the items on the desk in front of him.

“Unless you can cast some sort of spell to track her down, we are a little short on options.” Lightning snapped. The officer in her had taken over.

“I guess you’re right. I can’t cast those spells without some of her blood or hair anyway.” Seeker stated as he pulled the magic lens from his pocket and added it to the pile of things on the desk. Lightning rolled her eyes at him as she waited for Last Watch to return to the phone. Seeker used his magic to levitate the items into the air and began binding them together.
“Lightning. I have an address for you from her arcane researcher’s license.” Last Watch’s deep voice came through the phone’s speaker. Lightning grabbed a notepad and pencil from nearby and began to jot down the information he was able to find.

“That’s just outside the school.” Lightning observed out loud. “Thanks Watch.” Lightning hung up the phone and turned to Seeker to inform him she had their next destination. Her professional manner was almost broken as she restrained the smile that was fighting to spread across her mouth. Seeker had used a series of leather straps and buckles to strap the eyepiece to his head like a modified eye patch.

“Don’t laugh. I won’t have the extra hoof to put this thing to my eye if we are running.” Seeker protested. He adjusted his hat as best he could to hide the lens from her, but the damage was done.

“She lives close to here. Let’s just hope she’s home. Follow me, matey” Lightning said as she pushed open the door, fighting against the wind that hindered her efforts. A wet blast of cold air blew into the library as Lightning and Seeker ran out into the storm. It was supposed to be a bright and sunny afternoon, but the weather had other plans. Rain poured down in buckets as they ran; bolts of lightning and cracks of thunder filled the air. Lightning attempted to lift off the ground with her wings to give her more speed. The wind was too powerful however, making it impossible for her to fly strait. They would both have to run the entire way.

Lightning rounded the corner of a building that served as student housing with Seeker a few paces behind her. The apartment building at the end of the street came into view ahead of them through the grey haze of the rain. Seeker used his magic to pull open the door as they approached, allowing them to run in unhindered. They stopped in the dry lobby within; Seeker pushing his full weight against the door till it latched behind them. Lightning turned her attention to a map of the buildings layout near a collection of mail slots on the far wall.

“Third floor, last room on the left. Come on!” Lightning commanded as she flew into the stairwell, no longer impaired by the storm. Seeker Ran after her as fast as his slick wet hooves would allow. He wasn’t able to see her again till he burst through the door leading to the third floor landing. Lightning flew to the end of the hallway and began knocking on the door. An ominous crash of lightning flooded the hallway with blinding white light from a cracked window the moment Seeker reached the door, panting heavily. The door was opened from the inside, but it was still held secure by a chain lock. A single brown eye peered through the gap the short chain allowed.

“Can I help you?” A soft voice asked through the crack in the door.

“Rough Draft?” Lightning asked. The pony inside gave a small nod in response. Lightning let out a sigh of relief as she pulled her badge from under her jacket and let it hang visibly from her neck. “Officer Shield, Ma’am. I’m going to have to ask you to come with us.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Rough Draft asked, the eye that they could see through the crack in the door widened in fear. Her sight dashed between Lightning and Seeker as she awaited an answer.

“No.” Lightning quickly answered in an attempt to calm the Unicorn inside, but the tone of urgency in her voice betrayed her. “You’re not under arrest, but we believe you may be in danger. It’s for your protection.” With that said, Rough Draft closed the door long enough to slide the lock free. When she opened the door again the fearful look in her eye was replaced by an over expression of worry.

“Is this regarding Studied Tome?” Rough Draft asked. Her ears fell and folded back, almost in anticipation of the answer she was going to receive.

“As well as Post Script.” Lightning added. Rough Drafts head hung low as her fears were confirmed.

“I heard Tome was in an accident, but I knew better than to think it was as simple as that.” Rough Draft said, her legs beginning to shake. “Now something has happened to Post Script?” Her face faded into a state of denial, as if the world was crashing down around her yet nothing mattered anymore.

“Way to go Lightning.” Seeker was able to say between steadying gasps for air. He was still fairly winded from the run up the stairs and was only now able to catch his breath. “Now she’s going to be scared out of her mind.” He placed a hoof on Rough Draft’s shoulder. He looked her strait in the eye as best he could while the lens distorted his view of his one eye. Her eyes locked onto his as he spoke slowly and steadily. “Don’t worry. We are going to protect you, but we need to leave this place, now.”

Rough Draft regained some of her composure as she nodded at Seeker. She pulled the door closed behind her and locked it before heading towards the elevator down the hall. Lightning quickly took point ahead of the group while Seeker covered the rear, his eyes dancing around the hallway as he looked for anything out of the ordinary. He was still unsure how the other ponies were attacked and he did not know what to look for, so he took note of everything that would be potentially dangerous.

“We should avoid the elevator.” Seeker suggested. “With this storm going on, the last thing we need is to get trapped in small box.” Another blinding flash of lightning flooded through the window behind them. With the resulting thunder rolling over them, the runes on seekers eyepiece began to spark to life on their own. The power that was released with that lightning strike existed of more than light and sound, there was magic in the air.

“Now who’s worried?” Lightning chided. She looked over her shoulder towards Seeker with a small smile, but she quickly stopped in her tracks. Rough Draft had frozen in place between them, halfway through her stride. Seeker could almost feel the energy that was still pulsed through the building. He quickly activated the proper runes along the surface of his eyepiece, staring intently at the Unicorn ahead of him.

At the base of Rough Drafts neck, Seeker could see the familiar strands of light blossoming forth into her body, creeping towards her spine. He ran towards her, pulling his staff free of his shoulder using his teeth. The end of the staff was planted against the floor where it stood vertically in front of her, held in place by the magic of his horn. Certain runes that had been carved into the surface burst into light at Seeker’s command as he constructed a spell of his own.

A low hum began resonating in the hallway. A white bubble formed around Seeker and Rough Draft, centering on the staff that began to spark from its lit runes.

The magic was still building, but through Seeker’s effort that constructed the field around them, it had been slowed down the spells progress enough to buy him precious moment. More runes began to illuminate along the lens as Seeker refined the view it was giving him. The energy could not be coming out of thin air; it had to be originating from somewhere. Tweaking with his view a little more he locked onto the source of the energy. A charm was hanging by a thin chain from her neck in the shape of the moon and sun, rendered in silver. It was the same design found hanging from Studied Tome’s neck at the time of her death.

Seeker tried to pull the accursed necklace away using the magic of his horn, but it held fast. He was unable to use his horn to apply more strength to his attempt for he was already exerting himself to maintain the spell on his staff. If he were to pull any of his energy from his own spell the power coming from the necklace would surely murder the Unicorn in front of him. If he was going to remove it, he would have to touch it. He decided on the more mundane approach and grabbed the chain with his hoof. With a strong tug, the necklace chain broke and came loose from her neck.

The resulting release of energy that had been building from the spell inside Rough Draft let loose a flash of bright light, the thunderous sounds of an explosion followed in its wake. Seeker was struck with the full force of the spell. He was blown off his hooves and down the hallway, his spell channeled staff hurdling with him. He struck the floor and tumbled several times before finally coming to rest against the solid metal elevator doors in a tangled mass of limbs.

~*~*~*~

Seeker felt the world spinning around him. His eyes were held tight as he fought against the violent waves of nausea churning in his stomach. He was thankful he had decided to skip eating breakfast when the pain in his stomach reached its apex. A dry heave forced itself through his throat causing pain to surge from his ribs.

“You throw up on me and I’ll kill you.” Lightning’s voice echoed in his head. Seeker tried to open his eyes slowly, but something was holding his left eyelid in place. The blinding light filtered into his open eye as a haze of white while it adjusted.

A white room came into view around him. He was lying on his back with a large light hanging above him. He let out a groan as he felt his jacket had been removed and replaced with a hospital gown. He was extremely groggy, presumably from the IV that was carrying medications into his system.

Lightning was sitting in the chair next to his bed. She had a pair of butterfly strips holding together a cut along her cheek. The skin beneath the laceration was swollen and purple through her orange coat indicating a bruise was forming from the resulting trauma. Her hair was no longer tied back behind her head, allowing several frizzy red strands to complete her disheveled ensemble.

"How long was I out?" Seeker asked. His dry mouth and throat forced him to cough after the question. Lightning checked the clock on the wall above the door.

"About two hours. The Doctor says you have a small concussion that should be good in a few days." Lightning answered. Seeker could tell from the tone of her voice that there was something worse about his condition that she was trying not to mention.

"Why can't i open my eye?" Seeker asked her as he brushed his hoof over the obstruction. An eye patch had been secured with straps and a weak adhesive. Lightning's head drooped slightly as she tried to think of the best way to answer him.

"When your spell broke, you collided with me before flying down the hallway. The doctor said that if i had not slowed you down before you hit the elevator door that you would have easily lost your eye." Lightning turned to a metal tray near the bed. Within the tangled masses of bloody gauze and dirtied utensils were the remnants of his magic lens, shattered and warped from a solid impact. “They said you might have torn your retina, but you will have to see a specialist to be sure. Regardless you will have to wear the eye patch for a while.” Seeker pulled himself up from the bed through the pounding headache that tried to keep him in the bed.

“What happened to Rough Draft?” Seeker asked through the pounding inside his head. He did not think Lightning could have dropped her head any lower than she already had.

“She’s been admitted. She’s in a coma, Hope. They are not even sure what caused it.” Lightning said. Her answer was not what Seeker wanted to hear. He turned himself to lower his feet to the white sterile floor.

“Get the nurse to unhook me from these damn things. We are leaving.” Seeker told Lightning. “That guy is still out there and I’m not going to let any eye patch or concussion stop me from getting him.” Seeker tried to take a step forward, but buckled, almost unable to keep himself on his hooves. He pulled his arm up to his chest at the source of the pain that debilitated him.

“What about those broken ribs?”

Author's Note

I just want to note how difficult it is to type out full stories on a tablet...