I explain to Aarir what happened before I interrupted her studies. Her bright red, curly hair bounces as she steps lightly from one foot to another, a curious quirk that tells me she's excited about something. I stop my explanation and wait for her question.
"How in the Nine did you ever find his hideout?" She asks breathlessly. I stand up from the chair and place my hands on the Runes carved in the black staff. The air crackles again as I concentrate on my memories. A puzzled expression forms on her face as another Rune appears in the air after a short time.
"It's a combination of lightning and arcane," I explain, "but after studying it, I realized there were coordinates embedded inside of the drawings." I mutter the holding magic to keep the Rune suspended in the air for a brief time.
"Someone wanted you to find it," Aarir gasps, "but that means..."
"We might not be the only ones who know about the Runes." I finish her sentence and dismiss the Rune, seeing that Aarir has already made a sketch in her book.
Aarir and I have been working together for the past few months. I sought her out after finding correspondence between her father and mine. My father seemed to trust him well, and he spoke fondly of his daughter's inquisitive mind and unwavering sense of justice. I needed someone with both. Luckily for me, the two traits I valued also came with a strong distrust of authority. I had to keep the Runes away from the High Mages, so swearing her to secrecy was trivial. Surprisingly though, she showed no interest in learning how to use the Runes, but was more taken by their designs. Aarir tells me she's a historian, and her boundless knowledge about things long past have proven it to me.
As I stand lost in thought, Aarir was busy looking though a pile of books on the study desk, muttering to herself. Breaking out of my musings, I walk over to where she was flipping pages frantically.
"That Rune," she said, not even looking up, "I've seen something like it before. Not quite the same, obviously, but..." She pulled a thick tome over to the side of the desk pointing her finger at the middle of the page.
"The Library?" I was incredulous.