Delving Beneath the Surface

Chapter 8

"Fascinatin'."

Verona drummed her fingers along the edge of the counter as they waited for Gunther to finish his thorough examination of the artifact they found. Sebastian lingered behind her. He rested his hands on her shoulders, gently kneading the muscles around her neck. In truth, she found she didn't mind his touch as much as thought she would.

They stopped to get him checked out at the clinic before they headed to the museum, just to be safe. Harvey cleared Sebastian after a quick examination. Whatever the ghost had done to him, he didn't see any lasting effects that they needed to worry about – much to her relief. Harvey, however, seemed more than a little upset to learn where they just came from. Sebastian begged him to keep it a secret and he assured him this visit would remain confidential.

Relieved as she was to learn that their secret was safe, she still felt his disappointed stare as they left the clinic. She made a mental note to brush up on her first aid basics. That way she wouldn't have to worry him every time she got in a scuffle in the mines.

The box opened easily enough, having been in much better quality than the canisters. It revealed a copper dial with rings of alabaster carved with a strange combination of dwarven runes and their modern alphabet. She had never seen anything like it. He rotated one ring, then another, peering at it closely with the same scrutiny he gave all the artifacts she brought him.

"So," she started after a long moment, "What do you think it is?"

"I reckon you two stumbled across a dwarven cipher."

Sebastian cocked his head to one side. "A what?"

"I only ever read about these things in passin', but this was somethin' used by humans to decipher the dwarven language way back in the early days when there were more of the little buggers," Gunther explained, "I'm surprised y'all found this around here. I assumed none of them survived the Elemental Wars, but that's the beauty of archaeology." He turned another dial, humming appreciatively. "You can stumble across a gem like this one 'ere."

Verona perked up. "Does that mean you can finally start deciphering the scrolls?"

He nodded. "This will make it a lot easier, that's for sure. A few hours of experimentin' with this cipher and I should be good to go. I'll probably crack open the scrolls later this week. I'll reach out if I find anythin' worth our time." He regarded the dial thoughtfully and added, "Ya know, if farming ain't your passion, you'd have a promisin' future as an archaeologist."

Sebastian squeezed her shoulders as if to agree. A quiet sadness swirled around in her chest. As much as she appreciated the compliment, she hadn't done much of anything to warrant it. Not yet at least. She managed a polite smile. "We'll see if these scrolls mean anything before I make any choices on that," she said, "besides, farming hasn't failed me yet."

Gunther grunted as he placed the dial back in its box. "Well, keep up the good work. If you find anything else, you know where to find me. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He ducked out from behind the counter and disappeared up one of the aisles, muttering something about finding texts on decipherment and cryptology. She took that as their cue to leave and she ushered them out of the museum.

"What a day," she groaned as they walked back towards town, "and it's barely noon."

Sebastian merely nodded. He wore a troubled expression as he rubbed the center of his chest.

Her forehead creased in concern. "Are you sure you're alright? Do we need to go back to the clinic? I'm sure Harvey wouldn't mind taking another look at you."