The Archives was a huge room filled with treasures and fancy documents. Mat looked around in wonder at the glittering room. A bright white sword shone in Mat’s eyes, and he could feel power radiating from it. Next to it was a glowing white shield with the emblem of some flying beast on it.

  Mat had to restrain himself from reaching out and grabbing it. There was only a glass case protecting it; Mat knew he could easily break it. Clearly The High Educator didn’t think anybody could get through his traps safely without him getting there to stop them.

  Mat shook his head, turning away from the sword and shield. They wouldn’t suit him anyway.

  Walking further into the room, Mat saw spears and bows lining the walls.

  On another wall there was a set of swords – Spring was looking at those with great interest.

  Mat wandered over to a small corner of the room containing many official documents. He flipped through the sheets and folders, looking for anything intriguing.

  Slipping a few into his pocket, he rushed over to Spring’s side as she gasped in excitement.

  “What is it?” Mat asked.

  Rather than answering, Spring smashed the glass pane with her hands, reaching through to pick out an orange sword. It was stunning, with a beautiful orange jewel at the top of the hilt.

  A raging heat touched Mat’s face emanating from the sword. Instead of taking it, Spring ripped the orange jewel out of the hilt.

  “Lovely.” She said. “I can merge this into my Sword of Eternal Flame.”

  “Really?” Mat asked.

  “Yeah. It will take some time since I’m not skilled with this type of thing but I can do it.”

  “Why would you want to?” Mat asked.

  “It’ll make the fire aspect of it stronger. More potent. I’ll be able to do significantly more now when I stab somebody.”

  “I see.” Mat said.

  Spring spun around on her heels, taking the whole room in.

  “There are so many beautiful treasures in this room. I could stay here all day and still find something fascinating to look at.”

  “I know. Brilliant isn’t it.” He said in awe. “Yet, in this room of stunning treasures, I’ve a – already found the most b – beautiful treasure in the world.”

  Spring smirked as she came close to him, giving him a peck on the nose.

  “I wasn’t expecting such elegant words from you.” Spring said. “You should be a poet.”

  “Maybe I will.” Mat said softly. “B – but only for you.”

  Spring tenderly put her arms around his waist, as he rested his head against hers.

  “I love you so much.” Spring said quietly.

  Mat rubbed his nose on hers.

  “I love you too.” Mat said. “Seeing your smile everyday is more important to me than any treasure in the world.”

  Their lips connected and Mat kissed her tenderly. Spring’s arms tightened around his waist and her kissing became fiercer.

  “You mean so much to me.” Spring whispered as she briefly broke away before going back in.

  Mat’s hands ran through her hair, pausing on her neck. Mat stroked the back of her neck tenderly, and Spring’s heartbeat soared.

  “I’ve never wanted anybody more than you.” Mat said through ragged breaths. “I love you more than you could ever imagine.”

  Spring’s fingers slowly crawled up his back, and she felt a soft shiver run through his body.

  One of her hands made its way to his front and she began playful and softly tapping her fingers against his chest, tickling him lightly.

  “Spring -” Mat managed choke out. His words were lost in the intensity of her kiss.

  He was crumbling under her playful touch. Spring was all that he could think about. All his other thoughts were cloudy or simply didn’t matter any longer.

  “We can’t.” Mat forced out.

  “I know.” Spring whispered. “But we could stay like this for a little longer.”

  Mat couldn’t stop himself from agreeing; nor did he want to.

  Spring was all that mattered.

  Mat put his long blue coat back on quickly. They had let it get more heated than originally intended, although it never went further than kissing and touching.

  Still, Spring’s hair was fully messed up now so they hadn’t done a good job at restraining themselves.

  Mat lovingly patted her hair into roughly the same position it had been in, but some remained out of place.

  Spring had a beaming smile on her face as she looked up into his eyes.

  His hand ran down her face, resting for a second on her lips. For a single second he felt the urge to kiss her and hold her and just… be with her.

  He fought it off though. They still had a heist to finish. When they were both alone and safe… Mat could only wonder.

  As he kissed her on the head, he heard a soft whisper coming from the corner of the room.

  It started off quiet, easily ignorable, but grew in power. It never grew louder than a whisper though.

  Mat’s eyes were drawn to the corner and a small wooden box laying forgotten on the ground. His feet began moving without him realising it and he crouched down to touch the box

  Mat. A quiet voice whispered.

  Mat’s hands reached down and picked up the box. When he couldn’t find a door to open in. he slammed his fist into it. It was like he was in a trance.

  “What’s going on Mat?” Spring asked, touching his arm. That grounded him enough to throw off whatever was happening to him. Mat placed the box down on the small table where the documents had been sitting and looked into the gap his fist had made.

  “Look at this.” Mat said, taking Spring’s hand. She peered in as well, taking in the small sharp item inside the crate.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Spring reached her hand in and slowly pulled it out.

  It was a golden dagger with a serpent inlaid in its hilt. Spring’s eyes were filled with wonder as she took the sight in. Unlike most of the items in this room, the dagger radiated no power whatsoever. There was no glowing light or intense heat radiating from it.

  For most eyes, it would look like a regular dagger. No wonder it had been discarded in a box.

  Mat, however, could sense something. It was indescribable, yet Mat knew exactly what it was.

  Somehow, he knew the dagger was meant for him.

  Spring could see the look in his eyes and held it out for him to see.

  Mat took it from her hands, wrapping his fist around its hilt. The dagger felt perfect in his hands. It was the perfect weight, and Mat could feel a hidden power – or something similar – inside of it.

  “It’s perfect.” Mat declared.

  “Is that what you’re taking?” Spring asked. “There is so much stuff in this room. Are you sure you want a dusty old dagger?”

  “Yes.” Mat said, full of confidence. “This is exactly what I want.”

  Spring saw a bright flash of gold in Mat’s eyes, brighter than it ever had been before.

  Mat looked like a man possessed as he clutched his dagger tightly. His eyes snapped in her direction, warming up at the sight of her.

  “Sorry.” Mat said. “I – I don’t know what came over me.”

  He didn’t let go of the dagger though.

  Before Spring could say anything, metal statues rose from the ground, each wielding a sword. They marched toward them, circling them so they could not escape without a fight.

  Mat’s Eyes of the Tiger flared, and he shoved Spring to the floor without thinking. Where she had stood a spear now sat quivering. It had been shot out of the wall.

  Mat’s new dagger tingled in his hand as he lifted it to block a sword swing from behind.

  Green light lit the room up as Spring’s Sword of Eternal Flame cut through one of the statues like butter. The body fell to the floor, unmoving, while the legs continued moving. They were no longer a threat though, so Mat paid it no mind.

  He was worried about Spring – he couldn’t bare to lose her – but he knew she could look after herself.

  He had to look after himself now.

  A spike in his senses alerted him to another spear shooting out of the wall, but this one was aimed at him. Letting his body work without his mind, he backflipped over it as it hit the spot where he had been standing.

  Had he ever backflipped before?

  That was a question to be answered later. Right now, their lives were at stakes.

  Mat blocked a second sword swing coming in from behind, ducking under another from the front.

  The front statue’s sword smashed into the one behind Mat, leaving it a crumbling wreck. That statue’s body didn’t move any longer, nor did its legs. Spring’s first victim’s legs had also finally stopped. She had now moved on to a second one, her Shield of Eternal Flame surrounding her as a sword strike hit her. Rather than killing her, the Shield of Eternal Flame stopped it, bouncing the sword away. It fell to the floor and Spring finished off the defenceless statue.

  Mat froze time without thinking, slamming his new golden dagger into the nearest statue several times. When he unfroze time, all the hits struck at the same time, and the statue burst into pieces.

  Mat hadn’t even realised he was doing it. The dagger had guided him.

  How could that be?

  Mat felt spears flying at him from every direction. There was no way to dodge them all.

  As the spears were about to slam into him, Spring flew into him, activating her Shield of Eternal Flame. Mat was encompassed inside of its warmth, as well as Spring’s warm, strong arms. All but one of them bounced off and the other moved so slowly that Spring was easily able to block it with her sword.

  All the statues had been destroyed by the spears – clearly, they thought it was a worthwhile sacrifice to kill the two of them.

  Unfortunately, they weren’t so easily defeated.

  “Thank you.” Mat said.

  Spring stroked her face.

  “Do you remember what I said when Humphrey attacked us at your house. We’re a team. We have each other’s backs.” Spring leaned in, rubbing her face against his. “Besides, if you died, I couldn’t make you all flustered, could I? Life would be so much less enjoyable without little pleasures like that.”

  She kissed him on the nose with love. “Don’t ever think I don’t love you.”

  Mat couldn’t hide an adoring smile as he looked into her beautiful amethyst eyes. How could he ever compare to her? She was so beautiful.

  “Why?” Mat asked as he ran his fingers along her waist. “I’m not anything special.”

  “Yes you are.” She said, her lips brushing against his cheek. “You’re you. And you are the most precious thing in my life.”

  Mat felt like his legs might give way as her arms tightened around him.

  As much as he wanted to just get lost in her stunning smile and warm embrace, they had to get on. Otherwise, The High Educator would return with them still in the building.

  But it was so difficult to break away from her.

  “We – need to – get on.” Mat said between kisses.

  “I know handsome.” Spring said. “I’m just giving you a preview for later.”

  “O – oh. I – I see. W – well -” Mat trailed off into silence as he saw Spring’s beautiful smile.

  “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”

  George kept watch as Sam studied the traps on the door to The High Educator’s office.

  “This is too high tier. There’s no shot I can get past this.” Sam said.

  “Well, there is absolutely no way I can do it.” George remarked. “This is all up to you.”

  “But what if I make a mistake?” Sam asked. “I might screw all of this up and make this a waste of time.”

  “Walk me through it.” George said. “Perhaps that will help you reason the answer out.”

  “I need to deactivate one out of four strings of Toh to enter the room. But there is no pattern to it.”

  “Which do you know it can’t be?” George asked.

  “The third line.” Sam said. “It doesn’t have enough Toh running through it. Except if it is a mini alarm.” Sam sighed. “Now we are back to square one.”

  “Perhaps that is the point.” George remarked.

  “What do you mean?” Sam asked.

  “You are meant to question yourself. Clearly that is what Grenduti wants us to do. So you have to just go with your instincts. Trust yourself to be right. That’s how we will get through.”

  “But what if -”

  “Enough. Go with your gut Sam.”

  Sam took a deep breath, pulled out his wand and snipped the third wire.

  Nothing happened that either of them were aware of.

  George took over, pushing the door open marginally and peeking his head inside.

  “Is it safe?” Sam asked.

  George looked back, grinning widely at him.

  “You did it.” George said. “Let’s enter.”

  They stepped into the room and looked around. Sam had never entered the actual office before. It had been an honour to just stand outside.

  Taking in the room, he saw a large velvet high backed chair behind the desk and a large portrait of The High Educator sitting behind the chair. On the desk there were several folders and files. Sam flicked through all of them, looking for his work on Mat’s time power.

  It wasn’t there.

  They searched the whole room for ten minutes, not finding it. Maybe The High Educator had taken it away with him. Maybe he had burned it.

  The only things they hadn’t checked were the drawers of the desk. That was for one specific reason: the drawers were booby trapped. If they were opened, it would burn everything within the draw.

  They were stuck.

  Mat and Spring had found a tunnel leading out of the Archives and decided to follow it.

  Spring was using her Emerald arm to light the way a faint green colour.

  “Does it hurt?” Mat asked. “Your new arm?”

  “No.” Spring said. “It gets a little tingly when I use my sword, but other than that it is as good as new.”

  “Do you promise?” Mat asked. “I couldn’t bare it if you were in pain because of me.”

  Spring shook her head.

  “I’ve already told you it wasn’t your fault. Humphrey did it.”

  “But if I hadn’t been there… if I had forced you to leave the house then you’d be fine. I hope that I can make it up to you one day.”

  “Listen.” Spring said sternly, stopping and spinning on her heels to peer at him in the dark. “It wasn’t your fault. If you had made me leave you would be dead right now. If you hadn’t been there then I’d have had nothing to keep me going when I was with Humphrey. Just accept that it wasn’t you okay?”

  Mat nodded vigorously.

  “I understand.” Mat squeaked.

  Spring’s expression softened.

  “Good.” She said. “Sorry for sounding angry but I had to make you properly listen.”

  “I get it.” Mat promised.

  Spring kissed him on the lips then continued on down the passage, Mat on her heels.

  At the end of the tunnel was a wall. Spring tutted but Mat put his hands against the wall, pushing it. Rather than being a wall, it was a secret passage. Light bathed the tunnel all of a sudden, making the two of them cover their eyes.

  When they adjusted they took in a large office and two figures standing by a desk.

  “How do we get through the trap then?” Spring asked.

  “We can’t.” Sam said. “It’s set to blow if anybody opens it. The trigger is inside the desk.”

  Mat grinned maliciously at this news.

  “I see.” He said, picking up an official looking document from the table and a pen. On top of the professional writing, Mat wrote The High Educator a little message.

  “What are you doing?” Sam asked.

  “Sending The High Educator our regards.” Mat said proudly.

  Freezing time, Mat pulled open the most expensive looking draw. It was inlaid with the symbol of a pen and had gold covering the rims.

  The top documents was exactly what he was looking for.

  Time Bloodline.

  Mat took it out, slipping it into Sam’s pocket. Just before unfreezing time, Mat slipped his note into the draw and closed it.

  He unfroze time, looking around at his friends proudly.

  “What?” Sam asked, seeing Mat’s gaze lingering on him.

  “Nothing.” Mat said. “It’s just… is that something in your pocket?”

  Sam looked confused and reached into his back pocket.

  He looked shocked when he saw what was in it.

  “But – how?”

  “Maybe somebody slipped it into your pocket. Who knows?” Mat said. “Now that we have what we need, I say we get out of here.”