The child's name was Katrinja Erikson, and her parents were a that of the very odd sort. Her mother was a ruthless scribe, of course as far as scribes can be ruthless she was about as harmful as a fly, but that is what the other scribes nicknamed her. And, then her dad was a bit more normal as he ran a small distillery, and tavern in the center of town. Business wasn't the best, but it was no where near bad.
Katrinja Erikson spent the earlier years of her life with her dad at the tavern, and when she finally came of that age the rest was spent at school. Of course that all changed one fateful day in mid-summer, around the time the farmers began sowing the seeds of their better crops. On that day, Katrin, as her friends called her who was also twelve at the time, was in her father's inn, the Sleeping Dragon. As she was serving some ale to a group of farmers when she overheard them speaking of one of the Magi coming through town.
They said the Magi should be arriving in the forest nearby within the hour, but they didn't know which lord the Magi hailed from which would put any person on edge the moment they heard that fact. You quickly served them the ale, and gave them a quick smile before dashing off, so they didn't notice your eavesdropping. Of course you were a bit curious about what the Magi was like.
You decide that even though it is a risky course of action that going to see the Magi would make your life a lot more interesting, so you set down the tray, and slip out the back door of the small three story stone, and wood house that served as your father's tavern. You set off down the street with the smell of cooking meat, and fresh ale wafting through the air in your direction dragged by the soft easterly breeze. It takes you nearly thirty minutes to reach the edge of the woods, and by that time the sun is tarting to set, and the air is beginning to grow thick, and cold.
You quickly spend the next ten minutes finding the tree house you, and your friends had found ages ago, and set up camp there overlooking the cold. As the minutes dragged on you felt the air grow heavier, and watched as a light appeared on the edge of the horizon. By the time the light was nearly in plain view the air is, so thick, and cold it felt like daggers slowly digging into your throat. "Something is wrong, something is very, very wrong." you thought as you watched the light carrying figure bob into view.
The man couldn't have been older than twenty years old, he was a tall lean figure with a jet black cloak that covered the majority of his body. In his left hand he held a iron, oil lantern aloft in his right hand, and in his left he had a thick oak staff that dug into the ground as he walked. He was a bewildering image with his unkempt hair, and odd stature that seemed to radiate power. Around his neck something glinted, but from the distance you couldn't quite tell what it was.
"What should I do?" you thought as you continued to watch the man approach, and the air grew heavier.
You decide to hide, and see how things turn out, so you stand up, and pull a small curtain of vines all the way around the tree house, which was more like a small wooden platform with a stone depression for small fires during the colder months. Once that is done you sit down, and watch the man draw closer until he is nearly right beneath, but just before he reaches the wooden platform he stops, and the air suddenly turns to a heat beyond words, like a prickling fire licking at the palm of your hands, but the pain would never arrive. This heat was different though, it seemed cold some how, like it was some form of malice striking at a place of hope.
As you watched a twisted form detached itself from the shadows on the opposite side of the road. It was a hulking figure twice the size of the tallest man, but it was not human for its upper body was a massive blob of darkened flesh with two arms protruding out halfway down the creature's body. Its arms were vaguely humanoid with a shaft of char-black bone protruding from its elbows until reaching a point, and its hands were like that of an over-sized eagle. But none of that was the most disturbing for its eyes were slits of a deep black them seemed to want to suck in everything it saw with a light flickering, predatory sheen contained within.
It advanced towards the Magi who seemed to be frozen in fear. You tried to yell out, but your voice was swallowed up by the heavy air, and your limbs felt like pure lead as you tried to turn in run. Thoughts streamed through your head as you were filled with terror. What could you do to save the man, and escape with your life ?
Thinking quickly you use all your willpower to rip the curtain of vines, and toss it at the creature, but just as it leaves you hands it bursts into flames, and slowly falls to the ground where it becomes a pile of ash. The being turns to face you, and your frozen in place by the sheer terror it radiates towards you. The platform around you slowly becomes hot as flames lick at the edge, and slowly eat away at it until only a small island remains of the sturdy wooden structure that once stood there. Just as fear consumes you, and you believe death is near you black out as everything becomes a never-ending blackness.
Replacing the terrifying sight of your impending death is a tall figure cloaked in a cloth that seemed to be the very essence of shadows. To the left of the figure stood a pedestal upon which a book thicker than all those you had ever seen combined stood, its leather was scarred, and nicked all over, but the gold lettering of the title was ever present as you looked between the shadowy figure, and the pedestal. The figure stepped forward towards you, and its voice emanated from the darkness beneath its cowl as it said "Hello, Katrin. I figured you would arrive here soon enough my child. All of your kind appear here in time."
"What was he talking about ? My kind? What kind is that?" you thought as you stared at the figure before you. What could you possibly say to this being?
"Who are you?" you ask the figure as he stands ever still in that dark depressing darkness. His head tilts slightly as if he is trying to get rid of an annoying crick before he says "I am the Keeper of Magic, Creator of Magic, and, as your kind have come to call them, Father of the Magi. This darkness is my domain, and my prison, it is the price I must pay for gifting you, and my other children this power. I have given the Magi the ability to use the divine, and demonic energies that flow from this world, which in itself is a God. Thus for giving you these abilities I have been banished, so that I may not interfere with my children's lives. I can only give you the ability to use magic, and that is all my child."
He let out a sigh, and took a deep breath, you could tell he felt pain, but for what you did not know. "And what happened to where I was?" you ask after several minutes of silence. He shifts his head once again before answering "I have taken you from that place for a time. You will gain the power to save your own life, and that of your fellow Magi with the power you will soon unleash, but first I must tell you the basics of magic, so that you do not fall to the evils that it holds."
"What would you like to learn first my child?"
"I would like to know the ways of magic." you reply, and for some reason the being laughs upon hearing those words.
"Very few Magi ever ask to know the Ways of Magic my child. The Way of Magic is to create, or change something, because of this the destruction of an object completely becomes a task that only those connected deeply to the magic of the world can do. The Way of Magic is to follow its wielder's orders, but magic is very unwieldy, it seemingly does strange things that even the caster can not comprehend." He says, and all the while figures appear in front of you, a tall man fighting an entire army alone, a group of magic fighting beasts so disturbing your mind tries to evade remembrance, and many others.
As the last image fades from view he continues "The Way of Magic is unique in the fact that Magic has no way, it does what it does, and I alone know the reason for this. Now my child it is time step up to the book, and place your hand on the book. Once this is done I want you to think of what you would do if you could wield the power of magic."
With that you step forward, and place your hand on the book, but a thought comes to your mind.
"What would I do with magic?"
Suddenly the thought comes to you "You see a tree, a massive wooden pillar that stretches from heaven to earth, and beneith it to the myriad underworlds below. You see the spirits which flow under the bark of the tree, the boundless energy within it, and the surety that through this path, should the walking be successful, the secrets of Life and Death will become yours to wield, whether it to be for your own power and control, or the safety and life of all around you."
With that our hand falls from the book as if pushed by an invisible hand, and its cover flies open as pages rattle by. After several minutes the rustling stops, and the book comes to rest on a blank page. The page is slowly filled with color, figures, and writing. The page shows a crescent moon, a star, a crown, a staff, and a book. Below the images it reads 'The sun, and moon shall rise together before the one with the broken crown, and the crushed staff. As they meet in the sky the book shall be revealed, and knowledge will arrive.'
The figure sweeps over to the pedestal, and looks at the page, you have a feeling he is smiling as he says "This is quite interesting my child, very interesting indeed. Your future will be a mysterious one as their are many things that can change, but your time here grows closer to its end my child, and you will soon return to your world. If there is anything you wish to ask do, so now my child for we will not meet for many years to come." Is there anything else to ask him?
He lets out another long laugh, and says "You will learn all of this in time my child. In the end most of what you seek will come to you, and now you must leave, but I will give you a gift before you depart." With that he hands you a thin book covered in leather, and with no title. "It will help you in your travels my child." he says, and with that the darkness begins to fade as light over takes it, and just as it disappears he calls out "In times of great need we may meet again." And as his final words fade, you find yourself back in the real world with the flames growing ever closer.
You feel a burning sensation in your chest, and behind the back of your eyes, as if some unknown power is flowing into you, and just as you feel you may pass out you throw up your hands, and scream into the air. A burst of air flies forth from your body, extinguishing the fire, and pushing the being from before up against a tree. Just as it regains its footing spears of earth erupt from the ground a pierce it, where the earth pokes into his skin it bursts into flames. The creature begins howling in pain, and a disgusting smell fills your nostrils causing you to lurch forward, and fall towards the ground.
Just before you impact the earth turns to sand, and you land in it with a soft, muffled thump. Looking up you see the last bits of the being burn away, and the Magi rushes over to you coming to rest hovering above you. The darkness begins to fill your vision, and you feel you have time to say something to him, but what?
You try to tell him directions to your home, but all you manage to get out is "Sleeping Dragon .... Cryptic .. Cloaked ... Bastard." And then the light slowly fades from your view. You can hear the violent laughter of the Magi for a minute, or so before the darkness completely swallows you, and you find yourself in complete darkness.
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Topic: Circle of Magi I:T.R.o.M.;Chapter 3: Once a Saint ... (Read 26357 times)