Chapter 2
The Month of Sunbright, Day 8, Year 2100
Excerpt from Garnet Silvermoon’s Journal
The sky is flooded with rose and amber light as I wake to another day. It seems very odd that I am sleeping on the cold, hard ground instead of in my soft, warm bed. It’s difficult to believe that my mother is gone. Yet in my heart, I know that she is safe and happy in the Lady’s arms, and without the pain or sickness that life brings.
I must journey on. The city of Oakchester is very close, within an hour’s worth of travel. Though I don’t know what my future holds, I strongly feel that I’ll find part of it there.
* * * * *
Garnet stood and stretched. She longed for a cup of hot tea, which she’d always had for breakfast since early childhood. The girl took a red apple out of her backpack and munched on it while she watched the sun rise. A peaceful feeling washed over her as the new day unfolded. The city of Oakchester could be seen in the distance. The houses weren’t that tall by modern standards, but for that time and place, they were very large. She could see the pointed roofs reaching towards the sky as the light from oil lamps, no doubt, gleamed in the windows below.
Garnet packed up everything, then headed down the road. Approaching the city, she could smell the aroma of wood burning and food being cooked, and the unmistakable scent of humans living together in close quarters. Elves had better senses than humans in general, but they were built thinner and physically weaker than humans for the most part.
As a result, elves honed their other senses and their intelligence. They learned how to harness the innate magical forces that flowed through their blood. A powerful elven wizard could best a human fighter, or even a troop of human soldiers, with the right spells. Even a neophyte wizard could often escape from a fight relatively unscathed, if he or she was clever enough.
It wasn’t long before she reached the city gates. Two burly guards stood there and scowled at her.
“You shouldn’t be traveling alone, miss. There have been sightings of mysterious creatures roaming in the woods. Sometimes they venture onto the road. There was a grown man twice your size, who was buried just yesterday. What happened to him wasn’t a pretty sight,” the first guard explained.
“Thank you for the information,” Garnet replied. “May I enter now?”
The second guard presented her with a long scroll that had various signatures on it. “Sign your name or make your mark, and we’ll give you a pass that’s good for a ten-day. If you wish to become a long-term or permanent resident, you’ll have to apply at the mayor’s office. The guilds around here are always looking for skilled help, even if you can’t stay very long.”
She signed it. “Thanks.”
The guards opened the gates and Garnet walked right through. The mercenaries’ guild was very close, easily distinguished by a sword and coin logo. She approached it and was met by another guard at the door.
“New around here?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m Garnet.”
“I’m Brand. Are you any good with a weapon?”
She shrugged. “I just got here and I need a job. This looks like a good place to find one.”
“Right. Come back when you’ve got a little more experience. You might want to try the wizards’ guild just down the road. They take a lot of young women and men about your age and train them from the ground up.”
Garnet was slightly taken aback. “I thought wizards learned everything at Wizardspire.”
“Not necessarily. A lot of wizards come from local guilds like ours and don’t go to Wizardspire until they’re much older. You need to pay a lot of gold to get into that place, unless you know someone there who’ll sponsor you.”
“My father lives there.”
“Really? Well, perhaps that’s where you should be headed.”
“Maybe later. I want to see the city first.”
“All right. I suppose I’ll be seeing you around, then.”
Garnet nodded. She walked around for a while and looked at the wares of various merchants. There was everything under the sun -- beautiful dresses made of silk, necklaces and rings with gemstones purported to be magical, thick wool cloaks dyed in many colors, and food. There were so many fruits and vegetables. There was also venison, but the hunters were human and didn’t know anything about elven hunting rituals. Garnet did buy a few carrots. She munched on them as she walked.
She would have sold her books, but the selling price was much lower than what they were actually worth, and the merchant wouldn’t haggle any further. Finally, the girl wound up outside the wizards’ guild, marked by the 9-pointed star on its sign. There was no guard at the door, so she went inside.
It was dimly lit by magical ever-burning candles spaced evenly in silver candleholders. They were easily set apart from normal candles by their flames, which flickered in various hues. Their wax was enchanted with a spell for them to burn for a whole ten-day after they were lit. You could only light each candle once, though. When the flames burned themselves out, or if you blew them out, they were useless. Because ever-burning candles lasted so much longer than ordinary candles, they made ideal indoor lighting if you could afford them.
Snatches of conversation that made no sense floated up from the rooms below. After staring briefly at the candles, which she’d known about but never seen before, Garnet headed downstairs. There was a common room which was well-lit. People sat at tables talking, reading or writing on scrolls. As Garnet hesitantly approached one flame-haired human man wearing crimson robes who looked particularly bored, he glared at her rudely.
“Don’t waste your breath. I don’t talk to neophytes. Go see Pearl Brightrain; she’ll help you. She’s the one in the purple robes over there.” He nodded towards a tall elven woman with violet eyes and long silvery-white hair, reading a book. She was of the age when elves tended to look ageless, which was around several hundred years or so.
“Thank you,” Garnet replied.
The bored-looking man returned to his introspection.
“Excuse me,” Garnet said politely as she approached Pearl.
The older elf looked up. “Ah, it’s so good to see a new face. You do want to join us, don’t you?”
The girl nodded.
“You have a slightly familiar look, girl. What’s your name?”
“Garnet Silvermoon.”
“Ah! I’ve met your father, Jarian. He’s still at Wizardspire, as far as I know. Did you have a safe journey?”
She nodded again.
“Good. How is your mother? Is Elyssia well?”
“No. She passed on a few days ago.”
An expression of sadness washed over Pearl’s face. “I’m so sorry to hear that. But I’m glad you found us. Do you have anywhere to stay?”
Garnet shook her head.
“Well, then you can stay here. We have a spare room. Don’t worry about your guild dues for now. I’ll show you to your quarters.”
“Thank you.”
“It is of no concern. Come on.”
Pearl took her book with her as she left. Up the stairs and down the hall was another flight of stairs. To the left and three doors down was the spare room. She unlocked the door and showed Garnet inside. The room was spotless, as if it had been dusted frequently since its last use. The bed and table were made of snakewood, named for its distinctive “S” pattern.
At the foot of the bed there was a large chest made of silverwood. The light gray wood, which lacked any marks and was so smooth that it resembled silver from a distance, was a sharp contrast to the other furniture. It was large enough to hold all of Garnet’s belongings with room to spare.
“Classes begin in the afternoons and go until dinnertime, then continue in the evenings. You’ll have a choice of what you want to study, but we must first test you to see what your affinity is.”
“Affinity?” Garnet asked.
“Yes. Every wizard has an innate affinity to at least one of the elements and at least one of the realms. Occasionally, we come across someone who is adept in two or three realms, but that’s quite rare. What you can learn depends on what your natural affinity is.”
“Okay.”
“Why don’t you get settled? When you’re ready, look for me downstairs and we’ll see what your strengths are.”
She nodded. After Pearl left, Garnet began to unpack. It felt strange to be in a new place, but she figured that she would get used to it eventually.
* * * * *
Excerpt from Sage Blackstorm’s Journal
Last night I dreamt of a darkened sky. It grew darker until it was so black that nothing could be seen. How the winds howled! Like the great direwolves of the north, they howled in fury as their burning claws raked the night. Suddenly in the midst of the storm, a single star appeared. Its brilliant silver light shone forth, blazing through the darkness. I woke up at that point. I’m not sure what it meant. Perhaps it means only that we are doing the right thing, and that there is still hope to be found.
The council leaders are being cautions, and I don’t blame them. We are doing everything we can to organize ourselves. In the face of oncoming trouble, we cannot do anything else. We must face the darkness with courage and wisdom. It will take a lot to forge another Crystal and to defeat Aneurin. I hope we are up to the task.
* * * * *
There was a knock at Sage’s door.
“Who is it?”
“Topaz Wintersnow.”
“You may enter.” The human walked in. His posture was almost rigid, which she noticed immediately. It wasn’t like him. “Is something amiss?” she asked.
“No more than the usual. I’ve come to ask permission to travel to Myth Hollow.”
Myth Hollow was a town of wizards up in the far north. They kept to themselves, but were on cordial terms with Wizardspire. They were known for having necromancers in their ranks, and for supporting the necromancers who’d worshipped Nelos in the past, though they now denied any connection with the god of darkness. Rumor had it that they encouraged the creation of undead as experiments, and that there were vampires in their midst, masquerading as humans. The rumors had not been verified.
“What for?”
“To see if they know where Aneurin Moondark is. That is the most likely place he would have gone.”
“Permission denied. The last thing we need is infighting if they take your accusations as insults.”
Topaz’s fiery temper flared. “You’re not being logical!”
“Actually, I am. Think about it. If you accuse the Myth Hollow wizards of harboring a traitor, they will see it as an insult to their honor, and they will try to undermine us. We don’t need that, not now. Perhaps another time.”
The golden-haired man stared at her. His eyes were like smoldering coals. “Perhaps,” he replied curtly. Then Topaz stalked out of the room.
Sage let out a deep breath she hadn’t known she was holding. She would have to watch him carefully. Spying on a fellow wizard wasn’t something she relished the thought of, but in this case, it was necessary. She took an antique scrying glass from her desk. It was round and silver with amethyst and diamond gemstones embedded into the mirror frame. Instead of a traditional silver mirror, however, there was dark obsidian glass.
She concentrated on a mental image of Topaz. Soon afterward, his figure appeared in the scrying glass. He was writing a letter, but she couldn’t read the text. It appeared to be in an ancient language, one that she didn’t know. “Blast it,” Sage muttered. She would have to find out what that letter said.
Sage sat down at her writing desk and picked up her quill. Carefully she traced the obscure letters in her mind’s eye, writing them in her journal. It was as close as she could get to Topaz’s handwriting without hiring someone from the thieves’ guild to imitate it.
Suddenly her journal glowed faintly green for a brief moment. Was it a spell, then? She didn’t know. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, so she assumed it was safe. But the writing definitely needed to be translated. Luckily, she knew another wizard who had studied many ancient languages and who could be trusted to keep a secret.
* * * * *
Dale Eastwater looked up from his book when, in his mind’s eye, he saw the person he’d least expected to see – the Archmage herself, standing in front of his door and about to knock.
“Come in,” he said before she knocked. Hastily, he stood up and did his best to look presentable. He felt somewhat bad about the haphazard piles of books, scrolls and quills that were collecting dust in his room, but there wasn’t anything he could do about them now.
Sage entered, carrying a leather-bound book. “I need you to translate something for me.”
“Of c...course,” he stuttered, feeling extremely nervous. Sage Blackstone was, quite easily, the most beautiful woman he knew. He was astonished that she needed his help. No one paid him much attention at all, and when people did notice him, they were usually rude. “Anything f...for you, Archmage.”
Seeing that he was uneasy, she said, “Relax, Dale. I won’t bite.”
He nodded. The ever-burning candle flames flickered blue and red, illuminating his human face with green eyes and brown hair. Dale was shorter than average with a stocky build, and much more at home with his books than with people. He was a low-ranking earth wizard, but much more importantly, his skill with translating languages was unparalleled except for Ylara Summerwind at Myth Hollow.
Psychic abilities were rare among humans. Since Dale could only see what was happening in the present, and not the future, he wasn’t considered to be a powerful Seer as others who could see in different times. But his gifts were occasionally useful.
Sage opened her journal to the page where she’d copied Topaz’s letter down. “What do you make of this?”
Dale’s eyes widened in surprise, for the text resembled the draconic language. A few scraps of it had been preserved, luckily, but very little of it had been translated. How could someone have known it, he wondered?
“What is it?” the Archmage asked.
“Unless I miss my guess, that’s draconic writing. But how can that be? There haven’t been any dragons sighted in over a thousand years. I must study this further to be sure.”
“You may. I need to swear you to secrecy though. It is very important that no one else finds out about this. Since this is my personal journal, I trust that you won’t tell anyone if you happen to read anything else by accident.”
“Of course. You have my word,” the translator replied. “I will need at least a few hours. Is that all right?”
“Yes. Tell me what you have learned tomorrow morning. You will find me in my room. I’ll be awake at sunrise.”
He nodded. Finally, a challenge! He’d spent the last few months reading and doing research whenever he was asked to, but nothing had really challenged him until now. Dale relished the thought of learning something new, and draconic writing was rare enough that it was always worth the effort to read it. No doubt, he’d spend the night translating it, but it would be a worthwhile experience, so he didn’t mind.
“I’ll leave you to your work, then.” Sage closed the door as she departed.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, Garnet headed downstairs. She had taken a bath and changed clothes, and finally felt presentable. Whatever test Pearl had planned for her, Garnet felt that she was as ready as she’d ever be.
“Hello,” said Pearl as the girl approached. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Very good. Follow me, please.”
Garnet followed her to another chamber, which was smaller than the others and mostly bare, except for a rug on the floor and several objects. There was a crystal bowl filled with water, a pot filled with dirt, a normal candle, and silver wind chimes hanging from the ceiling.
“This is where we’re going to find your element, dear. Have a seat on the rug.”
As she sat, Pearl closed the door.
“Good. Now relax as best as you can and clear your mind completely. Then just remain calm and wait. Eventually, one or more of the testing objects will respond to you.”
Garnet followed the instructions. As she waited patiently, it seemed as if time had stopped. Neither she nor the older elf moved except to breathe. Several minutes passed. Suddenly the candle burst into flame. A moment later, the wind chimes clinked against each other and were soon jingling from a breeze that had seeming sprung up out of nowhere. The pot of earth did nothing, but there was a faint ripple across the water in the bowl, probably from the magical wind.
“Excellent,” Pearl remarked. “Your affinities appear to be fire and air. To the best of my knowledge, that is an extremely rare and powerful combination of elements. Your father, Jarian, is also adept at air magic. It is one of the requirements for being an enchanter. If you will stand up and follow me once more, we’ll discover the realms of magic you’re talented at.”
Garnet stood up and followed her. They went up a flight of stairs and past a huge library to a dimly lit and dusty corridor. All the dust made the elven girl sneeze. “Pardon me,” she said when Pearl glanced back at her.
The next room they entered was medium-sized. Various gemstones were arranged on a table, embedded into the wood so that they could not easily be removed. There was a candleholder in the center of the table, which held three normal white candles. They were not lit.
Pearl closed her eyes and muttered the magic word, *Illumina.* The candles flickered to life. “And thus you have learned the simplest of spells,” she told Garnet. “All you have to do is visualize the candle flame and say that phrase. Works every time.”
The girl nodded.
“Now I want you to stand over by the table. You’ll have to do this with each of the gemstones. Touch it and clear your mind completely. If the jewel begins to glow, it means that magic from that realm flows in your blood. Each gem represents a realm of magic. To make magic work, the realms must be combined with the elements. But you’ll learn all of that later.”
Again, Garnet nodded. Her hand touched the first gemstone, an amethyst. She closed her eyes and tried very hard to think of nothing at all. She waited and then opened her eyes. The gemstone wasn’t glowing.
“It’s all right, dear. Just move on to the next one,” Pearl said.
The next jewel was a brilliant yellow topaz. It flared up as soon as Garnet’s finger landed on it. The gem itself was cool to the touch, but the light nearly blinded her. She jumped back.
“I think it’s safe to say that solar is definitely one of your realms. Keep going.”
Garnet touched all of the gemstones in turn. The others that responded were her namesake stone and the moonstone.
“Wonderful. Three realms and two elements. That’s very good, dear. You have a lot of talent. Now you just have to learn to harness the power flowing through your veins.”
Garnet looked up. Her face was clouded by uncertainty. “What if I don’t want to?”
“Now that would be a shame,” Pearl replied. “You are the most talented wizard I’ve seen in years. Tell me, what troubles you so much?”
“I just don’t want to be cooped up inside all the time. I...I’m sorry.” The girl blushed and looked at the floor, not wanting to say anything more.
“Ah...I see. You want to adventure, don’t you?”
“Yes. That’s right. I want to be under the open sky, on the road, beneath the stars.”
“Anywhere but in a stuffy old building,” Pearl added for her. “I cannot keep you here if you don’t want to be here, Garnet. In the end, it will be your heart that decides. You already know where to find me. Why don’t you stay the night and decide in the morning?”
She nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“Excellent. Dinner will be served at six bells, which is in just a little while. We usually eat in the common room. Join us. Talk to some of the others and get a feel for what it’s like here. You might be surprised.”
“I’ll do that,” Garnet replied.
* * * * *
At Myth Hollow, it was still mid-afternoon. Aneurin opened his journal to see the letter Topaz had written, with the magical writing still glowing green on the page. The glow faded as he read the message.
Draconic writing had several special properties, one of which was that an enchanted journal could be used to receive messages written in the ancient script on a scroll with griffon’s blood ink. Such ink was rare indeed. Rarer still was the knowledge of the language; only a handful of wizards could write it fluently. Speaking draconic was even more difficult than writing it. Only a few wizards could actually speak it aloud, and none of them were fluent.
“So,” the elf mused, “the Archmage seeks to defeat me. Little does she realize who she is truly dealing with.”
The ritual he was going to perform that evening would ensure that the dark God, Nelos, would have a vessel so that the God could accomplish his deeds in physical form. It was a ritual that Nelos himself had commanded Aneurin to perform. His soul would be bound forever with the dark God’s. The elf would no longer be in control of his body, of course. His mind would be enveloped by darkness, just like the world, once the various mortal armies and the Archmage were defeated.
Light would be banished forever from the world so the undead legions could freely walk on the mortal plain once again. Together with the dark God, Aneurin would have ultimate power forever. The Archmage would bow before him before he squashed her like an insect with his boot. When the dark God shrouded the world with a cloak of darkness and conquered all who defied him, everyone would tremble at his feet. The elf relished the power it would give him. He looked forward to the ritual and the Archmage’s inevitable defeat.
* * * * *
Garnet came downstairs for dinner. If she’d thought the common room was full when she had first seen it, it was even more packed now. The elven girl had never seen so many people in one building before. The stuffy air made it hard for her to breathe. She felt her throat constricting and tried to calm down, but it was nearly impossible. When Pearl put a hand on her shoulder unexpectedly, the girl very nearly panicked.
“Relax, Garnet. No one is going to harm you here.” The older elf smiled, trying to calm her.
The girl blushed nearly as deep a crimson hue as the jewel she’d been named for. “I know. It’s silly. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been uncomfortable indoors, especially in cramped places. I don’t know why. When I lived with my mother, I tried to stay outside as much as possible. We lived out in the country, so finding an excuse to be outdoors was easy, and I just never thought much of it before.”
“No fear is silly once we learn what’s behind it. That’s the only way we can really deal with our fear. Why don’t you sit down with these students,” Pearl gestured towards a table occupied by girls and boys close to Garnet’s age.
She nodded and sat down. “Hello,” she said shyly.
“Hi,” a human girl replied. She was shorter than Garnet and very thin, with long brown hair and brown eyes. She looked very plain and unremarkable. “I’m Tarai Wintersnow. I’m going to be a water wizard, probably a healer.”
Garnet introduced herself politely. “I don’t know what I’m going to be,” she added.
“What’s your element?”
“Fire and air.”
Tarai gaped at her, somewhat rudely. “Two elements? That’s uncommon. I suppose Pearl told you that, though. You could be a warrior wizard and fight in the king’s army.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. There aren’t many warrior wizards. Most of them tend to be fire adepts, and that kind of power is rare. You could be an enchanter too, I suppose. They work with air magic. What are your realms?” the human asked.
“Solar, temporal, and lunar.”
“Ah. Hmm…well, you could definitely be a warrior wizard with solar and fire. You’d need the astral realm to be an enchanter. You’ll have to ask Pearl later. There’s a bunch of different things you can do, but I can never keep all the realms straight.”
“All right, I’ll do that,” Garnet replied politely.
“She could be a Darkblade,” the elven boy next to her said. He was shorter than average for an elf, and stockier than usual with dark brown hair and violet eyes. “They’re the royal assassins.”
“Yeah, and they’re evil,” Tarai responded. “You don’t want to be a Darkblade, Garnet. They slit people’s throats when they’re sleeping, and sometimes when they’re not.”
“Only to save the kingdom,” the elven boy answered. “You need air magic for that and the temporal realm, as well as lunar. Most of the hiding spells use lunar. You’ll learn them sooner or later.”
“Hiding spells?” Garnet asked.
“You can use them to make yourself invisible for a little while. You can even make people think you’re someone else.”
“That sounds interesting,” she answered.
“Finally, the food is here,” Tarai remarked as servants brought in bowls of steaming stew and freshly baked bread.
Garnet dug into her stew as soon as the bowl was set down. She realized that it wasn’t polite, but she was hungry and needed the nourishment. The stew tasted good and was warm enough without burning her tongue. As Garnet ate, she realized that perhaps the wizard’s guild wasn’t such a bad place to be after all. She’d learn new things here, and that was really what mattered the most.
The End
* * * * *
