I made a mistake, or a mild miscalculation. A rounding error, even. Regardless it was not my fault. Probably. I stood up, dusting my pant legs, and taking my outer robe off to shake it free of debris. I checked my robe pockets after putting it back on to ensure the orb survived the trip. It did. Looking around I could see only the thick dark trunks of a forest long untrod, in either the early hours of the morning or the waning few before nightfall. The leaf litter cleared in a perfect circle around my rather unceremonious point of entry. I stand alone among the broken remains of my bedroom. I only hope I made it far enough away.

It all started when I was in the cataloging room, going through our backlog of as-of-yet unidentified magical items. I will note I was there as punishment and not out of some odd love of dusty relics and mystery junk. Win one duel against a Senator's son and suddenly I am public enemy number one. I mean, sure, I cheated, but so did he! I simply got caught. Regardless, I had found an orb of flawless black, so deep, and pure it was as a drop taken from the brush that paints between stars. A single hair fine crack ran jagged along one side. Its purpose was not immediately clear. The records show it belonged to "Malkathrax the Vile, the Sunderer of Space and Time," a little ostentatious but we Wizards tend to lean that way.

The orb had so far defied classification. It was smooth, pitch black, glasslike, about the size of a large plumb. It was heavy for its size and had no sigils or indication of some way to activate any hidden mechanism or channel any stored spell. When viewed with Mage-Sight something was certainly happening, but it was hard at first to tell what that something was. It was only after many exhaustive hours, and more than a little luck, that I finally figured out what it did. Well, at least what it was doing. It was making Space Essence, or perhaps more accurately: leaking Space Essence. To properly explain the significance of this, you will first need to understand the very basics of magical theory.

There are many types of energy, or Essence, used in Magic. There are the primal, or basic, energies of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. These are used in your classic elemental spells and to empower the more esoteric Essences. The less obvious are those of Light, Dark, Time, and Space. These last four are significantly rarer, typically only found in usable amounts near a nexus of the same type. Usually in the form of crystals that can be crushed to release the Essence within allowing you to pull it into your Well to be used later. By themselves, no energy is particularly potent, it is only by combining 2 or more of these energies that Magic can be employed.

And when I say they can be found in ‘usable’ amounts I mean amount worth the time to harvest. You can find hints of the rarer essences in everyday life but in quantities so small it is hardly worth the effort of all but the most desperate of mages to seek them out. Light Essence can be found in nature at dawn, petering off a little after noon, Dark essence begins appearing in shadows in trace amounts around dusk and is likewise on the decline by midnight. Time Essence is a little trickier. It can be found almost anywhere in minute quantities and when harvested can be found again in that spot exactly 24 hours later. This makes it the most ‘common’ of the esoteric Essences. Space Essence however is the rarest. Outside of a nexus it is only found on the rare few metals that survive the fall from the heavens.

So, imagine my surprise when the orb I had been tasked with identifying was found to be producing Space Essence. Not in incredible quantities, but enough to power some potent spells if properly harvested. Regardless of the quantity, however, the fact that it was churning out the rarest Essence was reason enough to report this to an Archmagis right away! Or at least I would have, after just a little fun and a little profit.

I had begun storing the Essence leaking from the orb the moment I knew what was happening and I already had a sizeable amount sequestered within my Well. Close to the capacity I had available in fact. I managed to absorb much of the Essence leaking free, but I was unused to dealing with this stygian material. Space Essence in any quantity floating free is unheard of. It is an unstable energy; I watched as the Essence I failed to absorb slowly settled before fading from existence. The short life of Space Essence and the fact that no one would think to look for it other than a very bored Wizard Adept would explain how this orb had passed unnoticed.

I looked in awe at my Well, near to bursting with Space Essence. If I absorb enough Essence my Well will expand but for now I should have just enough. Now comes the monetary part of my plan. Releasing Essence from crystals is as easy as crushing them but turning Essence back into crystals was another matter entirely. Inefficient to the extreme but with a literal source of Space Essence I would be a fool not to try to make a little gold. This thing was just gathering dust after all. With a little effort, and a sizeable chunk of the Space Essence sitting in my Well I held a small black crystal, or as I like to think of it, 6 months of tuition. And it was with that small crystal that my fate was changed.

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In hindsight, I should not have been so greedy. I should have been more circumspect in my buyers and certainly less flamboyant in my use of the Blink spell, but few things impress the ladies like teleportation. Blink is an easy spell, if expensive. Just a hefty sum of Space and Air Essence channeled through the proper mental sigil and then you picture a place you want to go within the confines of your resources. Then you go from point A to point C, skipping B all together. The haste spell, a much more affordable mix of Light and Time, can certainly get you there almost as quickly over short distances, but you still must pass through that pesky B to get to C, not always a convenient thing.

I was tucking the orb away after having topped off my Well with Space Essence when there was a pounding at my door. Panicked, I tucked the orb into a pocket within my robe, next to the hoard of freshly minted Space Essence crystals that I planned to sell.

“Caeoris, open this door in the name of The Council!” A not very pleasant voice called from beyond my threshold.

Well shit, I doubt this is a social call. The Council were the governing body of the Academy, it was unlikely they were here to congratulate me on my newfound wealth and proficiency in Space magic.

“Just a minute! I’m, uh, changing?” I respond

“Final warning! Open the door and submit to questioning or you will be forced to do so.” Damnit.

With no choice but to run, I tried a Blink spell. It failed. I focused my Mage-Sight and saw the wards permeating the air. Space and Earth being funneled into an anti-teleportation sigil. Not good.

“Sir! He just attempted to teleport-”

I slammed the door to my room closed in time to hear the front door burst off its hinges and crumble to splinters before it impacted the far wall. I toppled a bookshelf in front of the bedroom door, hoping it would buy me a few seconds. It was time for attempt number two. Now, I am no slouch in the Magical Arts. I may have some less than legal proclivities, but I do genuinely enjoy learning and employing Magic in all its forms. I specialize in Evocation, the fast and dirty spells like Fire-Bolts, with a minor in Divining, the ability to see more than the mundane. And, conveniently enough, due to a recent surplus in practice I am no slouch in bending the laws of space either.

The wards in place were beautiful, elegant, but flawed. Albeit a reasonable flaw all things considered. There is an upper limit to the amount of energy it can shunt to prevent teleportation, usually this is not an issue as its usually less expensive to buy your way out of trouble than it would be to throw Space Essence at the wards until they fail. But I am a nobody, a suddenly rich nobody. I would be disappeared after a brief round of questioning if I even lasted that long. I took out my pouch. It held enough Space essence to fund a small kingdoms army for a year, or enough to buy a title and land with enough left over to live comfortably for years. I only hoped it held enough to punch through a Council ward. I dropped the pouch to the floor and crushed it beneath my heel.

Essence flooded the room, so thick it felt like I should have choked. I expelled the Essence already in my Well as I drew the ambient energies in and funneled it out into the spell-form, a cycle that continued as the sigil grew to unreasonable proportions. I didn’t know how much I needed to make it out of the ward, but it was not the time to be frugal. The door shuddered in its frame.

“What’s that under the door- Wait, is... is that Space Essence? The fucker’s trying to overpower the wards! Move out of the way I'm taking the door out!”

I glanced mournfully at the Essence that still whirled about the room. It was now or never. I focused on the Blink spell-form, a black sigil shivering under pressure it was never meant to hold. To finish it I just needed to think of somewhere to go and let it loose. I closed my eyes and-

“Shit. Where do I go?”

“Fireball!” A voice beyond the door shouts.

There was a flash of orange under the door, the telltale sign of a fire sigil disgorging its Essence, even now something destructive is hurtling towards the door. As if the Council agents spell-name being shouted wasn’t sign enough.

“Fuck it.” I said.

I took one last drink of Space Essence and let the sigil go. I pictured a forest, will it to be far away but beyond that I did not care. The sigil accepts the destination and suddenly I am falling into its black depths. No mere Blink has this effect. I watched as drawers were pulled from dressers and my pillows leapt from my bed. Together, my room and I fell into the maw of the sigil. I watched as the door implodes, tongues of flame curling around the fragments and then everything went black. I only hoped I’d gotten far enough away.