The wind whispered through the gold and silver leaves of the Source tree. Light played with its leaves, twisting and bending them, causing petal-shaped shadows to carpet the cobblestone courtyard. The late afternoon was turning to evening soon and the wind began to hint at a cooler season approaching.

Seula shivered. She loved sitting out here. She did not love being cold. Wrapping herself a bit tighter in her silver cloak, she huddled back against the tree. Her hair caught on a rough spot of the tree as she settled down pulling her hair. Why was it so hard to get comfortable? Inside, she knew what she was doing. She was procrastinating reading the book that sat on her lap.

She was the newest member of the Order of Sol. It was only this last spring that she had held her hand against the tree she rested against. To other Orders, the Source Tree was a sacred and vital focal point to the ceremony. To her Order, it was also their home. Her Order craved knowledge and a deeper connection to the spirits and other unseen powers at work in the world. At some point, a member of her Order was finally practical enough to make their dwelling beneath the tree.

It was a closely guarded secret. The Source Tree did not seem to mind. It had never been voiced otherwise. At least to Seula. She looked at her hands. Silver. Pure silver drew beautiful vines and leaves that traveled up her arms. She felt a bit of joy and remorse when she thought about the day she made her promise. She had left her home without turning back. Making her journey to the Source Tree was an exciting experience. Leaving her home--was not. She had just started to make friends. Adult friends. Which are harder to make for some reason.

It might have been because she spent a lot of time learning, which for her was mostly a solitary activity. Well solitary from humans at least. Most of that learning did not come from books. In fact, she really did not like reading. Of course, she had to resonate with the one Promise that traditionally really liked reading books... She talked to spirits.

Talking to spirits made up for most of her disdain for books. They usually were people who had lived in interesting times. Sometimes they were farmers. Sometimes they were great wielders of magic. Then there were sprites. Sprites were believed to be spirits of animals or sometimes humans that bonded with a particular element. They seemed to also attract or serve as a form of raw Source. She had read of individuals who had captured them just to serve as a reliable form of energy. Sometimes they seemed to have a form of sentience. Most were shadows of powerful emotions or thoughts. This made them hard to learn from. Seula--had an extreme talent for it.

Stolen novel; please report.

She had learned at a young age that she could both see and feel spirits. At first, it was mostly animals. They mostly communicated leftover basic needs from their lives before. Chickens always felt hungry, and dogs almost always felt lonely. It wasn't until she was older that she talked to a human. It was her parents. They had died of a disease that swept through the land ten years prior. Healers were baffled. There did not seem to be any relief. Those who caught the disease simply died. Except her.

There were other survivors of course. Though she hadn't met many others. She was about 11 when her parents had visited her. They did not offer much advice and words really could not outspeak the grief and sorrow that they expressed. They regretted leaving her alone, and then they were gone. This had left a huge emptiness in her that she could not seem to fill. Seula decided at that moment that she would try to discover where they had gone. There were theories about life and death, but most had not resolved Seula's deepest questions. Seula sighed and returned her thoughts back to the book. This pursuit of knowledge, unfortunately for her, meant a lot of reading.

The emptiness that she felt about losing her family was a driving factor in the development of her connection with Sol. Most people who made a connection with Sol had remarkable abilities to retain and share knowledge. It doesn't seem like the most entertaining use of the Source, but it was essential to society. Members of the Order were embedded into the main cities. They served as guides when matters of information or past knowledge were required.

"Are you going to sit and mope there all day?" a voice said.

Seula looked up and snapped out of her blank stare. She didn't realize how long she had been quietly thinking and staring at the book cover. The woman who stood in front of her had a smirk on her face. Seula felt herself tense up. This was Reine, Seula's mentor. Rather than being paired with someone older and wiser, she had found that she was paired with someone who had only been in the Order for a year.

Reine casually walked over closer to Seula and said, "Have you tried opening the book first? It really works wonders when you try to read." She had a smile on her face as if she had just said something incredibly clever.

"You know thinking is a form of exercising the mind as well," Seula pointed out. "In fact, some find it more useful to think before they speak", Seula said as a smile crept onto her face. She didn't want to get Reine too riled up. They hadn't quite developed the student and mentor relationship yet though, Reine had also been busy with her own studies. She seemed to check in from time to time, but a lot of the other mentors seemed to focus on their own pursuits as well.

"It is about time that you left this place," Reine stated.

Confusion spread across Seula's face as she heard this. What does she mean to leave? I just got here.

Catching the confusion on Seula's face, Reine grinned and said, "It's about time for you to do some field work. While this is mostly something an experiment to serve my research interests, I figure it is time for you to enter the real world again. There have been some interesting reports and rumors coming from around Oramond."